The Men Are Strong And Well
Made, Having A Cloth About Their Middles, Bareheaded And With Bare Feet,
As In All These Countries They Wear No Shoes.
The women are much fairer
than those of Pegu.
In all these countries they have no wheat, living
entirely on rice, which they make into cakes. To Jamahey there come many
merchants out of China, bringing great store of musk, gold, silver, and
many Chinese manufactures. They have here such great abundance of
provisions, that they do not take the trouble to milk the buffaloes as
they do in other places. Here there is great abundance of copper and
benzoin.
[Footnote 426: The names here used are so corrupted as to be utterly
unintelligible. Twenty-five days journey north from the city of Pegu, or
perhaps 500 miles, would lead the author into the northern provinces of
the Birman empire, of which the geography is very little known, perhaps
into Assan: Yet the _Langeiannes_ may possibly refer to _Lang-shang_ in
Laos, nearly west from Pegu. _Jamahey_ may be _Shamai_, in the north of
Laos; near the N.W. frontier of China. - E.]
In these countries, when people are sick, they make a vow to offer meat
to the devil in case of recovery; and when they recover, they make a
banquet, with many pipes and drums and other musical instruments,
dancing all night, and their friends bring gifts of coco-nuts, figs,
arecas, and other fruits, and with much dancing and rejoicing they
offer these to the devil, giving him to eat, and then drive him out.
While dancing and playing, they often cry and hallow aloud, to drive the
devil away. While sick, a talapoin or two sit every night by the sick
person, continually singing, to please the devil, that he may not hurt
them. When any one dies, he is carried on a great frame of wood like a
tower, having a covering or canopy made of canes all gilded, which is
carried by fourteen or sixteen men, preceded by drums, pipes, and other
instruments, and being taken to a place out of the town, the body is
there burned. On this occasion, the body is accompanied by all the male
friends, relations, and neighbours of the deceased; and they give the
talapoins or priests many mats and much cloth. They then return to the
house, where they feast for two days. After this, the widow, with all
her neighbours wives, and female friends, goes to the place where her
husband was burnt, where they sit a certain time lamenting, and then
gather up all the pieces of bones which have not been burnt to ashes,
which they bury; they then return home, and thus make an end of
mourning. On these occasions, the male and female relations shave their
heads, which is only done for the death of a friend, as they greatly
esteem their hair.
_Caplan_, the place where the rubies, sapphires and spinels are found,
is six days journey from Ava in the kingdom of Pegu. There are here many
great hills out of which they are dug, but no person is allowed to go to
the pits, except those employed in digging. In Pegu, and in all the
countries of Ava, Langeiannes, Siam, and of the Birmans, the men wear
little round balls in their privities, some having two and some three,
being put in below the skin, which is cut for that purpose, one on one
side and another on the other, which they do when 25 or 30 years of age.
These were devised that they might not abuse the male sex, to which
shocking vice they were formerly much addicted. It was also ordained,
that the women should not have more than three cubits of cloth in their
under garments, which likewise are open before, and so tight, that when
they walk they shew the leg bare above the knee.
The _bramas_, or birmans of the kings country, for the king is a birman,
have their legs or bellies, or some other part of their body according
to their fancy made black by pricking the skin, and rubbing in _anile_
or indigo, or some other black powder, which continues ever after; and
this is considered as a great honour, none being allowed to do this but
the birmans who are of kin to the king. Those people wear no beards, but
pull out the hair from their faces with small pincers made for the
purpose. Some leave 16 or 20 hairs growing together, some on one part of
the face and some on another, and pull out all the rest; every man
carrying his pincers with him, and pulling out the hairs as fast as they
appear. If they see a man with a beard they wonder at him. Both men and
women have their teeth black; for they say a dog has white teeth, and
therefore they have theirs black. When the Peguers have a law-suit that
is difficult to determine, they place two long canes upright in the
water where it is very deep, and both parties go into the water beside
the poles, having men present to judge them; they both dive, and he who
remains longest under water gains his suit.
The 10th of January, I went from Pegu to Malacca, passing many of the
sea-ports of Pegu, as Martaban, the island of _Tavi_ whence all India is
supplied with tin, Tanaserim, the island of Junkselon, and many others.
I came on the 8th of February to Malacca, where the Portuguese have a
castle near the sea. The country without the town belongs to the Malays,
who are a proud kind of people, going naked with a cloth about their
waists, and a small roll of cloth round their heads. To this place come
many ships from China, the Moluccas, Banda, Timor, and many other
islands of the Javas, bringing great store of spices, drugs, diamonds,
and other precious stones.
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