though they were horns of great oxen or of bugles or
of kine; so that men make cups of them, to drink of. From thence go men,
by many journeys, through the land of Prester John, the great Emperor of
Ind.

_III.--Of the Land of Prester John_

The Emperor Prester John holdeth a full great land, and hath many full
noble cities and good towns in his realm, and many great isles and
large. And he hath under him seventy-two provinces, and in every
province is a king. And these kings have kings under them, and all are
tributaries to Prester John. And he hath in his lordships many great
marvels. For in his country is the sea that men call the Gravelly Sea,
that is all gravel and sand without any drops of water; and it ebbeth
and floweth in great waves, as other seas do, and it is never still nor
in peace. And no man may pass that sea by navy, nor by no manner of
craft, and therefore may no man know what land is beyond that sea. And
albeit that it have no water, yet men find therein and on the banks full
good fish of other manner of kind and shape than men find in any other
sea; and they are of right good taste and delicious to man's meat.

In the same lordship of Prester John there is another marvellous thing.
There is a vale between two mountains, that dureth nigh on four miles;
and some call it the Vale of Devils, and some call it the Valley
Perilous. In that vale men hear often time great tempests and thunders
and great murmurs and noises all days and nights; and great noise, as it
were sown of tabors, and of trumpets, as though it were of a great
feast. This vale is all full of devils, and hath been always. And men
say there, that is one of the entries of hell. And in mid place of that
vale under a rock is a head and the visage of a devil bodily, full
horrible and dreadful to see, and it showeth not but the head to the
shoulders.

But there is no man in the world so hardy, Christian man nor other, but
that he would be in dread for to behold it and that he would be ready to
die for dread, so is it hideous for to behold. For he beholdeth every
man so sharply with dreadful eyes that be evermore moving and sparkling
as fire, and changeth and stareth so often in diverse manner with so
horrible countenance that no man dare come nigh him. And in that vale is
gold and silver and rich jewels great plenty. And I and my fellows
passed that way in great dread, and we saw much people slain. And we
entered fourteen persons, but at