"Gold is a wonderful thing! And whoever possesses it can do what he will in this world, and can even help souls to Paradise."

"The people here are very timid, and are all naked, men and women, as their mothers bore them; and they have no weapons, nor know them, for I showed them swords, and they took them by the edge and cut …"

"I am a most wretched man; I am stripped of my honor, my wealth, and everything I possessed."

"Gold is most excellent; gold is treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes to in this world."

"I have seen so many strange things that I do not know what to say."