"E qe voz en diroi? Sachies
tout voiremant qe en ceste reingne se labore roiaus dereusse de cuir et
plus sotilment que ne fait en tout lo monde, e celz qe sunt de greingnors
vailance."
CHAPTER XXVII.
CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF TANA.
Tana is a great kingdom lying towards the west, a kingdom great both in
size and worth. The people are Idolaters, with a language of their own,
and a king of their own, and tributary to nobody.[NOTE 1] No pepper grows
there, nor other spices, but plenty of incense; not the white kind
however, but brown.[NOTE 2]
There is much traffic here, and many ships and merchants frequent the
place; for there is a great export of leather of various excellent kinds,
and also of good buckram and cotton. The merchants in their ships also
import various articles, such as gold, silver, copper, and other things in
demand.
With the King's connivance many corsairs launch from this port to plunder
merchants. These corsairs have a covenant with the King that he shall get
all the horses they capture, and all other plunder shall remain with them.
The King does this because he has no horses of his own, whilst many are
shipped from abroad towards India; for no ship ever goes thither without
horses in addition to other cargo.
