ith it off this desert
island,' I said to myself joyfully.

"And sure enough, before very long I felt myself lifted off the
ground, and carried up and up until it seemed as if we had reached the
clouds. Then the huge bird began to sink down again, and when it
reached the ground I quickly untied my turban, and set myself free.

"I was so small, compared to the roc, that it had never even noticed
me, but darted off towards a great black object lying near, which it
seized with its beak and carried off. Imagine my horror when I looked
again and saw other dark objects, and discovered that they were great
black snakes.

"Here was I, in a deep valley, with mountains rising sheer up on every
side, and nothing to be seen among the rocks but those terrible black
snakes.

"'Oh!' I cried, 'why did I ever try to leave the desert island? I have
indeed only come into worse misfortune.'

"As I looked around, I noticed that the ground was strewn with
sparkling stones, which seemed to quiver with light, and when I looked
nearer, I found they were diamonds of extraordinary size, although
lying about like common pebbles. At first I was delighted, but they
soon ceased to please me, for I feared each moment I might be seized
by one of the terrible snakes.

"These snakes were so large that they could easily have swallowed an
elephant, and although they lay quiet during the day, and hid
themselves for fear of the roc, at night they came out in search of
food. I managed to find a cave among the rocks before nightfall, and
there I sat in fear and trembling until morning, when I once more went
out into the valley.

"As I sat thinking what I should do next, I saw a great piece of raw
meat come bounding down into the valley, from rock to rock. Then
another piece followed, and another, until several large pieces lay at
my feet.

"Then I remembered a tale which travelers had told me about the famous
Diamond Valley. They said that every year, when the young eagles were
hatched, merchants went to the heights above, and rolled down great
pieces of raw meat into the valley. The diamonds on which the meat
fell would often stick into the soft flesh, and then when the eagles
came, and carried off the meat to feed their young ones, the merchants
would beat them off their nests, and take the diamonds out of the
meat.

"I had never believed this wonderful tale, but now indeed I knew it to
be true, and felt sure that I was in the famous Diamond Val