e ground is poor, so there is but little
grain of any kind, and they mostly raise yams to take its place.

"If any ship going there to trade carries rice as cargo, it makes very
large profits.

"The climate is irregular. In their usages they have the rectitude of
olden times.

"Men and women twist up their hair; they wear a short seamless shirt. The
occupation of the people is netting birds and beasts for food.

"They boil sea-water to make salt and ferment the juice of the sugar-cane
to make spirits. They have a ruler.

"The native products comprise red sandal-wood, dark red sugar-cane,
elephants' tusks, ambergris, native gold, _ya tsui tan-fan_, lit.,
'duck-bill sulphate of copper.'

"The goods used in trading are ivory boxes, trade silver, coloured satins,
and the like." (ROCKHILL, _T'oung Pao_, XVI., 1915, pp. 622-3.) Cf. CHAU
JU-KWA, p. 126.

XXXIV., p. 423. "There is a great deal of trade, and many merchants and
vessels go thither. But the staple trade of the Island is elephants'
teeth, which are very abundant; and they have also much ambergris, as
whales are plentiful."

Chau Ju-kwa has, p. 126: "The products of the country [Ts'oeng-pa] consist
of elephants' tusks, native gold, ambergris and yellow sandal-wood."

XXXVI., p. 438.

ADEN.

In the _Ying yai sheng lan_ we read that "the kingdom (of A-tan) is on the
sea-coast. It is rich and prosperous, the people follow the doctrine of
the Moslims and their speech is Arabic. Their tempers are overbearing and
violent. They have seven to eight thousand well-trained soldiers, horse
and foot, whom the neighbouring countries fear." (W.W. ROCKHILL, _T'oung
Pao_ XVI., 1915, p. 607.) There is a description of the giraffe under the
name of _K'i lin_; it "has forelegs over nine feet long, its hind ones are
about six feet. Beside its ears grow fleshy horns. It has a cow's tail and
a deer's body. It eats millet, beans, and flour cakes" (p. 609). In the
_Si Yang Chao kung tien lu_ (1520 A.D.), we have a similar description:
"Its front legs are nine feet long, its hind legs six feet. Its hoofs have
three clefts, it has a flat mouth. Two short fleshy horns rise from the
back of the top of its head. It has a cow's tail and a deer's body. This
animal is called _K'i lin_; it eats grain of any kind." (Ibid.) Cf.
FERRAND, J. _Asiatique,_ July-Aug., 1918, pp. 155-158.

XXXVI., p. 439.

At the time of Chau Ju-kwa, Aden was perhaps the most important port of
Arabia for the