Two days from thence stands Palermo, a large city, two square miles in extent. It contains the extensive palace of king William[279], and is inhabited by about fifteen hundred Jews and many Christians and Mohammedans. The country is rich in wells and springs, grows wheat and barley, and is covered with gardens and orchards; it is, in fact, the best in the whole island of Sicily. This city is the seat of the viceroy, whose palace is called Al-Hacina, and contains all sorts of fruit trees, as also a great spring, surrounded by a wall, and a reservoir called Al-Behira, in which abundance of fish are preserved. The king's vessels are ornamented with silver and gold, and are ever ready for the amusement of himself and his women. There is also a large palace, the walls of which are richly ornamented with paintings and with gold and silver. The pavement is of marble and rich mosaic, representing all sorts of figures; in the whole country there is no building equal to this.
The island begins at Messina, where many pilgrims meet, and extends to Catania, Syracuse, Masara, Pantaleone, and Trapani, being six days in circumference. Near Trapani is found the stone called coral, in Arabic, al-murgan[280]. From thence you cross over and reach Rome in three days; from Rome by land in five days to Lucca, from whence you get in twelve days to Bardin, by Mount Maurienne, and over the passes of Italy.
Here are the confines of Germany, a country full of hills and mountains. The Jewish congregations of Germany inhabit the banks of the great river Rhine, from Cologne, where the empire commences, unto Cassanburg, the frontier of Germany, which is fifteen days' journey, and is called Ashkenas by the Jews. These are the cities of Germany which contain congregations of Israelites, all situated on the river Moselle—Coblence, Andernach, Kaub, Kartania, Bingen, Worms, and Mistran. In fact, the Jews are dispersed over all countries, and whoever hinders Israel from being collected, shall never see any good sign, and shall not live with Israel. And at the time which the Lord has appointed to be a limit of our captivity and to exalt the horn of his anointed, every one shall come forth and shall say, "I will lead the Jews and I will assemble them."