ABSTRACT
Ten days after embarking at Qāliqūţ we reached the islands of Dhībat al-Mahal [the Maldives] (Dhība being pronounced like the feminine of dhīb). 2 These islands are one of the wonders of the world and number about two thousand in all, 3 Each hundred or less of them form a circular cluster resembling a ring, this ring having one entrance like a gateway, and only through this entrance can ships reach the islands. 4 When a vessel arrives at any one of them it must needs take one of the inhabitants |111 to pilot it to the other islands. They are so close-set that on leaving one island the tops of the palms on another are visible. If a ship loses its course it is unable to enter and is carried by the wind to al~ Ma'bar or to Ceylon.
