(Elliot, I. 65.) Ibn Batuta tells a story of a friend of
his, the Shaikh Sa'id, superior of a convent at Mecca, who had been to
India and got large presents at the court of Delhi. With a comrade called
Hajji Washl, who was also carrying a large sum to buy horses, "when they
arrived at the island of Socotra ... they were attacked by Indian corsairs
with a great number of vessels.... The corsairs took everything out of the
ship, and then left it to the crew with its tackle, so that they were able
to reach Aden." Ibn Batuta's remark on this illustrates what Polo has said
of the Malabar pirates, in ch. xxv. supra: "The custom of these pirates
is not to kill or drown anybody when the actual fighting is over. They
take all the property of the passengers, and then let them go whither they
will with their vessel" (I. 362-363).
NOTE 4. - We have seen that P. Vincenzo alludes to the sorceries of the
people; and De Barros also speaks of the feiticeria or witchcraft by
which the women drew ships to the island, and did other marvels (u.s.).
[1] [Assemani, in his corrections (III. p. 362), gives up Socotra
in favour of Bactria.]
CHAPTER XXXIII.
CONCERNING THE ISLAND OF MADEIGASCAR.
Madeigascar is an Island towards the south, about a thousand miles from
Scotra. The people are all Saracens, adoring Mahommet. They have four
Esheks, i.e. four Elders, who are said to govern the whole
Island. And you must know that it is a most noble and beautiful Island,
and one of the greatest in the world, for it is about 4000 miles in
compass. The people live by trade and handicrafts.
In this Island, and in another beyond it called ZANGHIBAR, about which we
shall tell you afterwards, there are more elephants than in any country in
the world. The amount of traffic in elephants' teeth in these two Islands
is something astonishing.
In this Island they eat no flesh but that of camels; and of these they
kill an incredible number daily. They say it is the best and wholesomest
of all flesh; and so they eat of it all the year round.[NOTE 1]
They have in this Island many trees of red sanders, of excellent quality;
in fact, all their forests consist of it.[NOTE 2] They have also a
quantity of ambergris, for whales are abundant in that sea, and they catch
numbers of them; and so are Oil-heads, which are a huge kind of
fish, which also produce ambergris like the whale.[NOTE 3] There are
numbers of leopards, bears, and lions in the country, and other wild
beasts in abundance. Many traders, and many ships go thither with cloths
of gold and silk, and many other kinds of goods, and drive a profitable
trade.
You must know that this Island lies so far south that ships cannot go
further south or visit other Islands in that direction, except this one,
and that other of which we have to tell you, called Zanghibar. This is
because the sea-current runs so strong towards the south that the ships
which should attempt it never would get back again. Indeed, the ships of
Maabar which visit this Island of Madeigascar, and that other of
Zanghibar, arrive thither with marvellous speed, for great as the distance
is they accomplish it in 20 days, whilst the return voyage takes them more
than 3 months. This (I say) is because of the strong current running
south, which continues with such singular force and in the same direction
at all seasons.[NOTE 4]
'Tis said that in those other Islands to the south, which the ships are
unable to visit because this strong current prevents their return, is
found the bird Gryphon, which appears there at certain seasons.
The description given of it is however entirely different from what our
stories and pictures make it. For persons who had been there and had seen
it told Messer Marco Polo that it was for all the world like an eagle, but
one indeed of enormous size; so big in fact that its wings covered an
extent of 30 paces, and its quills were 12 paces long, and thick in
proportion. And it is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its
talons and carry him high into the air, and drop him so that he is smashed
to pieces; having so killed him the bird gryphon swoops down on him and
eats him at leisure. The people of those isles call the bird Ruc,
and it has no other name.[NOTE 5] So I wot not if this be the real
gryphon, or if there be another manner of bird as great. But this I can
tell you for certain, that they are not half lion and half bird as our
stories do relate; but enormous as they be they are fashioned just like an
eagle.
The Great Kaan sent to those parts to enquire about these curious matters,
and the story was told by those who went thither. He also sent to procure
the release of an envoy of his who had been despatched thither, and had
been detained; so both those envoys had many wonderful things to tell the
Great Kaan about those strange islands, and about the birds I have
mentioned. [They brought (as I heard) to the Great Kaan a feather of the
said Ruc, which was stated to measure 90 spans, whilst the quill part was
two palms in circumference, a marvellous object! The Great Kaan was
delighted with it, and gave great presents to those who brought it.
[NOTE 6]] They also brought two boars' tusks, which weighed more than 14
lbs. apiece; and you may gather how big the boar must have been that had
teeth like that!
