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its source, it has been said to be like a mill-stone. Some have said it is
longer than this, while others have said it is shorter. (It is said) that these veins are spread on all sides of (the mill-stone) like the rays of the sun. •Ubayd Allah al-Mahdl, the ruler of Egypt and al-Maghrib, had taken
forged gold from here. These gold pieces were like cube-shaped millstones. He had the gold piece hung from the centre part of the doorway of his palace Al-Mahdiyah on the side of the coast of Barqah. It could not be stolen as there were sentinels to guard it. The thief felt afraid of stealing it and also because it would have taken quite some time to perform this operation. Otherwise that was the difference between this centre-part and the mine except that here one felt afraid, while there was no fear in the mine? Were it not for the dominance by fear, people would have removed it and licked it with their tongues even if it were in the form of a sword or plate. In much the same way the Maharaj (which means 'King of Kings')
of Zabaj had bricks of gold cast from his own revenues and thrown into a lake in which water enters during the tidal period. Crocodiles inhabit the lake. Whenever the Maharaj desires to have the bricks taken out, a very large number of his servants congregate round the lake, shouting loudly, so that the gavial creatures leave the lake, and as much gold as is desired is collected. If one wishes to steal the gold, he will have to collect a very large number of people to shout. The gold of Sifalah-Zanj is very red. It is found in Western Sudan in
a round shape like beads. The prospector will have to measure his provisions, e.g., food and victuals, according to the number of the days he will have to spend in the desert. If a person can manage to take with him as much water as would slake his thirst while he is in the desert, he can hope to negotiate these deserts. This is all. The rest is a farrago of nonsense and fables. The custom among the nautical businessmen of Zabaj and Zanj is
that they do not trust these people as regards lease and purchase. The chiefs and the rich are kept as ransom and the goods they wish to take are carried to their people. These goods are distributed among them. They then move out in the direction of the desert and each one of them gets gold equal in worth to the goods (so has been mentioned by the narrators). This gold is in the form of clods. Returning to their ships, they hand (the gold over to) the ransomed persons from whom they receive money. When the gold passes to the hands of the traders, the ransomed persons are released and they leave with gifts, etc. The traders wash this gold with water, as it has been stated by them that a person once had put the gold in his mouth and had died immediately. People who are not knowledgeable about these places should exercise
care. Sea merchants if ship-wrecked and arrive in a wilderness, follow |
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