[247] The silk referred to by the author, as also by Barbosa and Barros, is the produce of the silk cotton tree (Bombax malabaricum) and is much inferior in quality to true silk.—Kopke.
[248] This, according to Prof. Kopke and Yule (Marco Polo, ii, p. 222), is Siam, the old capital of which (Ayuthia) is called Sornau or Xarnau by Varthema, Giovanni d’Empoli, and Mendez Pinto.
[249] Benzoin (Gum-Benjamin) is the produce of Styrax Benzoin, found in Siam, Cochin-China, Java and Sumatra, that of Siam being accounted the best.
[250] The odoriferous aloe-wood of the author is the wood of Aquilaria Agallocha (Roxb.), found in Further India, and more especially in Chamba. Its Sanscrit name, Aguru, was corrupted into Agila and Aquila; and hence its Latin and Portuguese name of “Eaglewood.” (Yule’s Marco Polo, ii, p. 215.)
[251] Prof. Kopke identifies Tenacar with Tenasserim, a great emporium at one time, through which the products of Siam reached the outer world.
[252] Brazil-wood first became known in Europe at the beginning of the fourteenth century under the designation of Lignum presillum. The most esteemed kind of this dye-wood is known as Sapan wood (Caesalpinia sappan), found more especially in Siam.
[253] This is no doubt Bengal, the capital of which was Chatigam (Chittagong).
[254] Cloves were originally found only in the Moluccas; the true nutmeg (Myristica moschata) comes from the same islands and those further to the east. Tin was—and still is—a native product. The silk and porcelain came from China.
[255] The frazila was equal to 10.51 kilo., the bahar was 210.22 kilo. The cruzado was a silver coin and was valued at 360 reis (8s. 8d.).
[256] Barbosa (p. 186) gives a better account of musk, which really only reaches Pegu from the interior. It is the secretion of Moschus moschiferus, an animal resembling a deer, which lives in the mountains lying between the Amur river, China and India. The male has a pouch between the navel and the genitals which holds about 50 grammes of this secretion.