of piety, who go in search of unknown islands, or those newly discovered, on purpose to plant cocoa nut trees, and to sink wells for the use of ships.  There are people at Oman who cross to these islands that produce the cocoa nut trees, of planks made from which they build ships, sewing the planks with yarns made from the bark of the tree.  The mast is made of the same wood, the sails are formed from the leaves, and the bark is worked up into cordage:  and having thus completed their vessel, they load her with cocoa nuts, which they bring to Oman for sale.

The country of the Zinges, or Negroes, is of vast extent[13].  These people commonly sow millet, which is the chief food of the negroes.  They have also sugar-canes and other trees, but their sugar is very black.  The negroes are divided among a great number of kings, who are eternally at war with each other.  Their kings are attended by certain men called Moharamin, each of whom has a ring in his nose, and a chain round his neck.  When about to join battle with the enemy, each of the Moharamin takes the end of his neighbour’s chain and passes it through the ring in his own nose, by which the whole are chained together, so that no one can possibly run away.  Deputies are then sent to endeavour to make peace, and if that is done, the chains are unfastened, and they retire without fighting.  But otherwise, when once the sword is unsheathed, every one of these men must conquer or die on the spot[14].

These people have a profound veneration for the Arabs; and when they meet any one, they fall down before him, saying, “This man comes from the land of dates,” of which they are very fond.  They have preachers among them, who harangue with wonderful ability and perseverance.  Some of these profess a religious life, and are covered with the skins of leopards or apes.  One of these men will gather a multitude of people, to whom he will preach all day long concerning God, or about the actions of their ancestors.  From this country they bring the leopards skins, called Zingiet, which are very large and broad, and ornamented with red and black spots.

In this sea is the island of Socotra, whence come the best aloes.  This island is near the land of the Zinges, or Negroes, and is likewise near Arabia; and most of its inhabitants are Christians, which is thus accounted for:  When Alexander had subdued the empire of Persia, his preceptor, Aristotle, desired him to search out the island of Socotra, which afforded aloes, and without which the famous medicine Hiera[15] could not be compounded; desiring him likewise to remove the natives and to plant there a colony of Greeks, who might supply Syria, Greece, and Egypt with aloes.  This was done accordingly; and when God sent Jesus Christ into the world, the Greeks of this isle embraced the Christian faith, like the rest of their nation, and have persevered in it to this day, like all the other inhabitants of the islands[16].