According to Middle Eastern literature, the Roc is an enormous mythical Asian/Arabian bird, which laid eggs as big as castles and fed upon young elephants and giant serpents. As described in the Tales of Arabian Nights, Sinbad the Sailor escaped from an island on which he was stranded by tying himself to the huge foot of a sleeping Roc. When the bird awoke and flew away, it carried Sinbad with it to a new adventure which led to his discovery of a great natural resource in the Valley of the Diamonds.