Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Gaelic Maundeville (Author: John Maundeville)

paragraph 239

Of Prester John and his realms

Prester John, the king of India, many are the islands and kingdoms subject to him, and in Pintosgsor is his own dwelling; and though there are many goodly cities in Pintosgsor, the best city there is Nis, because of the frequency with which the emperor is there. And it is this that causes the country of India to be islands, the rivers that come out of Paradise separating from each other. And good and wealthy is this kingdom that the Indian emperor hath, and there are many other kingdoms subject to him. Howbeit, it is not as wealthy as Cathay, because of the frequency with which merchandise from the west of the world enters Cathay, while their fear


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forbids the merchants to go to India by sea because of the stones of adamant therein.