This man was called Phiradamschyech.(15) There is a city called Schiras; it is large and in a good country, where no Christian is allowed to trade, especially in the city. A city called Kerman(16) in a good country, and a city called Keschon which lies near the sea; there pearls grow, and it is a good country. Item, a city called Hognus; it is large and lies near the sea where one goes to Great India, and great merchandise comes there from India. It is a good country, wherein are found many precious stones which are peculiar to it. There, also, is the city called Kaff,(17) also a good country, where all kinds of spices are found, and whence also one goes to Great India. There is a country called Walaschoen; it has a high mountain where many precious stones are found; but nobody can take them because of the serpents and wild beasts. When it rains, it is the torrent that brings them down, then come the experts who know them, and pick them out of the mud. There are also unicorns in those mountains.(18) [1] Raschedi. _N._ [2] This is the castle of Alandschik, mentioned by Scherifeddin.—_Hist. de Timurbec_, ii, 391. _H._ [3] By White Sea is here understood (in contradistinction to the Black) the Caspian, and Scherki is intended to indicate its western coast. _H._ [4] Chorasan. _N._ [5] Herat. _N._ 34.—Of the tower of Babilony that is of such great height. I have also been in the kingdom of Babilonien. Babilonien is called Waydat in the Infidel tongue. The great Babilonie was surrounded by a wall, twenty-five leagues broad, and one league is three Italian miles; the wall was two hundred cubits high and fifty cubits thick, and the river Euffrates courses through the middle of the city; but it is now all in ruins, and there is no longer any habitation in it. The tower of Babilonien is distant fifty four stadia, and four stadia is an Italian mile, and in several places it is X leagues in length and in breadth. The tower is in the desert of Arabia, on the road when one goes into the kingdom of Kalda; but none can get there because of the dragons and serpents, and other hurtful reptiles, of which there are many in the said desert. The tower was built by a king who is called in the Infidel tongue, Marburtirudt.(1) It is also to be noted, that a league is three Lombard miles, and four stadia is one Italian mile. One Italian mile should have one thousand full paces, and one pace should have V feet,[1] and one foot should have nine inches, and one inch is the first member of the thumb.(2) Now I will also take note of New Babilonien. New Babilonien is separated from Great Babilony by a river called Schatt;(3) it is a large river, and in it are many sea monsters that come from the Indian sea. Near the river grows a fruit tree called the date, but the Infidels call it kinna,(4) and nobody can pick the fruit until the storks come and drive away the serpents, which live under the tree and on it; for this reason nobody can get the fruit