This is made
of a certain herb which is gathered, and [after the roots have been
removed] is put into great vessels upon which they pour water and then
leave it till the whole of the plant is decomposed. They then put this
liquid in the sun, which is tremendously hot there, so that it boils and
coagulates, and becomes such as we see it. [They then divide it into
pieces of four ounces each, and in that form it is exported to our parts.]
[NOTE 4] And I assure you that the heat of the sun is so great there that
it is scarcely to be endured; in fact if you put an egg into one of the
rivers it will be boiled, before you have had time to go any distance, by
the mere heat of the sun!
The merchants from Manzi, and from Arabia, and from the Levant come
thither with their ships and their merchandise and make great profits both
by what they import and by what they export.
There are in this country many and divers beasts quite different from
those of other parts of the world. Thus there are lions black all over,
with no mixture of any other colour; and there are parrots of many sorts,
for some are white as snow with red beak and feet, and some are red, and
some are blue, forming the most charming sight in the world; there are
green ones too.
