NOTE 3.—­As far back as the 10th century Socotra was a noted haunt of pirates.  Mas’udi says:  “Socotra is one of the stations frequented by the Indian corsairs called Bawarij, which chase the Arab ships bound for India and China, just as the Greek galleys chase the Mussulmans in the sea of Rum along the coasts of Syria and Egypt” (III. 37).  The Bawarij were corsairs of Kach’h and Guzerat, so called from using a kind of war-vessel called Barja. (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.