As I drew near, I thought it to be a white dome of enormous size; and when I touched it I found it to be very smooth.  There was no opening on any side, and there was no climbing to the top over the smooth surface.  It was at least fifty paces round.

By this time the sun was about to set, and all of a sudden the sky became as dark as if it had been covered with a thick cloud.  I was amazed at this sudden darkness, but much more when I found it was caused by a bird of monstrous size that came flying towards me.  I remembered that I had often heard mariners speak of a marvelous bird called the roc, and felt sure that the great dome by which I stood must be its egg.  In short, the bird alighted and sat over the egg.  As I saw her coming, I crept close to the egg, so that I had before me one of the legs of the bird, which was as big as the trunk of a tree.  I tied myself strongly to it with my turban, in hopes that the roc next morning would carry me with her out of this desert island.  After having passed the night in this condition, the bird flew away as soon as it was daylight, and carried me so high that I could not see the earth.  Then she descended with so much speed that I lost my senses.  But when I found myself on the ground, I quickly untied the knot, and had scarcely done so when the roc, having taken up a serpent of monstrous length in her bill, flew away.

The spot where I was left was surrounded on all sides by mountains, that seemed to reach above the clouds, and so steep that I could not possibly get out of the valley.  It seemed to me that the place was no better than the desert island from which the roc had brought me.

As I walked through the valley, I found it strewed with diamonds of a surprising bigness.  But the pleasure of looking at them was soon destroyed by another sight, which filled me with terror, namely, a great number of serpents, so monstrous that the least of them could swallow an elephant.  In the daytime they hid in their dens from their enemy, the roc, and came out only in the night.

I spent the day in walking about in the valley.  When night came I went into a cave where I thought I might rest in safety.  I closed the low and narrow entrance with a great stone, to preserve me from the serpents, but did not shut out all the light.  Soon the serpents began hissing around me and put me in such extreme fear that I could not sleep.  When day appeared the serpents retired, and I came out of the cave trembling.  I can justly say that I walked upon diamonds without feeling any desire to touch them.  At last I sat down, and ate some of my food, and, in spite of my fears, fell asleep, for I had not closed my eyes during the night.  Scarcely were they shut when something that fell by me with a great noise awoke me.  This was a large piece of raw meat; and at the same time, I saw several others fall down from the rocks in different places.