41 Two other islands lie alongside this one, which are also inhabited by black and brown men who resemble the Canarese. These people hold no faith or worship anything. They just live like savages and do not trade or indeed have any order. A lot of ambergris can be found in these islands and those shells which are of vaule in Mina [fortress on the coast of Guinea], and much dragon’s blood, aloe socotrina as well as many sheep and cows. On the island of Socotra which I mentioned before, they make woollen cloths very much like Moors’capes which they call carabolins. These are worth a lot and sell well on the coast ofMalindi andMombassa, where they are commonly worn. Shihr When one heads along the coast, one comes to a town of Moors called Shihr which also belong to the kingdom of Fartak. It is rather a large place, trading a lot of different goods which the Moors from Cambay; Chaul; Dabhol; Bhatkal and Malabar bring on their ships. They trade here many thick and thin cotton cloths which they commonly wear here. They also trade many chains of granates and other stones of little value, a lot of rice; sugar; a variety of spice and many other wares. These they sell at good price here to the local merchants who buy from them and take them to Aden and throughout Arabia. Once the said merchants have sold their wares, they use that money to buy the excellent horse from here. These horses are much bigger and better than those which come from Hormuz, and are worth five or six hundred ducats in India. They also take back a lot of incense, which grows wild here. Shihr has also a lot of wheat, meats, dates and grapes. The inland is inhabited by desert Arabs. The ships coming from India
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy