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they shoot with arrows, and tying off the collected blood around the navel, they cut it off; for this is its fragrant part, that is, what is called by us musk; the rest of its body they throw away. 11.7 This animal is called the unicorn. But I have not seen it; but I have seen four bronze statues of it set up in Ethiopia in a royal four-towered palace, which is why I have described it thus. They say concerning it that it is fearsome and unconquerable, having all its strength in its horn; and when it seems to be pursued by many and is about to be caught, it leaps onto a cliff and throws itself from the height, and coming down it turns itself around, and the horn receives the whole impact, and it remains unharmed. And holy Scripture relates such things about it, saying: "Save me from the lion's mouth, and from the horns of unicorns my humility," and again: "And the beloved as a son of unicorns"; and again in the blessings of Balaam, with which he blessed Israel, he says a second time: "Thus God led him out of Egypt, as the glory of a unicorn," testifying through all these things to the strength and confidence and glory of the animal. 11.8 The hog-stag I have both seen and eaten. 11.9 The hippopotamus I have not seen, but I have had large teeth from it, about thirteen pounds worth, which I also sold here; but I have seen many in Ethiopia and in Egypt. 11.10 This is the pepper tree; each tree is trained upon another tall, fruitless tree because it is very slender and weak, just as the branches of the vine are slender; each cluster has a two-leaved covering; and it is very green, like the color of rue. 11.11 The other is of the so-called argellia, that is, the large Indian nuts; it differs in nothing from the palm tree, except that it is more perfect both in height and in thickness and in its fronds. It does not bear fruit, except for two or three spathes of three coconuts; and the taste is very sweet and pleasant, like green nuts; from the beginning it is full of very sweet water, from which the Indians also drink instead of wine; and the drink is called rhonchosura, very pleasant; but when the argellin is harvested and left to stand, its water congeals progressively against its shell, and the water in the middle remains uncongealed, until it too is gone; and if it remains even longer, its congealed fruit becomes rancid and can no longer be eaten. 11.12 The so-called seal, and the dolphin, and the turtle which we eat at sea, if it should happen to be caught. The dolphin and the turtle we eat by slaughtering them, but the seal not by slaughtering, but by striking it on the back of the head, as with large fish. And the meat of the turtle is dark, like that of a sheep; but that of the dolphin is dark and smelly, like a pig's; and that of the seal is white and not smelly, like a pig's. Concerning the island of Taprobane 11.13 This is the great island in the Ocean, lying in the Indian Sea, called by the Indians Sielediba, but by the Greeks Taprobane, in which the hyacinth stone is found; it lies further than the land of pepper. And around it are very many small islands, all having fresh water and argellia; and they are all for the most part of shallow depth. The great island has, as the natives say, three hundred gaudia both in length and likewise in breadth, that is, nine hundred miles. And there are two kings on the island, opposed to each other; the one having the hyacinth, and the other the other part, in which is the emporium and the harbor; and the emporium there is large. 11.14 The same island also has a church of the resident Persian Christians, and a presbyter ordained from Persia, and a deacon, and all the ecclesiastical liturgy. But the natives and the kings are of another race. They have many temples on the island itself; and in one of their temples, situated on a high place, there is one hyacinth, as they say, fiery red and as large as a great pine cone; and it shines from afar, especially when the sun shines upon it,

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τοξεύουσι, καὶ τὸ συναγόμενον αἷμα περὶ τὸν ὀμφαλὸν δεσμεύοντες ἀποκόπτουσι· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ τὸ εὐῶδες, τουτέστιν ὁ παρ' ἡμῶν λεγόμενος μόσχος· τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν αὐτοῦ σῶμα ἔξω ῥίπτουσιν. 11.7 Τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον καλεῖται μονόκερως. Οὐκ ἐθεασάμην δὲ αὐτό· στήλας δὲ αὐτοῦ χαλκᾶς ἀνατιθεμένας ἐν τῇ Αἰθιοπίᾳ ἐν οἴκῳ τετραπύργῳ βασιλικῷ τέσσαρας ἑώρακα, διὸ καὶ οὕτως κατέγραψα. Φασὶ δὲ περὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι φοβερόν ἐστι καὶ ἀκαταμάχητον ἐν τῷ κέρατι ἔχον τὴν ὅλην ἰσχύν· καὶ ἡνίκα δόξῃ παρὰ πολλῶν διώκεσθαι καὶ καταληφθῇ, εἰς κρημνὸν ἐφάλλεται καὶ ῥίπτει ἑαυτὸν ἐκ τοῦ ὕψους, καὶ κατερχόμενον ἀντιστρέφεται, καὶ τὸ κέρας δέχεται τὴν ὅλην ὁρμήν, καὶ ἀβλαβὲς διαμένει. Τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ ἡ θεία Γραφὴ διηγεῖται περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγουσα· "Σῶσόν με ἐκ στόματος λεόντων, καὶ ἀπὸ κεράτων μονοκερώτων τὴν ταπείνωσίν μου", καὶ πάλιν· "Καὶ ὁ ἠγαπημένος ὡς υἱὸς μονοκερώτων"· καὶ πάλιν ἐν ταῖς εὐλογίαις τοῦ Βαλαάμ, αἷς εὐλόγησε τὸν Ἰσραήλ, φησὶν ἐκ δευτέρου· "Οὕτως ὁ Θεὸς ὡδήγησεν αὐτὸν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, ὡς δόξαν μονοκέρωτος", αὐτῷ διὰ πάντων ἰσχὺν καὶ πεποίθησιν καὶ δόξαν μαρτυροῦσα τῷ ζῴῳ. 11.8 Τὸν δὲ χοιρέλαφον καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἔφαγον. 11.9 Τὸν δὲ ἱπποπόταμον οὐκ εἶδον μέν, ἔσχον δὲ ὀδόντας ἐξ αὐτοῦ μεγάλους ὡς ἀπὸ λιτρῶν δεκατριῶν, οὓς καὶ πέπρακα ἐνταῦθα· πολλοὺς δὲ εἶδον καὶ ἐν τῇ Αἰθιοπίᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ. 11.10 Τοῦτο τὸ δένδρον ἐστὶ τὸ τοῦ πιπέρεως· ἕκαστον δὲ δένδρον ἑτέρῳ ὑψηλῷ ἀκάρπῳ δένδρῳ ἀνακλᾶται διὰ τὸ λεπτὸν εἶναι πάνυ καὶ ἀσθενές, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ κλήματα τῆς ἀμπέλου λεπτά· ἕκαστος δὲ βότρυς δίφυλλον ἔχει σκέπον· χλωρὸν δὲ πάνυ ἐστίν, ὥσπερ ἡ χρόα τοῦ πηγάνου. 11.11 Τὸ δὲ ἄλλο τῶν ἀργελλίων ἐστὶ τῶν λεγομένων, τουτέστι τῶν μεγάλων καρύων τῶν ἰνδικῶν· παραλλάττει δὲ τοῦ φοίνικος οὐδέν, πλὴν ὅτι τελειότερόν ἐστι καὶ ἐν ὕψει καὶ ἐν πάχει καὶ ἐν τοῖς βαΐοις. Οὐ βάλλει δὲ καρπόν, εἰ μὴ δύο ἢ τρία σπάθια ἀπὸ τριῶν ἀργελλίων· ἔστι δὲ ἡ γεῦσις γλυκεῖα πάνυ καὶ ἡδεῖα, ὡς τὰ κάρυα τὰ χλωρά· ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν τοῦ ὕδατος γέμει γλυκέος πάνυ, ὅθεν καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν πίνουσιν οἱ Ἰνδοὶ ἀντὶ οἴνου· λέγεται δὲ τὸ πινόμενον ῥογχοσοῦρα ἡδὺ πάνυ· τρυγώμενον δὲ καὶ παραμένον αὐτὸ τὸ ἄργελλιν, πήγνυται τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτοῦ κατὰ πρόσβασιν τὸ ἐπὶ τὸ ὄστρακον αὐτοῦ, καὶ μένει τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς τὸ μέσον ἄπηκτον, μέχρις ὅτου καὶ αὐτὸ ἐκλίπῃ· ἐὰν δὲ καὶ πλέον παραμείνῃ, ταγγίζει ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ πεπηγὼς καὶ οὐ δύναται ἔτι βρωθῆναι. 11.12 Φώκην τὴν λεγομένην καὶ τὸν δελφῖνα καὶ χελώνην ἣν ἐσθίομεν κατὰ θάλατταν, εἰ τύχοι πιασθῆναι. Τὸν μὲν δελφῖνα καὶ τὴν χελώνην σφάζοντες ἐσθίομεν, τὴν δὲ φώκην οὐ σφάζοντες, ἀλλὰ κοτραφίζοντες, ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν ἰχθύων τῶν μεγάλων. Καὶ τὸ μὲν κρέας τῆς χελώνης, ὡς προβάτου, ἐστὶ μελαμψόν· τὸ δὲ τοῦ δελφῖνος, ὡς χοίρου, μελαμψὸν δὲ καὶ βρομῶδες· τὸ δὲ τῆς φώκης, ὡς χοίρου, λευκὸν καὶ ἄβρομον. Περὶ τῆς Ταπροβάνης νήσου 11.13 Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ νῆσος ἡ μεγάλη ἐν τῷ Ὠκεανῷ, ἐν τῷ Ἰνδικῷ πελάγει κειμένη, παρὰ μὲν Ἰνδοῖς καλουμένη Σιελεδίβα, παρὰ δὲ Ἕλλησι Ταπροβάνη, ἐν ᾗ εὑρίσκεται ὁ λίθος ὁ ὑάκινθος· περαιτέρω δὲ κεῖται τῆς χώρας τοῦ πιπέρεως. Πέριξ δὲ αὐτῆς εἰσι νῆσοι μικραὶ πολλαὶ πάνυ, πᾶσαι δὲ γλυκὺ ὕδωρ ἔχουσαι καὶ ἀργέλλια· ἀγχιβαθαὶ δὲ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖστον πᾶσαί εἰσιν. Ἔχει δὲ ἡ νῆσος ἡ μεγάλη, καθώς φασιν οἱ ἐγχώριοι, γαύδια τριακόσια εἴς τε μῆκος ὁμοίως καὶ πλάτος, τουτέστι μίλια ἐννακόσια. ∆ύο δὲ βασιλεῖς εἰσιν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ, ἐναντίοι ἀλλήλων· ὁ εἷς ἔχων τὸν ὑάκινθον, καὶ ὁ ἕτερος τὸ μέρος τὸ ἄλλο, ἐν ᾧ ἐστι τὸ ἐμπόριον καὶ ὁ λιμήν· μέγα δέ ἐστι καὶ τὸ τῶν ἐκεῖσε ἐμπόριον. 11.14 Ἔχει δὲ ἡ αὐτὴ νῆσος καὶ Ἐκκλησίαν τῶν ἐπιδημούντων Περσῶν χριστιανῶν καὶ πρεσβύτερον ἀπὸ Περσίδος χειροτονούμενον καὶ διάκονον καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν λειτουργίαν. Οἱ δὲ ἐγχώριοι καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς ἀλλόφυλοί εἰσιν. Ἱερὰ δὲ πολλὰ ἔχουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ νήσῳ· εἰς ἕνα δὲ ἱερὸν αὐτῶν ἐφ' ὑψηλοῦ κείμενόν ἐστιν ἕνα ὑακίνθιν, ὥς φασι, πυρροῦν καὶ μέγα ὂν ὡς στρόβιλος μέγας· καὶ λάμπει μακρόθεν, μάλιστα τοῦ ἡλίου αὐτὸ περιλάμποντος,