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swim (past 
swam) to go 
through the water 
moving your arms 
and legs
pirate a person 
on a ship who 
takes things from 
other ships
onto some rocks. I was afraid because I can’t swim. The 
sailors took some of the women travellers away, but I 
stayed alone all night on the ship and prayed.
In the morning, some people found me and took me back 
to the coast of Serendib. I sailed away once more, but this 
time lots of pirates came onto our ship. They took all my 
pearls, rubies, and expensive clothes – and then left me on 
an island in only my trousers! ‘Not again!’ I thought.
I sailed back to the Maldives once more, and there I got 
on a ship to China.
On the journey, I stopped at a number of places and 
visited two islands – Sumatra and Java. Java was very 
interesting. Everybody there has an elephant, and people 
visit the shops on them!
After Java, we sailed for forty days with a good wind behind 
us, and arrived in China. There’s a lot to tell you about China, 
Ahmed. Chinese people can make many different things very 
well – from wonderful pictures to beautiful boxes. 
China is a very nice country for travellers, and I journeyed 
easily from town to town. Some of their animals are 
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different from our animals, too, and that interested me. 
They have cats with blue-green eyes, you know. And 
when I stopped in one city called Fuzhou, something very 
interesting happened.
A judge arrived in the city, and my friends took me to 
meet him. We said ‘Hello’, and then this man looked at me, 
and I looked at him.
‘I know you!’ I cried. ‘You’re Al-Bushri and you’re from 
Ceuta – not far from my home town of Tangier!’
‘That’s right!’ he smiled.
We laughed and talked for hours. You meet people in the 
strangest places, Ahmed! The holy man Burhan Al-Din 
was right again about finding old friends on my journeys!
After some months in China, I was ready to begin my 
long journey home. So I went to look for a ship.
‘And did you come home at once?’ I asked.
‘No,’ he said. ‘I stopped at cities from my earlier journeys 
– Damascus, Cairo, and many more. But when I went back 
they were dark and different places,’ he said slowly. ‘I can 
tell you all about that tomorrow.’
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