Chapter IX: Part 9

China cubela,[384] which grows in Java, is
given there at a low price without
weight or measure, by eye.

Opium is worth the farazola in Calicut,
and comes from Aden, where they make
it, it is worth from cclxxx to cccxx fs. ccc fs. 300

Another opium which is prepared in
Cambay is worth from cc to ccl fs.
the farazola ccxxv fs. 225

ACCOUNT OF THE WEIGHTS OF PORTUGAL AND OF THE INDIES.

IN PORTUGAL.

A pound of the old weight contains xiiij oz. A pound of the new weight contains xvi oz., eight quintals of the old weight make seven quintals of the new, and each quintal of the new weight is of cxxviij pounds of xv oz., each old quintal is three quarters and a half of a new quintal, and is of cxxviij pounds of xiiij oz. each.

INDIES.

A farazola is xxij pounds of xvi oz. and vi oz. 2/7 more. Twenty farazolas are one bahar. One bahar is four old quintals of Portugal.[385] All spices and drugs and anything which comes from India is sold in Portugal by old weight, at present all the rest[386] is sold by new weight.

VOYAGE WHICH JUAN SERANO MADE WHEN HE FLED FROM MALACA, WITH THREE PORTUGUESE AND CRISTOVAL DE MORALES OF SEVILLE, IN A CARAVEL WHICH HE STOLE IN MALACA, IN WHICH HE PUT CERTAIN MALAY MARINERS, NATIVES OF MALACA, ABOUT THE YEAR OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND TWELVE YEARS.[387]

In the name of God: we left the city of Malaca in a caravel with five Malay mariners and pilots; the captain was Fran^{co} Serano, with three other Christians, who in all were nine; the mariners, natives of Malaca; the Christians, three Portuguese and a Castilian. In the year one thousand five hundred and twelve we sailed to the city of Pegu, and this city is on the mainland, and not very far from the sea, more on this side of Malaca, east (and) west[388] of the island Care ca Faya, north (and) south, with the Malacca channel and island Quendan, it must be said, the river higher up towards the east passes close by it: this river is very large and clear, by it enters and goes forth the merchandise, which many Christians traffic with; these are clothed in camlets and bocasi.[389] They believe in one only true God. They are natives of these parts these married Christians. They trade with Upper and Lower India. The king of this country is an idolater; he uses another dress, which reaches from his head to his feet, full of gold rings and jewellery and seed pearl. These stones are brought from the kingdom of Pegu itself, about three days' journey inland.

In this country, when the husbands die, their wives burn themselves and throw themselves into the fire.

This King of Pegu is continually at war with some other powerful king, who may be the King of Camboja, Siam, or Conchin Chinan.

Leaving Pegu and the bar of the river and continuing to the south-west, inclining to the south south-west,[390] we arrive at the island Samatra, for so is named a city of this northern part, as I will relate further on, at a port which is very large and called Pedir. It is near the extremity of the island, placed more to the north, which looks to the north west.[391] The harbour of Pedir is very large and the city very populous, the best of the island, which the Malay pilots said had a circuit of two hundred and fifty leagues, according as we can collect from their day's journey and our day's run.[392] We gathered from the position of the country and sayings of the pilots and ancient geographers that this island is Traprobana, in which there are four idolatrous kings. The wives of the natives of the country burn themselves when their husbands are dead, as in Pegu and in Malabaria.

The people are white; they have wide foreheads, the eyes greyish and round, the hair long, the nose flat; they are small in stature. Much silk is produced in this island, and grows of itself on the mountains, in which there are many trees of storax and benjuy some way inland; and if it is not brought so much hither, the reason is that they use it there, for they all anoint themselves: many various kinds of lignum aloes grow in the mountains.

Having left Pedir and gone down the northern[393] coast, I drew towards the south and south-east[394] direction, and reached to another country and city which is called Samatra, in which we saw many merchants; and in a single quarter we counted five hundred changers, besides other quarters where there were many others. There are innumerable silk workshops. The people are all dressed in cotton. They navigate with vessels made of a certain wood which looks like canes: they call them juncos in Malay language: they carry three masts and two helms: when they pass any stiff gulf, the wind being contrary they hoist other sails, and they are raised on the second mast, and so they make their voyage.

The houses of this city of Samatra and its island, which are all named from it, as I said speaking of Pedir, are of stone and lime, low and covered with shells of tortoises or turtles. Each one of these shells covers as much as two or three bucklers; they are painted of their natural colour like ours. From here we stood to the east until the Bandan Islands, and we found near this, which gives name to the others, twenty islands. It is a dry country which bears fruit; some of these islands are inhabited, the people are like the peasants of Malabaria and Calicut, who are called poliares and gicanales,[395] they are of a low way of living, and coarse intelligence. A profitable commodity is found in Bandan, namely nutmeg, which grows here in great quantity and kinds. Thence we departed to other islands standing to the north-east and east-north-east[396] through many channels as far as the islands of Malut. In them grows much cloves, they are five in all, the largest of them is smaller than Bandan. The Maluquese people are very wretched, and worth little, they are very beastly, and of a brutal mode of living, they do not differ from animals in their customs but only in possessing the human face. They are whiter than other races of these islands. The cloves grow in another island which is smaller, and is called Tidory, the tree on which it grows is like the box or buxo. When the cloves are ripe on the trees they stretch cloaks or sheets on the ground and sweep the tree, and the inhabitants gather the most they can. The country is of earth clay and sand; it is so near the line that the north star cannot be seen, and then they sail by certain stars which the orientals are accustomed to. And having departed from here to another second isle, there we the four Christians and some Malays remained; and there the King of Maluco shewed great honour to Fran^{co} Serano, the before-named captain, and married him with honour to his daughter, and to the others who wished to go he gave permission to go and see the city and island of Java. On the road we found an island which is called Borney, which is fifty leagues from Maluco, and it is somewhat larger than Maluco, and much lower. Its people adore idols, they are rather white, and go dressed with shirts like those of sailors, and in face they are like the people of the city of Cayro: they dress in camlets.

From this island we went to another and took other mariners. Tn this country there grows much camphor, because there are many trees in which it grows, and from there we set out to the island of Zaylon, at which we arrived in three days; and so the mariners whom we took in Borney carried a map for navigating, and they had a needle and loadstone, and a chart in which they had many lines and strokes at which we were greatly amazed[397], and spoke to them of it in the Malay language: and the north star having disappeared from us in those countries the mariners told us that they guided themselves throughout all that region by five stars, principally by one star opposite to the north to which they continue to navigate, and for this they always carry a needle and loadstone because that stone always follows the north, towards which they continue to sail, and it never turns away from the north, and they look on it on that account; and the mariners of Borneo told us that in that part of that island there was a people which used the contrary stars opposite to the north, for their navigation; and which seemed to be almost the antipodes of Tropia and Sarmatia, and that this people inhabited in the frigid zone near the antarctic pole, which appeared in that country not to have more than four hours of daylight; for the country is very cold to a wonderful degree, on account of the climate being like that which exists near the Arctic Pole.

Having left this island, we went to the island of Java, in which we found four kinds of kings, who follow different rites, all idolators, who worship idols, others the sun, others the moon, and others worship the cows, and things to eat, and others worship the devil. There are other races which go dressed with cloaks and bornusses of silk and camlet.

There are in this Java some who sell their parents when they see that they are old and decrepit, to another nation, who are called canibals or anthropophagi, who are pagans, and likewise brothers sell their brothers when they are sick: when their recovery is despaired of they bring them out into the market-place and sell them to those Caribs, saying that man's flesh is brought up with so much care and luxury, that it would not be in reason that the earth should consume it.

NOTE TO pp. 228-229.--See pages 249-251 of _The Travels of Ludovico de Varthema_ Hakluyt Society, and notes, also Mr. R. Major's able Introduction to the _Early Voyages to Terra Australis, now called Australia_. This passage, written about five years later than when Varthema wrote, is a fuller statement than Varthema's: and taking the two together, there can be little doubt that the information they contain was based on actual knowledge of Australia.

NOTE TO DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES.

I have read with great interest the passages of the manuscript
relating to precious stones, and I have admired their
conscientious appreciation and exactness in details.

A doubt was raised with respect to stones of combined colours;
they do exist, but are by no means valued in Europe.

The proportions of the prices in regard to weights, are still
very exact as to the Indian market, and uncut stones.

Experiments similar to those here described have been made in
Europe, and chiefly in Germany, to heighten the colour of gems,
rubies especially, by exposing them to fire, but their success
has been so hazardous, nay costly, that speculation has been
unwilling to expose itself to so much risk.

Jargon-corindon or circon was much used in the sixteenth
century, and is now without value: it has the merit of
possessing the hardness of the sapphire.

HENRY CAPT, 17,
Rue du Rhone, Geneva. Jeweller.

NOTE TO PAGE 30.

The Munich MS. No. 571, like the Barcelona MS., has: "y las naos de alli se enpeguen el dicho yncenso el qual le vale alli de ciento cinquenta [=mrs] el quintal." But the Munich MS. No. 570 has: "e las naos desta costa son _embreadas_ en el e vale el quintal de ciento o ciento y cinquenta reaes en la tierra en donde nace."

So that the meaning of the passage is that the ships are caulked or pitched with this herb or gum.

NOTE TO PAGE 35.

The Munich MS. No. 571 is like the Barcelona MS., but the MS. No. 570 gives this list of places:--"Lefete, quesebey, tabla, beroho, cal, cor, juza, mohymacim, lima, horbaz, alguefa, carmoni, cohmobarque, conch, conga, ebrahemi, xenaa, menacio, xamyle, leytan, bamtani, doam, loram," and leaves out the words which in the other two MSS. follow after the names of _Quesebi_, _Carmoni_, and _Ebrahemi_. From this MS. No. 570 it is clear how _tabla_ got into the maps.

NOTE TO PAGE 93.

Devadachi, femmes des Pagodes, servantes des dieux. Chap. 17.

Ce sont ordinairement les tisserants qui vouent leurs filles aux pagodes, les parents ne leur demandent pas pour cela leur consentement, ils n'attendent pas meme qu'elles soient en age de le donner, puisqu'ils les destinent au service des dieux des qu'elles commencent de naitre: ils ont grand soin de les preparer a cet etat par un continuel exercice de la danse, du chant, et des jeux; il y a un maitre expres de ces exercises, qui enseigne les jeunes filles que l'on a destinees et devouees aux pagodes, et qui les dirigent dans les ceremonies: lorsqu' elles sont devenues devadashi, c'est a dire servantes des dieux, lorsqu' elles ont atteint l'age de 9 ou 10 ans, leurs peres vont convier toutes les castes de venir assister a la consecration de leurs filles. On les conduit solemnellement a la pagode, devant d'y entrer elles donnent a tout le monde des marques de leur habilete dans la danse, dans le chant, et dans le jeu, et selon qu'on est content d'elles on leur fait des presents, ensuite elles entrent dans la pagode, elles se prosternent devant les dieux. Les Brahames qui sont la presens, les font relever, allors le pretre offre la fille aux dieux, en leur disant, Seigneurs voila une fille que je vous offre, daignez la prendre pour votre servante. Le Brahame officiant met dans la main de la fille un peu de Tirouniron, et un peu de l'eau qui a servi a laver l'idole: elle delaye tout cela ensemble, et elle s'en met au front pour marquer qu'elle se devoue d'elle-meme avec joye pour etre toute sa vie la servante des dieux. Cette ceremonie suppose que c'est a la pagode de Siva qu'elle se devoue particulierement, car si c'est a la pagode de Vishnou elle se met le tirounamam[398] et on lui fait boire un peu de l'eau dans laquelle il y a quelques feuilles de Toulachi qui est une espece de basilic. Ensuite soit que ce soit dans l'une ou dans l'autre pagode, le Brahamme officiant delaye dans un bassin de cuivre un peu de sandale avec de l'eau qui a servi a l'idole, et il en jette avec les doigts sur la fille. Cela marque la consecration parfaite. Il met au col une guirlande qui a servi a l'idole pour luy temoigner qu'elle est agreable aux dieux et qu'ils l'ont prise sous leur protection: le Brahamme luy dit qu'elle est presentement Devadashi, et qu'il l'exhorte a se comporter en digne servante des dieux, apres cela elle se prosterne devant l'idole: le Brahamme la fait relever et ordonne a ses parents de l'aller conduire dans une maison particuliere qui est proche la pagode, les parents y donnent du Bethel aux conviez et regalent toutes les devadachis. Toutes celles qui sont ainsi consacrees aux pagodes ne peuvent jamais se marier, ny elles ne peuvent plus retourner a leurs familles, ny en heriter. Elles font profession d'etre publiques a tout le monde, et les malabares croyent qu'il y a du merite d'habiter avec les servantes des dieux. Elles n'ont point parmy elles de superieures; chacune fait son menage separement si elles veulent on tire leur subsistance des revenus de la pagode, mais ce n'est pas ce qui les enrichit beaucoup; le commerce charnel qu'elles entretiennent avec tout le monde leur est bien plus lucratif, et celles qui font ainsi fortune ont grand soin de se bien habiller et de s'orner de pendants d'oreilles, de colliers et d'anneaux d'or, et de cercles d'argent aux bras et aux pieds l'employ des Devadashis est d'aller trois fois le jour a la pagode, c'est a dire le matin vers le midi et le soir, qui sont les temps que ce font les sacrifices et les ceremonies de la pagode, elles y dansent et chantent, et font des jeux pour le divertissement des dieux; elles font la meme chose aux processions, et aux mariages.

"Tout est odieux et criminel dans la condition de ces Devadashis, la cruaute des peres qui forcent la liberte de leurs enfants, l'impiete des peres qui prostituent leurs filles."

The above extract is taken from a manuscript in the Royal Library, Munich, No. 1165 (Gall. 666), called La Religion des Malabares; it is supposed to have been written between 1705 and 1720, and to have belonged to the Missions Etrangeres; later it was presented by the Abbe Clement to the library of the Oratoire St. Honore. The MS. contains 546 pages and three parts. The first is an exposition of Christian doctrine; the second of the Malabar religion; the third sets forth the doctrinal differences between the Christians and Hindus, and shows how to proceed in arguing with the latter. The whole tenour of the book is, however, chiefly an attack on the Jesuits, whom it accuses of laxity, and of having sought to multiply the number of Christians rather than to secure the truth. It reproaches them with allowing Christian Malabars to play musical instruments in the pagodas, and pagan Malabars to play their instruments in Christian churches, and with having allowed various idolatrous ceremonies to have become perpetuated under a fresh dedication. This tenour of the MS. is the cause stated in a manuscript note by Abbe Clement, for the book having been removed from the missions etrangeres when the credit of the Jesuits prevailed, and caused the departure from that establishment of the missionaries who were hostile to that body. From this work marriage seems to have been more general amongst the Malabars than would be supposed from the account of the early Portuguese voyagers in which much stress is laid upon the absence of marriage amongst the nairs. This missionary in treating of divorce amongst the Malabars says the husband retains the children, if there are any, and the wife returns to the husband the _taly_ which she had round her neck (probably the jewel which has been mentioned in the text;) and she resumes her dower if she brought any at her marriage. Amongst other objectionable practices of the Jesuits, blamed in this work, is the having adopted the Malabar name of Sarounasouren (signifying Lord of all) for the True God, since Sarunasuren is properly applied to Siva because he is the first human form which Carsa (or the most subtle of the five elements) took on forming the world; whilst the True God is neither Carsa nor Siva, and Sarunasuren is the name of an idol.

Carsa is further described as supreme intelligence, the soul of the universe, and the most subtle of the five elements, water, fire, earth, air, and wind, and is said to have taken a human form which he called Shiva; and as Shiva was to disappear into Sattyaloguen or the most perfect heaven, he transformed himself into another human figure which he named Roudra, and also in others called Vishnou and Broumha. Carsa filled these three persons with intelligence, in order that they might remain in the world with men. _Section de la divinite des Malabars et de leur fausse Trinite._ Maycereni, the name of the third person of the Indian trinity given in the text, does not appear in this work, and may be an epithet of Rudra. The following is one of the most remarkable passages in this manuscript, and is much in accordance with M. E. Burnouf's recent publications in the Revue des deux Mondes. "Et comme ils ne rendent en particulier aucun culte exterieur a Carsa, ils croyent le dedommager suffisament par celui qu'ils rendent a tous les dieux; on voit par la combien l'erreur aveugle l'esprit des hommes qui s'eloignent du vray Dieu. Il n'est personne qui ne convienne que la cause est plus noble que son effet. Si donc ils supposent que ces dieux sont les effets de la puissance de Carsa, pourquoi leurs rendent-ils plus de culte qu'a ce Dieu, qu'ils disent etre le principe de toute chose. N'est-ce pas faire de Carsa un dieu chimerique?" p. 539.

The reader may see in Mr. Frank's book on the Kabbala, with respect to the Adam Kadmon, how much Hindu ideas, and especially the Hindu theory of the formation of the world, had penetrated into Syria, and corrupted the Jews, before the Christian era.

INDEX.

Abyssinia, 19

Aden, 26

Afuni, 16

Albuquerque, 46

Amber, 165

Andavat, 58

Angoxe, 9

Ava, 186

Bacavar, 82

Bahrein Island, 37

Banda, 74

Bandan Islands, 192, 199

Banians' aversion to destroy life, 51

Barbesy, 63

Basalor, 82

Baticala, 79

Baxay, 68

Bengal, 178

Betel, 73

Bijanagur, 85;
its just administration, 86

Bramans, their customs, 121

Brava, its republic, 15

Bueneo, 204

Buendari, 64

Burmah, 181

Calicut, 152

Camaran island, 26

Cambay, 55, 64

Cananor, 149, 150, 151

Cannibals, 190, 196

Celebes, 203

Ceylon, 166

Chalderan, battle of, 40

Champa, 204

Champaver, 57

Chaul, 69

China, 190, 192

Chittagong, 178

Cinnamon, 219

Cintacola, 78

Cloves, 184, 219

Coinage of Ormuz, 45;
Baticala, 81;
Narsinga, 86

Comorin Cape, its church, 163

Dabul, 71

Dalaqua, 18

Damda, 71

Decan, 69

Delhy, 98

Denvy, 68

Diquirmale mountain, 177

Diu, battle of, 61

Duels in Southern India, 80

Elephants, their price, 168;
way of catching, 167

Erecanguy, 182;
mode of selection of damsels by the king, 183

Fartak country, 28, 29

Gandos, hill tribes of Central India, 58

Guardafun, 16

Goa, 74

Goyari, 63

Guzerat, 50, 55

Hindu marriages, 54;
Trinity, 53

Horses, their price, 76, 89;
fed on dried fish, 49;
on cooked grain, 90

Hussein, Admiral, 25, 62

Humpbacked maids of honour, 202

Idolatrous rites, 53

Ismail Shah, his rise and policy, 38, 39, 40

Java, 192

Jiddah, 26-27

Joghis, 99, 100, 101

Junks, 206

Keddah, 189

Kulam, 157, 172;
king's guard of women, 173

Lapidaries, Ceylon, 169

Limadura, 66

Madagascar, 13, 14

Magadoxo, 16

Malabar, 101

Malaca, 190

Maldive islands, 164;
division of by the king, 103;
customs, 104;
king's coronation oath, 107;
his funeral ceremonies, 108;
clerks and writing, 110;
king's waiting women, 111;
their festival on king's accession, _ib._;
king's customs, 113;
justice, 116

Malays, 191

Mandabad, 71

Manfia, 14

Mangalor, 82

Marepata, 177

Martaban, 185

Maylepur, encroachments of the sea, 174

Medina, 23

Mekkah, 23, 188

Melinda, 12, 13

Mokhah, 26

Moluccas, 192

Mombaza, 11, 12

Monomotapa, 6, 7

Mozambique, 9, 10

Musk, adulteration of it, 187

Nairs, 124;
customs, 124

Narsinga, 84;
council, 89;
king's household, 87;
punishment of high officers, 89;
army, _ib._;
vivandieres, 90;
enlistment, 91;
king's method of carrying his subjects to the wars, 96

Nestorians, 162

Nicobar islands, 195

Onor, 79

Orissa, 98, 177

Ormuz, 32 _et seq._;
council, 44;
blind kings, 44;
council put down by Albuquerque, 47

Pahang, 189

Palecate, 176

Pardan coins, 81

Patemshi, 58

Pearl fishery, 170

Pegu, 183

Pepper, its price, 207, 218

Porcelain manufacture, 185

Portuguese piracy, 46, 72, 76

Prester John, 19

Price of drugs, 220, 221, 222;
eagle-wood, 221;
elephants, 168;
horses, 76, 89;
pepper, 217, 218;
rice, 82;
rubies, 210;
spices, 220, 221, 222

Quicksilver trade, 81, 174

Quilacare, self-immolation of its king, 172

Quiloa, 10, 11

Rajputs, 50

Ravel, 67

Rice, kinds of, 82

Rubies, 168, 169

Sael, 173

Self-torture by girls, 95

Shehir, 3, 4, 30

Siam, 188

Sinai, mount, 22

Socotra, its Christians, 29;
its Amazons, 29

Sofala, 4;
cotton cultivation, 6

Suez, 21

Sumatra, 195

Sunda, 196

Surat, 67

Suratimangalor, 59

Suttee, 91

Taborine, sacred stone worn by Joghis, 101

Tanasery, 188

Thomas, St., his miracles, 160, 161, 175;
his death, 175;
his Christians, 176

Tree which produces poison and the antidote, 101

Ucique islands, 3, 4, 5

Voyage of Francisco Serrano from Malacca, 224

Weights, Portuguese and Indian, 223

Zanzibar, 14

Zeyta, 17

Zimbao, 7

Zuama, 8

LONDON: T. RICHARDS, 37, GREAT QUEEN STREET.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] I have been informed by Mr. Winter Jones that Diego Ribero drew
up a map of the world in 1529, of which Sprengel wrote an account in
1795, called, Ueber J. Ribero's alteste Weltcharte. He gives the
western hemisphere only, the eastern hemisphere has been published
by the Vte. Santarem. This might be the means by which the
orthography and errors of this work passed into the maps of
Ortelius.

[2] The Portuguese are scarcely justified in their censure of
Magellan for serving Spain, after the neglect he had met with at the
hands of the King of Portugal, since disnaturalisation was a custom
of the country frequently practised at that period: and it is the
necessary complement of naturalisation.

[3] Here the Barcelona manuscript begins.

[4] Insula Bocicas, 23 deg. S. lat., just N. of C. S. Sebastian,
Homann's Atlas, Nuremberg, 1753.

[5] Probably Bahrein.

[6] Cujus rex Quitove, Atlas, 1753. Reg. Munica cujus rex Chicanga.

[7] Cefala, Ortelius.

[8] Lusiadas, Canto v, stanza 76.

Ethiopes sao todos, mas parece,
Que com gente melhor communicavam:
Palabra alguma Arabia se conhece
Entre a linguagem sua, que fallavam:
E com panno delgado, que se tece
De algodao, as cabecas apertavam,
Com outro, que de tint azul se tinge,
Cada hum as vergonhosas partes cinge.

[9] Zimbro, Ortelius, Zimbaon, Atlas, 1753. Sedes Regia.

[10] Ajonjo (Agiongoli) plant with a viscous substance. Ajonjoli
Sesame plant. Ajonjera, carlina aqualis bruised in water makes
birdlime.

[11] Zuama, Ortelius.

[12] Ve do Benomotapa o grande imperio,
De selvatica gente, negra e nua,
Onde Goncalo morte e vituperio
Padecera pela Fe sancta sua:
Nasce por este incognito hemispherio
O metal, porque mais a gente sua
Ve que do lago, donde se derrama
O Nilo, tambem vindo esta Cuama,
Camoens, Canto x, stanza 93.

[13] The old maps have a kingdom of Mongale stretching N. from the
R. Zuama.

[14] Angoches, 16 deg. S. lat., Homann.

[15] Mozambique, Ortelius.

[16] Quiloa, Ortelius.

[17] Mombaza, Ortelius.

[18] Camoens confirms the author's statement of the flourishing
condition of Mombaza, and of its devastation by the Portuguese.
Canto x, stanzas 26, 27--

Ambos darao com braco forte armado
A Quiloa fertil aspero castigo,
Fazendo nella Rei leal e humano,
Deitado fora o perfido Tyranno.

Tambem farao Mombaca, que se arrea
De casas sumptuosas e edificios,
Co'o ferro e fogo seu queimada e fea
Em pago dos passados maleficios.

[19] Melinde, Ortelius.

[20] Melinde hospicio gazalhoso e charo.
Camoens, Canto x, stanza 96.

[21] Lusiade, Canto x, stanza 137--

De Sao-Lourenco ve a ilha affamada,
Que Madagascar he d'alguns chamada.

[22] Cabo dos Corrientes, Ortelius.

[23] Yname, in Portuguese, Inhame. Root in the form of a gourd,
composed of two bulbs, which grow one above the other, the larger
one below the smaller one. It is cut into slices and eaten instead
of bread. It throws out very large leaves, without fruit. The
ancients erroneously called it Fava AEgyptia, others have called it
Arum Egyptium, which Bahuino, in his Historia Universal das Plantas,
does not approve of. Bluteau, Dict., Coimbra, 1713. name--Genus of
monocotyledonous plants of the family of the dioscoreas. Dico.
Encyclopedico, Madrid, 1855. The "maize" mentioned in the text must
be a mistake of the author or of the translators: it should be yams.

[24] Penda and Zenzibar, Ortelius.

[25] Pato, Ortelius, Homann.

[26] Lamon, Ortelius.

[27] Brava, Ortelius. The German Atlas of 1753 adds Respubl. to the
name of Brava.

[28] The river of this place is called Mecadesso in the German
Atlas, which shows the Arabic origin of the name; in Ortelius
Magadazo.

[29] Orfuni, in Atlas of 1753.

[30] Guardafun, Ortelius.

[31] Met, Ortelius, and the Atlas of 1753.

[32] Barbara, Ortelius.

[33] Zeila, Ortelius.

[34] Dalacca, Ortelius.

[35] Abyssinians, Habeshin in Arabic.

[36] Saachem, Ortelius.

[37] Berr Ajem. The spelling of this name is a proof that the
Spanish j still had the value of the English j and the Arabic jim.

[38] This refers to the Sawahily of Abyssinia, not to the people of
Arabia, and applies to them.

[39] Almalafa, a cloak, plaid, old Spanish, not in dictionaries,
from Arabic.

[40] "Estas cosen a sus hijas sus naturas quando son chiquitas
dexandoles solamente un meadero y asi las traen cosidas fasta
que son en hedad de casar y las entregan a sus maridos y
estonces les cortan la carne questa soldada como sy nacieron
asy."

The Portuguese edition states that Barbosa knew this by experience.

[41] Habeshy, Abyssinian.

[42] Babel Mandel, Ortelius.

[43] Zues, Ortelius.

[44] Camoens thus describes the interruption by the Portuguese of the
Indian voyages to the Red Sea. Canto ix, stanzas 3 and 4:--

Gida se chama o porto, aonde o trato
De todo o Roxo mar mais florecia,
De que tinha proveito grande, e grato
O Soldao, que esse reino possuia.
Daqui os Malabares, por contrato
Dos infieis, formosa companhia
De grandes naos pelo Indico Oceano
Especiaria vem buscar cada anno.

Por estas naos os Mouros esperavam,
Que, como fossem grandes e possantes,
Aquellas, que o commercia lhe tomavam,
Com flammas abrazassem crepitantes:
Neste socorro tanto confiavam,
Que ja nao querem mais dos navegantes,
Senao que tanto tempo alli tardassem,
Que da famosa Meca as naos chegassem.

And Canto x, stanza 50:--

Barbara se teme
Do mal, de que o emporio Zeila geme.

[45] Hussein.

[46] Eliobon, Atlas of Ortelius and Iambut or Yembo.

[47] Voyages and Travels by R. Kerr, vol. ii, p. 512. Letter from
merchants of Spain to their correspondents respecting a treaty of
peace and league between the Kings of Portugal and Calicut.

We have been informed by those who were on board the fleet which
sailed from Lisbon to India in May, 1502, and returned on the 15th
December, 1503, that the King of Calicut has concluded a peace with
our Sovereign on the following conditions.... That our king, if so
inclined, may build a fort at Calicut, and shall be supplied with a
sufficient quantity of stones, lime, and timber for that purpose.

[48] Probably Admiral Hussein had heard of Moncaide, the spy of
Vasco de Gama, of whom Camoens says:--

Estava para dar ao Gama aviso
E merecer por isso o Paraiso.
Este, de quem se os Mouros nao guardavam,
Por ser Mouro, como ellos, antes era
Participante em quanto machinavam.
Canto ix, stanzas 5 and 6.

[49] The above anecdote of the fortitude and perseverance of Mir
Hussein after his defeat, is new; and seems conclusive as to this
MS. having remained unpublished, and almost unread; since, the
_Panorama_ (or Spanish version of the _Univers Pittoresque_)
_Historia de Portugal_, por M. Fernando Denis, Conservador de la
Biblioteca de Santa Jenoveva: traducida por Una Sociedad Literaria,
Barcelona, Imprenta del Fomento, 1845; says at p. 123:--

"This battle, as Simon Goulard relates it, brought the power of
the Mussulmans of Egypt to an end, and so convinced of this was
Melek-Jaz that he hastened to conclude a peace with the
Portuguese. Mir-Hosein, who had manifested such distinguished
valour and such profound knowledge in this struggle, fearing the
inconstancy of Melek-Jaz, who might have given him up to
Almeida, went off hurriedly to the kingdom of Cambay, and later
removed himself to Upper Hindustan: but the historians lost his
trace here and never again make any mention of the chief of the
confederation of the Rumys."

[50] Jizan.

[51] Mocha.

[52] Camaran, Ortelius.

[53] Or Indians.

[54] Alaquequa is an Indian stone which stops the flow of blood;
alaquequas are glass beads. Dictionary of V. Salva, Paris, 1856.

[55] The cocoa-nut shell is within a very thick husk, and so maybe
called a kernel.

[56] Lac.

[57] Mangala, fortress of Sumatra, in the country of Lampong, on the
shore of the Tulang-Buvang, nine leagues and two-thirds from the
mouth of that river. _Geographical Dictionary_, Barcelona, 1832.

[58] Dhafar.

[59] Fartach, Ortelius, Fartaque, Atlas of 1753.

[60] Greco y levante, N.E.E., Gregal, Grech, N.E. wind, still used
in Catalan.

[61] Mastro y Soroco, Mistral & Sirocco.

[62] Marked with a cross thus in the MS.

[63] Sangre de dragon.

[64] Dolfar, Ortelius.

[65] Shehir, one of the chief seaports of Hadramant. Zehar,
Ortelius.

[66] Enciencio, antient for ajenjo, Absinthe; perhaps the Kat or
Katta, a very expensive leaf of a shrub.

[67] This refers to the monsoon; if it is unfavourable the ships
cannot get up the Red Sea.

[68] This word is illegible, it reads _se enpegen_.

[69] Probably an error of the pen for Ras al Gat.

[70] Cape Mussendom, in Ortelius and the German Atlas of 1753 also
Mocandon, here it is evident that the cedilla of the c has been
forgotten, and the error has been perpetuated. C is often used for s
in old manuscripts.

[71] In the German Atlas there is a place called Kellat, and another
close by called Calajute; Calata, Ortelius.

[72] Curiate in Ortelius and the German Atlas.

[73] This may be read Sar, or Sari.

[74] Soar Ortelius, Sohar in the German Atlas (map of Persia).

[75] Lebeche or leveche, S.W. wind.

[76] In the German Atlas Corscan, there is also another place there
inland a long way off called Orfacan, both these seem to be
corruptions of the name in the text Khor Fakan.

[77] Julphar or Giotoffar in the German Atlas.

[78] Roccalima in the Atlas of Abraham Ortelius, Antwerp, 1570: the
Ras el Khyma of Captain Felix Jones's Chart.

[79] Probably Amulgowein of Captain F. Jones.

[80] Calba, Ortelius.

[81] Baha, Ortelius.

[82] Iguir in Ortelius, 1570.

[83] Naban, Ortelius, 1570.

[84] Quesibi, Ortelius.

[85] Berou, ibidem.

[86] Moy Macina, Ortelius, 1570.

[87] Lima, Ortelius.

[88] Carmon, Ortelius.

This list of towns is thus introduced without anything to connect it
with the narrative; they would apparently be places on the Shat el
Arab, between the sea and Basrah, but from the Atlas of Ortelius it
is clear that they are intended to follow after Quesebi, from which
word to "estuary" should be read in a parenthesis: from the entire
absence of punctuation and capital letters in the MS. there is great
difficulty in ascertaining always the correct meaning. This passage
seems to show that those who made the early maps had had a copy of
this MS. under their eyes. "Quesebi: y dende aqui adelante da vuelta
la costa a maestro y tramontana hasta la boca del Rio eufrates y
comienca en esa vuelta una tabla berohu caljar," et cetera. The word
_tabla_ can hardly as here placed mean a list, and one of its
meanings, dead water, or water without a current, in speaking of a
river, seems here most applicable. Ortelius, however, followed by
the German Atlas of 1753, has got _Tabla_ as a town between Quesibi
and Berou, in which case the sense of comienza and una would be
imperfect. As the word _tabla_ is Spanish, and in Portuguese is
_tabula_, it would appear that this Spanish translation and not the
Portuguese original has been made use of for the ancient atlases.
This view is confirmed by there being no such place as Tabla in
Captain F. Jones's Chart. Ramusio's edition has Tabla between
Quesibi and Berohu.

[89] Gues, Ortelius, on the Persian shore.

[90] Gues, before named, re-appears as Cuez, Basida, Costaque,
Conga, which are placed on the Arabian shore: Gonga also appears on
the Persian shore in Ortelius's Atlas, 1570.

[91] Braimu, Ortelius.

[92] Denaze, ibid.

[93] Doan, ibid., on Persian shore.

[94] Laron, ibid.

[95] Andrani, Ortelius.

[96] Quaro, ibid.

[97] Lar, ibid.

[98] Coiar, ibid.

[99] Tome, ibid.

[100] Mulugan, ibid.

[101] Quezimi, ibid.

[102] Baharem, ibid. Besides these islands, Ortelius has got Gicolar
and Ficor, which names might have been made out of the above list
from this very MS. by reading differently the names which are
written in italics.

[103] Here there appears to be a gap in the MS. of three quarters of
a line.

[104] Shah Ismail, King of Persia, contemporary of the writer of
this MS. and founder of the Shiah rite as at present existing.

[105] Son-in-law. This account is like that of Ramusio and differs
somewhat from the Portuguese.

[106] The origin of the Kizilbashes.

[107] Chalderan, 3rd Rejeb 920, or August 1514. Vicente Rocca, in
his history of the Turks, printed at Valencia 1556, says that the
corpses of many Persian women who had accompanied their husbands in
disguise, were found after the battle, and that Sultan Selim ordered
them to receive an honourable burial.

[108] This embassy came to Albuquerque when he was at Ormuz the last
time, the envoy sent by Albuquerque was Fernan Gomez. San Roman
Hist. de la India, pp. 239, and 246-249. Valladolid, 1603.

[109] Frat, with a Persian termination.

[110] With respect to this geography of the four rivers of Paradise,
see M. Renan's remarks on the Persian traditions, in his Hist. des
Langues Semitiques, pp. 481-483. Paris, 1863.

[111] Zircon or jargon, a stone of which false diamonds are made.

[112] Reubarbaro.

[113] Sarahueles, Serwal or Shalwar.

[114] Almaizar.

[115] Atauxsia, Moorish workmanship of inlaying metals.

[116] This description of Persian customs is very exact.

[117] The Jewish traveller Pedro Teixeira (or Teireira, according to
Rodriquez de Castro, Biblica, Rabinica Esp.) at the end of the
sixteenth or beginning of the seventeenth century, wrote a history
of Persia, translated from Mirkhond, and a "Journey from the East
Indies to Italy Overland," Antwerp, Jerome Verdassen. Teixeira wrote
the first part of this work in Portuguese, and afterwards translated
it into Spanish, adding the second part. Both were translated into
French by C. Cotolendi in 1681, and printed at Paris under the title
of "Voyages de Teixeira, ou l'Histoire des Rois de Perse." He died
at Verona. Teixeira says:

"It was a custom much in use, both formerly and in later times
among the kings of Persia and Harmuz, in order to assure
themselves of those whom they might have reason to fear, and who
commonly were their relations. And even this day may be seen at
Harmuz, on a hill near the hermitage of Santa Lucia, at a little
more than a mile from the city, the ruins of some towers, in
which the kings placed their relations who had been blinded for
this reason. The method which they used for depriving them of
sight was this: they took a brass basin, and heating it in the
fire as much as possible, passed it two or three or more times
before the eyes of the person they intended to blind; and
without other lesion of the eyes they lost their sight, the
optic nerves being injured by the fire, but the eyes remaining
as limpid and clear as before." Amador de Los Rios, Estudios
sobre los Judios de Espana, p. 557. Madrid, 1848.

Ramusio has translated to blind "cavar gli occhi," which in this
case would not apply.

[118] This observation is owing to the Moorish coins of the Almohade
dynasty having been square, which gave rise to the Spanish saying of
spendthrifts: "My money rolls, as it is not Moorish."

[119] The standard of modern Spanish silver coin is eleven dinars,
or dineros.

[120] The Portuguese force is said to have consisted of fifteen
hundred Portuguese and six hundred Indian soldiers; this took place
in 1514. Panorama or Univers Pittoresque. According to San Roman
Hist. de la India Oriental in the beginning of 1515, Albuquerque's
force consisted of 26 sail, 1500 Portuguese, and 600 Malabars.

[121] This governor's name was Rais Hamid; one account says so many
daggers were drawn against him that the Portuguese wounded one
another's hands: the other governor mentioned later was named Rais
Nordim, i.e., Nureddin.

[122] In Ortelius's Map of Asia Dulcinda is some way up a river; in
the German Atlas of 1753 no trace of it appears.

[123] Ulcinde, Camoens, canto x, stanza 106.

[124] Or hither.

[125] Cogecillos.

[126] Or gallery.

[127] A la bastarda.

[128] The Chaugan, Persian game of hockey on horseback.

[129] Urdu perhaps is meant by the writer.

[130] Campanero in Ramusio, Champanel in Portuguese edition.

[131] Gandos, people of Hindustan, established in the mountainous
parts of the province of Ganduana: they live by the chase and the
produce of their flocks, and, contrary to the custom of other
Indians, eat fowls and bury their dead. The women are obese, and
stronger than the men; they wear a dress all of one piece, paint all
their body, and become bald in the prime of life. Ganduana, between
17 deg. and 24 deg. N. lat. and 81 deg. and 88 deg. E. long.
Diccionario Encic., Madrid, Gaspar y Roig, 1855.

[132] Jagri.

[133] Arrak.

[134] This name might also be read Dvuxa or Dimxa.

[135] Shehir.

[136] This word alcatifa might also mean velvets, at least that is
its meaning in Arabic and Wallachian; in modern Spanish it means a
fine carpet.

[137] Coast guards, watch boats.

[138] Kind of artillery.

[139] This passage seems to fix the date of this work as previous to
1515, since in that year the Portuguese made themselves masters of
Diu, in which they built a fortress in 1536. (Diccion. Geog.
Universal, Barcelona, 1831.)

[140] Of Egypt.

[141] This author seems to have confused the account of two naval
battles, reducing them to one; the above account, as far as the
description of the meeting of the hostile fleets, refers to the
battle in 1507, in which the Portuguese, commanded by Lorenzo son of
Francisco de Almeyda, were routed and Lorenzo slain. Melik Az saved
twenty prisoners alive from Lorenzo's ship, which would not strike,
treated them well, and wrote to condole with the father, Francisco
de Almeyda, for the death of his son. Almeyda prepared a fleet of
nineteen sail to avenge his son's death, when Albuquerque arrived to
supersede him; he had been sent from Europe in 1506. In spite of
this Almeyda sailed for Diu, where Emir Hussein, instead of waiting
for him, put out to sea against the advice of Melik Az and was
defeated. Vasco Pereyra, captain of the ship that carried Admiral
Hussein's ship by boarding, was killed, and his lieutenant, Tavora,
took Emir Hussein's ship, killing or capturing all those who did not
save themselves by swimming ashore. The captured ships were richly
laden, and Almeyda distributed all the spoil amongst his crews.
(This action was fought on the 3rd February, 1509.) Melik Az sued
for peace after this defeat. His proposals were received with
arrogance and a demand for the surrender of Emir Hussein: this Melik
Az refused, but gave up all his Portuguese prisoners. Almeyda
accepted this, but cut the heads off all his Moorish prisoners in
cool blood at Cananor. Panorama, India, pp. 358-360, Barcelona,
1845; Translation of the Univers Pittoresque. The same work in the
volume on Portugal, speaking of the first battle of Diu, merely
says, "Mir Hosein routed the Portuguese, and Don Lorenzo lost his
life," p. 121.

Camoens thus describes the second battle of Diu, in his 10th canto,
stanzas 35, 36.

E logo, entrando fero na enseada
De Dio, illustre em cercos e batalhas,
Fara espalhar a fraca e grande armada
De Calecut, que remos tem por malhas:
A de Melique Yaz acautelada,
Co 'os pelouros que tu, Vulcano, espalhas,
Fara ir ver o frio e fundo assento,
Secreto leito do humido elemento.

Mas a de Mir-Hocem, que, abalroando,
A furia esperara dos vingadores,
Vera bracos, e pernas ir nadando,
Sem corpos, pelo mar, de seus senhores:
Raios de fogo irao representando
No cego ardor os bravos domadores:
Quanto alli sentirao olhos, e ouvidos,
He fumo, ferro, flammas e alaridos.

The last speech of Don Lorenzo d'Almeida is given in the following
words in a MS. belonging to the Duke of Gor, at Granada, which
describes the voyages to India from 1497 to 1509; it differs a
little from that given in the second decade:

"Dom Lourenzo lhe disse Snores companheiros e irmaos, minha vida
he acabada que este mundo me tinha emprestada e minha alma ira
dar conta ao Snor Deos que a fez. En vos mando, e muito rogo que
tomandonos Meliquiaz sobre si como diz aventureis as vidas em
sua palavra, porque de o no fazerdes tao certas aqui tendes as
mortes se Ds' no acodir co sua m[=i]a (misericordia) que lhe
pezo que aja co minha alma, que em suas sanctas maos encomendo:
e deu a alma," f. 406 v.

Don Lorenzo said to them:

"Gentlemen, companions and brothers, my life which this world
had lent me is ended, and my soul will go to give an account to
the Lord God who made it. I charge you, and beg much of you,
that as Melikiaz will take us on his own responsibility, as he
says, that you adventure your lives upon his word, because if
you do not do so, you have before you certain death, unless God
succour you with his mercy: which I pray him to have with my
soul, which I commend into his holy keeping."

And he gave up his spirit.

[142] Sambuks, Arab undecked boats.

[143] This may have been intended for ivory of elephants, it would
seem difficult to get an elephant into a sambuk.

[144] _Pozos_, wells, hollows.

[145] Guadamecil, _aluta celata_.

[146] This word is very clearly _enyertan_, which is an old word
meaning to freeze, to congeal, to make _yerto_--hard: so that this
stone would be like the Chinese soap stone, which is soft and easily
carved when first extracted. _Ensartan_ would apply, meaning to
string beads, but the writing does not admit of it.

[147] Ravel in Ortelius's map of India, 1570.

[148] Axuar, the household furniture which a wife has to bring to
her husband on her marriage.

[149] The writer had forgotten that _aduana_ (custom-house) and
_divan_ are the same word.

[150] Or Denby.

[151] Mezzo giorno, the Italian, instead of medio dia, a slip of the
writer, the Genoese envoy.

[152] Chaul, Ortelius, 1570.

[153] Beatilla, betille in French.

[154] Dabul, Ortelius, 1570.

[155] This was done by Don Francisco de Almeyda on his way to Diu in
the beginning of 1509.

[156] Llanten, _plantago_. The leaf is chewed, not eaten, and
assists the digestion.

[157] Munacem in Ramusio, and Muruary in the Portuguese edition.

[158] _Rumys._ Turks are so called east of Turkey. These Turks may
have served in the Egyptian fleet, but did not belong to the Ottoman
forces, as Egypt was not united to the Ottoman Empire till later in
1517.

Traz este vem Noronha, cujo auspicio
De Dio os Rumes feros affugenta,
Dio, que o peito e bellico exercicio
De Antonio da Sylveira bem sustenta.
Camoens, canto x, stanza 72.

[159] February 25th, 1510, or on the 17th February according to San
Roman; Albuquerque was driven out of Goa, and reconquered it on the
25th November 1510.

[160] San Roman says that the revenue of Sabayo was five hundred
thousand ducats; and that Goa produced much more in the hands of the
King of Portugal (p. 183).

[161] Aliga R., German Atlas, 1753.

[162] Cintacola, Ortelius, 1570.

[163] Bisinagar, Ortelius.

[164] Cholmandel, Ortelius.

[165] In the Italian and Portuguese editions Mergeo.

[166] Onor, Ortelius.

[167] Batticalla, Ortelius.

[168] Quarter of a hundredweight.

[169] Gomio, this word is intended, perhaps, for gumia, a kind of
dagger, a Marocco word not Arabic; these words are neither of them
to be found in the old dictionaries. The dagger is not mentioned in
the Italian or Portuguese editions.

[170] Pardao, an Indian coin worth 300 reis coined at Goa by the
Portuguese, with the figure of King Sebastian. Dict. of P. Raphael
Bluteau, Lisbon, 1720.

[171] Bahar, an Indian weight varying from 4-1/2 quintals to 5 quintals
3-1/2 arrobas.

[172] Or Jauibasal, these names are variously spelled in the Italian
and Portuguese editions.

[173] Bacanor and Barsalor, German Atlas.

[174] Fanega--4 bushels or 84 lbs. French.

[175] Mangalor, Ortelius.

[176] Cape Comori, Ortelius.

[177] The Nil Gau or Blue Cow.

[178] Ramusio coincides with this MS. in writing giagonzas on a
former occasion, and on this gegonzas.

[179] The abbreviation is [=m] [=mrs]; this might stand for ccc or
three hundred, the value given by Ramusio.

[180] Filosanias, may be intended for physiognomy. It is so
translated by Ramusio.

[181] The Arab travellers of the ninth century mention this.

[182] Tambarme in Ramusio.

[183] This is the probable origin of the story in Sinbad the Sailor.
The Arabian Nights are not entirely fiction, as is usually supposed:
the story of Seif el Muluk refers to facts in the Malay Annals, and
describes the people, country, and winds about Sumatra.

[184] "Y sobre el dicho palo esta una piedra de altura de un cobdo y
en el medio un agujero en el qual meten un palo agudo y arman
las gradas paramentadas con panos de seda para que la gente de
fuera no vea el secreto de dentro y la madre de la moza con
algunas otras mugeres entran en aquel lugar despues de hechas
muchas cerimonias y alli sobre aquel palo agudo rompen la moza
su virginidad y deraman la sangre sobre aquella piedra."

[185] Apparently Orissa.

[186] Compare Plato's views on this subject:--

"But if a soldier highly distinguishes himself and gains himself
credit, ought he not, think you, in the first place, while the
army is still in the field, to be crowned with a garland by each
of the youths and children in turn among his comrades in arms?"
"Yes, I think so." "But I suppose you will hardly extend your
approbation to my next proposition?" "What is that?" "That he
should kiss and be kissed by them all." "Most certainly I do;
and I would add to the law, that during the continuance of the
campaign, no one whom he has a mind to kiss be permitted to
refuse him the satisfaction; in order that, if any soldier
happens to entertain an admiration for either a male or female
comrade, he may be the more stimulated to carry off the meed of
valour." "Good, I replied; and we have already said that a brave
man will be allowed to enter into marriage relations more
frequently than others will, and to exercise more than the usual
liberty of choice in such matters, so that as many children as
possible may be obtained from a father of this
character."--Republic of Plato, book v, Sec. 468, p. 201.
Translation by Davies and Vaughan, Cambridge, 1858.

[187] Orissa: in this MS. it is clearly a _t_, but _t_ and _r_ are
easily confounded in the handwriting of this period.

[188] Bragueros de laton.

[189] Eyicianos.

[190] Lo al, old expression for Lo demas.

[191] The Chulias or people of Southern India do this always.

[192] Or--these on being opened.

[193] Baxana in Ramusio, and Braechagua in the Lisbon edition.

[194] Nirabixi in Ramusio and Miralexy in Lisbon edition.

[195] People in the East carry stones of this description, which are
said to draw out the venom from the bite of a serpent.

[196] Camoens addresses the King of Malabar as: "O nobre successor
de Perimal" Canto viii, stanza 82.

[197] This agrees with the account of the Arab travellers of the
ninth century. Paris, Langles.

[198] Cananor.

[199] Called Zamorin in other works, and Samorim by Camoens.

[200] Ramusio calls them Cunelanadyri, Benatederi, and Coletri; the
Lisbon edition, Maly Couadary, Benatady, Cobertorim.

[201] Mostasos: old word, before introduction of bigotes from the
German soldiers, and still used in Majorca.

[202] Repostero: a cloth marked with the arms of a grandee for
putting over a beast of burden, or hanging in a doorway,--a
portiere.

[203] No valen mas de que ser hijos de sus madres.

[204] Sister of the king, apparently, from what follows.

[205] Ramusio, Caimaes; Lisbon edition, Cahimal.

[206] Atabal.

[207] Cymbals.

[208] Sistra.

[209] Of a cross-bow shot.

[210] Sygnadas.

[211] Valedor.

[212] Buxen, not in the dictionaries: buxeta, a small casket for
perfumes to put in the pocket, so called because made of bux or box;
Anglice, box.

[213] If the writer had been a Spaniard, especially from Catalonia,
he would have added here, "in our fashion." This way of drinking
extends into Roussillon, and this custom was not introduced by the
Arabs.

[214] Hidalgo por el Rey: an expression meaning a modern noble, not
one whose origin is anterior to the Spanish monarchy: here it may
imply official position only. Ramusio, Talassen; Lisbon edition,
Talixe.

[215] Albala, from Alberat, Letters Patent, Brevet, Warrant, Letter
for drawing Pay. This word is in little use in Castile, but is
common in Valencia and Aragon. Spanish, Latin, and Arabic Dict., Fr.
Francisco Canes. Madrid, 1787.

[216] This part is wanting in Ramusio, who says a little lower down,
"Here several lines are wanting."

[217] Or it may be read Ciessua; Ramusio, Cressuamengan; Lisbon
edition, Cryuamergam.

[218] That is, the first mass said by a new priest.

[219] Como mayorazgo.

[220] See Cardinal Wiseman's Lectures with regard to this subject,
also the work of another Catholic author, where this Hindu doctrine
is termed an _adumbration_. The Abbe Huc is opposed to the
above-mentioned divines, and calls this a _counterfeit of Satan_.
Unless his theory, or another alternative, be adopted, it must be
assumed, since the Brahminical books were contemporary with David,
perhaps with Moses, that the Hindus were more favoured than the
Chosen People of Israel: which is impossible.