I know, my friends, that you will wish to hear how, after having been
shipwrecked five times, and escaped so many dangers, I could resolve
again to tempt fortune, and expose myself to new hardships. I am
myself astonished at my conduct when I reflect upon it, and must
certainly have been actuated by my destiny, from which none can
escape. Be that as it may, after a year's rest I prepared for a sixth
voyage, notwithstanding the entreaties of my kindred and friends, who
did all in their power to dissuade me.
Instead of taking my way by the Persian Gulf I traveled once more
through several provinces of Persia and the Indies, and arrived at a
seaport. Here I embarked in a ship, the captain of which was bound on
a long voyage, in which he and the pilot lost their course. Suddenly
we saw the captain quit his rudder, uttering loud lamentations. He
threw off his turban, pulled his beard, and beat his head like a
madman. We asked him the reason; and he answered that we were in the
most dangerous place in all the ocean.
"A rapid current carries the ship along with it, and we shall all
perish in less than a quarter of an hour. Pray to God to deliver us
from this peril. We cannot escape, if He do not take pity on us."
At these words he ordered the sails to be lowered; but all the ropes
broke, and the ship was carried by the current to the foot of an
inaccessible mountain, where she struck and went to pieces; yet in
such a manner that we saved our lives, our provisions, and the best of
our goods.
The mountain at the foot of which we were was covered with wrecks,
with a vast number of human bones, and with an incredible quantity of
goods and riches of all kinds, These objects served only to augment
our despair. In all other places it is usual for rivers to run from
their channels into the sea; but here a river of fresh water[62] runs
from the sea into a dark cavern, whose entrance is very high and
spacious. What is most remarkable in this place is that the stones of
the mountain are of crystal, rubies, or other precious stones. Here is
also a sort of fountain of pitch or bitumen,[63] that runs into the
sea, which the fish swallow, and evacuate soon afterward, turned into
ambergris[64]; and this the waves throw up on the beach in great
quantities. Trees also grow here, most of which are of wood of
aloes,[65] equal in goodness to those of Comari.
[Footnote 62: Mr. Ives mentions wells of fresh water under the sea in
the Persian Gulf, near the island of Barien.--Hole.]
[Footnote 63: "Such fountains are not unfrequent in India and in
Ceylon; and the Mohammedan travelers speak of ambergris swallowed by
whales, who are made sick and regorge it."--Hole.]
[Footnote 64: "Ambergris--a substance of animal origin, found
principally in warm climates floating on the sea, or thrown on the
coast. The best comes from Madagascar, Surinam, and Java. When it is
heated or rubbed, it exhales an agreeable odor."--Knight's _English
Cyclopædia_, Vol. I, p. 142.]
[Footnote 65: "Camphor is the produce of certain trees in Borneo,
Sumatra, and Japan. The camphor lies in perpendicular veins near the
center of the tree, or in its knots, and the same tree exudes a fluid
termed oil of camphor. The Venetians, and subsequently the Dutch,
monopolized the sale of camphor."--_Encyclopædia Metropolitana_, Vol.
III, p. 195. Gibbons, in his notes to the _Decline and Fall_, says:
"From the remote islands of the Indian Ocean a large provision of
camphor had been imported, which is employed, with a mixture of wax,
to illuminate the palaces of the East."]
To finish the description of this place, it is not possible for ships
to get off when once they approach within a certain distance. If they
be driven thither by a wind from the sea, the wind and the current
impel them; and if they come into it when a land wind blows, which
might seem to favor their getting out again, the height of the
mountain stops the wind, and occasions a calm, so that the force of
the current carries them ashore; and what completes the misfortune is,
that there is no possibility of ascending the mountain, or of escaping
by sea.
We continued upon the shore, at the foot of the mountain, in a state
of despair, and expected death every day. On our first landing we had
divided our provisions as equally as we could, and thus every one
lived a longer or a shorter time, according to his temperance, and
the use he made of his provisions.
[Illustration: _Having balanced my cargo exactly, and fastened it well
to the raft, I went on board with two oars I had made Page 281_]
I survived all my companions; and when I buried the last I had so
little provisions remaining that I thought I could not long survive,
and I dug a grave, resolving to lie down in it because there was no
one left to pay me the last offices of respect. But it pleased God
once more to take compassion on me, and put it in my mind to go to the
bank of the river which ran into the great cavern. Considering its
probable course with great attention, I said to myself, "This river,
which runs thus underground, must somewhere have an issue. If I make a
raft, and leave myself to the current, it will convey me to some
inhabited country, or I shall perish. If I be drowned, I lose nothing,
but only change one kind of death for another."
I immediately went to work upon large pieces of timber and cables, for
I had a choice of them from the wrecks, and tied them together so
strongly that I soon made a very solid raft. When I had finished, I
loaded it with some chests of rubies, emeralds, ambergris,
rock-crystal, and bales of rich stuffs. Having balanced my cargo
exactly, and fastened it well to the raft, I went on board with two
oars that I had made, and leaving it to the course of the river,
resigned myself to the will of God.
As soon as I entered the cavern I lost all light, and the stream
carried me I knew not whither. Thus I floated on in perfect darkness,
and once found the arch so low, that it very nearly touched my head,
which made me cautious afterward to avoid the like danger. All this
while I ate nothing but what was just necessary to support nature;
yet, notwithstanding my frugality, all my provisions were spent. Then
I became insensible. I cannot tell how long I continued so; but when I
revived, I was surprised to find myself on an extensive plain on the
brink of a river, where my raft was tied, amidst a great number of
negroes.
I got up as soon as I saw them, and saluted them. They spoke to me,
but I did not understand their language. I was so transported with joy
that I knew not whether I was asleep or awake; but being persuaded
that I was not asleep, I recited the following words in Arabic aloud:
"Call upon the Almighty, He will help thee; thou needest not perplex
thyself about anything else: shut thy eyes, and while thou art asleep,
God will change thy bad fortune into good."
One of the negroes, who understood Arabic, hearing me speak thus, came
toward me, and said, "Brother, be not surprised to see us; we are
inhabitants of this country, and water our fields from this river,
which comes out of the neighboring mountain. We saw your raft, and one
of us swam into the river, and brought it hither, where we fastened
it, as you see, until you should awake. Pray tell us your history.
Whence did you come?"
I begged of them first to give me something to eat, and then I would
satisfy their curiosity. They gave me several sorts of food, and when
I had satisfied my hunger I related all that had befallen me, which
they listened to with attentive surprise. As soon as I had finished,
they told me, by the person who spoke Arabic and interpreted to them
what I said, that I must go along with them, and tell my story to
their king myself, it being too extraordinary to be related by any
other than the person to whom the events had happened.
They immediately sent for a horse, and having helped me to mount, some
of them walked before to show the way, while the rest took my raft and
cargo and followed.
We marched till we came to the capital of Serendib, for it was on that
island I had landed. The negroes presented me to their king; I
approached his throne, and saluted him as I used to do the kings of
the Indies; that is to say, I prostrated myself at his feet. The
prince ordered me to rise, received me with an obliging air, and made
me sit down near him.
I concealed nothing from the king, but related to him all that I have
told you. At last my raft was brought in, and the bales opened in his
presence: he admired the quantity of wood of aloes and ambergris; but,
above all, the rubies and emeralds, for he had none in his treasury
that equaled them.
Observing that he looked on my jewels with pleasure, and viewed the
most remarkable among them, one after another, I fell prostrate at his
feet, and took the liberty to say to him, "Sire, not only my person is
at your majesty's service, but the cargo of the raft, and I would beg
of you to dispose of it as your own."
He answered me with a smile, "Sindbad, I will take nothing of yours;
far from lessening your wealth, I design to augment it, and will not
let you quit my dominions without marks of my liberality."
He then charged one of his officers to take care of me, and ordered
people to serve me at his own expense. The officer was very faithful
in the execution of his commission, and caused all the goods to be
carried to the lodgings provided for me.
I went every day at a set hour to make my court to the king, and spent
the rest of my time in viewing the city, and what was most worthy of
notice.
The capital of Serendib stands at the end of a fine valley, in the
middle of the island, encompassed by high mountains. They are seen
three days' sail off at sea. Rubies and several sorts of minerals
abound. All kinds of rare plants and trees grow there, especially
cedars and coconut. There is also a pearl fishery in the mouth of its
principal river, and in some of its valleys are found diamonds. I
made, by way of devotion, a pilgrimage to the place where Adam was
confined after his banishment from Paradise, and had the curiosity to
go to the top of the mountain.
When I returned to the city I prayed the king to allow me to return to
my own country, and he granted me permission in the most obliging and
honorable manner. He would force a rich present upon me; and at the
same time he charged me with a letter for the Commander of the
Faithful, our sovereign, saying to me, "I pray you give this present
from me, and this letter, to the Caliph Haroun al Raschid, and assure
him of my friendship."
The letter from the King of Serendib was written on the skin of a
certain animal of great value, very scarce, and of a yellowish color.
The characters of this letter were of azure, and the contents as
follows:
"The King of the Indies, before whom march one hundred
elephants, who lives in a palace that shines with one
hundred thousand rubies, and who has in his treasury twenty
thousand crowns enriched with diamonds, to Caliph Haroun al
Raschid.
"Though the present we send you be inconsiderable, receive
it, however, as a brother and a friend, in consideration of
the hearty friendship which we bear for you, and of which we
are willing to give you proof. We desire the same part in
your friendship, considering that we believe it to be our
merit, as we are both kings. We send you this letter as from
one brother to another. Farewell."
* * * * *
The present consisted (1) of one single ruby made into a cup, about
half a foot high, an inch thick, and filled with round pearls of half
a dram each. (2) The skin of a serpent, whose scales were as bright as
an ordinary piece of gold, and had the virtue to preserve from
sickness those who lay upon it.[66] (3) Fifty thousand drams of the
best wood of aloes, with thirty grains of camphor as big as
pistachios. And (4) a female slave of great beauty, whose robe was
covered with jewels.
[Footnote 66: "There is a snake in Bengal whose skin is esteemed a
cure for external pains by applying it to the part affected."--Hole.]
The ship set sail, and after a very successful navigation we landed at
Bussorah, and from thence I went to the city of Bagdad, where the
first thing I did was to acquit myself of my commission.
I took the King of Serendib's letter, and went to present myself at
the gate of the Commander of the Faithful, and was immediately
conducted to the throne of the caliph. I made my obeisance, and
presented the letter and gift. When he had read what the King of
Serendib wrote to him, he asked me if that prince were really so rich
and potent as he represented himself in his letter. I prostrated
myself a second time, and rising again, said, "Commander of the
Faithful, I can assure your majesty he doth not exceed the truth. I
bear him witness. Nothing is more worthy of admiration than the
magnificence of his palace. When the prince appears in public,[67] he
has a throne fixed on the back of an elephant, and rides betwixt two
ranks of his ministers, favorites, and other people of his court.
Before him, upon the same elephant, an officer carries a golden
lance[68] in his hand; and behind him there is another, who stands
with a rod of gold, on the top of which is an emerald, half a foot
long and an inch thick. He is attended by a guard of one thousand men,
clad in cloth of gold and silk, and mounted on elephants richly
caparisoned. The officer who is before him on the same elephant, cries
from time to time, with a loud voice, 'Behold the great monarch, the
potent and redoubtable Sultan of the Indies, the monarch greater than
Solomon, and the powerful Maharaja.' After he has pronounced those
words, the officer behind the throne cries, in his turn, 'This
monarch, so great and so powerful, must die, must die, must die.'[69]
And the officer before replies, 'Praise alone be to Him who liveth
forever and ever.'"
[Footnote 67: "The king is honorably distinguished by various kinds of
ornaments, such as a collar set with jewels, sapphires, emeralds, and
rubies of immense value."--Marco Polo, p. 384.]
[Footnote 68: "Throwing the lance was a favorite pastime among the
young Arabians, and prepared them for the chase or war."--Notes to
_Vathek_, p. 295.]
[Footnote 69: Thus the Roman slave, on the triumph of an imperator,
"Respice post te, hominem te esse memento"; or the page of Philip of
Macedonia, who was made to address him every morning, "Remember,
Philip, thou art mortal."]
The caliph was much pleased with my account, and sent me home with a
rich present.
* * * * *
Here Sindbad commanded another hundred sequins to be paid to Hindbad,
and begged his return on the morrow to hear his seventh and last
voyage.