I had never believed what I had heard sailors and others tell of the valley of diamonds, and of the means employed by merchants to obtain jewels from it.  But now I found that I had heard the truth.  For the fact is, that merchants come to this valley when the eagles have young ones, and throw great joints of meat into it; the diamonds, upon whose points they fall, stick to them; the eagles, which are stronger in this country than anywhere else, pounce with great force upon these pieces of meat, and carry them to their nests on the edge of the rocks to feed their young; then the merchants run to their nests, drive off the eagles by their shouts, and take away the diamonds that stick to the meat.

In this device I saw the means of my escape.

I gathered the largest diamonds I could find, and put them into a leather bag fastened at my waist.  Then I took the largest of the pieces of meat, tied it close around me with the cloth of my turban, and laid myself upon the ground, with my face downwards.  I had scarcely placed myself thus when one of the eagles bore me, with the piece of meat to which I was fastened, to his nest on the top of the mountain.  The merchants at once began their shouting to frighten the eagles, and when they had driven the birds away, one of them came to the nest where I was.  He was much alarmed when he first saw me, but soon began to quarrel, and asked me why I stole his goods.

“Do not be uneasy,” said I; “here are diamonds enough for you and me, more than all the others have together.  They have to take what chance brings them, but I chose for myself, in the valley, those which you see in this bag.”

The other merchants now crowded around in amazement, and led me to their camp.  When I showed them the diamonds in my bag, they confessed that they had never seen any of such size and beauty.  I prayed the merchant who owned the nest to which I was carried (for every merchant had his own) to take for his share as many as he pleased.  He contented himself with one, and that the least of them, and, when I urged him to take more, said,—­

“No, this will save me the trouble of making any more voyages, and will raise as great a fortune as I desire.”

When each of the merchants was satisfied with the diamonds which the eagles brought them, we left the place, and traveled near high mountains, where there were serpents of prodigious length, and from these we had the good fortune to escape.  We took ship at the first port we reached, and touched at the Isle of Roha, where the trees grow that yield camphor.  Here also is found the rhinoceros.  This animal fights with the elephant, runs his horn into his belly, and carries him off upon his head; but when the blood and fat of the elephant run into his eyes and make him blind, he falls to the ground; then, strange to relate, the roc comes and carries them both away in her claws, for food for her young ones.

In this island I exchanged my diamonds for merchandise.  After trading at various towns, we landed at Bussorah, whence I proceeded to Bagdad.  There I gave large presents to the poor, and lived in honor upon the vast riches I had gained with so much fatigue.