The Oxen Are Large, White, And Thin Haired, With Thick Short
Blunt Horns, And Having A Hunch Like A Camel Between The Shoulders About
Two Spans Round.
They are accustomed to bear great burthens, and when they
are to be loaded, they are taught to bow their knees like camels, and rise
again when loaded.
The sheep of this country are as large as small asses,
having such long and broad tails, that some of these weigh thirty pounds,
and this part is most delicate and extremely rich food. In this plain there
are many cities and towns, having high and thick ramparts of earth to
defend them against the Caraons, who are a mixed race between Tartar
fathers and Indian mothers, ten thousand of whom are commanded by one
Nugodar, the nephew of Zagathai, who once ruled in Turkestan. This Nugodar
having heard of the weakness of the Malabars subject to soldan Asiden,
went, without his uncles knowledge, and took Dely and other cities, in
which he erected a new sovereignty[9]; and his Tartar soldiers, by mixing
with the women, of the country, produced this spurious breed called
Caraons, who go up and down, committing depredations in Reobarle, and other
neighbouring districts.
When these people wish to commit robberies, by means of incantations
addressed to the demons, they have the means of obscuring the air as if it
were midnight darkness, that they may not be seen from any distance. This
obscurity, when once raised, lasts for seven days; and they are perfectly
acquainted with all the passes of the mountains, in which they march one
after another in single file, so that no one can possibly escape them, but
all who fall in their way, must encounter death or captivity, the old being
slain, and the young sold for slaves.
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