Their Chief Idols Are
Black And Very Ugly, With Monstrous Mouths, Having Their Ears Gilded And
Full Of Jewels, Their Teeth And Eyes Of Gold, Silver, Or Glass, And
Carrying Sundry Things In Their Hands.
You may not enter into the houses
where they stand with your shoes on.
In these houses there are lamps
continually burning before the idols.
[Footnote 408: This tying of new married folks together by the clothes,
was used by the Mexicans in old times. - _Hakluyt_.]
From Benares I went down the Ganges to _Patenaw_, [Patna] passing many
fair towns and a very fertile country, in which way many great rivers
enter the Ganges, some as large as itself, by which it becomes so broad
that in time of the rains you cannot see across. The scorched bodies
which are thrown into the water swim on the surface, the men with their
faces down, and the women with theirs up. I thought they had tied some
weight to their bodies for this purpose, but was told no such thing was
done. There are many thieves in this country, who roam up and down like
the Arabs, having no fixed abode. Here the women are so decked with
silver and copper that it is strange to see them, and they wear so many
rings on their toes that they cannot use shoes. Here at Patna they find
gold in this manner: They dig deep pits in the earth, and wash the earth
in large holes, and in these they find gold, building the pits round
about with bricks, to prevent the earth from falling in.
Patna is a long and large town, being formerly a separate kingdom, but
is now under subjection to the great Mogor. The men are tall and
slender, and have many old people among them. The houses are very
simple, being made of earth and covered with straw, and the streets are
very large. There is here a great trade in cotton and cotton cloth,
likewise great quantities of sugar, which is carried to Bengal and
India, much opium, and other commodities. He that is chief here under
the king is called _Tipperdas_, and is held in much estimation by the
people. Here in Patna I saw a dissembling prophet, who sat on a horse in
the market-place, making as if he were asleep, and many of the people
came and touched his feet with their hands, which they then kissed. They
took him for a great man, but in my opinion he was only a lazy lubber,
whom I left sleeping there. The people of these countries are much given
to these dissembling hypocrites.
From Patna I went to _Tanda_ in the land of _Gouren_[409], which is in
the country of Bengal. This is a place of great trade in cotton and
cotton cloth, formerly a kingdom, but now subject to the great Mogor.
The people are great idolaters, going naked with only a cloth about
their middles, and the country hath many tigers, wild buffaloes, and
wild fowl. _Tanda_ is about a league from the river Ganges, as in times
past the river flowed over its banks in the rainy season, and drowned a
considerable extent of country with many villages, and so it yet
remains, and the old bed of the river still remains dry, by which means
the city now stands at a distance from the water. From Agra I was five
months coming down the Jumna and the Ganges to Bengal, but it may be
sailed in much shorter time.
[Footnote 409: In our modern maps Tanda and the country or district of
Gouren are not to be found; but the ruins of _Gour_, which may have some
reference to Gouren, are laid down in lat. 24 deg. 52' N. long. 88 deg. 5' E.
about seven miles from the main stream of the great Ganges, and ten
miles south from the town of Maida. - E.]
I went from Bengal into the country of _Couche_[410], which is 25 days
journey north from Tanda. The king is a Gentile, named _Suckel Counse_.
His country is very extensive, and reaches to within no great distance
of Cauchin China, whence they are said to procure pepper. The port is
called _Cacchegate_. All the country is set with bamboos or canes made
sharp at both ends, and driven into the earth, and they can let in the
water and drown the country above knee-deep, so that neither men nor
horses can pass; and in case of any wars, they poison all the waters.
The people are all Gentiles, who kill nothing, having their ears
marvellously great and a span long, which they draw out by various
devices when young. They have much silk and musk, and cloth made of
cotton. They have hospitals for sheep, goats, dogs, cats, birds, and all
kinds of living creatures, which they keep when old and lame until they
die. If a man bring any living creature into this country, they will
give money for it or other victuals, and either let it go at large or
keep it in their hospitals. They even give food to the ants. Their small
money is almonds[411], which they often eat.
[Footnote 410: This seemeth to be Quicheu, accounted by some among the
provinces of China. - _Hakluyt_.
The name of this country is so excessively corrupt, and the description
of the route so vague, that nothing can be made out of the text at this
place with any certainty. It is merely possible that he may have gone
into Bootan, which is to the north of Bengal. - E.]
[Footnote 411: In Mexico they likewise use the cacao fruit, or chocolate
nut, for small money, which are not unlike almonds. - _Hakluyt_.]
From thence I returned to _Hugeli_, [Hoogly in Bengal] which is the
place where the Portuguese have their residence in Bengal, being in lat.
23 deg. N[412]. About a league from it is _Satagan_[413], called by the
Portuguese _Porto Piqueno_, or the little port.
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