Note 142 — Chapter III
Edward Rehatsek translation
The romance writers of mediæval Europe, after the first Crusade, drew largely from Oriental fictions. Thus, for example, in The Boke of Duke Huon of Burdeux, among the many wonders which the hero sees in his journey to the court of the Soudan of Babylon is an underground river, the bed of which was composed of the most precious stones, which possessed a variety of curative properties.