_ 513 _ winds are usually contrary, and from Basra to Ormuz ten or twelve days because there is always a following wind from Basra through the Euphrates. At the top are some islands called Gazires, whose people have the same name, and Gazir in Persian means inland. It is said that there are three hundred of them and that in them are five hundred musketeers and one hundred thousand bowmen. A large quantity of wheat and rice is harvested there, and they are well supplied with meat and dates. The King is called Said bin [Alião]. The people follow the Persians in law and customs. What I know about timber that can come to Basra is as follows: [Bira] is a city in Mesopotamia situated on the Euphrates and from [Bira] to Basra is one hundred and forty leagues. Some say four hundred, but most agree one hundred and forty. Between this side of [Bira] and Aleppo are many forests of timber from which come pine and other sorts of wood, which is taken to Hilla, which is a place in Arabia on the Euphrates. From there to Basra is ninety leagues. In their chronicles of Alexander, the Persians have it that in this town of Hilla he built a fleet with which he hoped to cross to India.
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