Ibn Battuta — "In Mali, I saw a man eat an entire roasted sheep by himself, and then drink a bu…"
In Mali, I saw a man eat an entire roasted sheep by himself, and then drink a bucket of sour milk. The people there have stomachs like camels.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"The women of this country are very beautiful, and they are treated with more respect than the men. They are not veiled, and they have no shame."
"I saw a man in this city who had a pet monkey that was trained to steal things from people's pockets. It was quite amusing to watch."
"Among the customs of the people of this island is that the women do not cover their heads, and they are not veiled."
"The women of this country are very beautiful, and they wear silk clothes, but they are not veiled."
"The people of this city are all black, and their teeth are white, and their women are very beautiful."
About Ibn Battuta (1304-1369)
Moroccan Muslim scholar and explorer whose Rihla (travels) covered ~75,000 miles across the Islamic world from Mali to China — the most-traveled person of the medieval world. Closely associated with Marco Polo (his Venetian counterpart, traveling 50 years earlier in the opposite direction). For an intellectual contrast, see medieval European Christian insularity, the sheltered monastic-feudal worldview of 14th-century Latin Christendom — Ibn Battuta's 30-year journey demonstrates that the 14th-century Dar al-Islam was a single intellectual ecosystem from West Africa to Beijing, while medieval Europe was still tribal and parochial. The cleanest 'connectedness vs insularity' contrast in pre-modern history — Battuta could find a familiar Maliki judge in any city from Mali to Sumatra.