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Updated: May 11, 2025
It is not unusual to employ the vertebrae of this species of whale as stools; and it is said, there are many houses in the village of Tain, ten leagues from Siraff, in which the lintels of the doors are made of whale ribs.
When the Siraff ships arrive in the Red Sea, they go no farther than Judda, whence their cargo is transported to Cairo, or Kahira by ships of Kolsum, the pilots of which are acquainted with the navigation of the upper end of this sea, which is full of rocks up to the water's edge; because, also, along the coast there are no kings , and scarcely any inhabitants; and because, every night ships are obliged to put into some place for safety, for fear of striking on the rocks, or must ride all night at anchor, sailing only in the day-time.
This is proved by the structure of the wreck; of which the planks were not nailed or bolted, like all those built in the Mediterranean, or on the coast of Syria, but joined together in an extraordinary manner, as if sewed, and none but the ships of Siraff are so fastened.
There dwelt at Basra one Ebn Wahab, of the tribe of Koreish, descended from Hebar, the son of Al Asud, who quitted Basra when it was sacked, and came to Siraff, where he saw a ship preparing to sail for China . The humour took him to embark in this ship for China, and he had the curiosity to visit the emperor's court.
All their payments, whether for land, furniture, merchandize, or any thing else, are made in this money, of which there are some pieces at Siraff, inscribed with Chinese characters.
On the east coast of this sea, between Siraff and Mascat, is a place called Nasir Bani al Sasack, and an island called Ebn Kahowan, and in this sea there are rocks called Oman, and a narrow strait called Dordur between two rocks, through which ships often venture to pass, but the Chinese snips dare not. There are also two rocks called Kossir and Howare, which scarce appear above the water's edge.
And as God has put a separation between these seas, it must have necessarily been, that this amber was driven from the Indian Seas into the others, in the same direction with the vessel of Siraff . The province of Zapage is opposite to China, and distant from thence a month's sail or less, if the wind be fair.
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