‘The Oriental geography of Ebn Haukal, an Arabian traveller of the tenth century’ [‎25] (78/388)

ni
ibbass «ies,l,»,
obtaii
)r y of the Beni
10 w as at
Zl ' r ^ Mek.
remains inthe
^ sv,l
miah
Ghafek, a J l J
derable towns.
serts. Sirinf,
nd, but not in
r of this boot
the coast of tk
( 25 )
" Mediterranean Sea, something was thrown up,
" and I afterwards heard that at Sir in such was every year
" thrown on the shore: this is a certain thing which they call
" mouhi, resembling fine beaver, or raw silk; it rubs
" itself against the stones on the sea-shore, and its plumage, or
" down, comes off*, which the people come and gather, and
" weave into garments." The kings of Andalus are very fond of
this stuff, and will not allow it to be exported; and they have
garments of it which cost above a thousand dinars.
a JCJL c Malaca produces the sanfar\, of whose skin
they make the handles of swords.
v—VjiL Jezireh Tar eh, Aljezireh, was the first seat of
Islam in this country. The Jehel-Tarek, Gibraltar,
is a well-inhabited mountain, with villages or small towns on it :
it is the extreme point and last pass of Andalus,
Toletilah is a city situated on a lofty mountain: the
buildings are of marble, or hard stones, fastened with lead. About
this city there are seven hills, all cultivated and inhabited; and
they had ceased ft
to reign A. H. iji»
of tjie Hegin
* This thing feems here to be an animal. The original is as follows:
t I muft acknowledge my ignorance of this creature, and my suspicion that there is
an error in the writing of the word.
e