- A.D . 1191. DESCRIPTION OF THE COAST OF ROMANIA. 25 5 On the king of France departing thence, he came to the island, the name of which is Cuuerfu. At the entrance of the isle of Cuuerfu, towards the land of Sulia, there are dangerous sands, extending through the middle from the island of Cuuerfu to the coast of Romania; the sea being not deeper upon the sands than four ells and a half. The island of Cuuerfu is large and fertile, and yields a yearly revenue to the emperor of Constantinople of fifteen quintals of gold—a quintal being a hundred pounds.. The island of Cuuerfu is six miles distant from Romania, and in some places the sea is so narrow between Cuuerfu and Romania, that from one shore to the other one man may be heard by another. The length of Cuuerfu is fifty miles ; and between Cuuerfu and Apulia, the distance is computed to be one hundred miles. Cuuerfu can easily be seen by those in Apulia, but not the converse, because Apulia lies low, and Cuuerfu is high land. At the extremity of the island of Cuuerfu, in Romania, there is a deserted castle, the name of which is Butentrost, in which the traitor Judas was born. After this, when you have almost come to the entrance of the straits, there is a deserted city at the extremity of the island of Cuuerfu, which is called Gaszope, in which there is such a vast quantity of serpents that no one dares to land near it on that side. Just opposite to it, on the coast of Romania, is a deserted city, the name of which is Santa Carenta, where there is a good harbour, wide and deep. At the mouth of this harbour, at the entrance of the straits, there is a rock resembling a haK-ruined tower, which extends almost to the middle of the harbour and lies concealed beneath the waves, so that it is necessary for those passing by to hug the shore of the island of Cuuerfu. At the extremity of the island of Cuuerfu are four islands, the name of one of which is Fanum. After this, about forty miles from the island of Cuuerfu, there is a lofty mountain on a cape of Romania, which is called Paxo ; from this mountain to Octrente,67 an archiépiscopal city in Apulia, is a distance of fifty miles ; and from this mountain to Brindisi, a hundred miles. At this mountain, called Paxo, begins the Gulf of Venice, which ia a hundred and fifty miles in length and a hundred in width. Persons passing up this gulf, on their way to Venice, will leave behind Romania, Sclavonia, and Istria. In Apulia, on the sea-coast, are the ports known by the following names : 6? Otranto.