And As God Has Put A
Separation Between These Seas, It Must Have Necessarily Been, That This
Amber Was Driven From The Indian Seas Into The Others, In The Same
Direction With The Vessel Of Siraff[6].
The province of Zapage is opposite to China, and distant from thence a
month's sail or less, if the wind be fair.
The king of this country is
styled Mehrage, and his dominions are said to be 900 leagues in
circumference, besides which, he commands over many islands which lie
around; so that, altogether, this kingdom is above 1000 leagues in extent.
One of these islands is called Serbeza, which is said to be 400 leagues
in compass; another is called Rhami, which is 800 leagues round, and
produces red-wood, camphor, and many other commodities. In the same kingdom
is the island of Cala, which is the mid passage between China and the
country of the Arabs. This island is 80 leagues in circumference, and to it
they bring all sorts of merchandize, as aloes wood of several kinds,
camphor, sandal wood, ivory, the wood called cabahi, ebony, red-wood, all
sorts of spice, and many others; and at present the trade is carried on
between this island and that of Oman. The Mehrage is sovereign over all
these islands; and that of Zapage, in which he resides, is extremely
fertile, and so populous, that the towns almost touch each other, no part
of the land being uncultivated. The palace of the king or Mehrage, stands
on a river as broad as the Tigris at Bagdat or Bassora; but the sea
intercepts its course, and drives its waters back with the tide; yet during
the ebb the fresh water flows out a good way into the sea.
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