_ 10 _ the position of the stars at night, each day they should make landfall of the coast they sighted and the course they were taking, and make sure that everything agreed, and they should then reckon by the sun’s position to ensure they were right, so that the Moors could not lead them astray. Sailing with great caution and watchfulness they came in sight of Cape Ras-el-Had and entered the Gulf. Running along the coast they came first to a place name Kalhat, which has houses of stone and of mud, many of them roofed with straw, scattered and ill-defended, and outside the town on the right a grove of date palms where there are wells of drinking water. The town lies along the shore, and behind it there are great ranges of rocky mountains, and on the sea there are zambucos and ships which come to load cargoes of horses and dates and salted fish, swordfish and bonito of which there are plenty along this coast. The King of Ormuz receives great revenues from this because the town belongs to him and he has here a captain and soldiers to make peace and war, and tax-collectors appointed by Khwaja Attar, the Regent of the kingdom of Ormuz, who has tax-collectors and their servants in every town: the principal officials of the kingdom are all eunuchs and they think this is an exalted condition. All the ships which come from India call in here because it is the first
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy