Loadon 
 
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 Tori-shire 3T$. 'PubHshinsr and Stationery Co. limited. 
 
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 Agtnte — Dssm A Son, Lti<!gatc-Hitt« 
 
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 THE FIRST VOYAGE OF SINBAD. 
 
 Y father was a native of the city of Bagdad, but dying while 
 I was very young, and leaving me a considerable for- 
 tune, I pursued a course of dissipation, continuing my 
 excesses till I fell into a fit of sickness. Having recovered, 
 I collected together the remains of my fortune, and embarked 
 with several merchants on board a ship, which we had jointly 
 laden with merchandise for the port of Balsora. 
 
 " Tn the course of our voyage we touched at several islands, 
 where we sold or exchanged our goods. One day, being be- 
 calmed near a small island, which resembled a beautiful green 
 meadow, we determined to carry our provisions to, and dine 
 upon this pleasant little island. While we were preparing for 
 dinner, and had kindled a fire to dress our provisions," the 
 *sland began to move, and at the same moment those who 
 were left in the ship called us to re-embark instantly, or we 
 should all be ^ 
 
 r 
 
 lost, as what 
 
 we had taken 
 
 to be an island 
 
 was only the 
 
 back of a mon- 
 strous whale. 
 
 Every one 
 
 hastened toi 
 
 save himself as 
 
 he could; but 
 
 for my part I 
 
 was still on the 
 
 back of the 
 when he 
 
 into the sea, and had only time to catch hold of a broad 
 of wood that had been brought out of the ship to serve 
 
 
4 SINBAD THE SAILOR. 
 
 as a table. On this piece of wood I floated ; but the current 
 carried me away from the ship, and the captain, concluding 
 that I was lost hoisted his sails, and pursued his voyage. 
 
 " I struggled to save myself all the rest of the day and the 
 following night. Next morning I found my strength gone, 
 and despaired of my life, when happily a wave threw me against 
 an island. The bank was steep and rugged, yet exhausted as 
 I was I climbed it by means of some roots of trees, and then 
 lay down till sunrise, when, crawling on my hands and knees 
 in search of some herbs to eat, I found a spring of excellent 
 water. Having refreshed myself with the water, I came to a 
 cave, wherein 1 lay down, and slept profoundly during many 
 hours. When I awoke it was almost sunset. I left my cave 
 to search for some habitation. However I found none ; but 
 I soon came to a small plain surrounded with fine trees bear- 
 ing all sorts of fruits ; and what surprised me most was, to see 
 a great number of young colts grazing together. I supped 
 upon fruit, and climbed into a tree for my lodging. About 
 midnight I was greatly alarmed to hear the sound of trumpets 
 and drums, which seemed to pass all round the island, and 
 continued through the night; but when the morning came, 
 It still appeared to be uninhabited. 
 
 " On the third day, to my great joy, a party of men landed, 
 who were astonished to find me there. They informed me 
 they were the grooms of King Mihrage, and that the island 
 upon which I was thrown belonged to the geni Degial, who 
 visited it every night with drums and trumpets ; and that the 
 geni being the friend of King Mihrage, permitted him to have 
 his >oung colts trained upon the island, and that they were 
 sent at the expiration of every six months to select such of 
 them as were fit to be placed in the royal stables. ^ 
 
 " The grooms carried me with them to the capital of King 
 Mihrage, which was a fine harbour where ships arrived daily 
 from all quarters of the world. The king allowed me apart- 
 ments in one of his palaces, and delighted in my conversation. 
 
 " One day, having walked to the quay, several seamen were 
 busily employed in unloading a ship newly arrived. As I cast 
 my eye on some of the bales of goods I perceived them to be 
 -the same that I had put on board when I embarked for Balsora- 
 I also knew the captain, and I carelessly asked him to whom 
 
STNBAD THE SAILOR. 5 
 
 those bales belonged. ' To a merchant of Bagdad,' he replied, 
 'who perished at sea.' 
 
 " 'Captain,' said I, 'I am Sinbad, and those bales are mine.' 
 The captain started, and, lifting up his hands and eyes with 
 amazement, cried out aloud, ' Is there no faith left among men ? 
 I and many of my passengers saw Sinbad swallowed up in the 
 waves, and yet you tell me you are him.' 
 
 " But some other persons coming from the ship, instantly 
 knew me, and I was not long in convincing the captain that I 
 was no imposter ; upon w r hich he presented me my bales. 
 
 " I then selected the most valuable articles, and presented 
 them to King Mihrage ; and, taking leave of him, went on 
 board the ship and came home. Here I bought fine lands, 
 and built a great house, and determined to forget my past 
 dangers, and to enjoy the pleasures of life." 
 
 THE SECOND VOYAGE OF SINBAD. 
 
 " I designed after my first voyage to spend the rest of my 
 days at Bagdad, but ere long I grew weary of a quiet life.. 
 Accordingly I went to sea a second time, with some other 
 merchants. One day we landed on an uninhabited island, 
 where, while some diverted themselves with gathering flowers 
 and fruits, I took my wine and provisions and sat down by a 
 stream, between two large trees, which formed an agreeable 
 shade. After I had eaten I fell asleep. I cannot tell how long 
 I had slept ; but when I awakened, not only my companions, 
 but the ship itself was gone. Nothing could exceed my grief 
 and consternation at this event. 
 
 " At last I became more resigned, and climbed to the top of 
 a high tree to see if there was any thing that could give me 
 hopes. Towards the sea I beheld nothing but sky and water; 
 but looking towards the land, I perceived at a distance some- 
 thing large and white ; and hastening down from the tree, ran 
 towards it. As I came nearer, I thought it was a large white 
 bowl ; and when I came quite up to it, and touched it, I found 
 it as smooth as ivory, and at least fifty paces round. 
 
 " On a sudden the sky became quite darkened, and, looking 
 up to see what had occasioned this sudden darkness, I beheld 
 a bird of enormous size moving like a great black cloud towards 
 me. I immediately recollected that I had heard of a bird called 
 
6 
 
 SINBAD THE SAILOR. 
 
 a roc, so large that it could carry away young elephants, and 
 I concluded that the great white bowl must be its egg. I 
 was right in my supposition, for the bird alighted, and sat over 
 the egg. 1 crept close to the egg, and tied myself firmly to 
 the leg of the roc with the cloth of my turban, in hopes that, 
 when she flew away, she would carry me out of the desert 
 island ; and having passed the night in this condition, the bird 
 flew r away the next morning, 'and carried me so high into the 
 air that 1 could not see the earth, and suddenly descended so 
 
 swift, that I 
 lost my senses. 
 On coming to 
 mvself, and 
 finding the roc 
 on the ground, 
 I untied the 
 cloth which 
 bound me to 
 her leg, and 
 the bird, hav- 
 ing taken up a 
 large serpent 
 in her bill, 
 again took her 
 flight. 
 
 " The place in which the roc left me was a deep valley, en- 
 compassed on every side with high mountains, whose sides 
 were so steep that it was impossible to ascend them. This 
 was a new perplexity. 
 
 " As I paced up and down, musing on my hard fortune, I 
 observed that the ground was strewed with diamonds of a 
 surprisingly large size. 
 
 " At last I sat down, and, being overcome with fatigue, I 
 fell asleep. I was awakened by the noise of something that 
 fell close beside me. This was a great piece of fresh meat ; 
 and immediately I saw several others fall from the rocks in 
 different places. 
 
 " I had heard of the famous Diamond Valley, and the strata. 
 gems used to get jewels from thence, how the merchants came 
 to the top of these impassable mountains near where the eagles 
 
 • 
 
 
SINBAD THE SAILOR. 1 
 
 uild their nests, and throwing joints of raw meat down into 
 the valley, the diamonds upon which they fell stick to them; 
 then the eagles* lured by the smell of the meat, pounce upon 
 it, and carry it to their nests, when the merchants, being on the 
 watch, frighten away the eagles, and take the diamonds. 
 
 4< This gave me hopes of getting out of this dreadful abyss. 
 1 therefore hastened to pick up some of the largest diamonds 
 i could find, which I put into a bag, and fastened it to my 
 girdle. I then selected the largest piece of meat in the valley, 
 which T tied to my waist with the cloth of my turban, and 
 then lay down upon my face to wait the descent of the eagles. 
 They were not long in coming, and one of the strongest having 
 pounced upon the meat on my back, flew with me to the nest 
 
 at the top of 
 
 the mountain. 
 
 The merchants '• ^-,,^ 
 
 began shout- ,: ; ^pS^ 
 
 ing to frighten ggj 
 
 V 
 
 the eagles, and i 
 when they had $0i 
 
 obliged them 
 to quit their 
 
 prey, 
 
 one of 
 
 them came to 
 
 the nest where 
 
 I was. At 
 
 first he was mh 
 
 much fright- ^^ 
 
 ened at seeing me, but, recovering himself, he began to quarrel 
 
 with me, and accused me of stealing his goods. ' You will 
 
 treat me,' replied I, with more civility when you know me 
 
 better. Do not be uneasy; 1 have diamonds enough for both of 
 
 us, far more than all the other merchants put together/ 
 
 "The merchants having gathered their diamonds, we left the 
 place and crossed the mountains till we arrived at a port where 
 we took shipping for Balsora, and I continued my journey 
 over land to Bagdad. Being once more arrived in my native 
 city, I gave great alms to the poor and lived there very 
 happily, for some time. ,, 
 
8 SINBAD THE SAILOR. 
 
 THE THIRD VOYAGE OF SINBAD. 
 
 " I was still in the prime of life, and, being resolved upon a 
 third voyage, I once more took shipping at the port of Balsora. 
 
 " After we had been at sea some weeks we were overtaken 
 by a dreadful storm, and at last were obliged to cast anchor 
 before an island, inhabited by frightful savages, about two 
 feet high, and covered all over with red hair, who came 
 swimming towards us, and boarded our ship, and carried her 
 off in triumph to another island. 
 
 " We went forward into the island on which we were landed, 
 and when we had got a little way, we beheld a huge pile of 
 building, and made towards it. We found it to be a lofty pal- 
 ace, with a folding gate of ebony, which led to a vast apart- 
 ment, having on one side a great heap of human bones, and on 
 the other a number of roasting spits. Presently the gate opened, 
 and there came out a black monster as tall as a palm-tree. He 
 had but one eye, which was in the very middle of his forehead, 
 and looked like a ball of fire. 
 
 " At the sight of so hideous a giant we could scarcely keep 
 from swooning. He advanced, and taking me up by the skin 
 of the neck as I would a kitten, and, perceiving that J was 
 nothing but skin and bone, threw me on the ground with dis- 
 dain. He took up all the rest one by one, and examined them, 
 and the poor captain being the fattest, he was presently killed, 
 roasted, and eaten by the dreadful monster. 
 
 " When the giant had finished his savage meal, he fell 
 asleep, snoring louder than thunder. 
 
 " Despair now gave us courage to attempt our deliverance. 
 Nine of the most resolute of us got up very softly, and taking 
 nine spits, we held the points of them in the fire till they were 
 red-hot, and then thrusting them all at once into the monster's 
 eye, we blinded him. He uttered a frightful scream, and be- 
 gan to grope about with his hands to catch us ; but we took 
 care to keep out of his reach, and hastening down to the 
 shore, we made floats of timber we found on the coast, waiting 
 for daylight to embark ; but scarcely was the first dawn of day 
 visible when we beheld our monstrous enemy approaching, led 
 by others of the same species. We immediately jumped upon 
 our floats, and pushed them off; but the giants hurled great 
 oieces of rocks from the cliffs, which sunk everv float but the one 
 
SINBAD THE SAILOR. 
 
 J was upon, and all my companions, except two, were drowned. 
 
 " For two days we were tossed about at sea. On the even- 
 ing of the second day, however, we drove upon an island where 
 we found excellent fruit and good water, arrd lay down to sleep 
 under the shade of the trees. 
 
 " We were soon awakened by the hissings of an enormous 
 serpent. One of my comrades was swallowed by him in a 
 moment, while I and the other fled, and climbed up into the 
 highest tree we could find. Presently the serpent came hiss- 
 ing- to the root of the tree, and reared his head so high that he 
 soon reached my only remaining companion, who sat much low- 
 er on the tree than I did, and devoured him like the former one. 
 
 " I waited on the tree till it was late the next day, and per- 
 ceiving nothing of the serpent, I ventured down. 
 
 " I was so exhausted for want of sleep, and had suffered so 
 greatly from the serpent's poisonous breath, that death seemed 
 to me more desirable than living in such a deplorable condition, 
 from which there appeared no means of escape, and I ran to- 
 wards the sea, resolving to throw myself in ; but just as I was 
 about to fulfil 
 my rash deter- -***^^ K .~Mv- 
 
 mination I per- 
 ceived a ship 
 in full sail at a 
 considerable 
 distance. I 
 
 shouted as loud 
 as I could to 
 attract their 
 notice, and the 1|1||||§ 
 captain atjjpjjjl 
 length sent his'^g^?«l 
 boat for me. ^~S^ 
 
 As soon as 1:311 
 
 got on board, 
 
 they all gathered round me, to learn how I came on the desert 
 
 island. I related the misfortunes of my voyage, and they 
 
 testified their joy at my wonderful escape. 
 
 " hen we came to an anchor at the port of Jalabat, the 
 captain i Id me that he had some bales of goods belonging to 
 
10 SINBAD THE SAILOR. 
 
 a merchant wow dead, and intended to dispose of them for i 
 benefit of the heirs. 
 
 " I eagerly inquired the name of the owner, and to my 
 astonishment was told it was Sinbad ! 
 
 " Looking earnestly at the captain, I recollected him to be 
 the person who, in my second voyage, had left me on the des- 
 ert island. * You believe then,' said I, 'that Sinbad is dead?' 
 — - u ' Certainly,' he replied ; 'for one day, when we landed on 
 a small uninhabited island to take in water, by some mistake 
 I set sail without him, nor w r as his absence discovered till it 
 was too late ; and there can be no doubt that he perished.' — 
 4 No, captain,' I exclaimed, 'in me you behold Sinbad, who esca- 
 ped that and many other perils ! ' The captain being convinced, 
 delivered me up the goods, so that I returned to Bagdad witn 
 great riches. n 
 
 THE FOURTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD. 
 
 "At the expiration of one year, I prepared for a fourth voy- 
 age, against the entreaties of my kindred. I began my voyage, 
 which proved very long and most unfortunate; for the pilot 
 lost his course, and knew not which way to steer. At length 
 he knew where he was ; but we all were seized with fear when 
 we saw him tear his beard and beat his head like a madman. 
 We demanded the reason of his conduct, and he exclaimed, 
 that we must all inevitably perish, for within a quarter of an 
 hour the ship would be dashed to pieces against a mountain, 
 to which the current rapidly bore us. It was too true ; the 
 sails presently split, the ropes, burst asunder, with the force 
 with which the ship drove against the foot of an inaccessible 
 mountain, and was a complete wreck ; yet we saved our lives, 
 the most of our provisions, and our goods. 
 
 " To climb this mountain, which almost reached the skies, 
 was impossible ; for it was of smooth granite, mixed with rocks 
 of the finest crystals. In the midst of this mountain was a 
 dark cavern, into which ran a broad black river, the roaring of 
 whose waves stunned us with the sound. 
 
 " In this wretched place we continued till my comrades died 
 one after the other. I survived them all, and my stock of food 
 being exhausted, I suddenly made a desperate resolution to 
 trust myself to the current of the black river. 
 
 " I made a float, and loaded it with bales of rich stuffs, and, 
 
SINBAD THE SAILOR. 
 
 11 
 
 
 fastening my cargo with ropes, I went on board my float with 
 two little oars I had made, and left it to the mercy of the current. 
 " As soon as I was in the cavern, I lost all light. I floated 
 for several 
 days, and once 
 
 found the arch 
 so low that it 
 nearly brok 
 my head. At 
 
 length a pleas- 
 ing sleep seiz- 
 ed me ; when 
 I awoke I 
 found myself 
 at the brink of 
 a river, where 
 my float was 
 tied up amidst 
 i great number of negroes. 
 
 '"I begged of them to give me food, which they did, and 
 after I had appeased my hunger, I gave them a true account 
 of all that had befallen me. They requested I would go with 
 them to their king, and they placed me on a fine horse, bring- 
 ing my cargo and float after me. 
 
 " We marched thus till we came to Serindib, for it was in 
 that island I landed. I prostrated myself before the mon- 
 arch, to whom I related my story, with which he was so sur- 
 prised and pleased that he ordered it to be written in letters of 
 gold, and laid up among the archives of the kingdom. 
 
 " When I paid my next visit to the king, I presented him 
 with the choicest pieces of my rock-crystal, and then prayed 
 him to allow me to return to my own country, which request 
 he granted, and sent by me a brilliant present to the sovereign, 
 the Caliph Haroun Alraschid, with many rich gifts for myself. 
 At last I came safe to Bagdad, and presented myself before the 
 caliph, who received the present of the King of Serindib with 
 the greatest satisfaction, and having testified his thanks s lie 
 dismissed me with a handsome present/ ' 
 
 tos SHE*. 
 
 i 
 
 qoH34H 
 
WEBB, 
 
 1T0N, & Co.'s m 
 
 \\r 4^/V /V / V w\' 
 
 ra 
 
 i -- * mm 
 
 1. Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp. 
 
 2. Gulliver's Travels. 
 
 3. Little Jack and tlie Goat. 
 
 4. Children in the Wood. 
 
 5. Eobin Hood and Little John. 
 
 6. Baron Munchausen. 
 
 7. Abon Hassan. 
 
 8. Goody Two Shoes. 
 
 9. Jack and the Bean Stalk. 
 10. Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor 
 
 JD 11. Life of Lord Nelson. 
 wM 12. Anecdotes of Dogs. 
 jM 13. Evening Diversions. 
 
 OTLEY : 
 
 Yorkshire J. S. Publishing and Stationery 
 
 Company Limited. 
 
 London Agents — Dean & Son, Ludgate Hill. 
 
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