[561] These are the islands of Solor, Nobokamor Rusa, and Lomblen (Mosto, p. 105, notes 6–8). Guillemard (Magellan, p. 289, note) says that the passage taken by the “Victoria” was either Flores or Boleng Strait.
[562] MS. 5,050 reads: “little horns.” The Italian is corniolli.
[563] MS. 5,650 reads: “They have a kind of sack made from the leaves of trees, in which they carry their food and drink. When their women saw us they came to meet us with bows,” etc. Stanley following Amoretti says the same. The Italian MS. will allow this translation, although the most natural translation both in the structure and the sense is the one of our text. This might be recorded as another piece of carelessness on the part of the adapter of the Italian to the French.
[564] MS. 5,650 reads: “in order to inspect and overhaul.”
[565] MS. 5,650 mentions only the long pepper here, though the round variety is also described as in the Italian MS.
[566] MS. 5,650 omits this sentence, and in the succeeding sentence, compares the leaves of the pepper plant to those of the mulberry. Gatelle (Gattelli), the diminutive of Gatto “cat,” is the vulgar name for amento, the botanical name for the first flowers of the walnut-tree, hazelnut-tree, and other trees.
[567] MS. 5,650 reads: “lubi.” Crawfurd (Dictionary, p. 335) says that the long pepper (Piper longum) is called chave by the Javanese and lada panjang of the Malays. It is probably a native of Java, although grown in other parts of the archipelago. It is not named by Barbosa. Linschoten (Voyage, Hakluyt Society edition, p. 73) says that the long pepper is grown only in Bengala and Java, and calls it Pepelini (from the Sanskrit pippali).
[568] The black pepper (Piper nigrum), called lada in Malayan, lada in the Philippines, and maricha (pure Sanskrit) in Javanese, was probably introduced into the archipelago from Malabar. It is not found wild in any of the Malayan islands, but abundantly so in the mountains and valleys of most of the countries of the western side of India. It is produced in some parts of the Philippines, but little is exported, as sufficient attention has not been paid to it to enable the Philippine product to compete with that raised in other parts of the East Indies. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 333–335; and Official Handbook of Philippines, p. 114. See also Yule’s Jordanus (Hakluyt Society edition), p. 27 (who confuses the long with the black pepper); Varthema’s Travels (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 156, 157; Barbosa’s East African and Malabar Coasts (Hakluyt Society edition), p. 219; Linschoten’s Voyage (Hakluyt Society edition), ii, pp. 72–75; and VOL. III, p. 77.
[569] They reached this island on January 8, 1522, the day of the storm. See Albo’s log (Navarrete, iv, p. 226).
At this point in the original Italian MS. (folio 74a) is the chart of the islands of Botolo, Chendam, Nossocamba, Samaute, and Timor (q.v., p. 124). This chart appears on folio 89a of MS. 5,650, preceded by the words: “Chart of the island of Timor and of its four settlements, and four other islands.”