When
They Burn The Body Of A King, It Is Usual For His Wives To Jump Into The
Fire And Burn Along With Him; But This They Are Not Constrained To Do.
The
same custom of burning the bodies of the dead prevails over all the Indies.
In the Indies there are men who devote themselves to live in the woods and
mountains, professing to despise what other men most value, abstaining from
every thing but such wild herbs and fruits as are to be found in the woods,
and they affix an iron buckle to their genitals in such a manner as to
interdict all commerce with woman. Some of these go quite naked, or have
only the skin of a leopard thrown over them, and keep perpetually standing
with their faces to the sun. I formerly saw one in that posture; and on my
return to the Indies, sixteen years afterwards, I found him in the very
same attitude, it being astonishing that he had not lost his sight by the
heat and glare of the sun. In all these kingdoms the sovereign power
resides in the royal family, without ever departing from it, and the heirs
of the family follow each other in regular succession. In like manner,
there are families of learned men, of physicians, and of all the artificers
concerned in the various arts; and none of these are ever mixed with the
family of a different profession. The several states of the Indies are not
subject to one king, but each province has its own; though the Balhara is
considered in the Indies as king of kings. The Chinese are fond of gaming
and all manner of diversions; but the Indians condemn them, and have no
pleasure in such employments. They drink no wine, neither do they use
vinegar, because it is made from wine; although this abstinence does not
proceed from any religious duty: but they allege that a king given to wine
is not worthy of being a king; for how should a drunkard be able to manage
the affairs of a kingdom, especially as wars are so frequent between the
neighbouring states? Their wars are not usually undertaken to possess
themselves of the dominions of others, and I never heard of any except the
people bordering on the pepper country that seized the dominions of their
neighbours after victory. When a prince masters the dominions of a
neighbour, he confers the sovereignty upon some person of the royal family
of the conquered country, and thus retains it in dependence upon himself,
under the conviction that the natives would never submit to be otherwise
governed.
When any one of the princes or governors of cities in China is guilty of a
crime, he is put to death and eaten; and in general, it may be said that
the Chinese eat all those who are put to death. When the Indians and
Chinese are about to marry and the parties are agreed, presents are
interchanged, and the marriage ceremony is solemnized amidst the noise of
drums and various sorts of instruments.
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