r50 THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. whence I came to Bagdad with so much wealth that I did not know the amount of it. I gave a great deal to the poor, and made considerable additions to my landed estates. Sindbad thus finished the history of his third voyage, and gave Hindbad a hundred sequins, inviting him to the usual repast on the morrow ; and when he and the other guests had again met, Sindbad commenced the narrative of his fourth voyage :— THE FOURTH VOYAGE OF SINDBAD, THE SAILOR. The pleasures and dissipations into which I entered after my third voyage could not deter me from venturing on the sea again. Having settled my affairs, and furnished myself with merchandise, I reached a port, where I embarked. We set sail, and touched at several ports of Terra Firma, and of some oriental islands; but one day, making a great tack, we were surprised by a sudden squall of wind, from which the vessel, becoming ungovernable, was driven on a sandbank, and went to pieces, by which a great number of the crew, as well as the cargo, perished. I had the good fortune, as well as some other merchants and seamen, to get hold of a plank; we were all drawn by the strength of the current towards an island thax lay before us. We found some fruits and fresh water, which re-established our strength, and we lay down to sleep in the spot where the waves had thrown us, without seeking any farther! the grief we felt at our misfortune rendered us careless of our fate. The next morning, when the sun was risen, we left the shore, and ad- vancing in the island, perceived some habitations, towards which we bent our way. When we drew near, a great number of blacks came out to us, and surrounded us, seized our persons, of which they seemed to make a division, and then conducted us to their houses. Five of my comrades and myself were taken into the same place. They made us sit down, and then offered us a cer- tain herb, inviting us by signs to eat of it. My companions, without considering that they who gave it us did not eat of it, only consulted their appetites, and devoured it with avidity.