But
They Are All Naked People, Though Many Of Them Are Excellent Marksmen
With Their Muskets.
When the king talks with any man, he stands on one
leg, setting the other foot on his knee, with his sword in his hand; as,
according to their customs the king never sits.
He is dressed in a fine
painted cotton cloth wrapped about his middle; his hair long and bound
about his head with a small fine cloth, and all the rest of his body
naked. His guard is a thousand men, which stand round about him. They
are all Chingalese, who are said to be the best kind of the Malabars.
They have very large ears, as the larger they are the more honourable
they are esteemed, some being a span long. They burn the wood of the
cinnamon tree, which gives a pleasant scent. In this island there is
great store of rubies, sapphires, and spinels of the best kind, but the
king will not allow the inhabitants to dig for them, lest they should
tempt his enemies to make war upon him and deprive him of his dominions.
There are no horses in this country, but many elephants, which are not
so large as those of Pegu, which are of prodigious size; yet it is said
all other elephants are afraid of those of Ceylon, and refuse to fight
them, though small. The women of this island wear a cloth round their
middles, reaching only to the knees, all the rest of their bodies being
bare.
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