[20] The dugong (a word corrupted from the Malay name duyong); not a fish, but a marine mammal (Helicore australis). Crawfurd says (Dict. Indian Islands, p. 125) that it is found in the shallow seas of the Malayan archipelago, but is not often captured; and that its flesh is greatly superior to that of the green turtle. This creature is one of those from which originated the fable of the mermaids.
[21] Thevenot has translated the Spanish term for Franciscans (padres de San Francisco or padres franciscanos) into the popular French term cordeliers, so called because of their girdle. Similarly he has translated the term for Dominicans (padres de San Domingo or padres dominicanos) as Jacobins, also the popular French appellation, so called from the name of the church of St. Jacques, which was given them in Paris. See Addis and Arnold’s Cath. Dict., article “Franciscans,” p. 356; and Chevin’s Dict. Latin-Français, p. 353.
Either Thevenot the translator, or the author, omits mention of the convent of the Society of Jesus, only the four above mentioned being given.
[22] The persimmon; see VOL. XVI, p. 180.
[23] A misprint for sibucao (VOL. III, p. 196; XV, p. 256).
[24] There is evidently a play of words in this passage. The French reads Mais il se trouua bie loing de ses esperances, & auec vn pied de nez. Pied de nez (literally “a foot of nose”) is an exact equivalent of the Spanish phrase palmo de narices, and the French expression demeurer avec un pied de nez is equivalent to the Spanish idiom quedar con un palmo de narices, which signifies “the frustration of one’s hopes,” or “to be left out in the cold.”
[25] Apparently a corruption of Zarpana, the name given by its inhabitants to the island of Rota, one of the Mariannes or Ladrones Islands.
Bibliographical Data
The following documents are obtained from MSS. in the Academia Real de la Historia, Madrid—in the collection “Papeles de los Jesuitas:”