For the space of a year after, my throat
continued sore and hoarse, and I could never satisfy my insatiable
thirst. I judged the reason of this hoarseness to be from the continual
use of sippets dipped in vinegar and oil, on which I sustained my life
for many days. We had no scarcity of bread or wine; but the wines of
that country are so hot that they cannot be drank without water, or they
produce death. When we began to want water, I saw certain Moors who were
officers in the ship who sold a small dish of water for a ducat, and I
have afterwards seen a _bar_ of pepper, which is two quintals and a
half, offered for a small measure, and it could not be had even at that
price. I verily believe I must have died, together with my slave, whom I
had bought at a high price, had I not sold him for half his value, that
I might save his drink to supply my own urgent wants, and save my own
life.
SECTION XVI.
_Of the Kingdom of Orissa and the River Ganges_.
This was a fair and well regulated kingdom, through which a man might
have travelled with gold in his hand without danger, so long as it was
governed by its native sovereign who was a Gentile, and resided in the
city of _Catecha_[161] six days journey inland.
