Of the Citie of BIR.

BIR is a small citie verie scarce of all maner of victuals, and neere vnto the walls of the city runneth the riuer of Euphrates, in this citie the merchants deuide themselues into com­panies, according to their merchandice y^• theyThe Riuer Euphrates. haue, & there either they buy or make a boat to carie them & their goods to Babylon, downe the riuer Eu­phrates, with charge of a merchant and mariners to conduct the boat in the voiage: these boats are in a manner flat bot­tomed, yet they be verie strong: and for all that they are so strong, they wil serue but for one voiage. They are made ac­cording to the sholdnes of the riuer, because that the riuer is in many places ful of great stones, which doth greatly hinder and trouble those that go down the riuer. These boats serue but for one voiage downe the riuer vnto a village called Fe­luchia, Feluchia a small Citie in Euphrates. because it is impossible to bring them vp the riuer backe againe. At Feluchia the merchants plucke their boates [Page] in peeces, or else sell them for a small price, For that at Bir they cost the merchants forty or fiftie chickens apeece, and they sell them at Feluchia for 7 or 8 chickens a peece, because that when the merchants return from Babylon backe again if they haue merchandice or goods that oweth custome: then they make their returne in fortie dayes through the wilder­nesse, passing that way with a great deale lesser charges then the other way. And if they haue not merchandise thatMosule. oweth custome, then they goe by the way of Mosule, where it costeth them great charges both the Carauan and com­panie, from Bir where the merchantes imbarke them selues to Feluchia ouer against Babylon, if the riuer haue good store of Water, they shall make their voiage in fifteene or eigh­téene daies downe the Riuer, and if the Water be lowe, and it haue not rained, then it is much trouble, and it will bee fortie or fiftie dayes iourny downe, because that when the barkes strike on the stones that be in the Riuer, then they must vnlade them, which is great trouble, and then lade them againe, when they haue mended their boat: therefore it is not necessarie, neither doe the merchants goe with one boate alone, but two or three, that if one boate split and bee lost with striking on the sholdes, they may haue another redy to take in their goods, vntil such time as they haue mē ­ded the broken boate, and if they drawe the broken boate a land to mend her, it is harde to defend her in the night, from the great multitude of Arabians y^t wil come downe there to rob you & in the riuers euery night, whē you make fast your boat to the banckside, you must kéepe good watch against theThe Arabian theeues are in number like to Antes. Arabians which are theeues in number like to ants, yet whē, they come to rob, they wil not kil, but steal & run away, har­gubushes is a very good weapen against thē, for y^• they stand greatly in feare of the shot, & as you passe the riuer Euphra­tes, from Bir to Feluchia there is certaine places which you must passe by, where you pay custome certain madines vpon a bale, which custom is belonging to the son of Aborise king of the Arabians and desart, and hath certain Cities and villages, on the riuer Euphrates.

Feluchia and Babilon.

FEluchia is a village where they that come from Bir do vnbarke themselues and vnlade their goods, and it is distant from Babilon a daies iorney & a halfe by land: Babilon is no great Cittie, but it is very populous, andThe old Ba­bylon hath great trade with Mer­chants still. of great trade of Strangers because it is a great through fare, for Persia, Turkia, and Arabia: and verye oftentimes there goeth out frō thence Carauans into diuers countries: and the citie is verye copious of victuals, which cometh out of Armenia downe the riuer of Tigris, on certaine Zatta­res or Raffes made of blowne hides or skins called Vtrij. Raffes made of blowen hides, to carie victuals to Babilon. This riuer Tigris dooth wash the walles of the citie, these Raffes are bound fast together, and then they lay boards on the aforesaid blowne skins, and on the boards they lade the commodities, & so come they to Babilon where they vnladeA prettie deuice. thē, & being vnladen, they let out the winde out of the skins, and lade them on Cammels to make another voyage. This Citie of Babilon is scituate in the kingdome of Persia, but now gouerned by the Turkes: On the other side of the riuer towards Arabia, ouer against the citie, there is a faire place or towne, and in it a faire Bazarro for Merchants, with ve­rie manie lodges, where the greatest part of the Merchants Strangers which come to Babilon doolye with their mer­chandize. The passing ouer Tigris from Babilon to this Bo­roughA bridge made of boates. is ouer a long bridge made of boates chained together with great chaines: prouided, that when the riuer waxeth great with the aboundance of raine y^• falleth, then they open the bridge in the middle, where the on halfe of the bridge fal­leth to the walles of Babilon, and the other to the brinkes of this borough, on the other side of the riuer: & as long as the bridge is open, they passe y^• riuer in small boates, with great danger because of the smalnes of the boates, and the ouer la­ding of them, that with the fiercenes of the streame they be ouerthrowne, or els the streame dooth carrie them awaie, so that by this meanes, many people are lost and drowned: this waye by proofe I haue many times séene.

Of the Tower of Babilon.

THe Tower of Nembroth or Babel is scituate on y^• sideThe Tower of Babell of ancient me­mory. of Tigris that Arabia is, and in a very greate plaine distant from Babilon 7. or 8. miles: which town is rui­nated on euery side, and with the falling of it there is made a great Mountaine: so that it hath no forme at all, yet there is a great parte of it standing, which is compassed and almost couered with the aforsaid fallings: this Tower was builded and made of fower square Brickes, which BrickesThese bricks be in thick­nes 6 or 7, in­ches & a foote and a halfe square, seene by our owne countreymen whome I knowe. were made of earth, and dried in the Sun in maner & forme following: first they laid a lay of Bricks, thē a Mat made of Canes, square as the Bricks, and in stead of lime, they dau­bed it with earth: these Mattes of Canes are at this time so strong, that it is a thing wonderfull to beholde, being of such antiquitie as it is, I haue gone round about it, and haue not found any place where there hath bin any doore or entrance: it may be in my iudgement in circuit about a mile, and ra­ther lesse then more.

This Tower in effect, is contrary to al other things whichA thing wonderfull, are seene a far off, for they séeme small, and the more néere a man commeth to them the bigger they be: but this Tower a far off séemeth a very great thing, and the neerer you come to it the l [...]sser. My iudgment and reason of this is, that because the Tower is set in a very great plaine, and hath nothinge more about to make any show sauing the ruines of it which it hath made round about, and for this respect that discrying it a far off, that peece of the Tower which yet standeth with the mountaine that is made of the substance that hath fallen from it, maketh a greater shew then you shall finde com­ming neere to it.

Babilon and Basora.

FRom Babilon I departed for Basora, shipping my selfe in one of the barks that vse to go in the riuer Tigris frō Babilon to Basora, and from Basora to Babilon: which [Page 3] barks are made after the manner of Fusts or Galliots with a Speron and a couered poope: they haue no pumpe in thē because of the great aboundance of pitch which they haue to pitch them withall: which pitch they haue in abundance two dayes iorney from Babilon: neere vnto the riuer Euphrates, This hole whereout cō ­meth this pitch is most true, for that I know of our own countri­men which haue seene it▪ and they say that out of the hole there commeth as it were puffing with bellows both water and pitch, and the water and pitch runneth into the valey or Iland wher the pitch resteth, and the water runneth into the riuer Euphrates, and it maketh all the riuer to be as it were brackish with the smell of pitch and Brimstone. there is a citie called Ayit, néere vnto which citie, there is a great plaine full of pitch, very meruelous to beholde, and a thing almost incredible, that out of a hole in the earth, which continually throweth out pitch into the ayre with continual smoake, which pitch is throwne with such force, that being hot it falleth like as it were sprinkled ouer all the plaine, in such aboundance that the plaine is alwayes full of pitch: the Mores and the Arabians of that place say, that, that hole is the mouth of hell: and in truth, it is a thing very notable to be marked: and by this pitch, the people haue great benefite, to pitch their barks, which barks they call Daneck and Saf­fin: When the riuer of Tigris is well replenished with wa­ter, you may passe from Babilon to Basora in 8. or 9. daies, and sometimes more and somtimes lesse: we were halfe so much more which is 14 or 15. daies, because the waters were lowe: they may sayle day and night, and there is some pla­ces in this way where you pay so many Madiens on a ba [...]le: if the waters be low, it is 18. dayes iorney.

Basora.

BAsora is a Cittie of the Arabians, which of osde time was gouerned by those Arabians called Zizarii, but nowe it is gouerned byZizarii, an an­cient people. the great Turke where he keepeth an army to his great charges.

The Arabians called Zizarii haue the pos­session of a great Countrey, and cannot be ouercome of the Turk, because that the sea [...]ath deuided their countrey into an Iland by channels with the ebbing & flowing of the [...] & for that cause the Turk cannot bring an army ag [...], [Page] neither by sea nor by land, and another reason is, the inha­bitants of that Iland are verye strong and warlike men: a daies iorney before you come to Basora, you shall haue a lit­tleAt the castell of Corna the riuer Euphra­tes & Tigris do meet. castel or fort, which is set on that point of the land where the Riuers Euphrates and Tigris méete together, and the castell is called Corna: at this point, the two riuers maketh a monsirous great riuer and runneth into the sea, which is called the gulfe of Persia, which is towards the South: Baso­ra is distant from the sea fiftéene miles, and it is a cittie of great trade of Spices & drugges which come from Ormus. Ormus is the barennest I­land in all the world. Also there is great store of corne, Rice, and Dates, which the countrey dooth yéeld. I shipped my selfe in Basora to go for Ormus, and so we sailed through the Persian sea 600 miles, which is the distance from Basora to Ormus, and we sailed in small Ships made of boards, bound together with small cords or ropes, and in stéed of calking they lay betwéene eue­rie board certaine strawe which they haue, and so they sowe board and board together, with the strawe betwéene, where through there commeth much water, and they are very dan­gerous. Departing from Basora we passed 200 miles with the sea on our right hand, along the gulfe, vntill at lengthCarichii an Iland in the gulfe of Persia. we arriued at an Iland called Carichii, from whence we sailed to Ormus in sight of the Persian shore, on the left side, and on the right side towards Arabia we discouered infinit Ilands.

Ormus.

ORmus is an Iland in circuit 25 or 30 miles,Ormus is al­waies reple­nished with abundance of victuall, and yet there is none that groweth in the Iland. and it is the most barrenest and most drie Iland in all the world, because that in it there is nothing to be had, but salt water, and wood, all other things necessarye for mans life is brought out of Persia 12 miles of and out of other Ilands néere therevnto adioining, in such aboundance and quantitie, that the citie is alwaies re­plenished with all manner of store: there is standing néere [Page 4] vnto the waters side a verie faire castell, in the which the captaine of the king of Portingale is alwaies resident with a good band of Portingales, and before this castell is a verye fayre prospect: in the citie dwelleth the married men, Soldi­ers and Merchants of euery nation, amongst whom there is Mores and Gentiles. In this Citie there is verie great tradeGreat trade of merchan­dize in Or­mus. for all sorts of Spices, drugs, Silke, cloth of Silke, Brocar­do, and diuers other sorts of merchandize which come out of Persia: and amongst all other trades and Merchandize, the trade of Horsses is very great there, which they carry from thence into the Indies. This Iland hath a More king, of the race of the Persians, who is created and made king by the captaine of the castell, in the name of the king of Portingale. At the creation of this king I was there, and saw the cere­monies that they vse in it, which are as followeth. The oldThe election of the king of Ormus. King being dead, the Captaine of the Portingales chooseth another of the blood Royall, and maketh this election in the Castell with great ceremonies, and when he is elected, the Captaine sweareth him to be true and faithfull to the king of Portingale, as his Lord and Gouernor, and then he giueth him the Scepter Regall: after this with great feasting and pompe, with great company, he is brought into the Roiall palace in the citie. This king kéepeth a good traine, and hath sufficient reuenues to maintaine himselfe without trou­bling of any, bicause the Captaine of the Castell dooth main­taine and defend his right, and when that the Captaine and he ride together, he is honored as a King, yet he cannot ride abroade with his traine, without the consent of the captaine first had: it behooueth them to doo this, and it is necessarie, bicause of the great trade that is in the citie: their proper language is the Persian toong. There I shipped my selfe to go for Goa, a Cittie in the Indies in a Ship that had foure score horsses in hir: this is to aduertise those Merchants that go from Ormus to Goa, to ship themselues in those Ships that carrie Horsses, because euery Ship that carrieth twen­tie Horsses or vpwards are priueleged, that all the Mer­chandizeA priuelege for Merchāts. whatsoeuer they carrie, that they owe no custome, [Page] whereas the Ships that carrieth not Horsses, are bound to pa [...] eight per cento of all the goods they bring.

Goa, Dui, and Cambaia.

GOa, is the principallest Cittye that the Portingales Goa is the cheefest citie that the Por­tingals haue in the Indies. haue in the Indies, where is resident the Viceroy with his court and ministers of the king of Portingale, frō Ormus to Goa, is 990 miles distance, in which pas­sage, the first Cittie that you come to in the Indies, is called Dui, and is scituate in a little Iland in the kingdome ofDui. Cambaia, which is the greatest strength that the Portingals haue in all the Indies, yet a small Citty, but of great trade,Cambaya a countrey a­bounding with all plentic. because there they lade verye manye great Shippes for the straight of Meca and Ormus with merchandize, and these Ships belong to the Mores and Christians, but the Mores cannot trade neither saile into those seas without the licence of the Viceroye of the king of Portingale, otherwise they are taken and made good prises. The merchandize that they lade these Ships withall, commeth from Cambaietta a porte inCambaietta. the kingdome of Cambaia, which they bring from thence in small barkes, because there can no great ships come thether, by reason of the sholdnes of the water thereabouts, and these sholds are 100 or 80 miles about in a straight or golfe,Macareo is a [...]ide or curant as we terme it. which they call Macareo, which is asmuch to say, as a race of a tide, bicause the waters there ran out of that place with­out measure, so that there is no place like to it, vnlesse it be in the kingdome of Pegu, where there is another Macareo, where the waters run out with more force then these doo. The principalest Citie in Cambaia is called Amadauar, itAmadauar a citie in Cam­baia. is a daies iorney and a halfe from Cambietta, it is a verye great Citty and very populous, and for a Citie of the Gen­tiles it is very well made and builded with faire houses and large streats. with a faire place in it with many ships, & at sight like to Cayro but not so great: also Cambaietta is sci­tuate on the Seas side, and a very faire Citie, the time thatA thing most lamentable. I was there, the citie was in great calamity and scarcenes, so that I haue séene the men of the countrey that were Gen­tiles, [Page 5] take their children, their sonnes, and their daughters, and haue desired the Portingales to buie them, and I haue séene them sold for eight or ten La [...]ines a peece, which maye be of our money x. s. or [...]iii. s. iiii. d.: for all this, if I had not seene it I could not haue beléeued, that there should beA merueilous great trade in Gambyette. such a trade at Cambaietta as there is: for in the time of e­uery new Moone and euery full Moone, the small barkes (in­numerable) come in and out, for at those times of the Moone the tides and waters are higher than at other times they be. These barkes be lade in with all sorts of spices, with silke of China, with Sandole, with Elephants téeth, Veluets of Verzini, great quantity of Pannina, which commeth from Meca, Chickenoes which be péeces of gold worth seuen shil­lings a pée [...]e sterling, with mony, with diuerse sorts of other merchandize▪ also these barkes lade out as it were an infinit quantitye of cloth made of Bumbast of all sorts, as white stamped and painted, with great quantitie of Indico, dryed Ginger, and conserued, Myrabilony drye and condyt, Boraso in paste, great store of Sugar, great quantitye of Gottone, aboundance of Opioum, Assa Fetida, Puchio, with many o­ther sorts of drugs. The Torbants are made in Dui, great stones, like to Corneolaes, Granats, Agats, Diaspry, Calci­donij, Amatisti, and some kind of naturall Diamāts. ThereA very good order for mer­chant strāgers if they will. is in the City of Cambaietta an order, but no m [...]n bound to kéepe it, but they that wil: but all the Portingale merchants kéepe it, the which is this: There is in this Cittye certaine Brokers, which are Gentiles and of great authoritye, and haue euery one of them fiftéene or twentie seruants, and the Merchants that vse that countrey haue their Brokers, with the which they be serued: and they that haue not beene there are informed by their friends of the order, & of what Broker they shall be serued: now euery fifteene daies (as abouesaid) that the fleete of small Ships enter into the port, the Bro­kers come to the water side, and these merchants assoone as they are come a land, doo giue the cargason of all their goods to that Broker that they will haue to doo their busines for them, with the markes of al the faroles and packs they haue [Page] and the Marchant hauing taken a land all his furniture for his house, because it is néedful that the Marchants that trade the Indies carry prouision of houshould with them, becauseMarchants that trauell to the Indies must carry their prouisiō of how sholde with them. that in euery place where he commeth, he must haue a new house. The Broker that hath receiued his Cargason, com­maundeth his seruants to carry the Marchaunts furniture for his house home, and loade it on some cart, and carry it in­to the citty, where the Brokers haue diuers empty houses, and méete for the lodging of Marchāts, furnished only with bedsteads, tables, chayres, and empty Jares for water: then the Broker sayth to the Marchant go and repose your selfe, and take your rest in the citty: the Broker tarrieth at y^• wa­ter side, with the Cargason, and causeth all his goods to be discharged out of the Ship, and payeth the custome, & causeth it to be brought into the house where the marchant lieth, the Marchant not knowing any thing thereof, neither custome, nor charges. These goods being brought to this passe into the house of the Marchant, the broker demaundeth of the Mar­chant if he haue any desire to sell his goods or marchandize, at the prizes as such wares are worth at that present time? and if he haue a desire to sel his goods presently, then at that instant the Broker selleth it away: After this, the Broker saythe to the Marchant, you haue so much of euery sorte of marchandize, neat and cleare of euery charge, and so much ready money, and if the Marchant wil imploy his money in other commodities, then the broker telleth him that such and such commodities wil cost so much, put a borde without any manner of charges: the Marchant vnderstanding the propo­sed, maketh his accompt, and if he thinke to buye or sell at the prizes currant, he giueth order to make it away, & if he haue commodity for 20 thousand Duckets, all shall be bar­tred or sould away in 15 dayes without any care or trouble, and when as the Marchant thinketh that he cannot sell his goods at the price currant, he may tarry as long as he will, but they cannot be soulde by no man, but by that Broker that hath taken them a land and paide the custome: and per­chance tarrying sometimes for sale of their commoditye, [Page 6] they make good profit and sometimes losse: but those mer­chandize that come not ordinarily euery fiftéene daies, in ta­ring for the sale of them there is great profit. The barkes that lade in Cambaietta, they go for Dui to lade the ShipsChiawle two Cities. that go for the straights of Meca and Ormus, and some go for Chiaull and Goa, and these Ships be very well appoin­ted, or else are guarded, with the Armods of the Portingales and is for this respect, for that there is so many Corsaries Great store of men of warre and rouers on the coast of Cambaya. which go coursing alongst that coast, and robbing and spoil­ing, and for feare of those théeues, there is no safe sailing in those Seas, but with ships very well appointed and armed, or else with the fléete of the Portingales as aforesaid: in fine, the kingdome of Cambaia is a place of great trade, and hath much doings and tratique with all men, although hetherto it hath bin in the hands of tyrants, bicause that at 75 yeares of age the true king being at the assault of Dui, was there slaine, whose name was Sultan Badu: at that time foure or fiue Captaines of the armie deuided the kingdome amongst themselues, and euery one of them shewed in his conntrey what tyrannye he could: but twelue yeares agoe the great Magoll a More king of Agray and Delay, fortie daies ior­neyThe grear Magoll was king of Agray and Delay. within the land of Amadauar, became the gouernour of all the kingdome of Cambaia without anye resistance, be­cause he being of great power and force with people, deui­sing which waye to enter the land, there was not any man that would make him any resistance, although they were ti­rants and a beastly people, they were soone brought vnder obedience, that in that time I owelled in Cambaietta I saw very meruelous things: there were such an infinit number of Artisicers, that made Bracelets called Mannij, or Brace­letsA meruelous fond delight in women. of Elephants téeth, of diuerse colours, for the women of the Gentiles which haue their armes full decked with them. and in this order there is spent euery yeare many thousands of Crownes, the reason whereof is this, that when there dy­eth any whatsoeuer of the kindred, then in signe and token of moorning and sorrow, they breake all their bracelets from their armes, and presentlye they goe and buie new againe, [Page] because that they had rather to be without theire meat then without their bracelets.

Daman. Basan. Tana.

HAuing passed Dui, I came to the second city that [...] Portingales haue, called Daman, sci­tuate in the territorie of Cambaya, distant from Dui 120. miles: it is no towne of mar­chandize, saue of Rice and Corne, and hath many villages under it, which in time of peace, the Portingale haue theire pleasure in them, but in time of wars, the enemies haue the spoyle of them in such wise that the Portingales haue little benefite by them. Next vnto Daman you shall haue Basan, which is a filthy place in respect of Daman in condition: in this place is Rice, corn, timber to make ships and gallies: and a small distance be­yond Basan is a smal Iland called Tana, a countrey very po­pulousTana, a coun­trey inhabited with Portin­gales. Armesine, a kind of silke like taffitie. with Portingales, Mores, and Gentiles: these haue nothing but Rice, there are many makers of Armesine, and weauers of Gerdles of wooll and bumbast black and red like to Moocharies.

Chiawle and the Palmer tree.

BEyond this Iland you shall find Chiawle in the Firme land, and they are two cities, one of the Portingales, andChiawle two Citties. the other of the Mores: that Citie that the Portingales haue, is scituate [...]ower then the other, & gouerneth the mouth of the harbor and is very strongly walled: and as itNote the pol­licie of the Portingales. were a mile and a [...]l [...] distant from this is the Citie of the Mores, gouerned by their king Zamalluco. In the time of wars there cannot any great shippe come to the cittie of the Mores, because the Portingales with their Ordinance will sinke them, for that they must perforce passe by the CastlesCreat trafique with mer­chandize. of the Portingales: both the Citties are portes of the sea, and are great cities, and haue vnto them great traffique & trade [Page 7] of marchandize, of all sortes of spices, Drugges, Silke cloth of silk, Sandolo, Marfine, Versiue, Procelane of China: Uel­uets and Scarlets y^• come from Portingale, and from Meca: with many other sorts of marchandize: There commeth e­uery yeare from Cochin, and from Canenor 10. or 15. great shipe, laden with great Nuts cured, and with sugar made of the self same Nuts called Giagra: the trée wheron these nuts do grow is called the Palmer trée: & throughout al the Indies, and especially from this place to Goa, there is great aboū ­danceThe Palmer Tree is the most commo­dious tree in the world. of them, and it is like to the Date trée: in the whole world there is not a trée more profitable and of more good­nes then this trée is, neither do men reape so much benefite of any other trée as they do of this, ther is not any part of it but serueth for some vse, & none of it is worthy to be burnt:Note the commodities of the Tree. with the timber of this trée they make shippes wthout the mixture of any other trée, and with the leaues thereof they make sailes, and with the fruict therof which be Nuts wher­of they make wine, and of the wine they make Sugar and Placetto, which wine they gather in the spring of the yeare, out of the middle of the trée where continually there goeth [...] A very fruite­full tree; runneth out whit liquor like vnto water, in that time of the yeare they put a vessell vnder euery tree, and euery euening and morning they take it away full & then distilling it with fire it maketh a very strong liquor: and then they put it into Buts, with a quantity of Zibibbo, white or black & in short time it is made a perfect wine: after this they make of the nuts great store of oyle: of the trée they make great quantity of Boordes and quarters for buildings. Of the barke of this Trée, they make Cables, Ropes, and other furniture forScauasches are as onr great Mawudes. A thing al­most incredi­ble but I haue seene of their Mattes. Ships, and as they saye, these Ropes be better then they that are made of Hempe: they make of the bowes, Bead­steds, after the Indies fashion, and Scauasches for Marchan­dyze, the leaues, they cut the as verye small and weaue them, and so make sayles of them, for all manner of ship­ping, or else very fine Mats: and then of the first rynde of the Nutte they stampe, and make thereof perfecte Ockom to talke Shippes, great and small: and of the harde Barke [Page] thereof they make spoones and other vessells for meate, in such wise that there is no parte thereof throwne away or cast to the fire: when these Mats be gréene they are full of an excellent swéete water to drink, and if a man be thirsty with the liquor of one of the mats, he may satisfie himselfe: and as this Nut ripeth, the liquor thereof turneth all to [...]ernell. There goeth out of Chiawle for Mallaca, for the Indies, for Maca, for Portingale, for the coastes of Mallendy, for Or­mus, as it were an infinite number and quantitie of goods and marchandize that come out of the kingdom of Cambaia, The com­modities that come out of Cambaya. as cloth of Bumbast white, painted, printed, great quanti­tie of Indico, Opinione, Gotone, Silke of euery sorte, great store of boraso in Pasta, great store of Fetida, great store of Iron, Corne, & other marchandize. The More king Zama­laco is of great power, as one that at néede may commaund and hath in his campe two hundred thousand men of warre,Great Ordi­nance made in peeces, and yet seruice­able. and hath great store of Artillerie, some of them made in pée­ces which for their greatnes they cannot be carried too and fro: yet although they be made in péeces, they are so commo­dious that they worke with them meruelous well, whose shotte is of stone, and there hath béene of that shot sent vnto the king of Portingale for the rariety of the thing. The cit­tie where the king Zamallaco hath his being, is within the land of Chiawle, 7. or 8. dayes iorney, which citty is called Abneger. 70. miles from Chiawle, towards the Indies is the porte of Dabull, a Hauen of the king Zamallaco, from thence to Goa is 150. miles.

Goa.

GOa is the principallest citie that the portingales haue in the Indies, where in the Vizeroye with his royallThe cheefest place the Portingales haue in the Indies. court is resident, and is in an Iland which may be in circuit 25. or 30. miles: and the citie with his boroughs is resonable bigge, and for a cittie of the Indies it is resona­ble fayre, but the Iland is farre more fayrer: for it is as it were full of goodly gardens, replenished with diuers trées & [Page 8] with the Palmer trées as is aforesaid. This citie is of great trafique for all sorts of marchandize which they trade with­all in those parts: & the fléete which cōmeth euery yeare from Portingale which are 5. or 6. great ships that come directly for Goa, and they arriue there ordinarily the 6. or 10 of Sep­tember,Note the a­riuall of the Portingall ships in the Indies. & there they remaine 40. or 50. daies, & from thence they goe to Cochin, where they lade for Portingale, and of­ten times they lade one ship at Goa and the other at Cochin for portingale, Cochin is distante from Goa 300. miles, the cittie Goa is sciuate in the kingdome of Dialcam a king of the Mores, whose chiefe citie is op in the countrey 8. dayes iorney and is called Bisapor: this kinge is of great power, for when I was in Goa in the yeere of our Lord 1570. this king came to giue assault to Goa, being encamped néere vn­to it by a Riuer side with an armie of 2 hundreth thousande men of war, and he lay at this seige 14. moneths: in which time there was peace concluded, & as report went amongst his people, there was great calamitie and mortality which bred amongst them in the time of winter and also killed ve­ry many Elephants. Then in the yeare of our Lord 1567. I went from Goa to Bezeneger, the chiefe citie of the king­dome of Marsinga 8. daies iorney from Goa, within the land in the company of two other Marchants which carried with them 300 Arabian Horses to that king: because the Horses of that countrey are of a small stature, and they paye well for the Arabian Horses: & it is requisite that the Marchants sell them well, for that they stand them in great charges to bring them out of Persia to Ormus, & from Ormus to Goa, where the ship that bringeth 20 Horses and vpwardes, pay­eth no custome neither ship nor goods whatsoeuer, whereas if they bring no Horses, they pay 8. per cento of all their goods: and at the going out of Goa the Horses pay custome, 42. Pagodies for euery Horse which Pagody may be of star­lingA very good sale for Horsses. money 6 shillings 8 pence: they be peeces of gold [...]f that valew: so that the Arabian Horses are of greate valew in those countries as 300. 400. 500. Duckets a horse, and to a thousand Duckets a horse.

Bezeneger.

THe cittie of Bezeneger was sacked in the yeare 1565, by 4 kinges of the Mores, which were of great pow­er & might, the names of these foure kings were these following. The first was called Dialcan, the second Zamaluc, the third Cotamaluc, & the fourth Viridy: and yet these foure kings were not able to ouercom this cittie & theA most vn­kind & wick­ed treason a­gainst their prince: this they haue for giuing credit to strrngers, rather then their owne natiue people. king of Bezeneger, but by treason. This king of Bezeneger was a Gentile, and hauing amongst all other of his Cap­taines, two which were notable, and they were Mores, and these two Captaines had either of them in charge 70 or 80 thousand men. These two Captaines being of one Religion with the foure kings which were Mores, wrought meanes with them to betray their owne king into their hands. The king of Bezeneger estéemed not the force of the foure kings his enimies, but went out of his Citie to wage battell with them in the fields, which when the armies were ioined, the battell lasted but a while not the space of foure houres, be­cause the two traytorous Captaines, in the chéefest of the fight, with their companies turne their faces against their king, and made such disorder in his armie, that as astonied they set themselues to flight: thirtie yeares was this king­dome gouerned by thrée brethren which were tyrants, the which kéeping the rightfull king in prison, it was their vse euery yeare once, to shew him to the people, and they at their pleasures ruled as they listed. These brethren were thrée Captaines belonging to the father of the king they kept in prison, which when he died, left his sonne verye yoong, and then they tooke the gouernment to themselues: the chéefest of these thrée was called Ramaragio, and he sat in the roiall throne, and was called king: the second was called Temi­ragio, and he tooke the gouernement on him: the third was called Bengatre, and he was captaine generall of the armie. These thrée brethren were in this battell, in the which the chéefest and the last were neuer heard of quicke nor dead. [Page 9] Onely Temeragio fled in the battell, hauing lost one of his eyes: when the newes came to the cittie of the ouerthrow in the battell, the wiues and children of these thrée tyrants, with their lawfull king (kept prisoner) fled away, spoiled asThe sacking of the citie. they were, and the foure kings of the Mores entred the citie Bezeneger with great triumph, and there they remained sirmoneths, searching vnder houses and in all places for mony and other things that were hidden, and thē they departed to their owne kingdomes, because they were not able to main­taine such a kindome as that was, so far distant from their owne countrie.

When the kings were departed from Bezeneger, this Temiragio returned to the Citie, and then began for to re­populate it, and sent word to Goa to the Merchants, that if they had anye Horsses to bring them to him, and he would pay well for them, and for this cause the aforesaid two mar­chants that I went in company withall, carried those Hors­ses that they had to Bezeneger. Also this Tyrant made anAn excellent good pollici [...] to entrap mē. order or lawe, that if anye Merchant had anye of the Hors­ses that were taken in the aforesaid battell or warres, al­though they were of his owne marke, that he would giue as much for them as they would: and beside he gaue generall safe conduct to all that should bring them: when by this meanes hee sawe that there were great store of Horsses brought thether vnto him, hee gaue the Merchaunts faire wordes, vntill such time as hee sawe they could bring no more. Then he licensed the Merchants to depart, without giuing them anye thing for theyr Horsses, which when the poore men sawe, they were desperate, and as it were madde with sorrowe and greefe.

I rested in Bezeneger seauen moneths, although in one moneth I might haue discharged all my businesse, for it was necessary to rest there vntil the waies were cléere of théeues which at that time ranged vp and downe: and in the time I rested there, I sawe manye strange and beastlye déedes doone of the Gentiles. First when there is any noble man or woman dead, they burne their bodies: & if a maried man die. [Page] his wife must burne hir selfe aliue, for the loue of hir hus­band, and with the bodye of hir husband: so that when anyeMarke this detestable order of the Gentiles. man dyeth, their wiues will take a monthes leaue, two or thrée, or as they will, to burne themselues in, and that daye being come, wherein she ought to be burnt, that morning, she goeth out of hir house very earlye, either on Horssebacke or one an Eliphant, or else is borne by eight men on a small stage: in one of these orders she goeth, being apparrelled like to a Bride, carried rounde about the Cittye, with hir hayre downe about hir shoulders, garnished with Jewels & flow­ers, according to the estate of the partye, and they goe with as great ioye as Brides doo in Venis to the nuptials: shée carryeth in hir left hand a looking Glasse, and in hir right hand an arrow, and singeth through the cittie as she passeth, and saith, that shee goeth to sléepe with hir déere spowse and husband. She is accompanyed with hir kindred and fréends vntill it be one or two of the clocke in the after noone, then they go out of the citie, and going along the Riuers side cal­led Nigondin, which runneth vnder the walles of the cittye,A discription of the burn­ing place▪ vntill they come to a place where they vse to make this burning of women, being widowes, there is prepared in this place a great square caue, with a little pinnacle hard by it, foure or fiue steps vp: the aforesaid caue is full of dryed wood, the woman being come thither, accompanied with a number of people which come to sée the thing, then they make readye a great banquet, and she that shall be burned,Feasting and dancing whē they should moorne. eateth with great ioye and gladnesse, as though it were hir marriage daye: and the feast being ended, then they goe to dancing and singing a certaine time, according as she will: after this the woman of hir owne accord, commandeth then▪ to make the fire in the square Caue where the drye wood is, and when it is kindled, they come and certifie hir thereof, then presently shee leaueth the feast, and taketh the nearest kinsman of hir husband by the hand, and they both go toge­ther to the banke of the aforesaid riuer, where she putteth off all hir Jewels & all hir clothes, & giueth them to hir parents or kinsfolke, and couering hir selfe with a cloth, bicause shee [Page 10] will not be séene of the people being naked: she throweth hir☞ selfe into the riuer, saying: Oh wretches that ye wash your sinnes. Comming out of the water, she rowleth hir selfe into a yellow cloth of 14 braces long, and againe she taketh hir husbands kinsman by the hand, and they goe both together vp to the pinacle of the square caue wherin the fire is made: when she is on the pinacle, she talketh and reasoneth with the people, recommending vnto them hir children and kin­dred: Before the pinacle they vse to set a Mat, because they shall not see the fiercenes of the fire, yet there is manye that will haue them plucked awaye, shewing therein a heart notAn adaman [...] heart▪ fearfull, and that they are not afraid of that sight. When this sillye woman hath reasoned with the people a good while to hir content, there is another woman that taketh a pot with oyle and sprinckleth it ouer her head, and with the same she annoynteth all hir body, and afterwards throweth the pot into the Fornace, and both the woman and the pot goeth together into the fire, and presentlye the people that are round about the furnace, throw after hir into the caue great péeces of wood, so by this meanes, with the fire & with the blowes that she hath with the wood throwne after hir, sheMoorning when they shuld reioice is quickly dead, and after this there groweth such sorowe and such lamentation amongst the people, that all their mirth is turned into howling and wéeping, in such wise, that a man could scarse beare the hearing of it. I haue seene many burnt in this manner, because my house was néere to the gate where they go out to the place of burning: & when there dyeth anye great man, his wife with all his slaues with whome hee hath had carnall copulation, burne them­selues together with him, Also in this kingdome I haue séene amongst the base sort of people this vse and order, thatA worse or­der▪ then the first. the man being dead▪ he is is carried to the place where they will make his sepulcher, and setting him as it were vpright sitting, then commeth his wife before him on hir knées, cast­ing hir armes about his neck, with imbracing and clasping him, vntill such time as the Masons haue made a wall round about them, and when the wall is as highe as their [Page] neckes, there commeth a man behind the woman & strang­lethVngodlye deedes to murther the people. her, then when she is dead, the workmen finish the wall ouer their heads, and so they lie buryed both together. Beside these, there is an infinite number of beastlye qualities a­mongst the which I haue no desire to write of them: I was very desirous to know the cause, whye these women would so wilfullye burne themselues against nature and lawe, and it was tolde me that this lawe was of an ancient time, to make prouision against the slaughters which women madeThe cause why the wo­men do [...]o burne them­selues. of their husbands. For in those daies before this lawe was made, the women for euery little displeasure that their hus­bands had doone vnto them, they would presentlye poyson their husbands, and take other men, and now by reason of this lawe they are more faithfull to their husbands, and count their liues as deare as their owne, bicause that after his death, hir owne followeth presently.

In the yeare 1567. the people of Bezeneger, for the ill suc­cesse that they had, in that their Citie was sacked by the foure kings. The king with his court went to dwell in a ca­stell eight dayes iorneye vp in the lande from Bezeneger, called Penegonde: Also sixe daies iorney from Bezeneger, isPenegonde. [...]he place where they get Diamants, I was not there, but it was told me, that it is a great place, compassed with a wall,Th [...] getting of Diamants. and that they sell the earth within the wall, for so much a Squadro, & the limits is set, how déepe, or howe lowe they shall dig, those Diamants that are of a certaine sise and big­ger then that sise, all those be for the king, it is many yeares agone, since they got anye there, for the troubles that hath béene in that kingdome: the first cause of this trouble was, because the sonne of this Temeragio had put to death the lawfull king which he had in prison, for which cause the Barons and Noblemen in that kingdome would not ac­knowledge him to be their king, and by this meanes there is manye kings, and great deuision in that kingdome, and the Citye of Bezeneger is not altogether destroyed, yet the houses stand styll, but emptie, and there is dwelling in them nothing as is reported, but Tigers and other wilde [Page 10] beasts. The circuit of this Citty is foure and twentie miles about, and within the walles certaine mountaines: the hou­ses stand walled with earth, and plaine, all sauing the thrée palaces of the thrée tyrant brethren, and the Pagodies which are Idoll houses, these are made with lime and fine marble: I haue seene many kings Courts, and yet haue I seene none in greatnes like to this of Bezeneger, I saye for the order of his Pallace, for it hath nine gates or ports. First when youMarke the discription of this pallace. go into the place where the king did lodge, there is fiue great portes or gates: these are kept with Captaines and Soul­diers: then within these, there are foure lesser gates, which are kept with Porters, without the first gate there is a lit­tle porche, where there is a Captaine with fiue and twentie Souldiers that keepeth watche and warde night and daye, and within that, another with the like garde, where through they come to a verye faire Courte, and at the ende of that Courte, there is another porche as the first, with the like guarde, and within that another Courte, and in this wise are the first fiue gates garded and kept with those Cap­taines: and then the lesser gates within are kept with a garde of Porters, which gates stand open the greatest part of the night, bicause the custome of the Gentiles is to do their busines, and make their feasts in the night, rather then by day: the Citye is verye safe from théeues, for the Portingall Merchants sléepe in the stréetes, or vnder porches for theA thing rare to be found in England. great heate that is there, and yet they neuer had any harme in the night. At the end of two moneths▪ I determined to go for Goa in the companye of two other Portingale Mer­chants,Palanchine is a small lit­ter borne of foure men▪ which were making readye to depart, with two Pa­lanchines or little Litters, which are very commodious for the waye, with eight Falchines which are men hired, to car­rie the palanchines, eight for a palanchine, foure at a time: they carry them as we vse to carrie barrowes, and I boughtMen ride on Bullocks: and trauell with them on the waye. me two Bullocks, one of them to ride on, & the other to car­rie my victuals and prouision, for in that countrey they ride on Bullockes with Pannels as we terme them, girths and Bridles, and they haue a verye good commodious pace. [Page] from Bezeneger to Goa, in summer it is 8 daies iorney, but we went in the midst of winter, in the moneth of July, and were 15 daies comming to Ancole on the sea coast, so in 8. daies, I had lost my two bullocks: for he that carried my vi­ctuales, was weake & could not goe, the other when I cameA prety iest. to a riuer where was a little Bridge to passe ouer, I put my Bullock to swimming, & in the midst of the riuer there was a little Iland, vnto the which my Bullock went, and finding pasture, there he remained still, & in no wise we could come to him, and so perforce, I was forced to leaue him, & at that time there was much raine, and I was forced to goe 7. daiesA hard matter for traueilers, a foote with great paines: and by great chance I met with Falchines by the way, that I hired to carrie my clothes & vi­ctuales: we had great trouble in our iorney, for y^• euery day, we were taken prisoners, by reason the great dissention in that kingdom, and euery morning at our departure we mustThis is strāge that euery no­bleman may coyne what money he would. pay rescat 4. or 5. Pagies a man: and another trouble we had as bad as this, that when as we came into a new gouernors country, as euery day we did, yet for that thy were all tribu­torie to the king Bezeneger yet euery one of them stamped a seuerall coyne of Copper, so that the money that we tooke this day, would not serue the next: at length hy the help of God we came safe to Ancola, which is a countrey of y^e quéens of Gargo pam, tributary to y^e king of Bezeneger. The mar­chandizeThe marchā ­dize that come in & out to Bezeneger euery yeare. that went euery year from Goa to Bezeneger, was Arabian Horses, Veluets, Damasks, Sattens, Armesine of Portingale, and péeces of China, Saffron, & Scarlets: & from Bezeneger, they had in Turky for their commodities, Jew­els, and Pagodies which be Duckets of gold: the apparrell that they vse in Bezeneger, is Veluet, Satten, Dammaske Scarlet, or white bumbast cloth, acording to the estate of theThe apparell of those peo­ple. person, with long hats on their heads, called Colae, made of Veluet, Satten, Dammask, or Scarlet, girding themselues in stead of girdels with some fine white bumbast cloth: they haue breeches after the order of the Turks: they weare on their feete, plaine high things called of them aspergh, and at their eares they haue hanging great plenty of Golde. [Page 12] Returning to my voyage when we were together in An­cola, one of my companions that had nothing to loose, tooke a guide and went to Goa, whether they goe in 4. dayes, the other portingale not being disposed to go, tarried in Ancola Their winter is our sūmer. for that winter: the winter in those parts of the Indies begin­neth the 15. of May, and lasteth vnto the end of October: & as we were in Ancola, there came another Marchant of horses in a planchine, and two portingale Souldiers which came from Zeland, and two carriers of letters, which were Chri­stians borne in the Indies: all these consorted to go to Goa together, and I determined to go with them, and caused a pallanchine to be made for me very poorely of Canes: and in one of them Canes I hid priuily all the Jewels I had, and according to the order, I tooke eight Falchines to carrie me, and one daye about eluen of the clocke, we set forwards on our iourney, and about two of the clock in the afternoone, as we passed a mountaine which deuideth the territorie of An­cola and Dyalcan, I being a little behind my company, was assaulted of by eight théeues, foure of them had Swords and Targats, and the other foure had Bowes & Arrowes, when the Falchines that carried me vnderstood the noyse of the as­sault, they let the palanchine & me fall to the ground, & ran away and left me alone, with my clothes wrapped about me: presently the théeues were on my necke, and riseling me, they stripped me starke naked, and I fained my selfe sicke, bicause I would not leaue the Palanchine, and I had made me a little bed of my clothes, the théeues sought it ve­ry narowly and subtilly, and found two pursses that I had, well bound vp together, wherein I had put my Copper mo­ny which I had changed for foure pagodies in Ancola, the théeues thinking it had béene so manye Duckets of Golde, searched no further, then they threw all my clothes in a bush and hied them away, and as God would haue it, at their de­parture, there fell from them a handkercher, and when I sawe it, I rose from my Palanchine or Couche, and tooke it vp, and wrapped it together within my Palanchine. Then these my Falchines were of so good condition, that they [Page] returned to séeke me, whereas I thought I should not haue found so much goodnes in them because they were paid their money afore hand, as is the vse: I had thought to haue seene them no more: before their comming I was determined to pluck the Cane wherin my Jewels were bidden, out of my cowtch and to haue made me a walking staffe, to carry in my hand to Goa, thinking that I should haue gone thether on foote, but by the faithfulnesse of my Falchines, I was rid of that trouble, and so in fower dayes they carried me to Goa, in which time I made hard fare, for y^e théeues left me neither money golde nor siluer, & that which I did eat, was geuen me of my men for gods sake: and after at my comming to Goa I payde them euery thing rially all that I had of them: from Goa I departed for Cochin, which is a voyage of 300. miles, and betwéene these two Cties are many holds of the Portingales, as Onor, Mangalor, Barzelor & Cananor. The holde or forte that you shall haue in going from Goa to Co­chin Foure small fortes of the Portingales. that belongeth to the Portingales, is called Onor, which is in the kingdome of the Quéene of Battacella, which is tri­butary to the king of Bezeneger: there is no trade there, but onely a charge with the Captaine and company he kéepeth there: and passing this place, you shall come to another small Castell of the Portingales called Mangalor, and ther is a ve­ry small trade onely for a little Rice: and from thence you go to a little fort called Barzelor, there they haue good store of Rice which is carried for Goa: and from thence you shall go to a cittie called Cananor, which is a Hargabush shot di­stantThe commo­dities that go out of the kingdome of Cananor. from the chiefest citie that the king of Cananor hath in his kingdome, being a king of the Gentiles: and he and his are a very naughty and malicious people, alwayes hauing delight to be in wars with the Portingales, and when they are in peace, it is for the intrest to let their marchādize passe: there goeth out of this kingdome of Cananor, all the Cardo­momo, great store of pepper, Ginger, Honey, Ships laden with greate Nuttes, greate quantity of Archa which is a fruict of the biggnes of Nutmegges, which fruict they eat in all those parts of the Indies and beyonde the Indies, with [Page 12] the leafe of an hearbe which they call Bettell, the which isBettell is a very profita­ble hearbe in that cuntry like vnto our Juye leafe, but a little lesser, and thinner: they eate it made in Plaister [...] with the lime made of Oyster­shelles, and thorowe the Indies, they spend greate quanti­tie of money in this composition, and is vsed dayly, which thing I woulde not haue beléeued if I had not séene it: The customers get greate profite by these Hearbes, for that they haue custome for them: when these people eate and chaw this in their mouthes, it maketh theire Spittle to be redde, like vnto blood and they saye, that it maketh a man to haue a very good stomacke and a swéete breath, but sure in my iudgement, they eate it rather to fulfill theire filthy lustes and of a knauerye, for this Hearbe is moyste and hote, and maketh a very strong expultion. From Cananor to Crange­nor, which is another small forte of the Portingales in the Land of the king of Crangenor, which is another king ofEnimies to the king of Portingales. the Gentiles, and a Countrey of small importaunce, and of a hundreth and twenty miles, full with theeeues, being vnder the king of Callicut, a king also of the Gentiles and a great enemie to the Portingales, which when he is alwayes in warres, he and his countrey is the Neast and resting for straunger théeues: and these be called Moores of Carposa, because they weare on theire heads, long red Hattes, and these théeues parte y^e spoyles that they take on the sea, with the king of Calicut, for he geueth leaue vnto all that wil go a roauing liberally to go in such wise that all along that coast, there is such a number of Théeues, that there is no sayling in those Seas but with great Shippes and very well armed or elle they must goe in company with the army of the Por­tingales: from Crangenor to Cochin, is 15. miles.

Cochine.

COchine is next vnto Goa, the chéefest placeWithin Co­chineis the kingdome of Pepper. that the Portingales haue in the Indies, and there is great trade of Spices, drugs, and all other sorts of Merchandize for the king­dome of Portingale, and there with in the lād is the kingdom of Pepper, which Pep­per the Portingales lade in their ships by boulke and not inThe pepper that the Por­tingales bring, is not so good as that which goeth for Meca, which is brought he­ther by the straights. sacks, the Pepper that goeth for Portingale is not so good, as that which goeth for Meca, bicause that in times passed, the officers of the king of Portingale, made a contract with the king of Cochine, in the name of the king of Portingale, for the prices of Pepper, and by reason of that agréement be­twéene them at that time made, the prise can neither rise nor fall, which is a verye lowe and base price, and for this cause the Uillaines bring it to the Portingales, gréene and full of filthe. The Mores of Meca that giue a better price▪ haue it cleane and drye, and is better conditioned: all the spices and drugs that is brought to Mecha, is stolne from thence as Contrabanda. Cochine is two cities, one of the Portingales, and another of the king of Cochines: that of the Portingales is scituat néerest vnto the sea, & that of the kings of Cochin is a mile and a halfe vp higher in the land, but they are both set on the banckes of one riuer, which is very great, and of a good depth of water, which riuer commeth out of the moun­tains of the king of the Pepper, which is a king of the Gen­tiles, in whose kingdome are manye Christians of S. Tho­mas order: the king of Cochine is also a king of the Gentiles and a great faithfull fréend to the king of Portingale, and to those Portingales which are marryed, and Cittizens in the Cittie Cochine of the Portingales, and by this name of Por­tingales, throughout all the Indies they call all the Christi­ans that come out of the West, whether they be Italians, Frenchmen, or Almaines, and all they that mary in Cochine doo get an office, according to the trade hee is of, this they [Page 13] haue by the great priuilege the Cittizens haue of that City, bicause there is two principall commodities that they dealeGreat priui­leges that the Citizens of Cochin haue. withall in that place, which are these: the great store of silke that commeth from China, and the great store of Sugar which commeth from Bengala, the married: Citizens paye not anye custome for these two commodities: for all other commodities they pay foure per cento custum to the king of Cochine, rating their goods at their owne pleasure: those which are not married and strangers, pay in Cochine to the king of Portingale, eight per cento of all manner of mer­chandize, I was in Cochine when the Uiceroye of the king of Portingale wrought what he could to breake the priue­lege of the Citizens, and to make them to pay custome as o­ther did: at which time the citizens were glad to way their Pepper in the night, that they laded the ships withall that went to Portingale, and stole the custome in the night. The king of Cochine hauing vnderstanding of this, would not suffer any more Pepper to be wayed: then presentlye after this, the Merchants were licenced to doo as they did before, and there was no more speach of this matter, nor any moreThe small power of the king of Co­chine. wrong doone. This king of Cochine is of a small power in respect of the other kings of the Indies, for he can make but seuentye thousand men of armes in his campe: hee hath a great number of Gentlemen which he calleth Amochy, andAmochy and Nayrii are very hardye men, & haue their wiues common. some are called Nayry: these two sorts of men estéeme not their liues any thing: so that it maye be for the honor of his king, they will thrust themselues forward in euery danger, although they knowe they shall dye. These men goe naked from the girdell vpwards, with a clothe rowled about their legs, going bare footed, and hauing theyr haire verye long and rolled vp together on the top of his head, and alwayes they carrie their Bucklers or Targets with them, and their Swords naked: these Nayry haue their wiues common a­mongst themselues, and when any of them go into the house of any of these women, he leaueth his Sworde and Target at the dore, and the time that he is there, there dare not any be so hardy as to come into that house. The kings children [Page] shall not inherit the kingdome after their Father: bicause they holde this opinion, that perchance they were not begot­ten of the king their Father, but of some other man, there­fore they accept for their King, one of the Sonnes of the kings Sisters, or of some other woman of the bloud royall for that they be sure they are of the bloud royall.

The Nayri and their wiues vse for a brauerye to makeA very strāge thing hardlye to be beleued great holes in their eares, and so bigge and wide, that it is incredible, holding this opinion, that the greater the holes be, the more noble they estéeme themselues. I had leaue of one of them, to measure the circumference of one of them with a thred, and within that circumference I put my arme vp to the shoulder, clothed as it was, so that in effect they are monstrous great. Thus they doo make them when they be little, for then they open the eare, and hange a péece of golde or lead thereat, and in the opening, in the [...]ole they put a certaine leafe that they haue for that purpose, which maketh the hole so great. They lade Ships in Cochine for Portingale and for Ormus, but they that go for Ormus, car­rie no Pepper but by Contrabanda, as for Sinamond, they easilye get leaue to carrye that awaye, for all other Spices and drugs they maye liberallye carrie them to Ormus or Cambaia, and so all other merchandize which come from other places, but out of the kingdome of Cochine proper, they carry away from thence into Portingale great aboun­danceThe merchā ­dize that the Portingales carye from Cochine. of Pepper, great quantitie of Ginger, dried and con­serued, wilde Sinamond, good quantitie of Arecha, great store of Cordage of Cayro, made of the barke of the Trée of the great Nut, and better then that of Hempe, of which they carrie great store into Portingale.

The Shippes euerye yeare depart from Cochine to goeNote the departing of the ships from Cochine. for Portingale, in the fist of December, or the fift of Janua­rie. Nowe to followe my voyage for the Indies: From Co­chine I went to Coylane, distant from Cochine seauentie and two miles, which Coylan is a small Fort of the king of Portingales, scituate in the kingdome of Coylane, which is a King of the Gentiles, and of small trade: at that place they [Page 14] lade onlye halfe a Shippe of Pepper, and then she goeth to Cochine to take in the rest, and from thence to Cao Come­ri, At Caocome­ry endeth the coast of the Indies. is seauentie and two miles, and there endeth the coast of the Indies, and alongst this coast, néere to the water side, and also of Cao comery, downe to the low land of Chialoa, which is about two hundred miles: The people there are as it were all returned to the Christian faith: there are also Churches of the Friers of Saint Paules order, which Fri­ers doo very much good in those places to turne the people, and in conuerting them, and take great trouble in instruc­ting them in the lawe of Christ.

The fishing for Pearles.

THe Sea that lieth betwéene the coast which discendethThe order how they fishe for pearles. from Cao Comery, to the low land of Chialoa and the Iland Zeyland, they call it the Fishing of Pearles, which fishing they make euerye yeare▪ beginning in Marche or Aprill, and it lasteth 50 daies, but they do not fish euery yeare in one place, but one yeare in one place, & ano­ther yeare in another place of the same sea: when the time of this fishing draweth néere, then they send verye good Dy­uers, that goe to discouer where the greatest heapes of Dy­sters be vnder water, and right against that place where the greatest store of Dysters be, there they make or plant a vil­lage with houses and a Bazaro, all of stone, which standeth as long as the fishing time lasteth, and it is furnished with all thing necessary, & now & then it is néere vnto places that are inhabited, and other times far of, according to the place where they fish. The fishermē are all Christians of the coun­trey, and who that will may go to fishing, paying a certaineDutie paid to the king of Portingale for the fish­ing of perles. dutie to the king of Portingale, & to the Churches of the fri­ers of S. Paule, which are in that coast, all the while that they are fishing, there is thrée or foure Fustes armed to de­fend the fishermen from Corsarios: It was my chance to be there one time in my passage, & saw the order, that they vsed in fishing, which is this▪ there are 3 or 4 barks y^• make cōsort together, which are like to our little pilot boats & a litle lesse, [Page] there goeth 7. or 8. men in a Boate: and I haue séene in a morning great number of them go out, and anker in 15. or 18 fadomes of water which is the ordinarye depth of all that coast: when they are at ankor, they cast a rope into the Sea and at the end of the rope they make fast a great stone, and then there is ready, a man that hath his nose and his eares well stopped, and annoynted with Oyle and a Basket a­bout his neck, or vnder his left arme, then he goeth downe by the rope to the bottome of the sea, and as fast as he can he filleth the basket, and when it is full, he shaketh the rope & his fellowes that are in the Bark, hale him vp with the bas­ket: and in such wise they go one by one vntill they haue la­den their barke with Oysters: and then at the euening they come to the village, and then euery company maketh theire mountaine or heape of Oysters, one distant from another in such wise that you shall sée a great long rowe of mountaines or heapes of Oysters, and they are not touched, vntill such time as the fisshing be ended, and at the end of the fishing, e­uery company sitteth round about their mountain or heap of Oysters, and fall to opening of them, which they may easi­ly doe because they be dead, drie and brittle, & if euery Oy­sterThese Perles are prised ac­cording to the caracts which they waye, euerye caract is foure graines, and these mē that prise them haue an in­strument of copper with holes in it, which be made by de­grees for to sort the Perles withal. had pearle in them, it would be a very good purchase, but there is very many that haue no pearles in them: when the fishing is ended, then they see whether it be a good gathering or a bad: there is certaine men expert in the pearles, whom they call Chitini which set and make the price of pearles ac­cording to their carracts, bewty and goodnes, making fower sorts of them: the first sorte be the round pearles, and they be called Aia of Portingale, because y^e Portingales do buy them: the second sorte which are not rounde, are called Aia of Ben­gala: the 3. sorte which are not so good as the second, they cal Aia of Canara, that is to say the kingdom of Bezeneger: the fourth and last sorte, which are the least and worst sorte, are called Aia of Cambaia. Thus the price beeing set, there is Marchants of euery countrey, which are ready with theire money in their hands: so that in a few dayes all is bought vp, at the prizes set according to the goodnesse and caracts [Page 15] of the Pearles. In this sea of the fishing of pearles is an I­land called Manar, which is inhabited by Christians, of the countrey which first were Gentiles, and haue a small holde of the Portingale, being scituate ouer against Zeyland: and betweene these two Ilands there is a Channell, but not very bigge and hath but a small depth therein, by reason whereof there cannot any great shippe passe that way, but small Shipps, and with the increase of the water, which is at the chaunge or the full of the Moone, and yet for all this they must vnlade them, and put their goods into small ves­sels to lighten them before they can passe that waye, for feare of Sholdes that lye in the channell, & after lade them into their Ships, to goe for the Indies, and this doo all small Ships that passe that waye, but those Ships that go for the Indies Eastwardes, passe by the coast of Chiarimandell, on the other side by the lowe Lande of Chiloa which is bee­twéene the Firme Land and the Iland Manor, and go­ing from the Indyes to the coast of Chiarimandell, they loose some Shippes, but they be emptye, because that the Shippes that passe that waye discharge theyre goods at an Iland called Peripatane, and there landiug theire goods into small flatte bottomed Boates, which drawe little wa­ter, and are called Tane and can runne ouer euery Sholds without either daunger or losse of any thing, for that they tarrye in Peripatane vntill such time as it be fayre wea­ther: Before they departe to passe through the Sholdes there the small Shippes and flat bottomed Boates go toge­ther in company, and when they haue sayled six and thirtyGreat trouble and danger. Great dangers for ships. miles, they arriue at the place where as the Sholdes be, and at that place the windes blow so forcible that they are forced to go through, not hauing any other refuge to saue them selues: the flat bottomed Boats they goe safe through, where as the small Ships if they misse the afore­said Channell, stick fast on the Sholds, and by this meanes many are lost: and comming back from the Indies, they go not that waye but passe by the Channell of Manor as aboue sayde, whose Channell is O [...]ye, and if the Shippes sticke [Page] fast, it is great chance if there be any daunger at all: the rea­son why this Channell is not more surer to goe thether is, because the windes that raygne or bl [...]weth betwéene Zey­land and Manar make the Channell so dry with water, that almost there is not any passage: from Cao Comery to the Iland of Zeyland is 120. miles ouerthwart.

Zeyland.

ZEyland is an Ilande, in my iudgement a great deale bigger then Cyrus, on that side towards the Indies: then westwards is theColomba a hold of the Portingales, citie called Colomba, which is a hold of the Portingales, but without wales or enimies: it hath towards the sea his fr [...]e port: y^e law­full king of that Iland, is in Colomba, and is turned Chri­stian, and maintained by the king of Portingale, being de­priued of his kingdome: The king of the Gentiles, to whom this kingdome did belong was called the Madoni, whichThe pollicy of the son de­priued the fa­ther of his kingdome. had two sonnes▪ the first named Barbynas the Prince, & the second Ragine: this king by the pollicie of his yonger sonne was depriued of his kingdome, because he had [...]ntised and done that which pleased the armye and Souldiers, in dis­pight of his father & brother being prince, vsurped the king­dome, and became a great warriar: first this Iland had thrée kings, this Ragine, with his father, & Barbinas his brother: the king of Cotta with his conquered prisoners: the king of Candia, which is a parte of that Iland, and is so called by the kingdome of Candia, which had a resonable power, and was a great friend to the Portingales, which said that he li­ued secretly a Christian: the third was the king of Giani­fanpatan: in 13. years that this Ragine gouerned this IlandCayro is a stuffe that they make ropes with the which is the barke of a tree. he became a great tyrant. In this Iland there groweth fine Sinnamon, great store of pepper, great store of Nuttes▪ and Arochoe, ther they make great store of Cairō to make Cor­dage: it bringeth foorth great store of Christall Cattes eies, or Echi de Gaty, and they say that they finde there some Ru­byes, [Page 16] but I haue sould Rubies well there, y^e I brought with me from Pega: I was very desirous to sée how they gather the sinnamon, or tak it from the trée that it groweth on, & so much the rather, because the time that I was there, was the season which they gather it in, which was in the moneth of Aprill: wheras at which time, y^• Portingales were in armes and in the field, with the king of the countrey: yet I to satis­fie my desire, although in great danger, tooke a guide with me and went into a wood, 3. miles from the cittie, in which wood was great store of sinnamon trées growing together a­mong other wilde trées, & this sinnamon trée is a small trée,The cutting & gathering of sinamon. and not very high, and hath his leaues like to our Bay trée: In the moneth of March or Aprill, when the sap goeth vp to the top of the trée, then they take the sinamon from that tree: in this wise they cut y^e barke of the trée round about in length from knot to knot, or from ioynt to ioint, aboue and belowe, and then easily with their hands they take it away laying it in the sun to dry: and in this wise it is gathered: and yet forA rare thing▪ all this the tree dyeth not, but against the next yeare it will haue a new barke, & that which is gathered euery yere is the best sinnamon: for that which groweth 2. or 3. yeres is great and not so good as the other is: and in these woods groweth much Pepper.

Negapatan.

FRom Zeyland within y^e Iland, to go with small ships to Negapatan within the firme land: & 72. miles of is a very great citie, & very populous of Portingales and Christi­ans of the countrey, and parte Gentiles: it is a countrey of small trade, neither haue they any trade there saue a good quantity of Rice, and cloth of bumbast which they carry into diuers parts: it was a very plentifull countrey of victuales, but now a great deale lesse, & that aboūdance of victuales, caused many Portingales to go thither, and build houses & dwell there with small charge.

[Page]This Citie belongeth to a noble man of the kingdome of Bezeneger being a Gentile, neuerthelesse the Portingales and other Christians are well intreated there, & haue their Churches there with a Monastery of S. Francis order, with great deuotion and verye well accommodated, with bouses round about, yet for all this they are amongst tyrants, which alwaies at their pleasure may doo them some harme, as it happened in the yeare of our Lord God▪ 1565, which I remember verye well, how that the Naic, that is to saye the Lord of the Citie, sent to the Cittizens to demand of them certaine Arabian Horsses, and they hauing denied them vn­to him, and gainesaid his demand, it came to passe that this Lord had a desire to sée the Sea, which when the poore Citi­zens vnderstood thereof, they doubted some euill, to heare a thing which was not woont to bee, they thought that this man would come to sacke the Citie, and presently they im­barked themselues the best they could with their moouea­bles,A foolish feare of Portingales. merchandize, Jewels, money and all that they had, and caused the ships to put from the shore, when this was doone, as their ill chaūce would haue it, the next night following, there came such a great storme, which put all the ships a land perforce, and brake them to péeces, and all the goods. that came a land and was saued, was taken from them by the Soldiors and armye of this Lorde, which came downe with him to sée the sea, and were attendant at the Sea side, not thinking any such thing to haue hapned.

Saint Thomas, or san Tome.

FRom Nega patan sollowing my voyage to­wards the East, a hundreth & fiftie miles,S. Thomas his sepulcher. I found the house of blessed S. Thomas, which is a Church of great deuotion, and greatlye regarded of the Gentiles for the great miracles that they haue heard hath béene doone by that blessed Apostle: néere vnto this Church the Portingales haue builded them a Citie in the countrie [Page 17] subiect [...]o the king of Bezeneger, which Cittye, although it be not verye greate, in my iudgement it is the fayrest in all that parte of the Indyes: and it hath verye fayre houses and fayre Gardens, in vacant places very well accommo­dated: it hath stréetes large and straight, with many chur­chesA discription of S. Thomas his towne, called of the Portingales S. Tome. of great deuotion: their houses be set close vnto an o­ther, with little doores: euery house hath his defence, so that by that meanes it is of force suffitient to defend themselues against that countrey: the Portyngales there haue no other possession but their Gardens, and houses that are within the Cittie: the customes belong to the king of Bezeneger, which are very small and easye, for that it is a Countrey of great riches, and great trade: there commeth euery yeare two orA painted kind of cloth and dyed of diuers co­lours which those people delight much in & esteeme them of a great price. thrée great ships very riche, besides many other small ships: one of the two great ships goeth for Pegan, and the other for Mallaca, laden with fine bumbast cloth of euery sort, painted, which is a rare thing, because those kind of clothes shew as they were gilded with diuers colours, and the more they be washed, the liuelier the colours wil shew: also there is other cloth of bumbast which is wouen with diuers colours, & are of great valew: also they make in Sane Tome, great store of red Yarne, which they dys with a roote called Saya, and this colour will neuer wast, but the more it is washed, the more redder it will shew: they lade this yarne the greatest parte of it, for Pegan, because that there they worke and weaue it to make cloth according to their owne fashion, and with lesser charges: It is a meruelous thing to them which haue not séene the laging and vnlading of men and marchā ­dize in S. Tome as they do, it is a place so dangerous, there a man cannot be serued with small barkes, neither can they do their busines with the boates of the shippes because they would be beaten in a thousād peeces, but they make certain barkes (of purpose) highe, which they call Masady, they be made of little Boardes: one Board sowed to another with small cordes, and in this order are they made: And when they are thus made: and that they will embarke anye thing in them eythe men or goodes, they lade them a land, [Page] and when they are laden, the Barke men shruste the boate with her lading into the streame: and with greate spéede they make haste, all that they are able to rowe out against the huge waues of the sea that are on that shore vntill that they carry them to th [...] Shippes: and in like manner they lade these Masudies a [...] the Shippes with marchandize and men: when they come néere the shore, the Bark-men kéepe out of the Barke into the Sea to kéepe the Barke right that shée cast not thwart the shore, & being kept right, the Suffe of the Sea setteth her lading drye a land, without any burt or daunger, and sometimes there is some of them that is o­uerthrowne, but there can bee no great losse, because the [...] lade but a little at a time: all the marchandize that they la [...] outwardes they emball it well with Oxe hides so that if [...] take wette it can haue no great harme.

In my voyage returning, in the yéere of our Lord God, one thousand, fiue hundred, sixtye and sixe. I went from Goa vnto Malacca, in a Shippe or Galion of the King of Portingales, which went vnto Banda for to lade NutmegsIn the Ilande of Banda they lade Nut­megs for ther they growe. and Maces: from Goa to Malaca, one thousand eight hun­dred miles we passed within the Iland Zeyland, and went through the chanell of Nicubar, or else through the channell of Sombrero, which is by the middle of the Iland called Su­mtara, called Taprobana: & from Nicuber to Pigue is as it were, a rowe or chaine of an infinite number of Ilandes, of which many are enhabited, with wilde people, and they call those Ilandes the Ilands of Andeman, and they call theirIn the Ilands of Andeman they eate one another people sauadge or wilde, because they eate one another: also these Ilandes haue warre one with another, for they haue small Barkes, and with them they take one an other and so eate one an other, and if by euill thaunce any Ship be loste on those Ilands, as many haue béene, there is not one man of those Ships lost there that escapeth vneaten or vnstaine, these people haue not any acquaintance with any other peo­ple, neither haue they trade with any, but line onely of such fruites as those Ilands yeeldeth: and if any Ship come néere vnto that place or coast as they paase y^• way, as in my voiage [Page 18] it happened, as I came from Malaca through the channell ofThe Mowsies is a kind of fruite grow­ing in clusters and are 5 or 6 inches long 2 peece, & they growe 5. or 7. on a cluster & are a very good meate. Sombrero, there came two of theyr barckes neere vnto our shippe laden with fruite, as with Mouces which we call A­dams apples, with fresh nuttes, and with a fruite called I­nany: which fruite is lyke to our Turnops, but is verye sweete and good to eate: they would not come into the shippe for any thing that we could doo: neither would they take any mony for theyr fruite, but they would trucke for olde shirtes or peeces of olde linnen breches, these ragges they let downe with a rope into their barke vnto them, and looke what they thought those things to be worth, so much fruite they wouldIn any a frute like to a T [...]nep, de­liciou [...] to eat. make fast to the rope and let vs hale it in, and it was tolde me that at sonetimes a man shall haue for an olde shirte a good péece of Ambar.

Sumatra.

THis Iland of Sumatra is a great Iland and deuyded and gouerned by many Kinges, and deuided into ma­ny channels, where through there is passage: vpon the head land towards the West is the kingdome of Assi and gouerned by a Moore King, this king is of great force and strength as he that beside his great kingdome, hath ma­ny foists and Gallies. In his kingdome groweth great store of Pepper, Ginger, Beniamin, he is an vtter enemie to theThe com­modities that grow in the kingdom of Assi. Portingale and hath diuers times beene at Malacca to fight against it, and hath doone great harme to the bowroughes thereof, but the Cittie alwaie defended him valientlie, and with theyr ordinaunce dyd great spoyle to hys Campe, at length I came to the Cittie of Malacca.

The Cittie Malacca.

MAlacca is a Cittie of merueitous great trade of allThe great trade that is at Malacca. kind of Merchanbize. Which commeth from diuers parts, bicause that all the Ships that saile in these seas, both great and small, are bound to touch at Ma­lacca, to paye their custome there, although they vnlade no­thing at all as we do at Elsinor: and if by night they escape away, and pay not their custome, then they fall into a grea­ter danger after: for if they come into the Indies and haue not the seale of Malacca▪ they paye double custome, I haue not passed farther then Malacca towards the East, but that which I will speake of here, is by good information of themVoiages which are on­lye for the king and his noble men. that haue béene there. The sailing from Malacca towards the East, is not common for all men, as China and Giapan, and so forwards to goe who will, but onlye for the king of Portingale and his nobles, with leaue granted vnto them of the king to make such voiages, or to the iurisdiction of the captaine of Malacca, where he expecteth to know what voi­ages they make from Malacca thether, and these are the kings voiages, that euery year, ether departeth from Malac­ca, two Galions of the kings, one of them goeth to the Mul­luccos to lade Cloues, and the other goeth to Banda to ladeAt the Mo­luccos they lade the Cloues. Nutmegs and Maces. These two Galians are laden for the king, neither doo they carrye anye particular mans goods, sa­uing the portage of the Marriners and Soldiors, and for this cause, they are not voiages for Merchants, bicause that going thether he shall not haue where to lade his goods of re­turne, and besides this the Captaine will not carrye anye Merchant for either of these two places. There goeth small Ships of the Mores thether, which come from the coast of Iaua, and change or guild their commodities in the kingdom of Assa, and these be the Maces, Cloues, and Nutmegs, which go for the straights of Meca. The voiages that the king of Portingale granteth to his nobles are these, of China and Giapan: from China to Giapan, and from Giapan to [Page 19] China, and from China to the Indies, and the voiage of Ben­galuco Sonda, with the lading of fine cloth, and euery sort of Bumbast cloth▪ Sonda is an Iland of the Mores, neere to the roast of Giaua, and there they lade Pepper for China. The ships that goeth euerye yeare from the Indies to China isThe ship of Drugs, so termed of the Portingales. called the Ship of Drugs, because she carieth diuers drugs of Cambaya: but the greatest part of hir lading is siluer. From Malacca to China is 1800. miles, and from China to Giapan, goeth euery yeare a great ship of great importance, laden with silke, which for returne of their silke bring barsThe distance of places. of Siluer which they truck in China, that is distant be­twéene China an [...] Giapan 2400 miles, and in this waye there is diuers Ilands, not very big, in the which the Friers of S. Paule by the helpe of God, make many Christians there like to themselues: from these Ilands hether wards is notIlands not discouered. yet discouered, for the great sholdnes of Sands that they find. The Portingales haue made a small Citie neere vnto the coast of China called Macha, whose church and houses are of wood, and hath a Bishoprike: but the customes are of the king of China, and they go and pay it at a Cittie called Canton, which is a Cittie of great importance, and verye beautifull, two dayes iorneye and a halfe from Macheo, which people are Gentiles, and are so iealious and fearefull,A kind of iea­lious people. that they would not haue a stranger to put his foote within their land, so that when the Portingales goe thether to paye their custome, and to buye their Merchandize, they will not consent that they shall lye or lodge within the Cittie, but sendeth them forth into the subburbs. The countrie of Chi­na China is vn­der the go­uernment of the great Tartar. is in the kingdome of great Tartaria, and is a very great countrye of the Gentiles, and of great importance, which may be iudged by the riche and precious merchandize that come from thence, the which I beléeue are not better nor greater quantitie in the whole worlde, then these are thatThe riches of China. come from thence. First great store of gold, which they carye to the Indies, made in plates like to little Ships▪ and in va­lue 23 caracts a péece, very great aboundance of fine Silke, Cloth of Damaske and Taffitle, great quantitie of Muske, [Page] great quantity of Occom in bars, great quantitie of Quick­siluer and of Cinaper, great store of Camfora, an infinite quantity of Procellane, made in vessels of diuers sorts, great quantitie of painted cloth and squares, infinite store of the rootes of China, euery yeare there commeth from China to the Indies two or three great Ships, laden with most riche and precious Merchandize. The Rubarbe commeth from thence ouer land, by the waye of Percia, because that euery yeare there goeth a great Carauan from Percia to China, which is in going thether six moneths▪ Carauan arriueth at a cittie called Lanchine, the place where the king is resi­dentIt is a most excellent fine mettall as may be made. with his court, I spake with a Persian that was thrée yeares in that Cittie of Lanchine, and he told me that it was a great Citie and of great importance. The voiages of Malacca which are in the iurisdiction of the Captaine of the castell, are these, that euery yeare hee sendeth a small Ship to Timor to lande white Sandolo, for all theTymor an I­land from whence com­meth all the white Sādolo. best commeth from this Iland: there commeth also from Color, but that is not so good: also he sendeth another small ship euerye yeare to Cochine China, to lade there wood of Aleos, for that all the wood of Aleos cōmeth from this place, which is in the firme land néere vnto China, and in that kingdome I could not knowe how that wood groweth by a­ny meanes. For that the people of the countrie will not suf­fer the Portingales to come within the land, but onelye for wood and water, and as for all other things that they wan­ted, as victuals or merchandize, the people bring y^• a boord theA market kept aboord of the ships. ship in small barkes, so that euery daye there is a mart kept in the Ship, vntill such time as she be laden: also there goeth another ship for the said Captaine of Malacca to Asion, to lade Verzino: all these voiages are for the Captaine of the Castell of Malacca, and when he is not disposed to make these voiages, he selleth them to another.

The Citie Sion.

SIon was the imperiall seate, and a great Citie, but in the yeare of our Lord God, 1567, it was taken by the king of Pegu which king made a voyage or came byA prince of a merueilous strength and power. land foure moneths iourney with an armie of men through his land, and the number of his armie was a Milion and foure hundreth thousand men of warre: when he came to the Citie, he gaue assault to it, and besieged it twentye and one moneths before he could winne it, with great losse of his people, this I know, for that I was in Pegu six monethes after his departure, and sawe when that his officers that were in Pegu▪ sent fiue hundreth thousand men of warre to furnish the places of them that were slaine and lost in that assault: yet for all this, if there had not béene treason against the Citie, it had not béene lost,Treason. for on a night there was one of the gates set open, through the which with great trouble the king gat into the Citye, and became gouernor of Sion: and when the Emperor saw that he was betraid, and that his enimie was in the Citie, he poisoned himselfe, and the wiues and children, fréend and noblemen, that were not slaine in the first affront of the en­trance into the Citie, were all carried captiues into Pegu, where I was at the comming home of the king with his tri­umphes and victorie, which comming home and returning from the warres was a goodlye sight to behold, to see the E­lephantsGreat tri­umph [...]. come home in a square, laden with Gold, Siluer, Jewels, and with Noble men and women that were ta­ken prisoners in that Citie.

Now to returne to my voyage: I departed from Ma­lacca, in a great Shippe which went for S. Tome, being a Cittie scituate on the coast of Chiriamandell, & because the captain of the castels of Malacca hauing vnderstanding proaduyzo, that the king of Assi would come with a great armye and power of men against them, therefore vpon this he would not giue licence that anye Ships should departe: [Page] Wherefore in this Shippe we departed in the night, with­out making anye prouision of our water: and wee were in that shippe fower hundreth and odde men: we departed from thence with Intention to goe to an Ilande to take in water, but the windes were so contrary, that they woulde not suffer vs to fetch it, so that by this meanes wee were two and forty dayes in the sea as it were lost, and we were driuen too and fro, so that the first land that we discouered, was beyonde Sainct Tomes, more then fiue hundreth milesThe moun­tains of Zer­ziline. which were the mountaines of Zerzerline, neere vnto the kingdome of Orisa, and so we came to Orisa with manye sicke, and more that weare deade for want of water: and they that were sicke in fower dayes died: and I for the spaceA miserable thing. of a yeare after had my throate so sore hoarse, that I coulde neuer fatisfie my thirst in drinking of water: I iudge the reason of my hoarsenesse to be with soppes that I wette in vinnigar and Oyle wherewith I sustained my selfe many dayes, there were not any want of breade neither of wine: But the wines of that countrie are so hotte that with­out water they kill a man: neither are they able to drinke them: when we beganne to want water, I sawe certaine Moores that were officers in the Ship, that solde a smal dishThey would haue giuen two hundred & a halfe of pepper for a small dish of water and they woul [...] not take it their miserie was so great. full for a Duckat, after this, I sawe one that would haue giuen a Barre of Pepper, which is two quintalles and a halfe, for a little measure of water, and he could not haue it. Truely I beléeue that I had died with my slaue, whom then I had to serue me, which cost me very déere, but to prouide for the daunger at hand, I sold my slaue for halfe that he was worth, because that I would saue his drinke that he drunks to serue my owne purpose, and saue my life.

Of the Kingdome of Orisa, and the Riuer Ganges.

ORisa was a faire Kingdome, and trustye,A rare thing▪ through the which a man might haue gone with Golde in his hand without any dan­gerThe loue of the King to strangers was so great, that he would take no custome of them. at all, as long as the lawfull King rei­ned which was a gentile, which was in the citie called Catecha, which was within the land sixe dayes Journey. This King loued Strangers mer­uailous well, and Marchants which came in and out in his Kingdome, in such wise, that he would take no custome of of them, neither any other greeuous thing. Onlye the Ship that came thither paide a small thing according to her por­tage, and euery yeere in the port of Orisa, laded 25. or 30. Ships great and small, with Ryce diuers sortes of fine white bumbaste cloth. Oyle of Zerzclnie, which they makeThe commo­dities that goe out of Orisa. of a Séede, and is very good to eate and to frye fishe withall, great store of Butter, Lacca, long Pepper, Ginger, Mirabo­lany drye, and condyt, great store of cloth of hearbes, which is a kinde of Silke which groweth amongst the woods with­outThis cloth we call Net­tle cloth. any labour of man, only when the bole therof is growen round as big as an Orenge▪ then they take care only to ga­ther them. About sixteene yeeres passed, this King with his Kingdome were destroyed by the King of Patane, which wasIn this Bengala, they lade Nutmegges, for there they growe. also King of the greatest parte of Bengala, and when he had got the kingdome he set custome there twenty pro cento, as Marchants paide in his Kingdome, but this tirant enioyed his kingdome but a small time, but was conquered by ano­ther tirant, which was the greate Magoll, King of Agraa, Dely and of all Cambaia, without any resistance. I depar­ted from Orisa to Bengala, to the harber Picheno, which is distant from Orisa towards the Easte a hundreth and sea­uenty miles. They goe as it were rowing alongst the coasteThe Riuer of Ganges▪ fiftie & fower miles, and then we enter into the Riuer Ganges: from the mouth of this Riuer, to a Citie called Satagan where the Marchants gather them selues together with their trade, are [...] [...]20. miles, which they rowe in 18. howers: [Page] with the increace of the water, in which Riuer it floweth and ebbeth as it dooth in the Themes, and when the ebbing water is come, they are not able to rowe against it, by rea­son of the swiftnesse of the water, yet their Barkes be light and armed with oares, like to Foistes, yet they cannot pre­uaileBazaras and Pa [...]uas are the names of the Barkes that they row in the Riuer Ganges. against that streame, but for refuge must make them fast to the banke of the riuer vntill the next flowing water, and they call these barkes Bazaras and Patuas: they row as wel as a Gallyot, or as wel as euer I haue séen any, a good tides rowing before you come to Satagan, you shall haue a place which is called Buttor, and from thence vpwardes the Shippes doo not goe, because that vpwards the Riuer is ve­ry shallowe, and little water, euerye yéere at Buttor they make and vnmake a Village, with houses and shops, made of Strawe, and with all thinges necessary to their vses, and this village standeth as long as the shippes ride there, and depart for the Indies, and when they are departed, euery man goeth to his plotte of houses, and there setteth fier onA town made for two or three monthes and then burnt. them, which thing made me to meruaile. For as I passed vp to Satagan, I saw this village standing with a great number of people, with an infinite number of Shippes and Bazars, and at my returne comming downe with my Car­taine of the last ship, for whome I tarried, I was all amazed to sée such a place so soone rased and burnt, nothing left but the signe of the burnt houses, the Small Ships goe to Sata­gan, and there they lade.

Of the Citie of SATAGAN.

IN the port of Satagan euery yéere ladeth 30. or 35. Shippes great and small, with RyceThe commo­dities that are laden in Satagan. Cloth of Bombaste, of diuers sortes, Lacca, great abundance of Suger, Mirabolany, dri­ed and preserued, long Pepper, Oyle of Zer­zeline, and many other sorts of Marchandise. The Citie of Satagan is a reasonable faire Citie for a Citie of the Moores, abounding in all thinges, and was gouerned [Page 23] by the King of Patane, and now is subiect to the great Ma­goll, I was in this Kingdome fowre monthes, wheras ma­ny marchants did buye or fraight boats for their benefits, and with these barkes they goe vp and downe the riuer of Ganges to Faires, buying their commodity with a great ad­uantage, because that euery daye in the Weeke they haue a Faire, now in one place, and now in another, and I also hired a barke and went vp and downe the riuer and did my businesse, and so in the night I sawe many straunge things.These Gen­tiles are Idolators. The kingdom of Bengala in times past haue bene as it were in the power of Moores, neuerthelesse there is great store of Gentiles among them, alwayes whereas I haue spoken ofMoores are of the sect of Mahomet. Gentiles, is to be vnderstood Idolaters, and wheras I speak of Moores I meane Mahomets sect, especially those people that bee within the lande doe greatly worshippe the riuer of Ganges, for when any is sicke, he is brought out of the coun­try to the bancke of the riuer, and there they make him a small cottage of Strawe, and euery day they wet him withA Ceremonye of the gentiles when they are dead. that Water, whereof there is many that die, and when they are dead, they make a heape of stickes and boughes and lay the dead bodie thereon, and putting fire thereunto, they let the body alone vntill it be halfe rosted, and then they take it off from the fire, and make an empty iar fast about his neck, and so throwe him into the riuer. These things euerie night as I passed vp and downe the riuer I sawe for the space ofPortingales doo not drink of the water▪ of the Riuer Ganges. two moneths, as I passed to the fayres to buy my commo­dities with the Merchauntes, and this is the cause that the Portugalles will not drincke of the water of the riuer Gan­ges, yet to the sight it is more perfecter and clearer then that water of Nylus is. From y^• port of Pechineo I went to Co­chim, and from Cochim to Malaca, from whence I departed for Pegu eight hundred miles distant, that voyage was wōt to bee made in twentie fiue or thirtie dayes, but wee were fowre moneths, and at the end of thrée moneths our Shippe was without victualles. The Pilot tolde vs that wee were by his altitude from a Citie called Tenassiry, a Citie in the kingdome of Pegu, and these his wordes were not true, but [Page] we were (as it were) in y^• middle of manie Ilands, and ma­nie vninhabited rocks, and there were also some Portugals that affirmed that they knew the Land, & knewe also where the Citie of Tenassiry was.

Which citie of right belongeth to the kingdome of Sion, which is scituate on a great riuer side which commeth out of the kingdome of Sion: and where this riuer runneth into theMergy a harbour where ships land. sea, there is a village called Mergy, in whose harbour euerie yere there ladeth some Shippes with Uerzina, Nypa, and Beniamin, a few cloues, nuts & maces which come from the coast of Sion, but the greatest merchandise there is verzing, and nypa, which is an excellent Wine, which is had in the flowre of a tree called Nyper. Whose liquor they distill, andNiper Wine is a most excellent drink. so make an excellent drincke cleere as Christall, good to the mouth, and better to the stomacke, and it hath an excellent gentle virtue, that if one were rotten with the french pocks, drinking good store of this, hee shall be whole againe, and I haue séen it proued, because that, whē I was in Cochin, ther was a friende of mine, that his nose began to droppe away with that diseaze, and was counselled of the doctors of phi­sicke, that he should goe to Tenassary at the time of the newNiper Wine good to cure the french disease. wines, and that he should drincke of the nyper Wine, night and day, as much as he could before it was distilled, which at that time it is most delicate, but after that it is distilled, it is more stronger, and drincke much of it, it will fume into the heade with drunkennesse. This man went thither, and did so, and I haue séene him after with a good colour andNiper Wine very deere in the Indians. sounde. This Wine is verie much esteemed in the Indies, & for that that it is brought so farre off, it is very deare: in Pe­gu ordinarily it is good cheape, because it is neerer to the place where they make it, and there is euerie yeere great quantitie made thereof: and returning to my purpose, I say being amongst these rockes, and farre from the land which is ouer against Tenassary, with great scarsitie of victualles, and that by the saying of the pylate and two Portugalles, hol­ding then firme that we were in front of the aforesaide har­bour, we determined to goe thither with our boat and [...]etch [Page 24] victualles, and that the shippe shoulde stay for vs in a place assigned, we were twenty and eight persons in the boat that went for victualles, and on a day about twelue of the clocke we went from the Ship, assuring our selues to be in the har­bour before night in the aforesaide port, wee rowed all that day, and a great part of the next night, and all the next day without finding harbour, or any signe of good landing, and this came to passe through the euill counsel of the two Por­tugalles that were with vs.

For we had ouershot the harbour and left it behind vs, in such wise that we had loste the lande, enhabited with the ship, and we twentie eight men had no maner of victuall with vs in the boate, but it was the Lordes will that one of the Mariners, had brought a litle Ryce with him in the boat to barter away for some other thing, and it was not so much but that three or fowre men would haue eate [...] it at a meale:Great extremitie at Sea. I tooke the gouernment of this Ryce, promising that by the helpe of God that Ryce should be nourishment for vs vntill it plesed God to send vs to some place that was enhabited: and when I slept I put the ryce into my bosome because they shoulde not rob it from me: we were nine dayes row­ing alongst the coast, without finding any thing but Coun­tries vninhabited, and deserts Iland, wher if we had found but grasse it woulde haue séemed Sugar vnto vs, but wee coulde not finde any, yet wee founde a fewe leaues of a tree, and they were so hard that we could not chew them, we had Water and Wood sufficient, and as we rowed, we could goe but by flowing Water, for when it was ebbing Water, weThis Tortu go is a shell fishe which liueth in y^• Sea, and yet laieth his Egges in the Sand, I haue seene 200. and od egges in one of their b [...] lies. made fast our boat to the bancke of one of those Ilands, and in these nine dayes that we rowed, wee found a caue or nest of Tortugaes egges, wherein was a hundred & fortie fowre egges, the which was a great helpe vnto vs: these egges are as big as a hennes egge, and haue no shell about them but a tender Skinne, euerie day wee sodde a kettle full of them egges, with an handfull of ryce in the broth thereof: it plea­sed God that at the ende of nine dayes, wee discouered cer­taine fisher men, a fishing with small barkes, and wee rowed [Page] towards them, with a good chéere, for I thinke there were neuer men more glad then we were, for we were so sore af­flicted with penurie that we could skarce stand on our legs. yet according to the order that we set for our ryce, when we saw those fisher men, there was left sufficient for foure days. The first village that we came too, was in the gulfe of Ta­uay, vnder the King of Pegu, whereas wee founde greate store of victualles, then for two or thrée dayes after our ari­uall there, wee woulde eate but little meate, anie of vs: andTauay vnder the King of Pegu. yet for all this, we were at the point of death the most part of vs. From Tauay to Martauan, in the Kingdome of Pegu, are seuentie two miles. We laded our boate with victuals which was aboundantly sufficient for sixe monethes, from whence wee departed for the porte and Citie of Martauan, where in short time we ariued, but wee founde not our ship there as we had thought we shoulde, from whence presently wee made out two backes to goe to looke for her. And they founde her in greate calamitie, and néede of Water, being at an ancker with a contrarie winde, and came very yll to passe, because that shee wanted her boate a moneth which should haue made her prouision of wood and water, The ship also by the grace of God ariued safely in the aforesaide port of Martauan.

The Citie of Martauan.

WE founde in the Citie of Martauan ninetie Portugalles of MerchantesMartauan a Citie vnder the King of Pegu. and other base men, which had fallen at difference with the Retor or go­uernour of the Citie, and for this cause, that certaine vagabondes of the Portugalles had slayne fiue fal­chines of the Kinges of Pegu, which chaunced about a moneth after that the King of Pegu was gone with a million and foure hun­dreth thousande men to conquer the kingdome of Sion, [Page 25] they haue for custome in this Countrey and Kingdome, that the King being wheresoeuer his pleasure is to bée outA custom that these People haue when the King is in the warres. of his kingdome, that euerie fiftéene dayes there goeth from Pegu a carauan of Falchines, with euerie one a basket on his heade full with some fruites or other delicates of refre­shings, and with cleane clothes, it chaunsed that this cara­uan passing by Martauan, and resting themselues there a night, there happened betwéene the Portugalles and them: wordes of dispight, and from words to blowes, and because it was thought that the Portugalles had the worse, the night following, when the Falchines were a sleepe with their companie, the Portugalles went and cut off fiue of their heades. Nowe there is a Lawe in Pegu that whosoe­uerA lawe in Pegu for killing of men. killeth a man, hee shall buy the shed bloud with his mo­nie, according to the estate of the person that is slaine, but these Falchines beeing the seruauntes of the King, the Re­tors durst not doe any thing in the matter, without the con­sent of the King, because it was necessarie that the King shoulde knowe of such a matter. When the King had know­ledge thereof, he gaue commaundement that the malifac­tors shoulde bee kept vntill his comming home, and then he would duely minister iustice, but the captaine of the Portu­galles woulde not deliuer those men, but rather set himselfe with all the rest in armes, and went euerie day through the citie marching with the Drumme and ancient displayd. For at that time the Citie was emptie of men, by reason they were gone al to the warres and in businesse of the king, in the midst of this rumour we came thether, and I thought it a straunge thing to see the Portugalles vse such insolen­cieGreat pride of the Portin galles. in another mans Cittie. And I stoode in doubte of that which came to passe, & would not vnlade my goodes because y^• they were more surer in the ship then on the land, the grea­test part of the lading was the owners of the ship, who was in Malacca, yet there were diuers merchāts there, but their goods were of small importāce, al those merchants told me y^• they woulde not vnlade any of their goodes there, vnlesse I would vnlade first, yet after they left my counsell & folowed [Page] their own, and put their goods a land and lost it euerie whit. The Rector with the customer sent for me, and demaunded why I put not my goods a lande, and pay my custome as o­ther men did? to whom I answered, that I was a merchant that was newly come thither, & séeing such disorder amongstA good discrete way taken for safe garde of his goods. the Portugalles, I doubted the losse of my goodes which cost me very dear, with the sweate of my face, and for this cause I was determined not to put my goodes a lande, vntill such time as his honour would assure me in the name of the king, that I shoulde haue no losse although there came harme to the Portugalles, that I nor my goodes should not haue any hurt, because I had neither part nor any difference with them in this rumor: my reason sounded well in the Retors eares, and presently commaunded to cal the Bargits, which are as Counsellers of the Citie & there they promised me on the Kings head or in the behalfe of the King, that neither I nor my goods should haue anie harme, but that we should be safe & sure: of which promise there was made publike notes, and then I sent for my goods and had them a land, and payd my custome, which is in that countrie ten in the hundreth of the same goodes, and for my more securitie I tooke a house right against the Retors house. The Captain of the Portu­galles, and all the Portugal Merchants were put out of the Citie, and I with twentie and two poore men which were officers in the Ship, we had our dwelling in the Citie. After this, the Gentil [...] deuised to be reuenged of the Portugales, but they woulde not put it in execution vntill such time as our small Shippe had discharged all her goodes, and then the nert night following, came from Pegu fowre thousand soul­diersA reuenge on the Portingales. with some Elyphants of Warre, and before that they made anie rumor in the citie, the Retor sent, and gaue com­maundement to all Portugales that were in the Citie, that whē they heard anie rumor or noyse, that for any thing they shoulde not goe out of their houses, and as they tendered their own health. Then fowre houres in the night I heard a great rumour and noyse of men of Warre, with Eliphants which threwe downe the doores of the Ware-houses of the [Page 26] Portugalles, and their houses of wood and strawe, in the which rumour there were some Portugalles wounded, and one of them slaine, and others without making proofe of there manhoode, which the daye before did so bragge at that time: put themselues to flight moste shamefullye, and saued them selues a boorde of little Shippes, that were at an ancker in the harbour, and some that were in their beddes fledde away naked, and that night they caried a­way all the Portugalles goodes, out of the suburbes into the Citie, and those Portugalles that had their goodes in the suburbes with all. After this the Portugalles that were fled into the shippes to saue themselues, tooke a newe courage to themselues, and came a lande and set fire on the houses in the suburbs, which houses being made of boord and straw, and a fresh winde: in small time they were burnt and consu­med, with which fire halfe the Citie had like to beene burnt, when the Portugalles had done this, they were without all hope to recouer any part of their goodes againe, which goods might amount to the summe of sixtéene thousande duckets, which if they had not set fire to the towne, they might haue had their goodes giuen them gratis, then the Portugalles hauing vnderstanding that this thing was not done by the consent of the King, but by his lifetenant and the Retor of the citie, they were verie yll content, knowing that they had made a greate fault, yet the next morning following, the Portugalles began to batter and shoote their ordinance a­gainst the Citie, which batterie of theirs continued fowre dayes, but all was in vaine, for the shott neuer hit the Citie, but light on the top of a small hill neere vnto it, so that the Citie had no harme, when the Retor perceiuing that the Portugalles made batry against the Citie, he tooke twentie and one Portugalles that were there in the Citie, and sent them foure miles into the Countrie, there to tarrie vntill such time as the other Portugalles were departed, that made the batterie, who after their departure let them go at their owne libertie without any harme done vnto them, I was alwayes in my house with a good guard appointed me [Page] by the Retor, that no man shoulde doe mee iniurie, nor harme me nor my goodes, in such wise that hee perfourmed all that hee had promised mee in the name of the King, but he would not let me depart before the comming of the king, which was my hindrance greatly, because I was twentie and one moneths sequested, that I coulde not buy nor sell a­ny kind of merchandire. Those commodities that I brought thither, was Peper, Sandolo, and Procellan of China, so when the King was come home, I made my supplication vnto him, and I was licensed to depart when I would.

From Martauan I departed to goe to the chiefest Citie inPegu▪ is the name of the Kingdome and y^• choice Citie is called after that name. the kingdome of Pegu, which is also called after the name of the Kingdome, which voyage is made by sea in three or foure dayes, they may goe also by Land, but hee that hath mer­chandire it is better for him to goe by sea and lesser charge, and in this voyage you shal haue a Marcareo, which is one of the meruellous things in the world y^• nature hath wrought, and I neuer sawe anie thing so hard to be beléeued as this, The great encreasing and deminishing that the Water ma­keth there at one pushe or instant, and with the horribleA thing most meruailous that at the comming of the tide, that the earth should quake earth quake and great noyse that it maketh where it com­meth. We departed from Martauan in barks, which are like to our Pylot boates, with the encrease of the Water, and they go as swift as an arrowe out of a bowe, so long as the tide runneth with them, and when the water is at the high­est, then they drawe themselues out of the Chanel towards some bancke, and there they come to anker, and when the Water is diminished, then they rest a drye: and when the barkes rest drie, they are as high from the bottome of the Chanell, as any house toppe is high from the ground. They let their barks lie so high for this respect, that if there should any shippe rest or ride in the Chanell, with such force com­meth in the Water, that it would ouerthrowe ship or bark: yet for all this, that the barkes bee so farre out of the Cha­nell,This tide is like to the tides in our Riuer of Se­uerne. and though the Water hath lost her greatest strength and furie before it come so high, yet they make fast their prowe to the streme, and often times it maketh them verie [Page 27] fearfull, & if the Anker did not hold her prow vp by strength: she woulde bee ouerthrowne and lost with men and goods, when the Water beginneth to encrease, it maketh such a noise and so great that you would thinke it an earthquake, & presently at the first it maketh 3. wanes. So that the first washeth ouer the barke, from stem to stern the second is notThese tides make their iust course as o [...]rs doo. so furious as the first, & the third ratseth the anker, and then for the space of six howres y^• the water encreaseth, they rolve with such swiftnesse that you woulde thinke they did flye, in these tides there must be lost no iot of time, for if you ariue not at the stagious before the tide be spent, you must turne backe from whence you came For there is no staying at a­ny place but at these stagious, and there is more daunger at one of these places then at another, as they bee higher and lower one then another. When as you returne from Pe­gu to Martauan, they goe but halfe the Tide at a time, be­cause they will lay their barkes vp aloft on the banckes, for the reason aforesaide, I coulde neuer gather any reason of the noyse that this Water maketh in the encrease of theThis Macareo is a tide or a coraot. Houses made of Cane and couered with leaues of trees. Tide, and in deminishing of the Water. There is ano­ther Macareo in Cambaya, but that is nothing in cōparison of this, by the helpe of God wee came safe to Pegu, which are two cities, the olde and the newe, in the old Citie are the Merchant straungers, and merchants of the Countrie, for there is the greatest doings and greatest trade. This Citie is not verie great, but it hath verie great suburbs. Their hou­ses be made with canes, and couered with leaues, or withGodon is a pla [...]e or house for merchants to lay their goods in. strawe, But the merchants haue all one house or Magason, which house they call Godon which is made of Brickes, and there they put all their goods of any valure, to saue them frō the often mischances y^• there hapneth to houses made of such stuffe, in the new citie is the pallace of the king, & his abidingThe forme of the building of the new Cittye of Pegu. place with all his barons & nobles, & other gentlemen & in y^• time that I was there, they finished the building of the new citie, it is a great citie, verie plain and flat, & 4. square, wal­led round about, & with ditches y compasse the wals about with water, in which diches are many crockadels, it hath no [Page] drawe Bridges, yet it hath twentie gatcs, fiue for euerie square on y^• walles, ther is manie places made for centinels to watch, made of Wood and couered or guilt with gold, the stréetes thereof are the fayrest that I haue seene, they are as streight as a lyne from one gate to another, and standing at the one gate, you may discouer to the other, and they are as broad as 10. or 12. men may ride a brest in thē: & those streets that be thwart are fayre and large, these stréetes both on the one side and on the other, are planted at the dores of the houses: But trées of India, which make a verie cōmodious sha­dowe, the houses be made of Wood and couered with a kind of tiles in forme of cups, verie necessarie for their vse, the Kings Palace is in the middle of the Citie, made in forme of a walled Castle, with ditches full of Water round aboutA rich and stately Pal­laice. it, The lodgings within are made of Wood, all ouer gilded with fine pynacles, and verie costly worke, couered with plates of Golde. Truely it may be a Kinges house: within y^• gate there is a fayre large Court, from the one side to the o­ther, wherein there is made places for the strongest and stoutest Eliphantes appointed for the seruice of the KingesFower white Eliphants person, and amongst all other Eliphants, he hath foure that be white, a thing so rare that a man shall hardly finde ano­ther King that hath any, and if this King know any other that hath white Eliphants, he sendeth for them as for a gift. The time that I was there, there was two brought out of a farre Countrey, and that cost mee something the sight of them, for that they commaund the Merchantes to goe to see them, and then they must giue somewhat to the men thatThis mony cald tansa is halfe a ducket which may be three shillings and foure pence. bring them, the brokers of the Merchantes giue for euerie man halfe a Ducket, which they call a Tansa, which a­mounteth to a great somme. For the number of Merchants that are in that Citie, and when they haue paide the afore­saide Tansa, they may chuse whether they will sée them at that time or no, because that when they are in the Kinges stall, euerie man may see them that will, but at that time they must goe and see thent, for it is the Kinges pleasure it shoulde be so. This King amongest all other his Titles, hee [Page 28] is called the King of the white Eliphants, and it is reportedThe Prince valure of a King to ha­zard his whole Kingdome [...]o [...] [...] Eliphant▪ that if this King knew any other King that had any of these white Eliphants, and would not send them vnto him, that he woulde hazarde his whole Kingdome to conquer them, he estéemeth these white Eliphantes verie deerely, and are had in great regarde, and kept with verie méete seruice, eue­rie one of them is in a house, all gutlded ouer, and they haueEliphantes houses golded ouer with Golde and [...]aue the [...] meat giuen them in ves­sells of Siluer and Golde. A warhke pollicie. there meate giuen them in vessells of Siluer and gold, there is one black Eliphant the greatest that hath bene séen, and he is kept according to his bignesse, hee is nine cubites high, which is a meruellous thing, it is reported that this King hath foure thousand Eliphants of Warre, and all haue their téeth, and they vse to put on their two vppermoste teeth sharpe pikes of yron, and make them fast with rings, because these beastes fight, and make battel with their teeth he hath also verie manie young Eliphantes that haue not their téeth sprowted foorth, also this King hath a braue deuice in hun­ting to take these Eliphantes when they will, two milesAn execllent deuice to [...]un [...] and take wilde Elli­phants. from the Citie. He hath builded a fayre pallaice and al guil­ded, and within it a fayre Court, and within it and rounde about there is made an infinite number of places for men to stand to see this hunting, néere vnto this Pallace is a migh­tie great Wood, through the which the hunts-men of theA subtill composition. King, ride continually on the backs of the femine eliphants, teaching thē in this businesse, euerie hunter carieth out with him fiue or six of these Femines and they say y^• they annoint the secrete place, with a certain composition that they haue, that when the wilde Eliphant doth sinell thereunto, they follow the femines & cannot leaue them when the hunts-mē haue made prouision, and the Eliphant so entangled: they guide the Femines towardes the Palace which is called Tambell, and this palace hath a doore which doth open and shut with ingines, before which doore ther is a long streight way with trees on both the sides, which couereth the waye in such wise as it is like darkenesse in a corner, the wilde Eliphant when he commeth to this way, thinketh that he is in the Woods. At the end of this darke way there is a great [Page] field, when the hunters haue gottē this pray, when they first come to this fielde, they sende presently to giue knowledge there to the Citie, and with all spéede there goeth out fiftie or sixtie men on horsebacke, and do be set the field rounde a­bout, in the great fielde then the females, which are taught in this businesse goe directly to the mouth of the dark way, and when as the wilde Eliphant is entred in there, the hun­ters shoute and make a great noise, asmuch as is possible to make y^• wilde Eliphant entering in at the gate of y^• pallace, which is then open, and assoone as they bee in, the gate is shut without any noyse, and so the hunters with the female Eliphants, and the wilde one are all in the Court together, and then within a small time the Females withdraw them selues away one by one, out of the Court, leauing the wilde Eliphant alone, and when hee perceiueth that hee is left alone: he is so madde that for two or three howres to séeAn excellent pastime of the Eliphants. him, it is the greatest pleasure in the Worlde, hee wepeth, he flingeth, hee runneth, hee iustleth, hee thrusteth vnder the places, where the people stande to sée him, thinking to kill some of them, but the postsand timber is so strong and great that they cannot hurt any bodie, yet hee often times brea­keth his téeth in the grates, at length whē he is wearie and hath laboured his body that he is all wet with sweat, thē he plucketh in his trunke into his mouth, and then hee throw­eth out so much Water out of his bellie, that he sprinkleth it ouer the heades of the lookers on, to the vttermoste ofThese canes are like to thē in Spaine which they call Iaco de [...]ore. them, although it be verie high, and then when they sée him verie wearie, there goeth certaine officers into the Court with long sharpe canes in their handes and pricke him that they make him to goe into one of the houses that is made alongest the Court for the same purpose, as there is many which are made long and narrosve, that when the Eliphant is in, he cannot turne himselfe to goe backe againe, and it is requisit, that these men shoulde be verie warie and swift, although their canes be long, yet the Eliphant woulde kill them if they were not swift to saue themselues, at length when they haue gotten him into one of those houses, they [Page 29] stande ouer him in a loft and get ropes vnder his belly and about his necke, and about his legges, and binde him fast, and so let him stande fowre or fiue dayes, and giue him neither meate nor drinke. At the ende of these fowre or fiue dayes, they vnloose him and putteth one of the Females vnto him, and giue them meate and drinke, and in eightA strange thing that a beast so wilde should in so short time be made [...]ame. dayes he is become tame. In my iudgement there is not a beaste so intellectiue as is these Eliphants, nor of more vn­derstanding in all the Worlde: for hee will doe all thinges that his kéeper sayth, so that he lacketh nothing but humaine spéech.

It is reported that the greatest strength that the kingThe greatest strength that the King of Pegu hath. of Pegu, hath is in these Eliphantes, for when they goe to battell, they set on their backes a Castle of Wood bounde to his backe, with bandes vnder his bellie: and in eucrie Castle fowre men, verie commodious [...]ie sette to fight with Hargubushes, with Bowes and arrowes, with Dartes, with Pikes, and other launcing weapons, and they say that the Skinne of this Eliphant is so harde, that any Harque­busse will not pierce it, vnlesse it bée in the eye, temples, or some other tender place of his body, and besides this, they are of greate strength, and haue a verie excellent order in their battell as I haue seene at their feasts which they makeA goodly or­der in a barberous people. in the yeere, in which feastes the King maketh triumphes, which is a rare thing and worthie memorie, that in so bar­barous a people there shoulde bee such goodly orders as they haue in their armies which bee distinckt in squares of Eliphantes, of Horsemen, of Harquebushers and Pi [...]emen, that truly the number of them are infinite: but their ar­mourThe order of their weapons and number of his men. and Weapons are verie naught and weake as well the one as the other, they haue very bad Pikes, their swords are worse made, like long kniues without pointes, his har­quebushes are moste excellent, and alway in his warres heeExercise in armes is the cheefest de­fence of a Cuntry. hath eightie thousande Harquebushes, and the number of them encreaseth dayly. Because the King will haue them shoote euerie day at the Plancke, and so by continuall ex­ercise, they become moste excellent Shotte: also hee hath [Page] great ordinaunce made of very good mettall, to conclude there is not a King on the earth that hath more power or26. crowned Kinges at his commaund. strength then this King of Pegu, because he hath twenty and sixe crouned Kings at his commaunde. He can make in his Campe: a milion and halfe of men of Warre in the fielde a­gainst15. hundreth thousand men in one Camp his enimies, the state of his kingdome and mainte­naunce of his armie, which is a thing incredible to consider the victualles that shoulde mainteine such a number of peo­ple in the Warres, but he that knoweth the nature and qua­litie of that people, will easily beléeue it, I haue seene withA people of a hard nature and fit for warres. my proper eyes that those people and souldiers haue eaten of all sort of Wilde beastes, that are on the earth, whether it be very filthie or otherwise, all serueth for their mouthes, yea, I haue seene them eate Scorpions and Serpents, alsoEating of Serpents. they feede of all kinde of hearbes and grasse. So that if such a great armie want not Water and salt, they will maintain themselues a long time in a bush with rootes, flowers and leaues of trees, they carie rice with them for their voyage & that serueth them in stead of comfetts: it is so daintie vntoThis King of Pegu is the great King of Tartaria, which we call the great Cam, or the King of Q [...]in say. them. This King of Pegu hath not any army or power by sea, but in the land for people, dominions, golde and siluer, he farre exceedes the power of the great Turke in treasure and power. This king hath diuers Magasons ful with trea­sure, as Golde, siluer, and euery day, he encreaseth it more & more, and it is neuer deminished, also he is Lorde of the mines of Rubyes, Safyrs & Spineles, neere vnto his royall pallace, there is an estimable treasure where of he maketh noThe riches of this Ring of Pegu. account, for that it standeth in such a place that euerie one may see it, and the place where this treasure is: is a great Courte walled rounde about with walles of stone, with two gates which stande open euerie daye: and within this place or Court, are foure guilded houses couered with lead, and in euerie one of these are certaine panim Idoles of a verie great valure, In the first house there is a stature of y^e Image of a man of Gold verie great, & on his head a crown of Gold, beset with most rare rubies and Safires and round about him are foure little Children of Golde. In the seconde [Page 30] house, there is the stature of a man of siluer, that is set as it were, sitting on heapes of monie: whose stature in height as he sitteth, is so high: that his highnesse exceedes the height of any one floure of a house he is so high, I measured his feete and founde that they were as long as all my bodie was in height, with a Crowne of his heade like to the first: and in the third house, there is a stature of brasse of the same big­nesse, with a like Crowne of his head.

In the fourth and last house, there is a stature of a man,An excellent fine mettall made by a mixture of Copper and Lead. as big as the other, which is made of Gausa, which is the metall they make their monie of, and this mettle is made of Copper and leade mingled together. This stature also hath a Crowne on his head like the first, this treasure being of suche a valure as it is: standeth in an open place, that euery man at his pleasure may goe and sée it. For the kée­pers thereof neuer forbid any man the sight thereof, I say as I haue sayde before, that this King euerie yeere in his feastes triumpheth, and because it is worthy of the noting, IThe great pompe of this King. think it méet to writ therof, which is as followeth. The king rideth on a triumphing Cart or Wagon, all guilded, which is drawn by sixteen goodly horses: & this Cart is very high with a goodly canapie ouer it, behind the Cart goeth twenty of his Lordes & Nobles, with euerie one a rope in his hand made fast to the Cart, for to holde it vpright, that it fal not. The King sitteth in the middle of the cart, and vpon the same Carte, about the King standeth fowre of his Nobles mostThe order of their going. fauoured of him, and before this Carte wherein the King is, goeth all his armie as aforesaide, and in the middle of his armie goeth all his Nobilitie rounde about the Cart, that are in his dominions, a meruellous thing to sée so many peo­ple, such riches and such good order in a people so barberous, as they bee.

This King of Pegu hath one principall wife, which is kept inThis King hath one wise and 300. con­cubines. a Seralyo, he hath thrée hundreth Cōcubines, of whō it is re­ported, that hee hath ninetie Children. This King sitteth e­uerie day in person to heare the suites of his Combacts, butThe order of Iustice. he nor they neuer speake one to another, but by supplicati­ons [Page] made in this order. The King sitteth vp alost in a great hall, on a tribunall seate, and lower vnder him sitteth all his Barons rounde about, then those that demaunde audience, enter into a great Court before the King, and there set them downe on the grounde fortie paces distant from the KingesNo difference of person be­fore the king in controuer­sies or in Iu­stice. person, and amongst those people there is no difference in matters of audience before the King, but all alike, and there they sitte with their supplications in their handes, which are made of long leaues of a Trée, these leaues are thrée quarters of a yarde longe, and two fingers broade, which are written with a sharpe yron made for that purpose, and in those leaues are their supplicati­ons written, and with theire supplications: they haue in their handes a present or gift, according to the waigh­tinesseIf we had such paper in Eng­land, sutes in law would not hang so long. of their matter. Then come the secretaries downe and read these supplications, and then take them after and reade them before the King, and if the King thinke it good to doe to them that fauour or iustice that they demaund: then hee commaundeth to take the present out of his hand, but and if he thinke their demaunde bee not iustly, or accor­ding to right: hee commaundeth them away without ta­king of their giftes or presents. In the Indies there is not a­ny merchandise that is good to bring to Pegu, vnlesse it bee at some times by chance to bring at sometimes Opium of Cambaia, and if he bring monie he shall lose by it. Nowe the commodities that come from S. Tome, are the onely Mer­chandice for that place, which is the great quantitie of cloth made there, which they vse in Pegu: which cloth is made ofThe commodities that are ventured in Pegu. bombast wouen and painted, so that the more that kinde of cloth is washed, the more linelier they shewe their colours, which is a rare thing, and there is made of this kind of cloth which is of great importance, so that a small bale of it will cost a thousande or two thousande Duckets. Also from S. Tome, they layde great store of red yarne, of Bombast di­ed with a roote which they call Saia, as aforesaide, which colour will neuer out. With which merchandise euerie yere there goeth a great Ship from S. Tome to Pegu of great im­portance, [Page 31] and they vsually depart from S. Tome to Pegu the 10. or 11. of September, and if shee stay vntill the twelfth, itNote the de parture of the Ships from S. Tomes to Pegu. is a great hap if she returne not without making of her voy­age. Their vse was to depart the sixt of September, and then they made sure voiages, and now because ther is great labour about that kinde of cloth, to bring it to perfection and that it be well dried, as also the gréedinesse of the cap­tain, that would make an extraordinarie gain of his fraight, thinking to haue the winde alwayes to serue their turn, they stay so long that at sometimes, the Winde turneth. For in those parts the windes blowe firmely, For certaine times with the which they goe to Pegu, with the winde in powpe and if they ariue not there before the Winde chaunge, and get ground to anker: perforce they must return back again, for that the gales of the winde blow there for thrée or fowre moneths together alwayes in one place with great force. But if they get the coast and anker there: then with greate labor he may saue his voyage. Also ther goeth another great Ship from Bengala, euery yere laden with fine cloth of bom­bast of al sorts which ariueth in the harbour of Pegu, when y^e ship y^• commeth from S. Tome departeth the harbour where these two ships ariue, is called Cosmin, frō Malaca to Mar­tauan, which is a part in Pagu, there commeth many smallCommodi­ties brought into Pegu. ships, & great, laden with peper, Sadolo, Procellam of Chi­na, Camfora, Bruneo, & other merchādice. The ships y^• come from Meca, enter into the port of Pagu & Cirion, & those ships bring cloth of Wooll, Scarlets, Ueluets, Opium, and Chic­kenes:The Chicken [...] are peeces of Golde woorth sterling 7. shillinges. by the which they lose, and they bring them because they haue no other thing that is good for Pegu: but they e­stéeme not the losse of them, for that they make such greate gaine of their commodities that they carie from thence out of that kingdome, also the King of Assi his Shippes come thether into the same port laden with Peper, from the coast of Saint Tome of Bengala out of the Sea of Bara to Pegu are thrée hundreth miles, and they goe it vp the Riuer in fowre dayes, with the encreasing Water, or with the floud to a Citie called Cosmin, and there they discharge their ships [Page] whether the customers of Pegu come to take the note and marks of all the goods of euerie man, and take y^• charge of theThe Custome house of Pegu is in y^• Kinges house. goods on them, and conuey it to Pegu, into the Kinges house wherein they make the custome of the merchandize when the customers haue taken the charge of the goods and put it into barkes, the Retor of the citie giueth licence to the mer­chantes to take barke, and goe vp to Pegu with their mer­chandize, and so three or foure of them take a barke and goe vp to Pegu in company. God deliuer euerie man that heeGreat rigour for the stea ling of Cust omes. giue not a wrong note, and entrie or thinke to steale any custome, for if they doe, for the least trifle that is, he is vtter­ly vndone, for the King doth take it for a most great afront to be deceiued of his custom, and therfore they make diligent searches, thrée times at the lading and vnlading of the goods and at the taking of them a land. In Pegu this search theyIewells paye custome. make when they go out of the ship for Diamonds, Pearles, and fine cloth which taketh little rome: for because that all the Jewels that come into Pegu, and are not founde of that countrie: pay custome, but Rubies, Safyres, and Spynelles, pay no custome in: nor out, because they are founde growingIn those Centries there is another inner lodging, but euery man that trauelleth must hier his house, and bring his necessaries with him. in that countrie. I haue spoken before, how that all Mer­chantes that meane to go thorow the Indies, must carie all manner houshoulde stuffe with them, which are necessarie for a house, because that there is not any lodging nor Innes nor hostes, nor chamber roome in that Countrie, but the first thing a man doth when hee commeth to anie Citie is to hier a house, either by the yéere or by the moneth, or as he meanes to stay in those partes.

In Pegu their order is to hier their houses for sixe mo­neths. Nowe from Cosmin to the Citie of Pegu, they goe in sixe howers with the flood, and if it be ebbing Water, then they make fast their boate to the Riuer side, and there tarrieDescription of the fruitfulnes of that soyle. vntill the Water flowe againe. It is a verie commodious and pleasant voyage, hauing on both sides of the riuers ma­nie great villages, which they call Cities: in the which Hennes, Pygions, Egges, Milke, ryce, and other things bee verie good cheape. It is all plaine, and a goodly Countrey, [Page 32] and in eight dayes you may make your voyage vp to Mac­ceo, distant from Pegu twelue myles, and there they dis­chargeDeling is a small litter caried with men as is aforesaide. their goodes, and lade it in Carts or Waynes drawn with Oxen, and the merchauntes is caried in a closet which they call Delinge, in the which a man shall bee verie well accommodated, with Cushions vnder his head, and co­uered for the defence of the Sunne and raine, and there hée may sleepe if he haue wil therunto: and his fowre Falchiues carie him roming away, changing two at one time and two at another. The custom of Pegu and fraight thether may a­mount vnto twentie or twenty two per cento, and 23. accor­ding as he hath more or lesse stolen from him, that day they custome the goods. It is requisite that a man haue his eyes watchfull, and to be carefull, and to haue manie friendes, for when they custome in the great hall of the King, there commeth manie Gentlemen accompanied with a numberMost vile fil­ching of goods. of their slaues, and these gentlemē haue no shame that their slaues rob straungers: whether it be cloth in shewing of it or any other thing: they laugh at it. And although the mer­chantes helpe one another to kéep, watch, and looke to their goodes, they cannot looke to that so narowly but one or other will rob something, either more or lesse, according as their Merchandise is more or lesse: and yet in this day there is a worse thing then this, although you haue set so manie eyes to looke there for your benefite, that you escape vnrobbed of the slaues, a man cannot choose but that he must be robbedPay custome of the same goods. of the officers of the custome house. For paying the custome with the same goods often times they take the best that you haue, and not by rate of euerie sort as they ought to doe, by which meanes a man payeth more then his duety, at length when you haue dispatched the goodes out of the cu­stome house, in this order the Merchant causeth them to bee caried to his house, and may doe with them at his plea­sure.

There is in Pegu eight Brokers of the Kings, which areTareghe are names of the brookes. called Tareghe, who are bounde to sell all the merchandize to come to Pegu, at the common or the corent price, then [Page] if the merchants will sell their goodes at that price: they sell it away, and the Brokers haue two in y^• hundreth of euerie sort of Merchandise, and they are bounde to make good the debtes of that goodes, because it is solde by their handes or meanes, and on their wordes, and oftentimes the mer­chantThe brokers are lowed to make good al the debts to the merchant. knoweth not to whome he giueth his goodes, yet hee cannot lose any thing thereby, for that the broker is bounde in any wise to pay him, and if the merchant sell his goodes without the consent of the broker: yet neuerthelesse he must pay him two percento, and be in daunger of his mony, but this is verie seldome seene, because the Wife, Children, andA law for banckroutes. slaues of the debttor are bounde to the creditor, and when his time is expired and paiment not made, the creditor may take the debter and carie him home to his house, and shut him vp in a Magazen, whereby presently he hath his monie, and not beeing able to pay the creditor, hee may take the wife, children, and slaues of the debtor, and sell them, for so is the law of that kingdome. The corant mony that is in this citie, and throughout all this kingdome is called Gansa or Ganza which is made of Copper and Leade: It is not the monie of the King, but euerie man may stampe it that will, because it hath his iust partition or valure: but they make many of them false by putting ouermuch leade into them,Euery man may stampe what mony [...]e will. and those will not passe, neither will any take them. With this money Ganza, you may buy Golde or Siluer, Rubies and Muske, and other thinges. For there is no other mony corant amongest them. And Golde, Siluer, and other Mer­chandise, is one time déerer then another, as all other things bee.

This Ganza goeth by weight of Byze, and this name ofBuy Golde & filuer with copper and leade. Byza goeth for the accounpt of the waight, and commonly a Byza of a Ganza is worth (after our account) halfe a duc­ket, little more or lesse: and according as Golde and SiluerThe order of their monye. is more or lesse in price, but the Byza neuer changeth, euerie Byza maketh a hundreth Ganza of waight, & so the number of the mony is Byza. They that goe to Pegu to buy Jewels, and if hée will doe well: it behoueth him to bee a whole yéere [Page 33] there to doe his businesse, if he will doe it well. For if so bée that hee would returne with the Ship he came in, he cannotHow a man may despose him selfe for the trade in Pegu. doe anie thing well, for the breuity of the time, because that when they custome their goodes in Pegu: that come from S. Tome in their Shippes: it is as it were about the natiuitie, and when they haue customed their goods, then they must sell it for credite, for a moneth or two: and then at the be­ginning of March the Shippes depart. The Merchants that come from S. Tome, take for the paiment of their goods, gold, and siluer, which is neuer wanting there. And 8. or 10. daiesGood instructions. before their departure, they are all satisfied: also they may haue Rubies in paiment, but they make no account of them & they that will winter there for another yéere, it is needefull that they be aduertized, that in the sale of their goodes, that they sperify in their bargain, the term of two or thrée mōths paiment, and y^• their paiment shal be in so many Ganza, and neither golde nor siluer, because that with the Ganza they may buy and sell euerie thing with great aduantage. And howe néedefull it is to be aduertized, that when they will re­couer their payments: in what order they shall receiue their Ganza, because hee that is not practicke may doe him selfe great wrong in the waight of the Gansa, as also in the false­nesse of them, in the waight hee may bee greatly deceiued, because that from place to place, it doth rise and fall great­ly: and therefore when any man will receiue money or make paiment, hee must take a publique wayer of money: a day or two before hee goe about his businesse, and giue him in pay­ment for his labour, two Byza a moneth, and for this hee is bounde to make good all your mony heerby: and to main­taine it for good, for that hee receiueth it and seales the bagges with his Seale: and when hee hath receiued any store, there hee causeth it to bee brought into the Maga­sea of the Merchant, that is the owner of it.

That mony is verie waightie, for forty Byza is a great Porters burden, and also where the Merchant hath any paymente to bee made for those goodes, whiche hee buyeth: the Comon wayer of mony that receiueth his [Page] mony must make the payment thereof. So that by this means, the Merchant with the charges of two Byzes a mo­neth, receiueth and payeth out his monie without losse orThe merchandise that goe out of Pegu. trouble. Those merchandise that goe out of the Pegu are these, as Gold, Siluer, Rubies, Saphyres, Spynelles, great store of Beniamen, long Peper, Leade, Lacca, Ryce, Wine, some Sugar, yet there might be great store of Sugar made in the Cuntry, for that they haue abundance of Canes, but they giue them to Eliphants to eat, and the people consume great store of them for foode, and many more doe they con­sume in vaine things as these. In that Kingdome they spend many of these Sugar canes in making of houses and tents which they call Varely for their Idoles, which they call Pagody, whereof there is great abundance, great & small, and these houses are made in forme to little hilles, like to Sugar loaues or to Belles, and some of these houses are as high as a reasonable stéeple, at the foote they are verie large, that some of them bee in circuit a quarter of a mile, the saidIdoll houses what fashion they are of. houses within are full of earth, and walled round about with brickes and dirt in stead of lyme, and without forme, from the top to the foot they make a couering for them with Sugar Canes, and plaistered with lyme all ouer, for other­wise they woulde be spoyled, by the great abundance of rain that falleth in those Countreyes, also they consume about these verely or Idoll houses great store of lease Golde, for that they ouerlay al the toppes of the houses with gold, and some of them is couered with Golde from the toppe to theIdoll houses couered with Golde. foote. In couering whereof there is great store of Gold spent, for that euerie ten yeeres they new ouerlay them with gold, from the top to foote, so that with this vanitie they spende great aboundaunce of gold. For euerie ten yeeres the raine doth consume the Golde from these houses. And by this meanes they make Gold dearer in Pegu then it would bee, if they cōsumed not so much in this vanitie. Also it is a thing to be noted in the buying of Jewels in Pegu, for he that hath no knowledge shall haue as good Jewels, and as good cheap as he that hath beene practized there a long time, which is a [Page 34] good order, which is this. There is in Pegu fowre men of good reputatiō, which are called Tareghe, or brokers of Jewels. These fowre men haue all the Jewels, or Rubies in their handes, and the Merchant that will buy, commeth to one of these Tareghe and telleth him, that he hath so much money to imploy in Rubies. For through the handes of these fowre men passeth all the Rubies: for they haue such quantity, that they knowe not what to doe with them, but sell them at a moste vile and base price. When the Merchant hath broke his minde to on of these Brokers or Tareghe, they carie him hōe to one of their Shops, although he haue no knowledge in Jewels: and when the Jewellers perceiue that hee will employ a good rounde summe, they will make bargaine, and if not, they let him alone. The vse generally of this Citie, is this: y^• when any Merchant hath brought any great quantity of Rubies, and haue agréed for them, the Merchant carieth them home to his house, let them bee of what valure they wil, he shall haue space to looke on them and relooke them two or thrée dayes: and if hee haue no knowledge in them, he shal alwayes haue many Merchants in that City that hath very good knowledge in Jewels: with whome hee may alwayes conferre and take counsell with them, and shewe them vnto whome he will, and if he finde that hee hath not employed his money well, he may returne his Jewelles backe to them whome hee had them of, without any losse at all. Which thing is such a shame to the Tereghe to haue his Jewels re­turne, that he had rather to beare a blowe on the face then that it shoulde be thought that he shoulde sell them so deere to haue them returned. For these men haue alwayes great care that they make good employmentes, especially to those that haue no knowledge. This they doe, because they woulde not loose their credite: and when those Merchantes that haue knowledge in Jewelles buy any, if they buy them déere it is there owne faults and not the Brokers: yet it is good to haue knowledge in Jewelles, by reason that he mayAn honest care of hea then people. somewhat ease the price. There is also a verie good order for which they haue in buying of Jewelles: which is this, there [Page] is many merchants that standeth by at the making of the bargaine, and because they shall not vnderstande howe theBargaines made with the nipping of Fingers vn­der a cloth. Jewels be solde: The Broker and the Merchants haue their handes vnder a cloth, and by touching of fingers and nip­ping the ioynts they knowe what is done, what is bidden, and what is asked. So that the standers by know not what is demanded for them, although it be for a thousand or ten thousand Duckets. For euerie ioynt and euerie finger hath his signification. For if the Merchants that stand by, should vnderstand the bargain: it woulde breede great controuersie amongest them, and at my beeinge in Pegu in the moneth of August, in Anno 69. and hauing gotten well by my endeuor, I was desirous to sée mine owne Countrie, and I thoughtThe Authors desire to see his Cuntry. it good to goe by the way of Saint Tome, but then I should tarrie vntill March.

In which iourney I was councelled, yea, and fullie resol­ued to goe by the way of Bangala, with a Shippe there rea­dy to depart for that voyage. And when wee were departed from Pegu to Chitigan, a greate harbour or port, from whence there goeth small Shippes to Cochin, before the fléete departe for Portugall, in which Shippes I was ful­ly determined, to goe to Lyshborn, & so to Venice. When IThis Touffon is an extraor­dinary storme at Sea. had thus resouled my selfe, I went a boord of the Shippe of Bengala, at which time it was the yeere of Touffon, and to vnderstand what this Touffon is: vnderstand, that in the Indies often times, there is not stormes as is in other coun­tries, but euerie ten or twelue yeeres, there is such tempests and stormes, that it is a thing incredible, but to those that haue séene it, neither doe they knowe certaine what yeere it will come.

Unfortunate are they that are at Sea in that yéere, and time of Touffon, because few there are that escape thatTouffon commeth but euery 10. or 12. yeeres. daunger. In this yéere it was our chance to bee at Sea with the like storme, but it happened well vnto vs, for that our Shippe was newly ouer-plancked, and had not any thing in her saue victuall and balastes, Siluer and Golde, whiche from Pegu they carrie to Bengala, and no other kinde of [Page 35] Merchandise. This Touffon or cruell storme endured thrée dayes and thrée nightes, In which time it caried away our sayles, yardes, and Rother, and because the Shippe labou­red in the Sea, we cut our mast ouer bo [...]rd: which when we had done: she laboured a greate deale more then before, for when our Mast was gone, the Shippe laboured worse then before▪ in such wise, that the Shippe was almoste full with Water that came in ouer the highest: and so went downe, and for the space of three dayes and three nightes, sixtie menA heauy case▪ did nothing but bale out Water out of her in this wise, twentie men in one place and twentie men in another place, and twentie in another place: and for all this storme, the Shippe was so good, that shée tooke not one iot of Water a­lowe through the sides, but all ranne downe through the hatches, that those sixtie men did nothing but cast the Sea into the Sea. And thus driuing two and fro as the winde and Sea woulde, wée were driuen in a darke night about fowre of the clocke and cast on a Sholde, yet when it was day: we coulde neither sée land on one side nor other, & knew not where wee were. And as it pleased the deuine power, there came a great waue of the Sea, and so driue vs beyond the Shold. And when we felt the Ship a [...]lote, wee rose vp asA manifest token of the eb­bing and flowing in those Cuntries. men reuiued, because the Sea was calme and smoth water, and then sounding we found twelue fadome Water, and within a while after we had but [...]i [...]e Fadom, and then pre­sently, we came to anckor with a small anckor that was left vs with the sterne, for all our other were lost in y^• storme, & by and by the Shippe was a ground and stroke, and then wée did prop her that shee shoulde not ouerthrowe.

When it was day: the ship was all a drye, and found the Shippe a good mile from the sea on drie Lande. This Tof­fon béeing ended, we discouered an Ilande not farre from vs, and we went from the ship on the Sandes to see whatThis Iland is called Sond [...] ua. Ilande it was: and we founde it a place inhabited, and to my iudgement, the firtelest Ilande in all the Worlde, the which is deuided into two pars by a chanel which passeth be twéen it, w^t great trouble we brought our ship into y^• chanell [Page] which parteth the Ilande with a flowing Water, and there we determined to stay fortie dayes to refresh vs, and when the people of y^e Iland saw the Ship, and that we were com­ming a lande: presently they made a place of Bazar or aVictualles good cheap. market: with Shops right ouer against the Ship with all manner of prouision of victualles to eat, which they brought downe in great abundance, and solde it so good cheape, that we were amazed at the cheapenesse thereof. I bought many salted kine there for the prouision of the Ship: for halfe a Larine a peece, which Larine may be twelue shillinges sixe pence, and verie good and fat: and fowre wilde hogges ready dressed for a Larine, a great fat henne for a Bizze a peece, which is at the most a pennie: and the people tolde vs that we were deceiued the halfe of our monie, because we bought thinges so déere. Also a sacke of fine Ryce for a thing of no­thing, and consequently all other things for humaine suste­nance, were in such abundance, that it is a thing incredible but to them that haue seene it. This Ilande is called Son­diua Sondiua is the fruitfull le [...]t Cuntry in all the world. belonging to the kingdom of Bengala, distant 120 miles from Chitigan, to which place we were bound. The people are Moores, and the King a verie good man of a Moore king, for if he had béene a Tyrant as others bee, hee might haue robbed vs of all, because the Portugall Captaine of Chiti­gan was in armes against the Retor of that place and eue­rie day there were some slaine, at which newes wee rested there with no small feare▪ kéeping good watch & ward abroad euerie night as the vse is, but the gouernour of the Towne did cōfort vs, and bad vs that we should feare nothing, but that we should repose our selues securely without any dan­ger, although the Portugalles of Chitigan had slaine the Gouernour of that Citie, and saide that wée were not cul­pable in that fact, and more he did vs euerie day what plea­sure he coulde, which was a thing contrarie to our iudge­mentes considering that they and the people of Chitigan were both subiectes to one King. We departed from Sondi­ua, and came to Chitigan the great port of Bengala, at the same time that the Portugalles had made peace and taken [Page 36] a truce with the gouernours of the Towne, with this con­dition that the cheefe Captaine of the Portugalles with hisChitigan is a port in Bengala, where the Portingalles goe with their ships. Shippes shoulde depart without any lading, for there were then at that time eightéene Shippes of Portugalles great and small. This Captaine being a Gentleman and of good courage: Yet for all this, he was contented to depart to his greate hindrance, rather then hee woulde séeke to hin­der so manye of his freendes as were there, as also because the time of the yéere was spent to goe to the Indies. The night before he departed, euerie Shippe that had any lading in them put it a boorde of the Captaine to helpe to ease his charge and to recompence his courtesies. In this time thereThe King of Rachim neighbour to Bengala. came a Messenger from the King of Rachim to this Portu­gall Captaine, who saide in the behalfe of his King, that hée had heard of the courage and valure of him, desiring him gentlie that he woulde vouchsafe to come with this Shippe into his port, and comming thither hee shoulde bee verie well entreated. This Portugall went thether and verie well satisfied of this King.

This King of Rachim hath his seate in the middle coastThe force of the King of Rachim. betweene Bengala and Pegu, and the greatest enemy hee hath is the King of Pegu: which King of Pegu imagineth night and day, to make this King of Rachim his subiect, but by no meanes he is able to do it: because the King of Pegu, hath no power nor armie by sea. And this King of Rachim may arme two hundreth Galleyes or Fusts by Sea, and by Lande he hath certaine s [...]uses with the which when the king of Pegu pretendeth any harme towardes him, hee may at his pleasure drowne a great part of his Countrey. So that by this meanes he cutteth off the way that the King of Pe­gu The commodities that goe from Chiti­gan to the Indies. shoulde come with his power to hurt him. From y^e great port of Chitigan they carie for the Indies great store of ryce, verie great quantitie of Bombast cloth of euerie sorte, Su­gar, Corne and Money, with other merchandise. And by rea­son that Warres was in Chitigan, the Portugall Shippes tarried there so late, that they ariued not at Cochin to soone as they were wont to doe other yeares.

[Page]For which cause the fléete that was at Cochin was de­parted for Portugalle before they ariued there, and I be­ingThe Portin­gall ships depart toward Portingall out of the harbor of Co­chine. in one of the small Shippes before the fléete, in discoue­ring of Cochin, wee also discouered the last Shippes of the Fleete that went from Cochin to Portugall, where shee made saile, for which I was meruelouslie discomforted, be­cause that all the yeere following▪ there was no goinge for Portugalles, and when wee ariued at Cochin I was fully determined to goe for Venice by the way of Ormus, and at that time the Citie of Goa was besieged by the people of D [...]al [...]an, but the Citizens forced not this assault, becauseGoa was besieged. they supposed that it woulde not continue long. For all this: I imbarked my selfe in a Gallie, that wente for Goa, and there to Ship my selfe for Ormus, but when we came to Goa, the viceroy woulde not suffer any Portugall to de­part, by reason of the Warres. And beeing in Goa but a small time, I fell sicke of an infirmitie that helde mee fowre moneths: which with Phisicke and diet cost mée eight hun­dreth Duckets, and there I was constrayned to sell a small quantitie of Rubies to sustaine my néed, and I solde that for fiue hundreth Duckets, that was worth a thousande, and when I began to waxe well of my diseaze: I had but litle of that monie left, euerie thing was so scarse. For euerieA Chicken or a Henne cost 6. shillinges Chicken (and yet not good) cost mee seuen or eight lyuers, which is six shillings or six shillinges eight pence, beside this great charges, the Apothecaries with their medicines was no small charge to mée. At the end of six moneths, they rai­sed the siedge, then I began to worke, for Jewels were risen in their prices: for, whereas before I solde a fewe of refused Rubies: I determined to sell the rest of all my Jewelles that I had there, and to make an other voyage to Pegu. And for this cause, for that at my departure from Pegu, Opium wasOpiū a good Commoditye in Pegu. in great request, then I went to Cambaya to imploy a good rounde summe of money in Opium, and there I bought sixtie percells of Opyum, which cost me two thousand and a hundreth Duckets, euerie Ducket at fowre shillings two pence, and more I bought three bales of Bombast cloth, [Page 37] which cost mee eight hundred Ducketts, which was a good commoditie for Pegu: when I had boughte these thinges: the viceroy commanded that the custom of the opium should be paid in Goa, and paying custom there they might carie it whether they would. I shipped my 3 bales of cloth at Chiale in a ship that we wente for Cochin, and I wente to Goa to pay to the aforesaid custome for my Opium, and from Goa I departed to Cochin in a ship that was for the voyage of Pegu, and went to winter then at S. Tomes, when I came to Cochin, I vnderstoode that the ship that had my 3. bales of cloth was cast away and lost, so y^• I lost my 800 Seraffines or duckets, and departing from Cochin to go from S. Tome: I in casting about for the Ilande of Zeiland the Pilote was deceiued, for that the cape of the Iland of Zeyland, lieth far out into the sea, and the Pilot thinking that he might haue passed hard abord the cape: and paying remour in the night: when it was morning we were farre within the cape, and past all remedy to goe out, by reason the windes blewe so fearcely against vs. So that by this meanes wee lost our voyage for that yere, and we went to Manar with the ship to Winter there, the Ship hauing lost her mas [...]tes, and with great diligence we hardly saued her w^t great losses to the captaine of the Ship, because hee was forced to fraight a­nother Ship in S. Tomes from Pegu with great losses & inte­rest, & I with my frends agréed together in Manar to take a bark to cary vs to S. Tomes, which thing, we did w^t al the rest of the merchants, & ariuing at S. Tomes I had news through or by the way of Bengala y^• in Pegu: Opium was verie dear, & I knew that in S. Tome there was no Opium but mine to go from Pegu that yeere, so that I was holden of all the Mer­chantes there: to be verie rich, and so it would approued, if my aduerse fortunes had not beene contrarie to my hope, which was this. At that time there went a great shippeA reconing before the hoste. from Cambaya, to the King of Assi, with great quantitie of Opium, and there to lade Peper: in which voyage there came such a storme, that the ship was forced with wether to go ro­mor 800 miles, & by this means came to Pegu, Wheras they [Page] ariued a day before me, so that Opion which was before ve­rie deare was now at a base price: so that which was solde for fiftie Bize before, was solde for two Bizze and halfe, there was such quantitie came in that Ship, so that I was gladde to stay two yeeres in Pegu vnlesse I would haue gi­uen away my commoditie: and at the ende of two yéeres I made of my 2100 Duckets which I bestowed in Cambaya, I made but a thousand Duckets. Then I departed againe from Pegu to goe for the Indies and for Ormus with greate quantitie of Lacca, and from Ormus I returned into the Indies for Chiall, and from Chiall to Cochin, and from Co­chin to Pegu, Once more I lost occasion to make mee ritch, for wheras I might haue brought good store of Opion again I brought but a little, being fearefull of my other voyage be­fore, In this small quantitie I made good profite. And nowe againe I determined to goe from my Countrey, and depar­ting from Pegu, I tarried and wintered in Cochin, and then I left the Indies and came for Ormus.

I thinke it verie necessarie before I ende my voyage, to reason somewhat, and to shew what fruits the Indies doth yéelde and bring foorth. First, in the Indies and other East partes of India, there is Peper and Ginger, which groweth in all partes of India. And in some partes of the Indies, thePepper tree. greatest quantities of Peper groweth in amongst wilde bu­shes, without any manner of labour: sauing, that when it is ripe▪ they goe and gather it. The trée that the Peper grow­eth on, is like to our Juie, which runneth vp to the toppes of trees wheresoeur, and if it should not take hold of some tree, it would ly flat and rotte on the grounde. This Peper trée hath his flower and berry, like in all partes to our Juie ber­ry, and those berryes be graynes in Peper: so that when they gather them they bee gréene, and then they lay them in the Sunne, and they become blacke.

The Ginger groweth in this wise, the Land is tilled and sowen, and the herbe is like to Panyzzo, and the roote is theGinger. Ginger. These two spices growe in diuers places.

The Cloues came all from y^e Moluches, which Moluches Cloues. [Page 38] are two Ilands, not verie great, and the trée that they grow on is like to our Lawrell trée.Nutmegs and Maces.

The Nutmegs and Maces, which growe both together, are brought from the Iland of Banda, whose tree is like to our Walnut tree, but not so big.

All the good white Sandolo is brought from the Iland ofWhite Sandolo. Canfora. Timor. Canfora, being compound commeth all from China, and al that which groweth in canes commeth from Bruneo, and I think that this Canfora cōmeth not into these partes For that in India they consume great store, and that is very deare.

The good Lignum aleos commeth from Chochinchina. Lignū Aloes▪ Beniamin. Long Pepper.

The Beniamen commeth from the kingdome of Assi and Sion.

Long Peper groweth in Bengala, Pegu and Giaua. This Muske the Iewes do [...] counter [...]eite and open the Cods and take out halfe the good muske and take and beat the flesh of an asse and put that in the roome of it. Amber.

Muske commeth from Tartaria, which they make in this order, as by good information I haue been told, there is a certain beast in Tartaria, which is wild as big as a wolfe, which beast they take aliue, & beat him to death with small staues that his blood may be spread through his whole bodie, then they cut it in péeces, and take out all the bones, and beat the flesh with the bloud in a morter verie small, and drie it, and make purses to put it in of the Skinne, and these bee the coddes of muske.

Truely I knowe not whereof the Amber is made, and there is diuers opinions of it, but this is most certaine, it is cast out of the Sea, and throwne a land and found vpon the sea banckes.Rubies, Saphires, and Spinelly.

The Rubyes, Saphyres, and the Spynelly, they be got­ten in the kingdome of Pegu. The Diamandes they come from diuers places: and I know but three of thē. That sort of Diamands, that is called Chiappe, they come from Beze­neger. Those that bee pointed naturally come from the land of Dely, and from Iaua, but the Diamonds of Iaua are more waightie then the other. I coulde neuer vnderstand from whence they that are called Balasy▪ come.

Pearles, they fish them in diuers places, as before in thisPearles. [Page] booke is showne.

From Cambaza, as the Spodiom coniealeth in certaineSpodiom. canes: I founde manye of them in Pegu, when I made my house there, because that (as I haue saide before) they make their houses there of wouen Canes like to mattes. From Chianela they trade alongest the coast of Melyndy in Ethio­pia, On the coaste of Melindy in Ethiopia, in the land of Caferaria the great trade that the Portingalls haue. within the lande of Caferaria, on that coaste are many good harbors kept by the Moores. Thither the Portugalles bring a kinde of Bombast cloth of a Lowe price, and greate store of Paternosters or beads, made of paltrie glasse, which they make in Chiawle according to the vse of the Countrie: & from thence they carry Eliphants teeth for India Slaues, called Caferi and some Amber and Golde. On this coast▪ the king of Portugall hath his castle called Mozenbich, which is of great importaunce as any castle that he hath in all his In­dies vnder his protection, and the captaine of this castle hath certaine voiages to this Caferaria, to which places no merchantes may go, but by the agent of this Captaine, and they vse to goe in small ships, and trade with the Caferaries, Buying and selling with▪ out woords one to ano­ [...]hes. and their trade in buying and selling is without any spéeche one to the other. In this wise the Portugalles bring their goods by litle and litle alongst the sea coast, and lay it down: and so depart, and the Cafer merchants come & see y^e goods, & there they put down as much gold as they think the goods is worth, and so goeth his way and leaueth his gold and the goods together, then commeth the Portugal: and finding the gold to his content, he taketh it and goeth his way into his ship, & then commeth the Cafer, and taketh away the goodes & carieth it away: and if hee find the golde there still, it is a signe that the Portugalles are not contented, and if the Ca­fe [...] thinke he hath put to little: he addeth more, as he thin­keth the thing is worth, and the Portugalles must not stand with them to strickt, for if they doe: then they will haue no more trade with them, For they disdain to be refused, when they think that they haue offered ynough, for they be a pee­uishGolden trades that the Portingalls haue. people, and haue dealt so of a long time, & by this trade the Portugals change their commodities into gold, and cary [Page 39] it to the Castle of Mozonbich, which is an Iland not farre distant frō the firm land of Caferaria on the cost of Ethiopia & distant from y^e India 2800 miles. Now to return to my voi­age, whē I came to Ornus, I found ther M. Fra [...]is Berettine of Venice, & wee fraighted a barke together to go for Basora for 70 duckets, & with vs there went other merchāts, which did ease our fraight, & very cōmodiouslie we came to Balzora & ther we staied [...]o days for prouiding a Carauan of barks to go to Babylō becase they vse not to go [...] or 3 barks at once but 25 or 30, because in y^• night they cānot go, but must make thē fast to y^e banks of the riuer, & then we must make a very good & strong gard, & to be wel prouided of armor, for respect & safegard of our goods, because y^e number of theeues is great y^• come to spoil & rob y^e merchants, & when we depart frō Ba­bylon we go a litle with our sail & the voiage is [...]8 or 40 days long, but we were 50 dayes on it, when we came to Babylon we staid ther 4 months, vntil the Carauan was ready to go ouer the wildernes, or desert for Alepo, in this citie we were 6. merchants y^• accompanted together, 5 Venecians & a Por­tugal whose names were as foloweth, Messez Florinasa w^t An order how to prouide to goe ouer the Desart from Babilon to Alepo. one of his kinsmen Meser Andrea depolo, the Portugall and M. Franses berettin and I, & so we furnished our selues with victuals & beanes for our horses for 40 days, we bought hor­ses and Mewles, for that they be verie good cheape there, I my selfbought a horse there for 11 akens, and solde him after in Lepo for 30 duckets. Also wee bought a Teant which did vs verie great pleasure: we had also amongst vs 32 Camels laden w^t merchandise: for the which we paide 2 duckets for e­uery camels lading, & for euery ten camels they made 11, for so is ther vse & custom. We take also with vs 3 men to serue vs in the voiage which are vsed to go in those voiages for 5. Dd. a man, & bound to serue vs to Alepo: so y^• we passed very wel without any trouble when the camels cal down to rest, our pauiliō was the first that was erected, the Carauan ma­keth but sinall iournies about 20 miles a day, & they set for­wards euery morning before day [...] houres, & about [...] in y^e af­ter noon they sit down, we had great good hap in our voyage [Page] for that it rained. For which cause we neuer wanted water, but euerie daye founde good Water, so that we coulde not take anie hurt for want of Water. Yet we carried a Camel laden alwayes with water y^t for euerie good respect y^t might chance in the desart, so that wee had no want neither of one thing, nor other that was to be had in the countrie. For wee came verie well furnished of euerie thing, and euerie day we eate fresh mutton, because their came many Shepheards with vs with their flocks, who kept those Sheepe that wee bought in Babylon, and euerie merchant marked his shéepe with his owne marke, and we gaue the Shepherds a Mai­dene, which is two pence of our mony, for the keeping and féeding our Sheepe on the way, and for killing of them. And beside the Mayden, they haue the heads, the Skinnes, and the intralles of euerie Shéepe they kill. We six bought twen­tie sheep, and when we came to Alepo we had seuen aliue of them, and in the Carauan they vse this order: that the mer­chants doe lend flesh one to another, because, they will not36 daies iourny ouer the Wilderne. carie rawe flesh with them, but accomodate one another by lending one one day, and another another day.

From Babylon to Alepo is fortye dayes iourney of the which they make thirtie sixe dayes, ouer the Wil­dernes, in which thirtie sixe dayes: they neither sée house, trées, nor people, that inhabit it: but all onely plaine, and no signe of any way in the world. The Pilots they go before, and the Carauan foloweth after. And when they sit downe all the Carauan vnladeth, and sitteth downe, for they know the stations, where the walles are. I say in thirtie six dayes we passe ouer the wildernesse. For when wee depart from Babylon two dayes wee passe by villages inhabited vntill we haue passed the riuer Euphrates. And then within two dayes of Alepo wee haue villages enhabited. In this Cara­uan An order how to prouide for the going to Ierusalems. there goeth alway a Captaine that doth Justice vnto all men: and euerie night they kéepe watch about the Cara­uan, and comming to Alepo, we went to Trypolie, whereas M. Florin, M. Andreapolo, and I, with a frier went and hi­red a barke, to go with vs to Ierusalem, departing from Tri­poly, [Page 40] we ariued at Zaffo: from which place in a day and half we went to Ierusalem, and wee gaue order to our barke to tarie for vs vntill our returne. We stayed in Ierusalem four­teene dayes, to visite those holy places: from whence wee re­turned to Zaffo, and from Zaffo to Tripoly, and there wee shipped our selues in a Shippe of Venice called the Bagazza­na: And by the helpe of the deuine power, wee ariued safely in Venice the fift of Nouember, 1581. If there bee any that hath any desire to go into those parts of India, let him not beCounsell of the author. astonied, at the troubles that I haue passed: because I was imbaratsed in many things: for that I went verie pore from Venice w^t 1200. Duckets, imployed in merchandice, and when I came to Tripoly, I fell sicke in the house of M. Regaly O-ratio, and this man sent awaye my goods with a smal Cara­uan, that went from Tripoly to Alepo and the Carauan was robd, and all my goods lost sauing foure ches [...]s of glas­ses: which cost me 200 Duckets, of which glasses, I founde many broken: because the théeues thinking it had beene o­ther Merchandize: they brake them vp, and séeing they were glasses they let them all alone. And with this onely capitall, I aduentured to goe into the Indies: And thus with change and rechaunge, and by diligence in my voyage, God did blesse and helpe me: so that I got a good stocke, I will not be vnmindfull to put them in remēbrance, that haue a desire toA very good order that they haue in those Cun­tries for the recouering of the Goods of the dead. goe into those partes, howe they shall kéepe their goods, and giue it to their heires, in the time of their death, and which shall be done verie securely, in all the Cities that the Por­tugalles haue in the Indies, there is a house called the schoole of Sancta misericordia comissaria: which with leauing an almes there to them for their paines, to take a coppie of your Will and Testament, which you must alwaies carrie about you and chéefely when you goe into the Indies. In the Coun­trie of the Moores and Gentiles, which in those voyages al­wayes, there goeth a Captaine to administer Justice to all Christians of the Portugalles, Also this Captaine hath au­thoritie to recouer the goods of those Merchauntes that by chaunce dieth in those voyages, and they that haue not made [Page] their Willes and registred them in the aforesaide schooles, the Captaines will consume their goods in such wise, that little or nothing will be left for his heyres and friendes. Also ther goeth in these same vilages: some merchantes that are commissaries of y^• schoole of Sancta misericordia, that if any merchantes dye and haue his will made, and that hee hath giuen order that the Schoole of myser shall haue his goods: and to sell them, and then to send the mony by exchange to the schoole of Misericordia in Lishborne, with that coppie of his testamente, then from Lyshborn they giue intelligence thereof, into what part of Christendome soeuer it bee, and the heirs of such a one comming thether, with testimoniallThose Merchants that dieth in Pegu lo [...]e the one third of their goods to the King. that they be heires, they shall receiue there the valure of his goods: in such wise that they shall not loose any thing, but those that dieth in the kingdom of Pegu looseth the third parte of their goodes by anciente custome of the Countrye, that if any Christian dieth in the kingdome of Pegu the king and his officers rest heyres of a third of his goods, and there hath neuer beene any deceite or fraude vsed in this matter. I haue knowne many rich men that haue dwelled in Pegu, and in their age they haue desired to goe into their own cū ­trie to die there, and haue departed with all the goods and substance without let or trouble.

In Pegu the fashion of there apparell is all one, as wellOrder of apirell in Pegu. the noble man, as the simple: the onely difference is in the finest of the cloth, which is cloth of Bombast one finer then another, and they weare their apparell in this wise: First, a white bombast cloth which serueth for a shirt, then they gird another painted bombaste cloth of forteen brases which they binde vp betwixt their legges, and on their heades they there weare a small tock of three braces, made in guize of a myter, and some goeth without tocks, and carie (as it were) a h [...]ue on their heades, which doth not passe the lower part of his eare, when it is lifted vp: they goe all bare footed, but the noble men neuer goe on foote, but are caried by men in a [...] with great reputatiō with a hat made of the [...] of a trée to keepe him from the raine and Sunne, or otherwise [Page 41] they ride on horseback with their feet bare in the styrops, allThe order of the womens aparell in Pegu. sortes of Women whatsoeuer they be: weare a smocke downe to the girdle and from the girdle downwards to the foote they were a cloth of thrée brases, open before: so straite that they cannot goe, but they must shewe their secrete as it were aloft, and in their going they faine to hide it with their hande, but they cannot by reason of the straightnesse of their cloth. They say that this vse was inuented by a queene to be an occasion the sight thereof might remooue from men the vices against nature, which they are greatly giuen vn­to: which sight shuld cause them to regard women the more also the Women goe bare footed, their armes laden with hoopes of golde and iewels. And their fingers full of preti­ous rings with their haire rolled vp about their heads. Ma­nyAn admonition of the Author. of them weare a cloth about their shoulders in steade of a clocke. Now to finish y^t which I haue begun to write, I say that those partes of the Indies is verie good, because that a man y^• hath little: shall make a great deale therof, alwaies they must gouerne themselues that they be taken for honest men, for why? to such there shall neuer want help to do wel, but he that is vicious, let him tarrie at home and not go thither, because he shall alwayes bee a begger, and dye a poore man.