th, for on the spot it is worth only 150 farthings the hundredweight."
See note 2, ch. xxvii. supra; and next chapter, note 2.

NOTE 3.--This was no doubt a breed of four-horned sheep, and Polo, or his
informant, took the lower pair of horns for abnormal ears. Probably the
breed exists, but we have little information on details in reference to
this coast. The Rev. G.P. Badger, D.C.L., writes: "There are sheep on the
eastern coast of Arabia, and as high up as Mohammerah on the
Shatt-al-Arab, _with very small ears indeed;_ so small as to be almost
imperceptible at first sight near the projecting horns. I saw one at
Mohammerah having _six_ horns." And another friend, Mr. Arthur Grote, tells
me he had for some time at Calcutta a 4-horned sheep from Aden.

NOTE 4.--This custom holds more or less on all the Arabian coast from
Shehr to the Persian Gulf, and on the coast east of the Gulf also. Edrisi
mentions it at Shehr (printed _Shajr_, I. 152), and the Admiral Sidi 'Ali
says: "On the coast of Shehr, men and animals all live on fish" (_J.A.S.B._
V. 461). Ibn Batuta tells the same of Dhafar, the subject of next chapter:
"The fish consist for the most part of sardines, which are here of the
fattest. The surprising thing is that all kinds of cattle are fed on these
sardines, and sheep likewise. I have never seen anything like that
elsewhere" (II. 197). Compare Strabo's account of the Ichthyophagi on the
coast of Mekran (XV. 11), and the like account in the life of Apollonius of
Tyana (III. 56).

[Burton, quoted by Yule, says (_Sind Revisited_, 1877, I. p. 33): "The
whole of the coast, including that of Mekran, the land of the _Mahi
Kharan_ or Ichthyophagi." Yule adds: "I have seen this suggested also
elsewhere. It seems a highly probable etymology." See note, p. 402.
--H.C.]

NOTE 5.--At Hasik, east of Dhafar, Ibn Batuta says: "The people here live
on a kind of fish called _Al-Lukham_, resembling that called the sea-dog.
They cut it in slices and strips, dry it in the sun, salt it, and feed on
it. Their houses are made with fish-bones, and their roofs with
camel-hides" (II. 214).

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

CONCERNING THE CITY OF DUFAR.

Dufar is a great and noble and fine city, and lies 500 miles to the
north-west of Esher. The people are Saracens, and have a Count for their
chief, who is subject to the Soldan of Aden; for this city still belongs to
the Province of Aden. It stands upon the sea and has a very good haven, s