Suddenly after we had been many days at sea, the captain began uttering loud lamentations. He threw off his turban, pulled his beard, and beat his head like a madman. We asked him the reason; he answered that we were in the most dangerous place in all the ocean. “A rapid current carries the ship along with it, and we shall all perish in less than a quarter of an hour. Pray to God to deliver us from this peril; we cannot escape, if He does not take pity on us.” At these words he ordered the sails to be lowered; but all the ropes broke, and the ship was carried by the current to the foot of an inaccessible mountain, where she struck and went to pieces; yet in such a manner that we saved our lives, our provisions, and the best of our goods.
The mountain at the foot of which we found ourselves was covered with wrecks, with a vast number of human bones, and with an incredible quantity of goods and riches of all kinds.
In all other places it is usual for rivers to run from their channels into the sea; but here a river of fresh water runs from the sea into a dark cavern, whose entrance is high and spacious. What is most remarkable in this place is, that the rocks of the mountain are of crystal, rubies, or other precious stones. There is also a sort of fountain of pitch or bitumen, that runs into the sea, which the fish swallow, and evacuate soon afterward, turned into ambergris; and this the waves throw up on the beach in great quantities. Trees also grow
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