e captain was Theodoros, a Greek of great cleverness. The
Greeks at that time were under the yoke of Egypt. The captain brought
great gifts in silver and gold and garments of silk to the King of
Egypt, and he moored his ship in front of the lighthouse, as was the
custom of all merchants.

[p.105]

Every day the guardian of the lighthouse and his servants had their
meals with him, until the captain came to be on such friendly terms
with the keeper that he could go in and out at all times. And one day
he gave a banquet, and caused the keeper and all his servants to drink
a great deal of wine. When they were all asleep, the captain and his
servants arose and broke the mirror and departed that very night. From
that day onward the Christians began to come thither with boats and
large ships, and eventually captured the large island called Crete and
also Cyprus, which are under the dominion of the Greeks. [The other
MSS. add here: Ever since then, the men of the King of Egypt have been
unable to prevail over the Greeks.] To this day the lighthouse is a
landmark to all seafarers who come to Alexandria; for one can see it
at a distance of 100 miles by day, and at night the keeper lights a
torch which the mariners can see from a distance, and thus sail
towards it[197].

[p.106]

Alexandria is a commercial market for all nations. Merchants come
thither from all the Christian kingdoms: on the one side, from the
land of Venetia and Lombardy, Tuscany, Apulia, Amalfi, Sicilia,
Calabria, Romagna, Khazaria, Patzinakia, Hungaria, Bulgaria, Rakuvia
(Ragusa?), Croatia, Slavonia, Russia, Alamannia (Germany), Saxony,
Danemark, Kurland? Ireland? Norway (Norge?), Frisia, Scotia,
Angleterre, Wales, Flanders, Hainault? Normandy, France, Poitiers,
Anjou, Burgundy, Maurienne, Provence, Genoa, Pisa, Gascony, Aragon,
and Navarra[198], and towards the west under the sway of the
Mohammedans, Andalusia, Algarve, Africa and the land of the Arabs: and
on the other side India, Zawilah, Abyssinia, Lybia, El-Yemen, Shinar,
Esh-Sham (Syria); also Javan, whose people are called the Greeks, and
the Turks. And merchants of India bring thither all kinds of spices,
and the merchants of Edom buy of them. And the city is a busy one and
full of traffic. Each nation has an inn of its own.

By the sea-coast there is a sepulchre of marble on which are engraved
all manner of beasts and birds; an effigy is in the midst thereof, and
all the writing is in ancient ch