_ 99 _ anywhere to anywhere in the world, even pepper, of which, however many provisions are placed on it large quantities pass through the Strait and spread through Arabia and other drugs and spices go from there through most of the world. Although Ormuz is an extremely arid island, it is so abundant in all things that of old it was called ‘Emporium Mundi’ and the neighboring Persians and the natives say that if the world is a ring, Ormuz is the precious stone set in it; for in addition to the great commerce of the merchants which flock there from the whole world, there can be found tonics and medicines of all kinds. From Persia come the best rhubarb and [mauna] in the world many [churosas], perfumes, the best bezoar stones in the world, worth three times more than those of Malacca. Within the Strait lies the cool island of Bahrain where the best pearls in the world are fished in large numbers, as far as the island of Maceira, which lies outside the Strait, where there are large fisheries of pearls and seed pearls of which the very best come from Muscat. The island of Ormuz is intolerably hot, so that from May to September people sleep at night on high roof-terraces open to the wind, and a large part of the day in tanks of
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