Kus_, the ancient
_Cos_ below Luqsor), where they are put into boats and conveyed in 15 days
to Babylon. But in the month of October and thereabouts the river rises to
such an extent that the spices, etc., continue to descend the stream from
Babylon and enter a certain long canal, and so are conveyed over the 200
miles between Babylon and Alexandria." (Bk. I. pt. i. ch. i.)

Makrizi relates that up to A.H. 725 (1325), from time immemorial the
Indian ships had discharged at Aden, but in that year the exactions of the
Sultan induced a shipmaster to pass on into the Red Sea, and eventually
the trade came to Jidda. (See _De Sacy, Chrest. Arabe_, II. 556.)

+Aden is mentioned (_A-dan_) in ch. cccxxxvi. of the Ming History as
having sent an embassy to China in 1427. These embassies were subsequently
often repeated. The country, which lay 22 days' voyage west of _Kuli_
(supposed Calicut, but perhaps Kayal), was devoid of grass or trees.
(_Bretschneider, Med. Res._, II. pp. 305-306.)

[Ma-huan (transl. by Phillips) writes (_J.R.A.S._, April 1896): "In the
nineteenth year of Yung-lo (1422) an Imperial Envoy, the eunuch Li, was
sent from China to this country with a letter and presents to the King. On
his arrival he was most honourably received, and was met by the king on
landing and conducted by him to his palace."--H.C.]

NOTE 2.--The words describing the horses are (P.'s text): "_de bons
destriers Arrabins et chevaux et grans roncins_ a ij selles." The meaning
seems to be what I have expressed in the text, fit either for saddle or
pack-saddle.

[_Roncins a deux selles_. Littre's great Dictionary supplies an apt
illustration of this phrase. A contemporary _Eloge de Charles VII._ says:
"_Jamais il chevauchoit mule ne haquenee, mais_ un bas cheval trotier
entre deux selles" (a cob?).]

In one application the _Deux selles_ of the old riding-schools were the
two styles of riding, called in Spanish _Montar a la Gineta_ and _Montar a
la Brida_. The latter stands for the old French style, with heavy bit and
saddle, and long stirrups just reached by the toes; the former the Moorish
style, with short stirrups and lighter bit. But the phrase would also seem
to have meant _saddle and pack-saddle_. Thus Cobarruvias explains the
phrase _Hombre de dos sillas_, "Conviene saber de la gineta y brida, _ser
de silla y albarda_ (pack-saddle), _servir de todo_," and we find the
converse expression, _No ser para silla ni para albarda_, good for