'
Camaralzaman thanked the honest gardener for his advice, and the
safety he offered him in his house: he would have said more, but
the good man interrupted him, saying, 'You are weary, and must want
to refresh yourself. Come in and rest.' He conducted him into his
little hut, and after the prince had eaten heartily of what he set
before him, he requested him to relate how he came there.
Camaralzaman complied with his request, and when he had ended his
story, he asked him which was the nearest way to the king his
father's territories; 'for it is in vain,' said he, 'for me to
think of finding my princess where I left her, after wandering
eleven days from the spot. Ah!' continued he, 'how do I know she is
alive?' and so saying, he burst into tears.
The gardener replied that there was no possibility of his going
thither by land, the roads were so difficult and the journey so
long; besides, he must necessarily pass through the countries of so
many barbarous nations that he would never reach his father's. It
was a year's journey from the city where he was to any country
inhabited only by Mussulmans; the quickest passage for him would be
to go to the Isle of Ebony, whence he might easily transport
himself to the Isles of the Children of Khaledan: a ship sailed
from the port every year to Ebony, and he might take that
opportunity of returning to those islands.
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