[4] Sultania or Sultanie.--E.
[5] The Caspian; so called in this place, from Baku or Baccou, a city on its banks, in the province of Shirvan.--E.
[6] Oderic must have made a mistake here, as Casbin is not above seventy or eighty miles from Sultanie, and the journey of the caravans between these cities, could not have exceeded four or five days.--E.
[7] Yezd, about 500 miles east from Ispahan.--E.
[8] This is obviously the city of Kom or Koom, above 400 miles to the north-west of Yezd, and much nearer Sultanie. Our traveller, therefore, must either have strangely forgotten his route or he came back again from Yezd, instead of journeying forwards.--E.
[9] Khus or Khosistan, the south-western province of Persia.--E.
SECTION II
Of the Manners of the Chaldeans, and concerning India.
From thence I travelled into Chaldea, which is a great kingdom, having a language peculiar to itself, and I passed beside the Tower of Babel. The men of this country have their hair nicely braided and trimmed, like the women of Italy, wearing turbans richly ornamented with gold and pearls, and are a fine looking people: but the women are ugly and deformed, and are clad in coarse shifts, only reaching to their knees, with long sleeves hanging down to the ground, and breeches or trowsers which likewise reach the ground, but their feet are bare. They wear no head-dresses, and their hair hangs neglected and dishevelled about their ears. There are many other strange things to be seen in this country.
From thence I travelled into the lower India, which was overrun and laid waste by the Tartars[1]. In this country the people subsist chiefly on dates, forty-two pound weight of which may be purchased for less than a Venetian groat. Travelling on for many days, I arrived at Ormus on the main ocean, which is a well fortified city, having great store of merchandize and treasure. The heat of this country is excessive, and constrains the people to make use of extraordinary expedients to preserve their lives[2]. In this place, their ships or barks are called jase, the planks of which are sewed together with hemp. Embarking in one of these vessels, in which I could find no iron whatever, I arrived in twenty-eight days sail at Thana[3], in which place four of our friars suffered martyrdom for the Christian faith. This country is well situated for trade, and has abundance of bread and wine, and of all other articles necessary for the food of man. The kingdom in ancient times was very large and populous, and was under the dominion of King Porus, who fought a great battle with Alexander the Macedonian conqueror. The inhabitants are idolaters, worshipping the fire, and likewise paying divine honours to serpents, and even to trees. The Saracens have conquered the whole of this land, and are themselves under subjection to king Daldili[4]. In this country there are great numbers of black lions; apes and monkies are also very numerous, and their bats are as large as our pigeons. They have rats also, as large as the dogs in Italy, which are hunted by means of dogs, as cats are unable to cope with them. In this country every one has a bundle of great boughs of trees, as large as a pillar, standing in a pot of water before the door; and there are many other strange and wonderful novelties, a relation of which would be exceedingly delightful.