Willing To Make Trial If These Men Were Really Christians,
The General Caused A Picture To Be Shewn Them, On Which Our Lady Was
Painted Weeping, Surrounded By Some Of The Apostles, But Without
Informing Them What This Was Meant To Represent.
Immediately on this
being set before them, they fell down and worshipped the picture, praying
for some time.
The general then asked if they were of Calicut; on which
they answered they were of Grangalor[41], still farther off, and could
give him no information respecting Calicut. From this time, so long as
our fleet remained at Melinda, these people came every day on board the
ship of Paulo de la Gama, to pay their devotions before this picture,
offering to the images which it represented gifts of pepper and other
things. These Indian Christians, according to their own account, eat no
beef.
On the last day of the week after Easter, and in the afternoon, the king
of Melinda came off in a great boat to our fleet. He was dressed in a
cassock of crimson damask lined with green satin, and wore, a rich cloth
or turban on his head. He sat in a chair, of the ancient fashion, very
well made and wrought with wire, having a silk cushion; and on another
chair beside him, there lay a hat of crimson satin. An old man stood by
him as his page, who carried a very rich sword with a silver scabbard. In
the boat there were many sacbuts, and two ivory flutes eight spans long,
on which they played by a little hole in the middle, agreeing and
according well with the music of the sacbuts.
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