From Malacca to China the
distance is 1800 miles; and from China there goes every year a large
ship to Japan laden with silk, in return for which she brings back bars
of silver which are bartered in China for goods. The distance between
Japan and China is 2400 miles, in which sea there are several islands of
no great size, in which the friars of St Paul, by the blessing of God,
have made many Christians _like themselves_: But from these islands the
seas have not been fully explored and discovered, on account of the
great numbers of shoals and sand banks [157].
[Footnote 157: The text in this place it erroneous or obscure. The
indicated distance between China and Japan is enormously exaggerated,
and probably ought to have been stated as between Malacca and Japan. The
undiscovered islands and shoals seem to refer to the various islands
between Java and Japan, to the east and north. - E.]
The Portuguese have a small city named Macao on an island near the
coast of China, in which the church and houses are built of wood. This
is a bishopric, but the customs belong to the king of China, and are
payable at the city of Canton, two days journey and a half from Macao,
and a place of great importance.
