In a message dated 12/26/2004 12:17:36 AM Mountain Standard Time, sly@victoria.tc.ca writes: <<<Hmmm... you may not need to go that far afield. I really appreciate the way that people are looking for ibn Batuta. He's enjoyable both because of his interesting writing and the interesting tales he has to tell, and because of his unique world-view that illuminates history from this period. Anne