ashore. Thence
we sailed to the isle of Rohat where the camphor trees grow to such a
size that a hundred men could shelter under one of them with ease. The
sap flows from an incision made high up in the tree into a vessel hung
there to receive it, and soon hardens into the substance called
camphor, but the tree itself withers up and dies when it has been so
treated.

In this same island we saw the rhinoceros, an animal which is smaller
than the elephant and larger than the buffalo. It has one horn about a
cubit long which is solid, but has a furrow from the base to the tip.
Upon it is traced in white lines the figure of a man. The rhinoceros
fights with the elephant, and transfixing him with his horn carries him
off upon his head, but becoming blinded with the blood of his enemy, he
falls helpless to the ground, and then comes the roc, and clutches them
both up in his talons and takes them to feed his young. This doubtless
astonishes you, but if you do not believe my tale go to Rohat and see
for yourself. For fear of wearying you I pass over in silence many
other wonderful things which we saw in this island. Before we left I
exchanged one of my diamonds for much goodly merchandise by which I
profited greatly on our homeward way. At last we reached Balsora,
whence I hastened to Bagdad, where my first action was to bestow large
sums of money upon the poor, after which I settled down to enjoy
tranquilly the riches I had gained with so much toil and pain.

Having thus related the adventures of his second voyage, Sindbad again
bestowed a hundred sequins upon Hindbad, inviting him to come again on
the following day and hear how he fared upon his third voyage. The
other guests also departed to their homes, but all returned at the same
hour next day, including the porter, whose former life of hard work and
poverty had already begun to seem to him like a bad dream. Again after
the feast was over did Sindbad claim the attention of his guests and
began the account of his third voyage.

Third Voyage

After a very short time the pleasant easy life I led made me quite
forget the perils of my two voyages. Moreover, as I was still in the
prime of life, it pleased me better to be up and doing. So once more
providing myself with the rarest and choicest merchandise of Bagdad, I
conveyed it to Balsora, and set sail with other merchants of my
acquaintance for distant lands. We had touched at many ports and made
much