The mountain at the foot of which we were cast was the coast of a
very long and large island. This coast was covered all over with
wrecks, and from the vast number of men's bones we saw everywhere,
and which filled us with horror, we concluded that abundance of
people had died there. It is also impossible to tell what a
quantity of goods and riches we found cast ashore there. All these
objects served only to augment our grief. Whereas in all other
places rivers run from their channels into the sea, here a great
river of fresh water runs out of the sea into a dark cave, whose
entrance is very high and large. What is most remarkable in this
place is that the stones of the mountain are of crystal, rubies, or
other precious stones. Here is also a sort of fountain of pitch or
bitumen, that runs into the sea, which the fishes swallow, and then
vomit up again, turned into ambergris; and this the waves throw up
on the beach in great quantities. Here also grow trees, most of
which are wood of aloes, equal in goodness to those of Comari.
To finish the description of this place, which may well be called a
gulf, since nothing ever returns from it--it is not possible for
ships to get away again when once they come near it.
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