The King
And Nobles Eat No Kind Of Flesh, Except Having First Got Permission Of
The Priests; But The Common People May Eat Any Flesh They Please Except
That Of Cows.
Those of the basest sort, named _Nirani_ and _Poliars_,
are only permitted to eat fish dried in the sun.
When the king or zamorin dies, his male children, if any, or his
brothers by the fathers side, or the sons of these brothers, do not
succeed in the kingdom: For, by ancient law or custom, the succession
belongs to the sons of the kings sisters; and if there be none such, it
goes to the nearest male relation through the female blood. The reason
of this strange law of succession is, that when the king takes a wife,
she is always in the first place deflowered by the chief bramin, for
which he is paid fifty-pieces of gold. When the king goes abroad, either
in war or a-hunting, the queen is left in charge of the priests, who
keep company with her till his return; wherefore the king may well think
that her children may not be his; and for this reason the children of
his sisters by the same mother are considered as his nearest in blood,
and the right inheritors of the throne. When the king dies, all his
subjects express their mourning by cutting their beards and shaving
their heads; and during the celebration of his funerals, those who live
by fishing abstain from their employment during eight days. Similar
rules are observed upon the death of any of the kings wives. Sometimes
the king abstains from the company of women for the space of a year,
when likewise he forbears to chew _betel_ and _areka_, which are
reckoned provocatives.
The gentlemen and merchants of Calicut, when they wish to show great
friendship to each other, sometimes exchange wives, but on these
occasions the children remain with their reputed fathers. It is likewise
customary among these idolaters, for one woman to have seven husbands at
the same time, each of whom has his appointed night to sleep with her;
and when she has a child, she fathers it upon any of the husbands she
pleases. The people of this country, when at their meals, lie upon the
ground, and eat their meat from copper trays, using certain leaves
instead of spoons; their food consisting for the most part of rice and
fish seasoned with spices, and of the ordinary fruits of the country.
The lowest people eat in a filthy manner, putting their dirty hands into
the dish, and thrusting their food by handfuls into their mouths. The
punishment of murder is by impalement; but those who wound or hurt any
one have to pay a fine to the king. When any one is in debt, and refuses
to pay, the creditor goes to the judges, of whom there are said to be a
hundred, and having made due proof of the debt, he receives a certain
stick or branch of a tree, with authority to arrest his debtor, to whom,
when he is able to find him, he uses these words:
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