_ 100 _ water in their houses. Ten leagues away on the mainland of Persia there is a range of mountains which can be seen from Ormuz and during these months they are covered in snow. I have often seen this and sent for now to be brought from there in summer, which was very refreshing to have here during the hot season. In May and June, a wind blows there and along the coast as far as Muscat, called Sori – in our language, southwesterly – which is so hot and dry that it cracks and warps everything it strikes. Although it is so hot and violent [desabrido] wind, it makes water so cold that it is hardly drinkable, as if it were January. What people do to bear this wind is to close all the windows and sprinkle the rooms with water and dress very carefully, and in this way the part of the house where the wind does not blow is cool. There is much to say about this island which I can’t because it would seem incredible to those who do not see it. Close to the fortress of Muscat, two leagues along the coast are the River of Two Mouths. Muscat has a population of Moorish Arab who are sorcerers, whom the locals call cafarates. They can consume the inside of anything by looking at it. They are very notorious well-known, and a careful watch is kept against them in Muscat.
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