horse being overlaid with gold[27]. Many other edifices are there, and
remarkable sights beyond enumeration.

From Rome it is four days to Capua, the large town which King Capys
built. It is a fine city, but its water is bad, and the country is
fever-stricken[28]. About 300 Jews live there, among them great
scholars and esteemed persons, at their heads being R. Conso, his
brother R. Israel, R. Zaken and the chief rabbi R. David, since
deceased. They call this district the Principality.

From there one goes to Pozzuoli which is called Sorrento the Great,
built by Zur, son of Hadadezer, when he fled in fear of David the
king. The sea has risen and covered the city from its two sides, and
at the present day one can still see the markets and towers which
stood in the midst of the city[29].

[p.12]

A spring issues forth from beneath the ground containing the oil which
is called petroleum. People collect it from the surface of the water
and use it medicinally. There are also hot-water springs to the number
of about twenty, which issue from the ground and are situated near the
sea, and every man who has any disease can go and bathe in them and
get cured. All the afflicted of Lombardy visit it in the summer-time
for that purpose.

From this place a man can travel fifteen miles along a road under the
mountains, a work executed by King Romulus who built the city of Rome.
He was prompted to this by fear of King David and Joab his
general[30]. He built fortifications both upon the mountains and below