From the isle of Salabat we went to another, where I furnished myself with cloves, cinnamon, and other spices.  As we sailed from the island, we saw a tortoise that was twenty cubits in length and breadth.  We observed also a fish which looked like a crow, and gave milk, and its skin is so hard that they usually make bucklers of it.  I saw another which had the shape and colour of a camel.  In short, after a long voyage, I arrived at Balsora, and from thence returned to this city of Bagdad, with so great riches, that I knew not what I had.  I gave a great deal to the poor, and added another great estate to those I had already.

Thus Sindbad finished the history of his third voyage; gave another hundred sequins to Hindbad, and invited him to dinner next day, to hear the history of his fourth voyage.  Hindbad and the company retired:  and next day when they returned, Sindbad, after dinner, continued the relation of his adventures.

The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor.

The pleasure, says he, and the divertisements I took after my third voyage, had not charms enough to divert me from another.  I was again prevailed upon by my passion for traffic, and curiosity to see new things.  I therefore put my affairs in order, and having provided a stock of goods fit for the places I designed to trade, I set out on my journey.  I took the way of Persia, of which I travelled several provinces, and then arrived at a port, where I embarked.  We set sail, and having touched at several ports of Terra Firma, and some of the eastern islands, we put out to sea, and were seized by such a sudden gust of wind, as obliged the captain to furl his sails, and to take all other necessary precautions, to prevent the danger that threatened us; but all was in vain; our endeavours took no effect; the sails were torn in a thousand pieces, and the ship was stranded, so that a great many of the merchants and seamen were drowned, and the cargo lost.  I had the good fortune, with several of the merchants and mariners, to get a plank, and we were carried by the current to an island which lay before us.  There we found fruit and fountain water, which preserved our lives.  We staid all night near the place where the sea cast us ashore, without consulting what we should do, our misfortune having dispirited us so much.

Next morning, as soon as, the sun was up, we walked from the shore, and, advancing into the island, saw some houses to which we went; and as soon as we came thither, we were encompassed by a great number of blacks, who seized us, shared us amongst them, and carried us to their respective habitations.  I, and five of my comrades, were carried to one place:  they made us sit down immediately, and gave us a certain herb, which they made signs for us to eat.  My comrades, not taking notice that the blacks ate none of it themselves, consulted only the satisfying their own hunger, and fell to eating with greediness.  But I, suspecting some trick, would not so much as