THEN there is another yle that men call Dodyn, & it is a great yle. In this yle are maner diverse maner of men yt haue evyll maners, for the father eateth the son & the son the father the husband his wyfe and the wyfe hir husbande. And if it so be that the father be sicke, or the mother, or any frend, the sonne goeth soone to the priest of the law & prayeth him that he will aske of the ydoll if his father shall dye of that sicknesse or not. And then the priest and the son kneele downe before the ydole devoutly & asketh him, and he aunswereth to them, and if he say that he shall lyve, then they kepe him wel, and if he say that he shall dye, then commeth the priest with the son or with the wyfe or what frende that it be unto him yt is sicke, and they lay their hands over his mouth to stop his breath, and so they sley him & then they smite all the body into peces & praieth all his frendes for to come and eate of him that is dead, and they make a great feste thereof and haue many minstrels there, and eate him with great melody. And so when they haue eaten al ye flesh, then they take the bones and bury them all singing with great worship, and all those that are of his friendes that were not there at the eating of him haue great shame and vylany, so that they shall never more be taken as frends. And the King of this yle is a great lord and mightie, & he hath under him Liiii grete Yles and eche of them hath a King, and in one of these yles are men that haue but one eye, & that is in the middest of theyr front and they eate not flesh & fishe all rawe. And in another yle dwell men that haue no heads & theyr eyen are in theyr shoulders & theyr mouth is on theyr breste.[1] In another yle are men that haue no head ne eyen and theyr mouth is in theyr shoulders. And in another yle are men that haue flatte faces without nose and without eyen, but they haue two small round holes in stede of eyen, and they haue a flatte mouth without lippes. And in that yle are men also that haue their faces all flat without eyen, without mouth & without nose, but they haue their eyen and their mouth behinde on their shoulders. And in an other yle are foule men that haue the lippes aboute the mouth so greate that when they sleepe in the sonne, they cover all theyr face with the lippe. And in another yle are lyttle men as dwarfes, and haue no mouth but a lyttle rounde hole & through that hole they eate their meat with a pipe, & they haue no tongue & they speake not but they blow & whistle and so make signes one to another. And in another yle are men with hanging eares unto their shoulders.[2] And in another yle are wild men with hanging eares & haue feete lyke an hors & they run faste & they take wild beastes and eate them. And in another yle are men that go on theyr handes & feete lyke beasts & are all rough and will leape upon a tree like cattes or apes. And in an other yle are men that go euer uppon theyr knees mervaylosly, and haue on euery foote viii Toes.[3] Many other maner of folke bee in the sea in yles thereabout, of whome it were to longe to tell all.
[1:] Here again Pliny says in his 7th book, cap. 2:—"These people dwell not very far from the Troglodytæ (dwellers in caves) to the west, of whom again there is a tribe who are without necks, and have eyes in their shoulders."
[2:] See [Appendix].
[3:] Here a paragraph is omitted, not being suitable for general readers.
CAP. LXIII.
Of the Kingedome named Mancy which is the best kingedome of the worlde.
TO go from this yle toward the east many journies a man shall finde a kingdome that is called Mancy[1] & this is in Inde the more, & it is ye most delectable and plenty of goods of all the worlde. In this lande dwell christen men and Sarasins, for it is a great lande, and therein are II M great cities & many other townes. In this lande no man goeth a begging, for there is no pore man, and there men haue beardes of heare[2] as it were cattes. In this lande are faire women, and therefore some men call that lande Albany, for the white folke, and there is a citie that men call Latorim and is more[3] than Paris, and in that land are birdes twise greater than they be here and there is all maner of vytayles good cheape.[4] In this countrey are whyte hennes, and they beare no feathers but woll[5] as shepe doe in our lande; and women of that countrey that are wedded beare crownes uppon theyr heads that they may be knowne by. In this countrey they take a beast that is called Loyres, and they keepe it to goe in to waters or ryvers, and straighte waye hee bringeth out of the water great fishes, and thus they take fishe as longe as they will, and as them nedeth. Fro this citie men go by many journeys to an other citie that is called Cassay,[6] that is the fayrest citie of the worlde, and that citie is fifty myle about and there is in that citie mo than xii[7] principall gates without. From thence within three myle is an other great citie, and within this citie are more than xii thousand bridges and upon eche bridge is a stronge toure where the kepers dwell to kepe it against the great Caane, for it marcheth[8] on his land. And on one side of the citie runneth a great river, and there dwell christen men & other for it is a good countrey and plentious, & there groweth right good wine. In this noble citie the King of Mancy was wont to dwell and there dwell religious men, as fryers. And men go vpon the river till they come to an Abbey of Monkes a lyttle from the citie & in yt Abbey is a great gardeine, and therein is many maner of trees of divers fruites, in that gardein are divers kindes of beastes, as Baboyns,[9] Apes, Marmosets and other, & when the covent[10] haue eaten, a monke taketh the reliefe[11] & beareth it into the gardein, & smiteth once with a bell of silver which he holdeth in his hand, anone come out these beastes that I speake of and many nere II or III thousand,[12] and he giveth them to eate of[13] faire vessels of silver, & when they haue eaten he smyteth the bell againe and they go away, and the monke sayth that those beasts are soules of men that are dead, and those beastes that are fayre are soules of Lordes and other rich men, & those that are foule beastes are soules of other commons, and I asked them if it had not been better to give that relife to pore men, & they sayde there is no pore men in ye countrey and if there were yet were it more almes to give it to those soules yt suffer there their penaunce & may go no farther to get their meat, than to men that haue wit & may travail for theyr meat. Then come men to a citie yt is called Chibens & there was the first sege[14] of the King of Mancy. In this citie are LX brydges of stone as fayre as they may be.
