of the servants of the king of Persia, enticed a
Jew, whose name was R. Moses, to come with him, and when he came to
the land of Persia this horseman made the Jew his slave. One day the
archers came before the king to give a display of their skill and no
one among them could be found to draw the bow like this R. Moses. Then
the king inquired of him by means of an interpreter who knew his
language, and he related all that the horseman had done to him.
Thereupon the king at once granted him his liberty, had him clad in
robes of silk, gave him gifts, and said to him, "If thou wilt embrace
our religion, I will make thee a rich man and steward of my house,"
but he answered, "My lord, I cannot do this thing." Then the king took
him and placed him in the house of the Chief Rabbi of the Ispahan
community, Sar Shalom, who gave him his daughter to wife. This same R.
Moses told me all these things.

Thence one returns to the land of Khuzistan which is by the river
Tigris, and one goes down the river which falls into the Indian Ocean
unto an island called Kish[170]. It is a six days' journey to reach
this island.

[p.89]

The inhabitants neither sow nor reap. They possess only one well, and
there is no stream in the whole island, but they drink rain-water. The
merchants who come from India and the islands encamp there with their
wares. Moreover, men from Shinar, El-Yemen and Persia bring thither
all sorts of silk, purple and flax, cotton, hemp, worked wool, wheat,
barley, millet, rye, and all sorts of food, and lentils of every
description, and they trade with one another, whilst the men from
India bring great quantities of spices thither. The islanders act as
middlemen, and earn their livelihood thereby. There are about 500 Jews
there.

Thence it is ten days' journey by sea to Katifa, where there are about
5,000 Jews. Here the bdellium is to be found[171]. On the
twenty-fourth of Nisan rain falls upon the water, upon the surface of
which certain small sea-animals float which drink in the rain and then
shut themselves up, and sink to the bottom.

[p.90]

And about the middle of Tishri men descend to the bed of the sea by
ropes, and collect these shell-fish, then split them open and extract
the pearls. This pearl-fishery belongs to the King of the country, but
is controlled by a Jewish official.

Thence it is seven days' journey to Khulam which is the beginning of
the country of the Sun-worshippers[172]. These are the son