[299] MS. 5,650 reads: “The king took it under his charge, and promised that no trickery or wrong would be done the king. Four of our men were chosen to despatch and to sell the said merchandise.”
[300] MS. 5,650 reads: “They have wooden balances like those of Pardeca to weigh their merchandise.” Pardeca, as Stanley points out, is for par de ça de Loire which is equivalent to Langue d’oil, and denotes the region in France north of the Loire. Par de la meant Languedoc. This passage was adapted to the French understanding by the person who translated and adapted the Italian manuscript.
[301] This sentence is omitted in MS. 5,650. As Mosto points out the measure here mentioned would be one of capacity, and must have been the common measure for rice, perhaps the ganta.
[302] Lagan is a shellfish found in the Philippines which has a shell resembling that of the Nautilus pompilius that is used for holding incense or as a drinking vessel. This shell is very white inside, while the exterior is spotted a pale yellow color. It resembles mother-of-pearl, and is very common. Delgado says that most of the shellfish, are indigestible but highly esteemed. See Delgado’s Historia, p. 928.
[303] MS. 5,650 adds: “Which was of various strange kinds.”
[304] Eden says: “xvi. poundes weyght of iren.”
[305] MS. 5,650 reads: “The captain-general did not wish to take too great a quantity of gold, so that the sailors might not sell their share in the merchandise too cheaply, because of their lust for gold, and so that on that account he should not be constrained to do the same with his merchandise, for he wished to sell it at as high a price as possible.”
[306] MS. 5,650 adds: “or any other balls”
[307] MS. 5,650 makes the two armed men follow instead of precede the royal banner.
[308] MS. 5,650 adds: “and the natives of the country for their fear of it, fled hither and thither,” which is in place of the following sentence.