22 THE FIRST VOYAGE OF

return to my country; but none knew it, nor
knew any one who went to it. At this I was
perplexed, and I was weary of the length of my
absence from home; and in this state I con-
tinued for a length of time, until I went in one
day to the King El-Mihrdj, and found with him
a party of Indians. I saluted them, and they
returned my salutation, and welcomed me, and
asked me respecting my country; after which, I
questioned them as to their country, and they
told me that they consisted of various races.
Among them are the Shdékireeyeh, who are the
most noble of their races, who oppress no one,
nor offer violence to any. And among them are
a class called the Brahmans, a people who never
drink wine ; but they are persons of pleasure and
joy and sport and merriment, and possessed of
camels and horses and cattle. They informed me
also that the Indians are divided into seventy-
two classes; and I wondered at this extremely.
And I saw, in the dominions of the King El-
Mihraj, an island, among others, which is called
Kasil, in which is heard the beating of tambour-
ines and drums throughout the night, and the
islanders and travellers informed us that Ed-
Dejjal is in it. I saw too, in the sea in which is
that island, a fish two hundred cubits long, and