Of a strange and uncouth idole: & of certaine customes and ceremonies.
IN the kingdome of Mobar there is a wonderfull strange idole, being made after the shape and resemblance of a man, as big as the image of our Christopher, & consisting all of most pure and glittering gold. And about the necke thereof hangeth a silke riband, ful of most rich & precious stones, some one of which is of more value than a whole kingdome. The house of this idol is all of beaten gold, namely the roofe, the pavement, and the sieling of the wall within and without. Unto this idol the Indians go on pilgrimage, as we do unto St. Peter. Some go with halters about their necks, some with their hands bound behind them, some with knives sticking on their armes or legs: and if after their peregrination, the flesh of their wounded arme festereth or corrupteth, they esteeme that limme to be holy, & thinke that their God is wel pleased with them. Neare unto the temple of that idol is a lake made by men in an open and common place, whereinto the pilgrimes cast gold, silver and precious stones, for the honour of the idol and the repairing of his temple. And therefore when anything is to be adorned or mended, they go unto this lake taking up the treasure which was cast in. Moreouer at euery yerely feast of the making or repairing of the said idol, the king and queene, with the whole multitude of the people, & all the pilgrimes assemble themselues, & placing the said idol in a most stately & rich chariot, they cary him out of their temple with songs, & with all kinds of musical harmonie, and a great companie of virgins go procession-wise two and two in a rank singing before him. Many pilgrims also put themselves under the chariot wheeles, to the end that their false god may go ouer them, and al they ouer whom the chariot runneth, are crushed in pieces, & divided asunder in the midst, and slaine right out. Yea, & in doing this, they think themselves to die most holily & securely, in the service of their god. And by this meanes every yere, there die under the said filthy idol, mo then 500 persons, whose carcases are burned, and their ashes are kept for reliques, because they died in that sort for their god. Moreover they haue another detestable ceremony. For when any man offers to die in the service of his false god, his parents & all his friends assemble themselues together with a consort of musicians, making him a great & solemne feast: which feast being ended, they hang 5 sharpe knifes about his neck carrying him before the idol & so soone as he is come thither, he taketh one of his knives crying with a loud voice, For the worship of my god do I cut this my flesh, and then he casteth the morsel which is cut, at ye face of his idol: but at the very last wound wherewith he murthereth himselfe, he uttereth these words: "Now do I yeeld myself to death in the behalfe of my god" and being dead his body is burned, & is esteemed by al men to be holy. The king of the said region is most rich in silver, gold, and precious stones, & there be the fairest unions in al the world.
Traveling from thence by the Ocean sea 50 daies journey southward, I came unto a certaine land named Lammori,[1] where, in regard of extreeme heat, the people both men and women go stark-naked from top to toe: who seeing me apparelled, scoffed at me, saying that God made Adam and Eve naked. In this countrey al women are common, so that no man can say, this is my wife. Also when any of the said women beareth a son or a daughter, she bestowes it upon anyone that hath lien with her, whom she pleaseth. Likewise al the land of that region is possessed in common, so that there is not mine & thine, or any propriety of possession in the division of lands: howbeit euery man hath his owne house peculiar unto himselfe. Mans flesh, if it be fat, is eaten as ordinarily there as beefe in our countrey. And albeit the people are most lewd, yet the countrey is exceeding good, abounding with al commodities, as fleshe, corne, rise, silver, gold, wood of aloes, Camphir, and many other things. Marchants coming unto this region for traffique do usually bring with them fat men, selling them unto the inhabitants as we sel hogs, who immediately kil and eat them. In this island towards the south, there is another kingdome called Simoltra,[2] where both men and women marke themselves with red-hot yron in 12 sundry spots of their faces: and this nation is at continual warre with certaine naked people in another region. Then I traveled further unto another island called Java, the compasse whereof by sea is 3000 miles. The king of this Iland hath 7 other crowned kings under his jurisdiction. The said Island is throughly inhabited & is thought to be one of the principall Ilands of ye whole world. In the same Iland there groweth great plenty of cloves, cubibez, and nutmegs, and in a word all kinds of spices are there to be had, and great aboundance of all victuals except wine. The king of the said Iland of Java hath a brave and sumptuous pallace, the most loftily built, that euer I saw any, & it hath most high greeses[3] and stayers to ascend up into the roomes therein contained, one stayre being of silver, & another of gold, throughout the whole building. Also the lower roomes were paved all ouer with one square plate of silver, & another of gold. All the walls upon the inner side were seeled ouer with plates of gold, wherupon were ingraven ye pictures of knights, having about their temples, ech of them a wreath of golde, adorned with precious stones. The roofe of the palace was of pure gold. With this King of Java the great Can of Catay hath had many conflicts in war; whom notwithstanding the said king hath always overcome and vanquished.
[1:] Perhaps he meaneth Cammori.
[2:] Sumatra.
[3:] Steps.
Of certaine trees yeelding meale, honey, and poyson.
NEERE unto the said Iland is another countrey called Panten, or Tathalamasin.[1] And the king of the same countrey hath many Ilands under his dominion. In this land there are trees yeelding meale, hony, & wine & the most deadly poison in all ye whole world: for against it there is but one only remedy: & that is this: if any man hath taken of ye poyson, & would be delivered from the danger thereof, let him temper the dung of a man in water, & so drinke a good quantitie thereof, & it expels the poyson immediatly, making it to avoid at the fundament. Meale is produced out of the said trees after this maner. They be mighty huge trees and when they are cut with an axe by the ground, there issueth out of the stock a certain licour like unto gumme, which they take and put into bags made of leaues, laying them for 15 days together abroad in the sunne, & at the end of those 15 dayes, when the said licour is throughly parched, it becometh meale. Then they steepe it first in sea water, washing it afterward with fresh water, and so it is made very good & savorie paste, whereof they make either meat or bread, as they thinke good. Of which bread I my selfe did eate, & it is fayrer without & somewhat browne within. By this countrey is the sea called Mare mortuum, which runneth continually Southward, into ye which whosoever falleth in (is) never seene after. In this countrey also are found canes of an incredible length, namely of 60 paces high or more, & they are as bigge as trees. Other canes there be also called Cassan,[2] which overspread the earth like grasse, & out of euery knot of them spring foorth certaine branches, which are continued upon the ground almost for the space of a mile. In the said canes there are found certaine stones, one of which stones, whosoever carryeth about with him, cannot be wounded with any yron: & therefore the men of that countrey for the most part, carry such stones with them, whithersoever they goe. Many also cause one of the armes of their children, while they are yong, to be launced, putting one of the said stones into the wound, healing also, and closing up the said wound with the powder of a certaine fish (the name whereof I do not know) which powder doth immediatly consolidate and cure the said wounde. And by the virtue of these stones the people aforesaid doe for the most part triumph both on sea and land. Howbeit there is one kinde of stratageme, which the enemies of this nation, knowing the vertue of the sayd stones, doe practise against them: namely, they provide themselues armour of yron or steele against their arrowes, & weapons also poisoned with the poyson of trees & they carry in their hands wooden stakes most sharpe and hard pointed, as if they were yron: likewise they shoot arrowes without yron heads, & so they confound and slay some of their unarmed foes trusting too securely unto the vertue of their stones. Also of the foresayd canes called Cassan they make sayles for their ships, and litel houses, and many other necessaries. From thence after many dayes travell, I arrived at another kingdome called Campa, a most beautiful and rich countrey, & abounding with all kind of victuals: the king whereof, at my being there, had so many wives & concubines, that he had 300 sonnes & daughters by them. This king hath 10004 tame Elephants, which are kept even as we keepe droves of oxen or flocks of sheepe in pasture.
[1:] Query, The Tathsiaulu of Marco Polo, or Thibet.
[2:] An exaggeration for bamboos.
Of the abundance of fishes, which cast themselues upon the shore.
IN this countrey there is one strange thing to be observed, yt euery several kind of fishes in those seas come swimming towards the said countrey in such abundance, that, for a great distance into the sea, nothing can be seene but the backes of fishes: which casting themselues upon the shore when they come neere unto it, do suffer men, for the space of 3 daies to come & take as many of them as they please, & then they return again to the sea. After that kind of fishes comes another kind, offering itselfe after the same maner, & so in like sort all other kinds whatsoever: notwithstanding they do this but once in a year. And I demaunded of the inhabitants there how, or by what meanes this strange accident could come to passe: They answered, that fishes were taught, even by nature to come and do homage unto their Emperour. There be Tortoises also as bigge as an oven. Many other things I saw which are incredible, unlesse a man should see them with his own eies. In this countrey also dead men are burned, & their wives are burned aliue with them, as in the city of Polumbrum aboue mentioned: for the men of that countrey say that she goeth to accompany him in another world, that he should take none other wife in mariage. Moreouer I traveled on further by the ocean-sea towards the South, & passed through many countries and islands, whereof one is called Moumoran, & it containeth in compasse ii. M miles, wherein men & women haue dogs faces, and worship an oxe for their god: and therefore euery one of them cary the image of an oxe of gold or silver upon their foreheads. The men & women of this country go all naked, saving that they hang a linen cloth round their loins. The men of the said country are very tall and mighty, and by reason that they goe naked, when they are to make battell, they cary yron or steele-targets before them, which do cover and defend their bodies from top to toe: and whomsoever of their foes they take in battel not being able to ransome himselfe for money, they presently devoure him: but if he be able to redeeme himselfe for money, they let him go free. Their king weareth about his necke 300 great & most beautiful unions,[1] and saith euery day 300 prayers unto his god. He weareth upon his finger also a stone of a span long, which seemeth to be a flame of fire, and therefore when he weareth it, no man dare approach unto him: and they say that there is not any stone in the whole world of more value than it. Neither could at any time the great Tartarian Emperour of Katay either by force, money, or policie obtain it at his hands, notwithstanding that he hath done the utmost of his indeavour for this purpose.