_ 62 _ The first of these begins at the Cape of Good Hope and ends at Cape Comorin, where the second begins. This ends at the river Fermoso beyond Malacca, and here the third begins, which continues to the point of Nankin already mentioned, beyond China. This third gulf extends to 900 leagues the second for 941, with some openings, and the first stretches for 2075 leagues. Including the coasts of the Straits of Mecca and Ormuz, the whole known coast of Asia amounts to 5316 leagues, because the Strait of Mecca includes 720 leagues of the coasts of Ethiopia and Arabia from the entrance to the Strait: and the Strait of Ormuz, beginning at Ras al-Had, with the coast of Arabia and Persia contains 500 leagues. Along this coast of Asia are spread countless islands, the Maldive Islands alone being over eleven thousand in number. Of the others, the principal is S. Lourenco [Mdagascar], which is 287 leagues long, 95 wide and 782 in circumference. Another island is the rich and beautiful Taprobane, called Ceylon, which is 75 leagues long, 50 wide and 195 in circumference. The beautiful Aurea Chsoneso, called Sumatra, is 220 leagues long, 75 wide and 25 round. Both sides of Java are 271 leagues long, and of two other islands between there and Timor, the first is 42 leagues long, 30 wide and 125 round, and Macassar is 145 leagues long and 320 in circumference.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy