[Sidenote: Their ceremonies in drinking.] First, they bring foorth their pot of drinke, and then they make a hole in the ground, and put some of the drinke into it, and they cast the earth vpon it, which they digged forth before, and then they set the pot vpon the same, then they take a little thing made of a goord, and with that they take out of the same drinke, and put it vpon the ground in three places, and in diuers places they haue certaine bunches of the pils of Palme trees set in the ground before them, and there they put in some drinke, doing great reuerence in all places to the same Palme trees.
All these ceremonies first done, the king tooke a cup of gold, and they put him in wine, and hee dranke of it, and when he dranke, the people cried all with one voice, Abaan, Abaan, with certaine other words, like as they cry commonly in Flanders, vpon the Twelfe night, The kinning [sic—KTH] drinks: and when he had drunke, then they gaue drinke to euery one, and that done, the king licensed them to depart, and euery one that departeth from him boweth 3 times towards him, and waueth with both hands together, as they bow, and then do depart. The king hath commonly sitting by him 8 or 10 ancient men with gray beards.
This day we tooke one pound and 10 ounces of gold.
The 24 day we tooke 3 pound and 7 ounces.
The 25 we tooke 3 ounces and 3 quarters.
The 26 day we tooke 2 pound and 10 ounces.
The 27 two pound and fiue ounces.
The 28 foure pound, and then seeing that there was no more gold to be had, we weighed and went foorth.
The first day of March we came to a towne called Mowre, but we found no boats nor people there: but being ready to depart, there came two Almades to vs from another towne, of whom we tooke two ounces and a halfe of gold: and they tolde vs that the Negros that dwelled at Mowre were gone to dwell at Lagoua.
The second day we came thwart of the castle, and about two leagues off, and there saw all the fiue Portugall ships at anker, and this day by night we fetched Shamma.