er was over, Sinbad began the relation of his fifth voyage as
follows:

THE FIFTH VOYAGE

"All the troubles and calamities I had undergone," said he, "could not
cure me of my inclination to make new voyages. I therefore bought goods,
departed with them for the best seaport; and that I might not be obliged
to depend upon a captain, but have a ship at my own command, I remained
there till one was built on purpose. When the ship was ready, I went on
board with my goods: but not having enough to load her, I agreed to take
with me several merchants of different nations with their merchandise.

"We sailed with the first fair wind, and after a long navigation, the
first place we touched at was a desert island, where we found an egg of
a roc, equal in size to that I formerly mentioned. There was a young roc
in it just ready to be hatched, and its bill had begun to appear. The
merchants whom I had taken on board, and who landed with me, broke the
egg with hatchets, pulled out the young roc, piecemeal, and roasted it.
I had earnestly entreated them not to meddle with the egg, but they
would not listen to me.

"Scarcely had they finished their repast, when there appeared in the air
at a considerable distance from us two great clouds. The captain whom I
had hired to navigate my ship, said they were the male and female roc
that belonged to the young one and pressed us to re-embark with all
speed, to prevent the misfortune which he saw would otherwise befall us.
We hastened on board, and set sail with all possible expedition.

"In the meantime, the two rocs approached with a frightful noise, which
they redoubled when they saw the egg broken, and their young one gone.
They flew back in the direction they had come, and disappeared for some
time, while we made all the sail we could to endeavour to prevent that
which unhappily befell us.

"They soon returned, and we observed that each of them carried between
its talons rocks of a monstrous size. When they came directly over my
ship, they hovered, and one of them let fall a stone, but by the
dexterity of the steersman it missed us. The other roc, to our
misfortune, threw his burden so exactly upon the middle of the ship, as
to split it into a thousand pieces. The mariners and passengers were all
crushed to death, or sank. I myself was of the number of the latter; but
as I came up again, I fortunately caught hold of a piece of the wreck,
and swimming sometimes with one hand, and so