Yet Two Of The Negroes Offered To Go, And Only Demanded Two
_Mavulgies_ Of Tin For Each Of Them, One Mavulgi Being Worth No More Than
A _Grosso_[2], At Which Price They Engaged To Carry My Letter In Safety
To The Ship.
I cannot express the difficulties which they encountered in
passing the sand bank.
They were sometimes out of sight for a considerable
space, so that I often thought they were both drowned. At last, one of
them, finding himself unable to resist the violence with which the waves
broke over him, turned back; but the other, being stronger, got over the
bank after struggling a whole hour, and, having carried the letter to the
caravel, returned with an answer. This seemed to me very wonderful, and
made me conclude that the negroes of this coast must be the most expert
swimmers in the world.
It has been already observed, that those who are called lords in this
country have neither castles nor cities, the king even having nothing but
villages with thatched houses. Budomel is lord of one part of this kingdom,
yet his place of residence was not a palace, nor even a walled house.
These great men are not lords on account of their riches or treasure, as
they possess neither, nor have they any coin in use among them; but they
are considered as such out of courtesy, and on account of the great
retinues by which they are always attended, being more feared and
respected by their subjects than any of the lords in Italy.
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