Besides
This, The Elephants Are Of Great Strength, And Have A Very Excellent
Order In Time Of Battle, As I
Have seen in their festivals, which they
make every year, which is a rare sight worth mention, that among so
Barbarous a people there should be such goodly discipline as they have
in their armies; which are drawn up in distinct and orderly squares, of
elephants, horsemen, pikemen, and arquebuseers, the number of which is
infinite and beyond reckoning; but their armour and weapons are
worthless and weak. Their pikes are very bad, and their swords worse,
being like long knives without points; yet their arquebusses are very
good, the king having 80,000 men armed with that weapon, and the number
is continually increasing. They are ordained to practise daily in
shooting at a mark, so that by continual exercise they are wonderfully
expert. The king of Pegu has also great cannon made of very good metal;
and, in fine, there is not a king in the world who has more power or
strength than he, having twenty-six crowned kings under his command, and
he is able to take the field against his enemies with a million and a
half of soldiers. The state and splendour of this kingdom, and the
provisions necessary for so vast a multitude of soldiers, is a thing
incredible, except by those who know the nature and quality of the
people and government. I have seen with my own eyes these people, both
the commons and soldiers, feed upon all kinds of beasts or animals,
however filthy or unclean, everything that hath life serving them for
food:
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