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Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela (a town in Navarre) made himself famous by visiting all the synagogues of his religion in the east, in order to become acquainted with the customs, ceremonies, and rabbis of each. He set out from Spain in 1160, and travelling by land to Constantinople, proceeded through the countries to the north of the Euxine and Caspian Seas, as far as Chinese Tartary. Thence he turned southwards, crossed several provinces of the further India, and embarking on the Indian Ocean, visited several of its islands. After an absence of thirteen years, he returned by way of Egypt to Europe, bringing with him much information concerning a vast tract of the globe, then almost entirely unknown to the people of the west. He left a curious narrative of his travels, the authority of which, however, has been questioned, though many of its errors are attri-