dhows lie beached near ra's al hadd in oman, their hulls sealed with a coating of cement and animal fat. for arab countries the dhow has been the workhorse of the indian ocean, just as the junk has been for the chinese in southeast asia. zheng's fleet stopped here to trade porcelain for frankincense, myrrh, and aloe.

　　在阿曼的拉斯哈德附近，一艘艘三角帆船躺在沙滩上，船壳上涂着胶合剂与动物脂肪的混合物。三角帆船一直是阿拉伯人在印度洋的主力交通工具，一如中国人仰赖木帆船往返东南亚。郑和的船队曾经停靠在此，以瓷器交换乳香、没药与芦荟。

　　incense perfumes the air at tay kak sie, a chinese buddhist temple in semarang, indonesia—one of several in southeast asia where zheng he's memory is revered. its sister temple, sampokong, was built to honor zheng's reported appearance in semarang to visit wang jinghong, his vice commander, who was laid up in a cave to recuperate from illness. a central asian muslim by birth who was sympathetic to other religions, zheng is thought to have been buried at sea after dying on the fleet's seventh and last voyage. a tomb—purportedly empty—stands outside nanjing, china. it bears an arabic inscription: "allahu akbar" ("god is great").

　　在印尼三宝的一座中国佛寺，空气中弥漫着薰香的气味──这是东南亚几处敬拜郑和的地点之一。由于传说郑和曾到三宝来探视他氅下的副指挥官(当时正在此地的一座山洞里养病)，人们还建了一座姊妹庙来纪念这个事件。血统上属于中亚回人的郑和能够宽容接纳其它信仰，据信他是死于最后一趟航程上，最后举行了海葬。中国南京城外有一座他的坟墓，据说是空坟。坟上刻着一句阿拉伯文：“allahu akbar”(伟哉神也)。