"It is the bird of Paradise," said the agent of the royal almoner.
The Italian did not doubt it. He wished to learn the history of this superb inhabitant of the air.
He did in a way that excited his wonder beyond measure.
The bird, after the Mohammedan account, was born in Paradise. It came down from Heaven where dwelt departed souls, who had died true to the Moslem faith.
These birds were found dead, and they had no feet. If Pigafetta inquired the cause of this, he doubtless was answered:
"They do not need feet; they never alight on the ground."
But as greatly as the Chevalier must have wondered, he was not induced to accept the Moslem faith.
They overcrowded the ships while receiving the favors of the Sultan of Tidor.
An account of their voyage about the Spice Islands, "most delightful to read," as we are told in the title, was written by one Maximilianus Transylvanus, from which we gather the following incidents (Hakluyt Society) of great pearls and strange men:
"They came to the shores of the Island of Solo, where they heard that there were pearls as big as dove's eggs, and sometimes as hen's eggs, but which can only be fished up from the very deepest sea. Our men brought no large pearl, because the season of the year did not allow of the fishery. But they testify that they had taken an oyster in that region, the flesh of which weighed forty-seven pounds. For which reason I could easily believe that pearls of that great size are found there; for it is clearly proved that pearls are the product of shellfish. And to omit nothing, our men constantly affirm that the islanders of Porne told him that the King wore in his crown two pearls of the size of a goose's egg.