In front of the gates of the tents or fence, if there is one, there is always a space of quite two crossbow shots, and a long tent is always pitched there, which they call cacalla; this is the court of justice or tribunal. Nobody passes on a mule or on horseback between the tent of the tribunal and the Prester’s tents; this is from reverence for the king and his justice, and all dismount. This I know, because they fined us there because we entered on mules, and we were excused as foreigners, and warned that this should not happen to us again. Inside this tent of cacalla no one abides, only there are in it thirteen plain[245] chairs of iron and leather, and one of these is very high, it would reach to the breast of a man, and the other twelve are like ours that we usually set at a table. These chairs are brought out every day, and are placed six on one side and six on the other, and the tall one like the cross table of a friars’ refectory. The commissioners[246] or judges who hear the parties do not sit in them, these chairs are only for ceremony, and they sit on the ground and on the grass if there is any,[247] as many on one side as on the other. There they hear the parties who are litigating, each one of his own jurisdiction, because as I said that the cooks are divided into those of the right hand and those of the left hand, so they are all. The hearing is conducted in this manner. The plaintiff brings his action and says as much as he pleases without anyone speaking, and the accused answers and says as much as he pleases, without anyone hindering him. When he has finished, the plaintiff brings his reply (if he wishes it), and the accused also with his reply if he chooses, without anyone disturbing them. When they have finished their arguments by themselves or by their representatives, there is there a man standing, who is like a porter, and he repeats all that these parties have said, and having finished relating it all, he then says which of the parties spoke best in his opinion, and which of them has justice on his side. Then one of those who are sitting like commissioners, the one nearest the end, does like the porter, that is, he relates all that the parties had said, and then says which he thinks has justice. And in this manner follow all those who are sitting. They rise to their feet when they speak, and then it comes to the turn of the Chief Justice, who has been attentive to what has been said by the others and to their opinion; and so he gives his sentence if there is no proof required. If there is to be proof, they give a delay according to the distance, and all verbally, without writing anything. There are other things which the Betudetes and Ajazes hear, and they hear them standing because they are in front of the Prester’s tent, between this cacalla and his tent, and as they hear the party or parties, so they go at once to the Prester with what has been said; they do not enter his tent, but only inside the mandilate or curtain, and from there make their speech, and so return to the parties with the decision of the Prester: and sometimes they spend a whole day with these goings and comings, according as the facts and suits may be.
Cap. cxxii.—Which speaks of the manner of the prison.
In front of this tent or house of justice which is named cacalla, at a good distance from both parts, both that of the right and left hand, there are two tents or houses like prisons, with chains, which are called manguez bete, in which are the prisoners of each of the parts, both of the left and right hand, and they are guarded and bound in this way: according to the act and suit so is the imprisonment and also the guards. The prisoner gives food to the guards who keep him, and pays them for their time as long as he is imprisoned, and whoever has chains or fetters on the feet, when they order him to come before the tent of the Prester where they hear the prisoners, those guards who keep him carry him in their arms; two give each other their arms, and the prisoner goes sitting on their arms with his hands on their heads, and the other guards all round with their weapons. So they go and come. There is here another kind of imprisonment. If I require that a man be arrested, I am obliged to give him food as long as I accuse him, and also to the guards who keep him; and this I know because it happened to some of us Portuguese, who asked for an arrest for some mules which they had been robbed of, and because they did not send to give food to the prisoners and guards, they in turn required that they should be set free. And of another Genoese, I know by seeing it, that they stole a mule of his, and the thief confessed that he had stolen it, and that it was no longer in his possession, nor had he anything with which to pay for it. They adjudged him to be a slave, and the Genoese seeing that he was a powerful man, who could rob or kill him, sent to the devil both the mule and the slave.
Cap. cxxiii.—Where the dwellings of the Chief Justices are situated, and the site of the market place, and who are the merchants and hucksters.
In front of these tents of the prison there is great traffic, and in a straight line from them are the tents of the two Chief Justices, each one on its own side, and between them is a church, which is called the Church of the Justices. In front of this church are the lions, a considerable distance away from the church, and they are four in number, and they always bring them wherever Prester John goes. After another large space from the lions there is another church; it is called the Market Church, that is of the Christians who sell in it, because the greater part of the sellers are Moors; and the principal merchants of stuffs and large goods are Moors, and the Christians sell low priced things, such as bread, wine, flour and meat; and the Moors can sell nothing to eat because in this country they do not eat anything which the Moors make, nor meat which they kill. This market must be in front of the tent of Prester John, but not in a place where it can be seen from the door, and sometimes it happens that the plain is so great and without break of level ground[248] that the market is very far off; and the least distance at which the market can be placed is half a league, and at times nearly a league, or even more. Although the court changes its place as often as it chooses, they always follow this mode of encampment. From the king’s tent to this market all is open space in the middle, that is, there is no tent in it, only the two churches, that is, that of the justices and lions, and that of the market; and these churches and lions are a long way off from other tents.
Cap. cxxiv.—How the lords and gentlemen and all other people pitch their tents, according to their regulations.
Near to the two churches which are near the tent of the Prester, but in the outer part, are two tents for each church, one very clean and good, in which they keep the church furniture, the other a smoky tent, in which they make the corban or host; all the churches are in this manner. In front of these churches next come other large long tents of high pitch;[249] these are called Balagamija, in which they keep the stuffs and treasures of the Prester, and these on both sides are all of brocade, as has been said; and these tents of Balagamija are always guarded, and the captains and factors of them are eunuchs. In front of these tents of the wardrobe, on either side, are the tents of the pages, and further on are the tents of the Ajazes, who occupy a space like a town, with their tents and those of their people; further in front and further off are the tents of the Betudetes, and each one occupies as much as a town or city; these lie almost outside like guards. On the right hand, also outside like a guard, are the quarters of the Abima, which by themselves form a district town; and many foreigners come to his quarters, because they receive from him favour and protection. The Cabeata is more to the inside than the Abima, and they said that his quarters, that is, those of his office, were close to the church of St. Mary, because this office always goes to a friar; and because he is a priest and has a wife he cannot be close to the church, and they gave him quarters close to the Abima. Returning more to the inside, follow gentlemen in their places, and after them come other respectable people, and after these come people like winesellers, bakers who sell and supply food, and also there are women. At the end of these, and now near to the market, are the quarters of the smiths on both sides[250], and each set of smiths form a large village. Men who come from outside to buy and sell and do business encamp further off, and they greatly extend the camp, which always occupies two large leagues.