In It There Grows Great Plenty Of Brazil Wood; And It Has Much
Gold, Many Elephants, Wild Beasts, And Fowls, And An Excellent Fruit Called
Bercias, As Large As Lemons.
The country is mountainous and savage, and the
king permits no person to come into his dominions, lest they should get
acquainted with the county and attempt its conquest.
It produces abundance
of porcelain shells, which are transported to other places, where they
serve as money.
Five hundred miles southward from Lochae, is the isle of Pentan[8], a
savage place, which produces sweet trees in all its woods. For sixty miles
of this voyage, between Lochae and Pentan, the sea in many places is only
four fathoms deep Thirty miles to the south-east from Pentan, is the island
and kingdom of Malaiur[9], which has a king and a peculiar language of its
own, and has a great trade carried on in spices from Pentan. One hundred
miles south-east is Java the less[10], which is about two thousand miles in
circuit, and is divided into eight kingdoms, each having its own language.
I was in six of these kingdoms, of which I shall give some account,
omitting those I did not see.
One of these kingdoms is Felech or Ferlach, in which the formerly
idolatrous inhabitants of the cities have been converted to the Mahometan
religion, in consequence of much trade and intercourse with the Saracens;
but the mountaineers are very savage, eating human flesh, and living upon
every kind of unclean food, and they worship all day what they first happen
to meet in the morning. The next kingdom is called Basma, which has a
language peculiar to itself, the people living without law or religion like
beasts: But they sometimes send hawks to the khan, who lays claim to the
sovereignty of the whole island. Besides wild elephants, there are unicorns
in this country, which are much less than elephants, being haired like the
buffalo, but their feet are like those of die elephant. These animals have
one horn in the middle of their foreheads; but they hurt no one with this
weapon, using only their tongue and knee, for they trample and press any
one down with their feet and knees, and their tongue is beset with long
sharp prickles, with which they tear a person to pieces. The head is like
that of a wild boar, which the animal, carries hanging down to the ground.
They are filthy beasts that love to stand and wallow in the mire, and they
do not in the least resemble those unicorns which are said to be found in
some other parts of the world, which allow themselves to be taken by
maids[11]. In this country, there are many apes of different kinds, some of
them, being black with faces like men, which they put into boxes, preserved
with spices; these they sell to merchants, who carry them to various parts
of the world, and pass them for pigmies or little men. This country
likewise produces large goshawks, as black as ravens, which are excellent
for sport.
Samare or Samara is the next kingdom, in which I remained for five months
against my will, in consequence of bad weather[12], during all which time,
none of the stars in the constellation of the great-bear were seen. Being
forced to remain here for five months. I landed with 2000 men, and erected
fortifications to defend us against any unforeseen attack from the savage
cannibals of the island, with whom we established a trade for provisions.
They have excellent wine, both red and white, made from the palm tree,
which is a very wholesome beverage, as it is medicinal for consumption, the
dropsy, and for disorders of the spleen. They have likewise abundance of
fine fish, and eat of all sorts of flesh, without making any difference.
Their cocco nuts are as large as a mans head, and the middle of them is
full of a pleasant liquor, better than wine.
Dragoian[13] is another of those kingdoms claimed by the khan, which has a
king and a peculiar language. I was told of an abominable custom in this
country; that when any one is sick, his relatives send to inquire at the
sorcerers if he is to recover? If they answer no, the kindred then send for
a person, whose office it is to strangle the sick person, whom they
immediately cut in pieces and devour, even to the marrow of their bones,
for they allege, that if any part were to remain, worms would breed in it,
which would be in want of food, and would therefore die, to the great
torture of the soul of the dead person. They afterwards carry away the
bones, and conceal them carefully in caves in the mountains, that no beast
may touch them. If they can lay their hands on any stranger, they treat him
in the same barbarous manner.
Lambri is the fifth kingdom of Java-minor, or Sumatra, in which is great
plenty of Brazil wood, some of the seeds of which I brought to Venice, but
they would not vegetate, as the climate was too cold for them. In this
country there are great numbers of unicorns or rhinoceroses, and plenty of
other beasts and birds. Fanfur is the sixth kingdom, having the best
camphor, which Is sold weight for weight with gold. In that kingdom, they
make a kind of meal from great and long trees, as thick as two men are able
to fathom. Having taken off the thin bark, the wood within is only about
three fingers thick, all the rest being pith, from which the meal is made.
This pith is broken to pieces, and stirred among water, the light dross
swimming, and being thrown away, while the finer parts settle at the
bottom, and is made into paste[14]. I brought some of this to Venice, which
tastes not much unlike barley bread.
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