They Are Laden Upon Dry Land, After Which The
Boatmen Thrust The Loaded Boat Into The Stream, When With The Utmost
Speed They Exert Themselves To Row Her Out Against The Huge Waves Of The
Sea Which Continually Best On That Shore, And So Carry Them Out To The
Ships.
In like manner these _Masadies_ are laden at the ships with men
and merchandise; and when they come near
The shore, the men leap out
into the sea to keep the bark right, that she may not cast athwart the
shore, and keeping her right stem on, the surf of the sea sets her with
her lading high and dry on the land without hurt or danger. Yet
sometimes these boats are overset; but there can be but small loss on
such occasions, as they lade but little at a time. All the goods carried
outwards in this manner are securely covered with ox hides, to prevent
any injury from wetting.
In my return voyage in 1566, I went from Goa to Malacca in a ship or
galleon belonging to the king of Portugal, which was bound for Banda to
lade nutmegs and mace. From Goa to Malacca it is 1800 miles. We passed
without the island of Ceylon and went through the channel of _Nicobar_,
and then through the channel of _Sombrero_, past the island of Sumatra,
called in old times _Taprobana_.[153] Nicobar, off the coast of Pegu,
consists of a great multitude of islands, many of which are inhabited by
a wild people. These islands are likewise called _Andemaon_ or
Andaman.[154] The natives are savages who eat each other, and are
continually engaged in war, which they carry on in small boats, chiefly
to make prisoners for their cannibal feasts. When by any chance a ship
happens to be cast away on those islands, as many have been, the men are
sure to be slain and devoured. These savages have no trade or
intercourse with any other people, but live entirely on the productions
of their own islands. In my voyage from Malacca through the channel of
Sombrero, two boats came off from these islands to our ship laden with
fruit, such as _Mouces_ which we call Adams apples, with fresh cocoa
nuts, and another fruit named _Inani_, much like our turnips, but very
sweet and good to eat. These people could not be prevailed on to come on
board our ship, neither would they accept payment for their fruit in
money, but bartered them for old shirts or old trowsers. These rags were
let down from the ship into their boats by a rope, and when they had
considered what they were worth in their estimation, they tied as much
fruit as they thought proper to give in exchange to the rope, which they
allowed us to hale up. I was told that sometimes a man may get a
valuable piece of amber for an old shirt.
[Footnote 153: The Taprobana or Sielendive of the ancients certainly was
Ceylon, not Sumatra.
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