After His Death, His Father
Caused An Image Of Him To Be Made Of Solid Gold, And Commanded All His
Subjects To Adore Him As Their God:
And hence they say is the origin of
idol worship.
People come here in pilgrimage from remote regions, and there
his fore-teeth, and a dish which he used, are solemnly exhibited as holy
relics. As the Saracens pretend that these belonged to Adam, Cublai-Khan
was induced, in 1281, to send ambassadors to the king of this country, who
obtained the dish, two teeth, and some of the hairs of Sogomon Barchan:
These the great khan caused to be received without the city with great
reverence and solemnity, by the whole people of Cambalu, and brought into
his presence with great honour.
Sixty miles to the west of Ceylon is Moabar[1]. This is no island, but lies
on the firm continent, which may be called the greater India. In it there
are four kings, the principal one of whom is Sinder Candi, in whose kingdom
they fish for pearls, between Ceylon and Moabar, in a bay where the sea
does not exceed ten or twelve fathoms deep. Here the divers descend to the
bottom, and in bags or nets which are tied about their bodies, bring up the
oysters which contain the pearls. On account of certain great fish which
kill the divers, they hire bramins to charm them from doing harm, and these
have the twentieth part of the pearls, the king getting the tenth part[2];
These oysters are only found from the beginning of April to the end of May
in this place; but from the beginning of September to the middle of
October, they are got in another place, about three hundred miles distant.
The king of this country goes naked, like the rest of his subjects, except
that he wears some honourable marks of distinction, as a collar of precious
stones about his neck, and a thread of silk hanging down to his breast, on
which are strung 104 large fine pearls, by which he counts his prayers as
with a rosary. These prayers are merely the word Pacaupa, repeated 104
times over. He wears a sort of bracelets on three places of his arms and on
his legs, and rings on all his fingers and toes. This king has a thousand
concubines, and if any woman pleases his fancy, he takes her away from
whoever she may happen to belong to. He once did this unjust deed to his
own brother, in consequence of which a civil war had nearly ensued; but as
their mother threatened to cut off her own breasts if they continued their
enmity, they were reconciled. He has a numerous guard of horsemen, who are
under a vow, when he dies, to throw themselves into the fire in which his
body is consumed, that they may serve him in the next world.
This prince, and the other kings of Moabar, buy their horses from Ormus and
other parts, as their country produces none, or if any happen to be bred
there, they are ugly and useless[3]. Condemned persons often offer
themselves to die in honour of a particular idol; on which the devotee puts
himself to death with twelve knives, giving himself twelve deep wounds in
various parts of his body, calling out aloud on the infliction of each,
that he does this in honour of such or such an idol; and the last of all is
through his own heart, after which his body is burned by his kindred. The
women of this country voluntarily burn themselves along with the bodies of
their deceased husbands, and those who neglect to do this are held in
disrepute. They worship idols, and most of them hold cows in such high
veneration, that they would not eat their holy flesh for any consideration
on earth. A certain tribe is called Gaui, who feed upon such oxen as die of
themselves, but never kill any. These Gaui are descended from the people
who slew St Thomas, and dare not enter the shrine in which his body is
preserved. The people of this country sit on carpets on the ground, using
no chairs or stools. Their only grain is rice. They are not a martial
people, and kill no animals; but when they are inclined for animal food,
they get the Saracens or some other people to kill for them. Both men and
women wash themselves twice a-day, and always before eating; and those who
neglect this ceremony are reputed heretics. They never touch their meat
with their left hands, which they only employ for wiping themselves, or
other unclean purposes. Each drinks from his own pot, neither do they allow
it to touch their mouths, but hold it above, and pour in the drink; and to
strangers who have no pot, they pour liquor into their hands, from which
they must drink, as they will not allow their pots to be touched by any
other person.
Justice is severely administered for crimes; and in some cases, a creditor
has a singular manner of compelling payment, by drawing a circle round his
debtor, out of which he must not stir till he has satisfied his creditor,
or given security for the debt, under the pain of death. I, Marco, once saw
the king on horseback thus encircled, by a merchant whom he had long put
off with delays; and the king would not come out of the circle, which the
merchant had drawn; till he had sent for the means of paying the merchant,
all the people who were present highly applauding the kings justice. They
are very scrupulous of drinking wine, and those who are addicted to that
practice, are held disreputable and unworthy of being admitted as
witnesses; which is the case likewise with those who go to sea, as they
reckon them desperate persons. They look on letchery as no sin.
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