On The Top Of This Mountain There Is A Most Beautiful Plain, In
Which Is A Small Lake Always Full
Of water, which the inhabitants allege to
have proceeded from the tears of Adam and Eve; but this I proved
To be
false, as I saw the water to flow out of the lake. This lake is full of
horse-leeches, and numbers of precious stones are to be found on its
bottom, which the king of the island, instead of appropriating to his own
use, allows certain poor people to dive for once or twice a-year, for their
own profit, that they may pray for blessings upon his soul. On this
occasion they smear their bodies with lemon juice, which prevents the
leeches from hurting them while they are in the water. The water from this
lake runs into the sea, at which place the inhabitants dig on the shore, at
low water, for rubies, diamonds, pearls, and other precious stones, which
are found in such abundance, that the king of this island is believed to
possess more precious stones than any other monarch in the world. There are
wild beasts and birds of all kinds in this island in great numbers; and I
was informed by the natives, that these beasts never attack or do harm to
strangers, but only kill the indigenous inhabitants. I saw in this island
certain birds, as large as our geese, having two heads, and other wonderful
things I do not here write of.
Still farther to the south, I came to a certain island, called Bodin[1],
which name signifies unclean; and this island is inhabited by a most
wicked people, who devour raw flesh, and commit all manner of wickedness
and abominable uncleanness to an incredible extent; insomuch, that they
kill and eat each other, the father eating his son, the son his father, the
husband his wife, and the wife her husband. If any man be sick, the son
goes to the soothsayer, or prognosticating priest, requesting him to
inquire of his god, whether or not his father is to recover. Then both go
to an idol of gold or silver, which they thus address: "We adore thee as
our lord and god, and we beseech thee to inform us, whether such a man is
to die or to recover from his present infirmity." Then the devil returns an
answer from the idol, and if he says the man is to recover, the son returns
to the house of his father, and ministers to him in all things necessary,
until he regain his former health; but if the response is that the man is
to die, the priest then goes to him, and putting a cloth into his mouth,
immediately strangles him. After this the dead body is cut in pieces, and
all the friends and relations are invited to feast upon this horrible
banquet, which is accompanied with music and all manner of mirth; but the
bones are solemnly buried.
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