_ 98 _ spongy that they seem like burnt limestone, grey and red. Only a few years ago, part of a mountain burned for a very long time. Everything is dry. There are no trees, except some jujube trees(A) and two or three other kinds of tree(B). Not even grass grows there, nor do birds or wild animals of the plains, or cattle breed. All is dry, without a single fresh water fountain(C); yet it is much more arid in spiritual matters. In summer, the soldiers and the inhabitants spend both day and night immersed in water butts, with pillows in the water itself, so that only their faces break the surface. The nights here are hotter than the days in Minas, São Tomé and Malindi. This land has only one advantage: it is healthier. It admits no illness that cannot he repelled, [12] and this is because of the great deal of sweating which we do here. There were many quakes, mostly during the year after my arrival in this country, and these happened so often (A) See also Text. A. (B) Correia: “It is all bare living stone, without any trees, only trees with spikes and devoid of leaves.” (I 814-15). (C) Correia: “In the whole island of Ormuz there is no water at all to drink” (I 815). Similarly, Oderico de Porenone (Quoted by Yule-Burnell 646).
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