A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 01: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 01: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
When a ship has got through the before mentioned gates, she goes with the
flood tide into a fresh water gulf, and drops anchor in the chief port of
China, which is called Canfu[8], where they have fresh water, both from
springs and rivers, as also in most of the other cities of China. The city
is adorned with large squares, and is supplied with every thing necessary
for defence against an enemy, and in most of the other provinces of the
empire there are cities of strength similarly fortified. In this port the
tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours; but, whereas from Basra to
the island of Bani Kahouan it flows when the moon is at full, and ebbs when
she rises and when she sets; from near Bani Kahouan quite to the coast of
China it is flood tide when the moon rises, and ebb when she is at her
height; and so on the contrary, when she sets, it is flowing water, and
when she is quite hidden under the horizon, the tide falls.
They say, that in the island of Muljan, between Serendib and Cala, on the
eastern shore of the Indies, there are negroes who go quite naked; and when
they meet a stranger they hang him up by the heels and slice him into
pieces, which they eat quite raw. These negroes, who have no king, feed
chiefly on fish, mousa, cocoa nuts, and sugar canes. It is reported, that
in some parts of this sea, there is a small kind of fish which flies above
the water, and is called the sea locust; that in another part, there is a
fish which, leaving the sea, gets up into the cocoa nut trees, and having
drained them of their juices, returns to the sea; and it is added, that
there is a fish like a lobster or crab, which petrifies as soon as it is
taken out of its element, and that when pulverized it is a good remedy for
several diseases of the eyes. They say also, that near Zabage there is a
volcanic mountain which cannot be approached, which sends forth a thick
smoke by day, and throws out flames at night; at the foot of which are two
springs of fresh water, one hot and the other cold.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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