And The Author Describes Only The Sea On The Left Hand,
In Which Are Comprehended The Seas Of India And China.
In this sea, to the
right as you leave Oman, is the country of Sihar or Shihr, where
frankincense
Grows, and other countries possessed by the nations of Ad,
Hamyar, Jorham, and Thabatcha, who have the Sonna, in Arabic of very
ancient date, but differing in many things from what is in the hands of the
Arabs, and containing many traditions unknown to us. They have no villages,
and live a very hard and miserably wandering life; but their country
extends almost as far as Aden and Judda on the coast of Yaman, or Arabia
the happy. From Judda, it stretches up into the continent, as far as the
coast of Syria, and ends at Kolzum. The sea at this place is divided by a
slip of land, which God hath fixed as a line of separation between the two
seas[17]. From Kolzum the sea stretches along the coast of the Barbarians,
to the west coast, which is opposite to Yaman, and then along the coast of
Ethiopia, from whence we have the leopard skins of Barbary[18], which are
the best of all, and the most skilfully dressed; and lastly, along the
coast of Zeilah, whence come excellent amber and tortoiseshell.
When the Siraff ships arrive in the Red Sea, they go no farther than Judda,
whence their cargo is transported to Cairo, or Kahira by ships of Kolsum,
the pilots of which are acquainted with the navigation of the upper end of
this sea, which is full of rocks up to the water's edge; because, also,
along the coast there are no kings[19], and scarcely any inhabitants; and
because, every night ships are obliged to put into some place for safety,
for fear of striking on the rocks, or must ride all night at anchor,
sailing only in the day-time.
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