Cotton Vitelius A XV

Marvels of the East


In one land there are born donkeys which have horns as big as oxen. They are in that very great wasteland which is in the southern part of . They retreat to the , because of the multitude of snakes called which are in those places. They have horns as big as rams. If they strike or touch anyone, he immediately dies. In those lands there is an abundance of . The snakes keep the pepper in their eagerness. In order to take the pepper people set fire to the place and then the snakes flee down into the earth; because of this the pepper is black. From to the city of where the pepper grows is in the lesser measure which is called 800 units. It is reckoned in the greater measure that is called six hundred and twenty-three and a half units. The place is barren because of the multitude of the snakes.