OURTH VOYAGE

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My desire of seeing foreign countries rendered my pleasures at home
unsatisfactory. I therefore arranged my affairs, commenced a voyage to
Persia, and having bought a large stock of goods loaded a ship and again
embarked. The ship struck upon a rock, and the cargo was lost. A few
others and myself were borne by the current to an island, on which we
were surrounded by black savages, and carried to their huts. The savages
offered us herbs; my companions eagerly took them, for they were hungry.
Grief would not allow me to eat; and presently I saw that the herbs had
made my comrades senseless. Rice, mixed with oil of cocoanuts, was then
offered to us, which my companions ate greedily and grew fat. My unhappy
friends were then devoured one after another, having become appetizing
to the cannibals. But I languished so much that they did not think me
fit to eat. They left me to the care of an old man, from whom I managed
to escape; and taking care to go a contrary way from that which the
savages had taken I never stopped till night. At the end of seven days,
on the seashore I found a number of white persons gathering pepper. They
asked me in Arabic who I was, and whence I came; and I gave them an
account of the shipwreck, and of my escape. They treated me kindly and
presented me to their King, who treated me with great liberality. During
my stay with them, I observed that when the King and his nobles went
hunting, they rode their horses without bridle or saddle. With the
assistance of some workmen I made a bridle and saddle, and having put
them upon one of the King's horses, presented the animal, thus
equipped, to His Majesty. He was so delighted that he instantly mounted
and rode about the grounds almost the whole day. All the ministers of
state and the nobility induced me to make saddles and bridles for them,
for which they made me such magnificent presents that I soon became very
rich. The King at last requested that I would marry, and become one of
his nation. From a variety of circumstances I could not refuse, and he
therefore gave me one of the ladies of his Court, who was young, rich,
beautiful, and virtuous. We lived in the greatest harmony in a palace
belonging to my wife. I had made a good friend of a very worthy man who
lived in this place. Hearing one day that his wife had just died, I went
to condole with him on this unexpected calamity. We were alone together,
and he appeared to be i