"His name was Sindbad of the Sea."
Then Sindbad cried: "Oh, master, know that I am the owner of the goods and I am Sindbad of the Sea."
Then there was great rejoicing and Sindbad took leave of this King of Borneo and set sail for Bagdad—the Abode of Peace.
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| The romance of "Sindbad the Sailor" is really a true story of Arab adventures at sea during the ninth and tenth centuries, put into a romantic setting and ascribed to one man. In the above map, which is a portion of the map of the world made by the famous Arab geographer, Edrisi, in 1154 A.D., many of the places to which Sindbad's story relates have been identified. Their modern names are as follows:— | |
| Kotroba is (probably) Socotra. | Rami, the "Island of Apes," is Sumatra. |
| Koulam Meli is Coulan, near Cape Comorin. | Maid Dzaba, the "island with the volcano," is Banca. |
| HIND is INDIA. | Senf is Tsiampa, S. Cochin—China. |
| Serendib is Ceylon. | Mudza (or Mehrage) is Borneo. |
| Murphili (or Monsul), the "Valley of Diamonds," is Masulipatam. | Kamrun is Java. |
| Roibahat, the "Clove Islands," are the Maldive Islands. | Maid, the Camphor Island, is Formosa. |
Edrisi's names are those which are used in the Arabian Nights. | |
But the spirit of unrest was upon him and soon he was off again. Indeed, he made seven voyages in all, but there is only room here to note a few of the most important points in each. This time he sailed to the coast of Zanzibar, East Africa, and, anchoring on the beautiful island of Madagascar, amid sweet-smelling flowers, pure rivers, and warbling birds, Sindbad fell asleep. He awoke to find the ship had sailed away, leaving him without food or drink, and not a human being was to be seen on the island.
"Then I climbed up into a lofty tree and began to look from it to the right and left, but saw nothing save sky and water and trees and birds and islands and sands."
At last he found an enormous bird. Unwinding his turban, he twisted it into a rope and, tying one end round his wrist, tied the other to one of the bird's great feet. Up flew the giant bird high into the sky and Sindbad with it, descending somewhere in India in the Valley of Diamonds. This bird was afterwards identified as an enormous eagle.