5 2 4 
The Difcovery, Settlement, and Commerce 
their Goods which come from Bafra , or Bajfora , Oman , 
and other Ports ; and this they do becaufe, in this Sea 
there are frequent Storms and flioal Water in many Places. 
From Bafra to Siraff is an hundred and twenty Leagues i 
and when Ships have loaded at this laft Place, they there 
water alfo •, and from thence make fail for a Place called 
Mafcat , which is in the Extremity of the Province of 
Oman, about two hundred Leagues from Siraff. On the 
Eaft-coaft of this Sea, between Siraf and Mafcat , is 
a Place called Nafis Bani al Safak, and an Iiland called 
Ebn Kabowan-, and in this Sea are Rocks called Oman , 
and a narrow Streight called Dordur , between two Rocks, 
where Veffels do venture *, but the Chinefe Ships dare not. 
There are alfo two Rocks called Koffir and Howare , which 
fcarce appear above the Water’s Edge : After they are 
clear of thefe Rocks they fleer for a Place called Sbitu 
Oman , and at Mafcat take in Water, which is drawn out 
of Wells •, and here alfo they are fupplied with Cattle of 
the Province of Oman * From thence Ships take their 
Departure for the Indies , and firft they touch at Kaukam- 
tnali : And from Mafcat to this Place it is a Month’s Sail 
with a fair Wind. 
This is a frontier Place, and the chief Arfenal in the 
Province of the fame Name : And here the Chinefe Ships 
put in and are in Safety *, frefh Water is to be had here, 
and the Chinefe pay a tnoufand Drams for Duties, but 
others pay only from one Dinar to ten Dinars. From 
Mafcat to Kaukammali it is a Month’s Sail ; and then 
having watered at this Place, they begin to enter the Sea 
of Herkend , and having failed through it, touch at a Place 
called Lajabalus , where the Inhabitants underhand not 
the Arabic , or any other Language in ufe with Merchants. 
They wear no Cloaths, are white and weak in their 
Feet. 
p. It is faid their Women are not to be feen m ; and that 
the Men leaving the Illand in Canoes, hollowed out of one 
Piece, go in Quefl of them, and carry them Cocoa-nuts, 
Canes, Moufa, and Palm- wine. This Liquor is white, 
and, if drank frefh, has the Tafle of the Cocoa-nut, and 
fweet like Honey j if kept fomewhat longer, it becomes 
as flrong as wine ; but if it is kept for feveral Days it turns 
to Vinegar. They give it in Exchange for Iron ; and in 
like Manner they truck the little Quantity of Amber, 
which is thrown on their Coafts for Bits of Iron. The 
Bargain is driven by Motions of the Hand. But they are 
very quick, and are apt to carry off Iron from the Mer- 
chants, and leave them nothing in Return. 
From hence Ships fleer towards Calabar , the Name of 
a Kingdom, on the Coaft to the Right-hand beyond 
the Indies. Bar figrfftes a Coaft in the Language of the 
Country ; and this depends on the Kingdom of Zabage. 
The Inhabitants are dreffed in thofe Sorts of flriped Gar- 
ments, which the Arabs call Faut-a ; and they commonly 
wear but one at a time, which is equally oblerved by Per- 
sons of every Degree. At this Place they commonly take 
in Water, which is filled from Wells fed by Springs, and 
which they like better than what is drawn out of Ciflerns, 
and Tanks. Calabar is about a Month’s Voyage from a 
Place called Kaukam , which is almoft upon the Skirts of 
the Sea of Herkend. In ten Days after this. Ships reach 
Betuma from whence, in ten Days more, they come up 
with Kadrange. 
It is to be obferved, that in all the Hands and Penin- 
fulas of the Indies , they find Water when they dig for it. 
In this laft mentioned Place there is a very lofty Moun- 
tain, which is peopled by none but Slaves and Fugitives, 
from thence in ten Days they arrive at Senef. Here is 
frefh Water, and hence comes the Aromatic Wood we 
call Hud al Senefi. Here is is a King ; the Inhabitants are 
Book L 
black, and wear two ftriped Garments. Having watered 
at this Place, it is ten Days Paffage to Sander fulat , an. 
Eland where is frefh Water ; then they fleer through the 
Sea of Sanji, and fo to the Gates of China ; for fo they 
call certain Rocks and Shoals in that Sea, forming a narrow 
Streight, through which Ships pafs. It requires a Month to 
fail from Sanderfulat to China ; and it takes up eight 
whole Days to fleer clear of thefe Rocks. 
10. When a Ship has got through thefe Gates, fine, 
with the Tide of Flood, goes into a frefh Water Gulph, 
and drops Anchor in the chief Port of China , which is 
that of Canfu *, and here they have frefh Water both from 
Springs and Rivers, as they have alfo in moft of the 
other Cities of China . The City is adorned with large 
Squares, and fupplied with every thing neceffary for De- 
fence againft an Enemy, and in moft of the other Provinces 
there are Cities of Strength, fortified in the fame Man- 
ner. 
In this Port it ebbs and flows " twice in twenty-four 
Hours •, but with this difference, that whereas from Bafra 
to the Ifland called Bani Kahouan, it flows when the Moon 
is at full, and ebbs when fhe rifes and when fhe fets ; from 
near Bani Kahouan quite to the Coaft of China \ it is Flood 
when the Moon rifes, and when fhe is towards her Height 
it is Ebb : And fo, on the contrary, when fhe fets it is 
Flowing Water, and when fhe is quite hidden under the 
Horizon, the Tide falls. 
11. They fay, that in the Ifland of Muljan , which 
is between Serendib and Cala, on the Eaftern Shore of the 
Indies , there are Negroes quite naked, and that, when 
they meet with a Stranger, they hang him with his Head 
downward, and flice him into Pieces, which they eat quite 
raw Thefe Negroes have no King, and feed upon 
Fifh, Moufa, Cocoa-nuts and Sugar-Canes ; they have Ponds 
and fome Lakes in the Country. They report alfo, that 
in fome Parts of this Sea, there is a fmallifh kind of Fifh, 
which flies upon the Water, and which they call the Sea- 
Locuft ; and that in another Part there is a Fifh, which 
leaving the Sea, gets up to the Cocoa-nut Trees, and 
having drained them of their Juice, takes to the Sea a- 
gain : To all which, they add, that in this Sea there is a 
fort of Fifh like a Lobfter, which petrifies as foon as taken 
out of its Element ; they pulverize it, and it is good for 
feveral Difeafes of the Eyes. 
They fay alfo, that near Zabage there is a Mountain, 
called the Mountain of Fire , which no one can approach * 
that in the Day-time it fends forth a thick Smoak, and in 
the Night it throws out Flames. At the Foot of this 
Mountain, there are two Springs of frefh Water, the one 
hot, and the other cold. 
12. The Chinefe are dreffed in Silk both Winter and 
Summer, and this kind of Drefs is common to the Prince 
and the Peafant. In Winter they wear Drawers of a par- 
ticular Make, which fall down to their Feet : Of thefe 
they put on two, three, four, five or more, if they can, 
one over another, and are very careful to be covered quite 
down to their Feet, becaufe of the Damps, which are very 
great, and of which they are very apprehenfive. In 
Summer, they only wear a Angle Garment of Silk, or 
fome fuch Drefs, but have no Turbans. 
Their common Food is Rice, which they often eat ; 
with a Broth, like what Bit Arabs make of Meat or Fifh, 
which they pour upon the Rice. Their Kings eat Wheat- 
Bread, and ail forts of Animals, not excepting Swine and 
fome others. They have feveral forts of Fruits, Apples, 
Lemons, Quinces, Moulats, Sugar-Canes, Citruls, Figs,, 
Grapes, Cucumbers of two forts, Trees which bear a 
Subftance like Meal, Walnuts, Almonds, Filberts, Pif- 
tachios, Plumbs, Apricots, Services and Cocoa-nuts, but 
» We {hall have an Opportunity of explaining this llrange Story, which is confirmed by Marco Polo, and Nicolo di Conti , when we come to fpeak 
of the Travels of the former, who affures us, that there were two Iflands, one entirely inhabited by Men, the other by Women, and that theie ie 0- 
^ probable, or rather certain, from the Account given by our Author, that this mull the Port of Canton , and the Irregularity of the 
Tide is a Circumftance that flrongly confirms it ; and a Circumiiance which {hews, at the fame Time, that the Arabs were not fo ignorant m tno e 
Matters as they are generally imagined. . ' . r ^ 
® It mull be allowed, that there are Abundance of very odd Accounts in thefe Relations ; but it mufi: be owned, at the fame Time, that th 1 
very few of them which have been difproved. What follows about petrified Crabs or Lobfters, is a full Proof that the Port he fpeaks of mult be 
Canton ; for Father Martini tells us the fame Thing ; adding, that thefe Crabs are found only on that Part of the Coaft of China, which if oppoiite 
to the Ifland of Haiman , and that the Portuguese ufe the Powder of thefe petrified Crabs, as an abforbent in Fevers. The Story of this hi * 
reported by. Father Martini 
3 
