They Have Here Very Bad Water, As The River Is Far
Off; And By This Bad Water Many Of The People Are Like Lepers, And Many
Have Their Legs Swollen As Big As A Mans Waist, So That They Can Hardly
Walk.
The people here are Malabars, of the race of the Nairs of Calicut,
who differ much from the other Malabars.
These have their heads very
full of hair, bound up with a string, above which is a great bush of
hair. The men are tall and strong, and excellent archers, using a long
bow and long arrows, which are their best weapons; yet they have some
fire-arms among them, which they handle very badly.
In this country pepper grows, being trained up a tree or pole. It is
like our ivy berry, but something longer, like an ear of wheat. At first
the bunches are green, but as they become ripe they are cut off and
dried. The leaf is much smaller and thinner than that of ivy. The houses
of the inhabitants are very small, and are covered with the leaves of
the coco-tree. The men are of moderate stature, but the women very
little; all black, with a cloth about their middles, hanging down to
their hams, all the rest of their bodies being naked. They have horribly
great ears, with many rings set with pearls and other stones. All the
pepper sold in Calicut, and the coarse cinnamon [cassia] grow in this
country. The best cinnamon comes from Ceylon, and is peeled from fine
young trees. They have here many palmers, or coco-nut trees, which is
their chief food, as it yields both meat and drink, together with many
other useful things, as I said formerly.
The nairs belonging to the Samorin or king of Calicut, which are
Malabars, are always at war with the Portuguese, though their sovereign
be at peace with them; but his people go to sea to rob and plunder.
Their chief captain is called _Cogi Alli_, who hath three castles under
his authority. When the Portuguese complain to the Samorin, he pretends
that he does not send them out, but he certainly consents to their
going. They range all along the coast from Ceylon to Goa, and go in
parties of four or five paraos or boats together, in each of which are
fifty or sixty men, who immediately board every vessel they come up
with, doing much harm on that coast, and every year take many foists and
barks belonging to the Portuguese. Besides the nairs, many of the people
in these paraos are Moors. The dominions of the Samorin begin twelve
leagues from Cochin and reach to near Goa.
I remained in Cochin eight months, till the 2d of November, not being
able to procure a passage in all that time; whereas if I had arrived two
days sooner I should have got a passage immediately. From Cochin I went
to Goa, which is an hundred leagues; and after remaining three days I
went to Chaul, sixty leagues from Goa.
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