After Having Sailed Six Days On Our Voyage,
A Sudden Tempest Of Contrary Wind Drove Us Back Again And Forced Us To
The Coast Of Ethiopia, Where We Took Shelter In The Port Of _Zeyla_.
We
remained here five days to see the city, and to wait till the tempest
was over and the sea become quiet.
The city of Zeyla is a famous mart
for many commodities, and has marvellous abundance of gold and ivory,
and a prodigious number of black slaves, which are procured by the
Mahometan or Moorish inhabitants, by means of war, from Ethiopia in the
country of Prester John, the Christian king of the Jacobins or
Abyssinians. These slaves are carried hence into Persia, Arabia Felix,
Cairo, and Mecca. In this city justice and good laws are observed. The
soil produces wheat and other convenient things, as oil which is not
procured from olives but from something else that I do not know. It has
likewise plenty of honey and wax, and abundance of animals for food,
among which are sheep having tails of sixteen pounds weight, very fat
and good; their head and neck black, and all the rest of their bodies
white. There are also sheep all over white, whose tails are a cubit
long, and hang down like a large cluster of grapes, with great flaps of
skin hanging from their throats. The bulls and cows likewise have
dewlaps hanging down almost to the ground. There are also certain kine
having horns like to those of harts, which are very wild, and when taken
are given to the sultan of the city as a gift worthy of a prince. I also
saw other kine of a bright red colour, having only one horn in the midst
of the forehead, about a span long, bending backwards, like the horn of
the unicorn. The walls of this city are greatly decayed, and the haven
bad and unsafe, yet it is resorted to by vast numbers of merchants. The
sultan of Zeyla is a Mahometan, and has a numerous army both of horse
and foot. The people, who are much addicted to war, are of a dark
ash-colour inclining to black, and wear loose vestments like those
spoken of in Arabia. After the weather had become calm, we again put to
sea, and soon afterwards arrived at an island on the coast of Ethiopia
named _Barbora_, which is under the rule of a Mahometan prince. It is a
small island, but fertile and well peopled, its principal riches
consisting in herds of cattle, so that flesh is to be had in great
plenty. We remained here only one day, and sailing thence went to
Persia.
SECTION VI.
_Observations of the Author relative to some parts of Persia._
When we had sailed twelve days we came to a city named
_Divobanderrumi_[53], which name signifies the holy port of the _Rumes_
or Turks. This place is only a little way from the Continent, and when
the tides rise high it is an island environed on every side with water,
but at ebb tides the passage between it and the land is dry.
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