_ 373 _ drinking habits as well as in their daily and nightly conversation. From this, the Moors came to the conclusion that in the year I arrived, Christianity was going to convert to the religion of Mohammed. The third was public usury, and this for want of someone to teach and reprimand them. By means of divine grace, these vices are changed into as much virtue as the whole of this India can take. I will in no way be able to write in detail about the barrenness of this island of Ormuz, since there is not enough time. You will only learn in general that the [119r] region of the south wind is very near Arabia Felix and that of the north wind very much nearer Persia. Where the sun rises, you have the Indian Ocean. Ormuz enjoys considerable peace with all these regions. However, in the western area, mainly Mesopotamia, there is bound to be lot of fighting, because it belongs to the Turks. The mountains of this island are all formed of salt known as rock-salt. From these, rivulets of salt water emerge which solidify on the road because of the great heat of the sun. This heat is so extreme that according to the opinion of many, it exceeds that of the torrid zone beneath the circle of the zodiac.
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