A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07Kerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
Departing from Damar I returned in three days journey to Aden, passing
in the mid way by an exceedingly large and high mountain, on which there
are many wild beasts, and in particular the whole mountain is as it were
covered with monkeys. There are also many lions, so that it is by no
means safe to travel that way unless in large companies of at least a
hundred men. I passed this way along with a numerous company, yet we
were in much danger from the lions and other wild beasts which followed
us, insomuch that we were forced to fight them with darts, slings, and
arrows, using also the aid of dogs, and after all we escaped with some
difficulty. On arriving at Aden I feigned myself sick, lurking in the
mosque all day, and going only out under night to speak with the pilot
of the ship formerly mentioned, from whom I obtained a bark in which I
secretly left Aden.
We at length began our voyage for Persia, to which we were to go in the
first place, our bark being laden with _rubricke_, a certain red earth
used for dying cloth, with which fifteen or twenty vessels are yearly
freighted from Arabia Felix. 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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