The _Moors_ Call
This Opening The Mouth Of Hell; And On Account Of The Great Abundance
Of The Pitch, The People Of The Country Daub All Their Boats Two Or
Three Inches Thick With It On The Outside, So That No Water Can Enter
Them.
These boats are called _danec_.
When there is plenty of water in
the Tigris, the boats may go down from Bagdat to Basora in eight or nine
days; but when the water is low it requires a longer time.
In times past, Basora belonged to the Arabs, but is now subject to the
Turks. Yet there are some Arabs that the Turks cannot subdue, as they
occupy certain islands in the great river Euphrates, which the Turks
have never been able to conquer. These Arabs are all thieves, and have
no settled dwelling, but remove from place to place with their camels,
horses, goats, wives, children, and household goods. They wear large
blue gowns; their wives having their ears and noses full of copper and
silver rings, and wear copper rings on their legs. Basora is near the
head of the gulf of Persia, and drives a great trade in spiceries and
drugs, which come from Ormus. The country round produces abundance of
white rice and dates, with which they supply Bagdat and all the country,
sending likewise to Ormus and India. I went from Basora to Ormus, down
the gulf of Persia, in a ship made of boards sewed together with
_cayro_, which is a thread made of the husks of coco-nuts, and having
certain canes, or leaves, or straw, sewed upon the seams between the
boards, so that these vessels leak very much.
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