South America - A General History And Collection Of Voyages And Travels - Volume 7 - By Robert Kerr
 -  The wages of the nairs
are four _carlines_ each, monthly, in time of peace, and six during war.
When any - Page 83
South America - A General History And Collection Of Voyages And Travels - Volume 7 - By Robert Kerr - Page 83 of 441 - First - Home

Enter page number    Previous Next

Number of Words to Display Per Page: 250 500 1000

The Wages Of The Nairs Are Four _Carlines_ Each, Monthly, In Time Of Peace, And Six During War. When Any

Of them are slain, their bodies are burned with great pomp and many superstitious ceremonies, and their ashes are preserved;

But the common people are buried in their houses, gardens, fields, or woods, without any ceremony. When I was in Calicut it was crowded with merchants from almost every part of the east, especially a prodigious number of Mahometans. There were many from Malacca and Bengal, from Tanaserim, Pegu, and Coromandel, from the islands of Ceylon and Sumatra, from all the cities and countries of Western India, and various Persians, Arabians, Syrians, Turks, and Ethiopians. As the idolaters do not sail on the sea, the Mahometans are exclusively employed in navigation, so that there are not less than 15,000 Mahometans resident in Calicut, mostly born in that place. Their ships are seldom below the burden of four or five hundred tons, yet all open and without decks. They do not put any tow or oakum into the seams of their ships, yet join the planks so artificially, that they hold out water admirably, the seams being pitched and held together with iron nails, and the wood of which their ships are built is better than ours. Their sails are made of cotton cloth, doubled in the under parts, by which they gather much wind and swell out like bags, having only one sail to each vessel. Their anchors are of marble, eight spans long, having two on each side of the ship, which are hung by means of double ropes. Their voyages are all made at certain appointed times and seasons, as one time of the year answers for one coast, and another season for other voyages, which must all be regulated according to the changes of the weather. In the months of May, June, and July, when with us in Italy every thing is almost burnt up with heat and drought, they have prodigious rains. The best of their ships are built in the island of _Porcai_, not far from Calicut. They have one kind of vessel or canoe, made all of one piece of wood like a trough, very long, narrow, and sharp, which is propelled either by oars or sails, and goes with amazing swiftness, which is much used by pirates.

The palace of the king of Calicut exceeds a mile in circumference, and is well constructed of beams and posts artificially joined, and curiously carved all over with the figures of devils. It is all however very low, for the reason before-mentioned, as they cannot dig deep for secure foundations. It is impossible to express in words the number and riches of the pearls and precious stones which the king wears about him, which exceed all estimate in regard to their value. Although, when I was in that place, the king lived rather in a state of grief, both on account of the war in which he was engaged with the Portuguese, and because he was afflicted by the venereal disease which had got into his throat, yet his ears, hands, legs, and feet, were richly garnished with all sorts of jewels and precious stones, absolutely beyond description. His treasure is so vast, that it cannot be contained in two immense cellars or warehouses, consisting of precious stones, plates of gold, and other rich ornaments, besides as much, gold coin as might load an hundred mules, as was reported by the Bramins, to whom these things are best known.

Enter page number   Previous Next
Page 83 of 441
Words from 42709 to 43303 of 230997


Previous 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 Next

More links: First 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200
 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 300
 310 320 330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400
 410 420 430 440 Last

Display Words Per Page: 250 500 1000

 
Africa (29)
Asia (27)
Europe (59)
North America (58)
Oceania (24)
South America (8)
 

List of Travel Books RSS Feeds

Africa Travel Books RSS Feed

Asia Travel Books RSS Feed

Europe Travel Books RSS Feed

North America Travel Books RSS Feed

Oceania Travel Books RSS Feed

South America Travel Books RSS Feed

Copyright © 2005 - 2022 Travel Books Online