_ 96 _ as Father Superior Francisco believed. Consequently, he instructed me not to leave Ormuz and its neighbourhood for that period of time. Ormuz is a kingdom situated in Persia, in the Persian Gulf, which divides Arabia from Persia. Two rivers enter this Gulf, namely, the Euphrates and the Thison[!](A) at Basra, where the Turks are living at the moment.(B) The first city of this kingdom is Ormuz, where the King lives(C). He used to be so powerful that he was called “the King from the place where the sun rises and sets”, and this city is as populous and rich as anywhere in the world. They say that if the world were a ring. Ormuz would be its precious stone(D), and thus the richest men in India are those from Ormuz. As a consequence, they are a most corrupt people, with all (A) The River Tigris, called the “Phison” in the Holy Scriptures (Genesis 2, 11). (B) The City of Basra, a trading centre, situated at the lower end of Mesopotamia, was occupied by the Turks in January 1547 (cf. Schurhammer, Q 2789 4332). (C) Turan Shah II (Scurhammer, Q 4438 4889). (D) In the Latin language there is a proverb: “If the whole world, however far it extends, were a ring, Ormuz would be the stone that adorns it” (Valignano, Hist. 274). Another small item Correia: “As a rule among the people, India is a ring and Ormuz the stone” (I 815).
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