They Have Also
Sugar-Canes And Other Trees, But Their Sugar Is Very Black.
The negroes are
divided among a great number of kings, who are eternally at war with each
other.
Their kings are attended by certain men called Moharamin, each of
whom has a ring in his nose, and a chain round his neck. When about to join
battle with the enemy, each of the Moharamin takes the end of his
neighbour's chain and passes it through the ring in his own nose, by which
the whole are chained together, so that no one can possibly run away.
Deputies are then sent to endeavour to make peace, and if that is done, the
chains are unfastened, and they retire without fighting. But otherwise,
when once the sword is unsheathed, every one of these men must conquer or
die on the spot[14].
These people have a profound veneration for the Arabs; and when they meet
any one, they fall down before him, saying, "This man comes from the land
of dates," of which they are very fond. They have preachers among them, who
harangue with wonderful ability and perseverance. Some of these profess a
religious life, and are covered with the skins of leopards or apes. One of
these men will gather a multitude of people, to whom he will preach all day
long concerning God, or about the actions of their ancestors. From this
country they bring the leopards skins, called Zingiet, which are very large
and broad, and ornamented with red and black spots.
In this sea is the island of Socotra, whence come the best aloes. This
island is near the land of the Zinges, or Negroes, and is likewise near
Arabia; and most of its inhabitants are Christians, which is thus accounted
for: When Alexander had subdued the empire of Persia, his preceptor,
Aristotle, desired him to search out the island of Socotra, which afforded
aloes, and without which the famous medicine Hiera[15] could not be
compounded; desiring him likewise to remove the natives and to plant there
a colony of Greeks, who might supply Syria, Greece, and Egypt with aloes.
This was done accordingly; and when God sent Jesus Christ into the world,
the Greeks of this isle embraced the Christian faith, like the rest of
their nation, and have persevered in it to this day, like all the other
inhabitants of the islands[16].
In the first book, no mention is made of the sea which stretches away to
the right, as ships depart from Oman and the coast of Arabia, to launch out
into the great sea: 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.
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