Early Travels in Palestine / Comprising the Narratives of Arculf, Willibald, Bernard, Sæwulf, Sigurd, Benjamin of Tudela, Sir John Maundeville, de la Brocquière, and Maundrell

by Unknown

Chapter XIX.

HOW MEN KNOW BY AN IDOL IF THE SICK SHALL DIE OR NOT.—OF PEOPLE OF DIVERS SHAPES, AND MARVELLOUSLY DISFIGURED; AND OF THE MONKS THAT GIVE THEIR RELIEF TO BABOONS, APES, MONKEYS, AND TO OTHER BEASTS.

From that isle, in going by sea towards the south, is another great isle, called Dondun, in which are people of wicked kinds, so that the father eats the son, the son the father, the husband the wife, and the wife the husband. And if it so befall that the father or mother or any of their friends are sick, the son goes to the priest of their law, and prays him to ask the idol if his father or mother or friend shall die; and then the priest and the son go before the idol, and kneel full devoutly, and ask of the idol; and if the devil that is within answer that he shall live, they keep him well; and if he say that he shall die, then the priest and the son go with the wife of him that is sick, and they put their hands upon his mouth and stop his breath, and so kill him. And after that, they chop all the body in small pieces, and pray all his friends to come and eat; and they send for all the minstrels of the country and make a solemn feast. And when they have eaten the flesh, they take the bones and bury them, and sing and make great melody. The king of this isle is a great and powerful lord, and has under him fifty-four great isles, which give tribute to him; and in every one of these isles is a king crowned, all obedient to that king. In one of these isles are people of great stature, like giants, hideous to look upon; and they have but one eye, which is in the middle of the forehead; and they eat nothing but raw flesh and fish[383]. And in another isle towards the south dwell people of foul stature and cursed nature, who have no heads, but their eyes are in their shoulders.

In another isle are people who have the face all flat, without nose and without mouth. In another isle are people that have the lip above the mouth so great, that when they sleep in the sun they cover all the face with that lip. And in another isle there are dwarfs, which have no mouth, but instead of their mouth they have a little round hole; and when they shall eat or drink, they take it through a pipe, or a pen, or such a thing, and suck it in. And in another isle are people that have ears so long that they hang down to their knees. And in another isle are people that have horses' feet. In another isle are people that go upon their hands and feet like beasts, and are all skinned and feathered, and would leap as lightly into trees, and from tree to tree, as squirrels or apes. In another isle are hermaphrodites. And in another isle are people that go always upon their knees, and at every step they go it seems that they would fall; and they have eight toes on every foot. Many other divers people of divers natures there are in other isles about, of the which it were too long to tell.

From these isles, in passing by the Sea of Ocean towards the east, by many days, men find a great kingdom called Mancy, which is in India the Greater; and it is the best land, and one of the fairest in all the world; and the most delightful and plentiful of all goods. In that land dwell many Christians and Saracens, for it is a good and great country. And there are in it more than two thousand great and rich cities, besides other great towns. And there is greater plenty of people there than in any other part of India. In that country is no needy man; and they are very fair people, but they are all pale. And the men have thin and long beards, though with few hairs, scarcely any man having more than fifty hairs in his beard, and one hair set here, another there, as the beard of a leopard or cat. In that land are many fairer women than in any other country beyond the sea; and therefore they call that land Albany, because the people are white. And the chief city of that country is called Latoryn; it is a day from the sea, and much larger than Paris. In that city is a great river, bearing ships, which go to all the coasts on the sea; for no city of the world is so well stored of ships. And all the inhabitants of the city and of the country worship idols. In that country the birds are twice as large as they are here. There are white geese, red about the neck, with a great crest like a cock's comb upon their heads; and they are much greater there than here. And there is great abundance of serpents, of which men make great feasts, and eat them at great solemnities. And he that maketh there a feast, be it ever so costly, unless he have serpents it is not esteemed.

There are many good cities in that country, and men have great plenty of all wines and victuals cheap. In that country are many churches of religious men of their law; and in the churches are idols as great as giants. And to these idols they give to eat at great festival days, in this manner: they bring before them meat, hot from the fire, and they let the smoke go up towards the idols; and then they say that the idols have eaten, and then the religious men eat the meat afterwards. In that country are white hens without feathers, but they bear white wool, as sheep do here. In that country, women that are unmarried carry tokens on their heads, like coronets, to be known for unmarried. Also in that country are beasts taught by men to go into waters, rivers, and deep ponds, to take fish; which beast is little, and men call them loyres. And when men cast them into the water, anon they bring up great fishes, as many as men will.

And from that city, at a distance of many days' journey, is another city, one of the greatest in the world, called Cansay[384], that is to say, the city of heaven. It is full fifty miles about, and is so populous that in one house men make ten households. In that city are twelve principal gates; and before each gate, three or four miles distant, is a great town or city. That city is situated upon a great lake on the sea, like Venice. And in that city are more than twelve thousand bridges; and upon every bridge are strong and good towers, in which dwell the wardens, to keep the city from the great chan. And on the one side of the city runs a great river all along the city. And there dwell Christians, and many merchants and other people of divers nations, because the land is so good and abundant. And there grows very good wine, which they call bigon, which is very strong and mild in drinking. This is a royal city, where the king of Mancy formerly resided; and there dwell many religious men, much resembling the order of friars, for they are mendicants.

From that city men go by water, solacing and disporting them, till they come to an abbey of monks fast by, who are good religious men, after their faith and law. In that abbey is a great and fair garden, where are many trees of divers kinds of fruits; and in this garden is a little hill, full of pleasant trees. In that hill and garden are various animals, as apes, monkeys, baboons, and many other divers beasts; and every day, when the monks have eaten, the almoner carries what remains to the garden, and strikes on the garden gate with a silver clicket that he holds in his hand, and anon all the beasts of the hill, and of divers places of the garden, come out, to the number of three or four thousand; and they come in manner of poor men; and men give them the remnants in fair vessels of silver gilt. And when they have eaten, the monk strikes again on the garden gate with the clicket, and all the beasts return to the places they came from. And they say that these beasts are souls of worthy men, that resemble in likeness the beasts that are fair; and therefore they give them meat for the love of God. And the other beasts, that are foul, they say, are souls of poor men; and thus they believe, and no man may put them out of this opinion. These beasts they take when they are young, and nourish them thus with alms, as many as they may find. And I asked them if it had not been better to have given that relief to poor men, rather than to the beasts. And they answered me, and said that they had no poor men amongst them in that country; and though it had been so that poor men had been among them, yet were it greater alms to give it to those souls that here do their penance. Many other marvels are in that city, and in the country thereabout, that were too long to tell you.

From that city men go by land six days to another city called Chilenfo, of which the walls are twenty miles in circumference. In that city are sixty bridges of stone, so fair that no man may see fairer. In that city was the first seat of the king of Mancy, for it is a fair city and plentiful in all goods. Hence we pass across a great river called Dalay, which is the greatest river of fresh water in the world; for where it is narrowest it is more than four miles broad. And then men enter again the land of the great chan. That river goes through the land of pigmies, where the people are small, but three spans long[385]; and they are right fair and gentle, both the men and the women. They marry when they are half a year of age, and get children; and they live but six or seven years at most; and he that liveth eight years is considered very aged. These men are the best workers of gold, silver, cotton, silk, and of all such things, that are in the world. And they have oftentimes war with the birds of the country, which they take and eat. This little people neither labour in lands nor in vineyards; but they have great men amongst them, of our stature, who till the land and labour amongst the vines for them. And of the men of our stature they have as great scorn and wonder as we should have among us of giants. There is a great and fair city amongst others, with a large population of the little people; and there are great men dwelling amongst them; but when they get children they are as little as the pigmies; and therefore they are for the most part all pigmies, for the nature of the land is such.

From that city men go by land, by many cities and towns, to a city called Jamchay, which is noble and rich, and of great profit to the lord; and thither go men to seek all kinds of merchandise. The lord of the country hath every year, for rent of that city, (as they of the city say,) fifty thousand cumants of florins of gold; for they count there all by cumants, and every cumant is ten thousand florins of gold. The king of that country is very powerful, yet he is under the great chan, who hath under him twelve such provinces. In that country, in the good towns, is a good custom; for whoever will make a feast to any of his friends, there are certain inns in every good town; and he that will make a feast will say to the host, "Array for me, to-morrow, a good dinner for so many people," and tells him the number, and devises him the viands; and he says, also, "Thus much I will spend, and no more." And anon the host arrays for him, so fair, and so well, and so honestly, that there shall lack nothing; and it shall be done sooner, and with less cost, than if it were done in his own house. Five miles from that city, towards the head of the river of Dalay, is another city, called Menke, in which is a strong navy of ships, all white as snow, from the colour of the trees of which they are made; and they are very great and fair ships, and well ordained, and made with halls and chambers, and other easements, as though it were on land. From thence men go by many towns and many cities to a city called Lanteryne, eight days from the city last mentioned. This city is situated upon a fair, great, and broad river, called Caramaron, which passes through Cathay; and it often overflows and does much harm.