book v

, sect. 468. Davis and Vaughan's Translation, p. 200.

"Existimo autem imprimis ego eum, qui ordinem deseruevit, vel arma abjecerit, vel tale quid ex ignavia commiserit, in Opificum aut Agricolarum ordinem amandandum esse." Platonis de Rebuspubl., liber quintus.

[231] Ramusio, Manantamar; Lisbon edition, Mainatos.

[232] Plato explains the object of this regulation:

"Itaque sacra deinceps connubia quam maxime fieri poterit efficiemus: erunt autem sacra constituenda, quæ utilissima fuerint, utilissima verò erunt, si lege marium cum feminis conjunctiones præscribantur, et tale quid in his conjunctionibus observetur, quale in propagatione ceterorum animalium ab iis observatum videmus, quibus id est propositum, ut quam generosi partus edantur, etenim licet sæpe sæpius animadvertere eos qui vel canes venatorios alunt, vel generosas aves enutriunt, et si generosas omnes existiment, eximias tamen ac præstantissimas quasdam e reliquarum numero eligere, ex quibus præcipue progenies suscipiatur." De Rebuspubl., liber quintus.

* * * * *

"Oportet enim ut ex hactenus dictis constitit optimos viros cum optimis mulieribus sæpissime congredi, deteriores verò cum deterioribus per raro, et illorum quidem editos partus nutrire, horum verò nequaquam: si modo præstantissimum sit futurum ovile." De Rebuspubl., liber quintus.

"It follows from what has been already granted, that the best of both sexes ought to be brought together as often as possible, and the worst as seldom as possible, and that the issue of the former unions ought to be reared, and that of the latter abandoned, if the flock is to attain to first-rate excellence." Republic, bk. v, sect. 459. Davis and Vaughan's Translation, p. 187.

[233] As no explanation of Zevil is given, it is possible that it is a slip of the pen for _e vil_ and vile. Ramusio, Tiberi; Lisbon edition calls them Tuias; in the Portuguese this caste is called tiar and _civel_ or rustic by antiphrasis, which has been mistaken by the translators for an Indian word.

[234] Repeated thus in the manuscript.

[235] Or hats.

[236] Apretada or hard pressed.

[237] Ramusio, Paneru; Lisbon edition, Panceni.

[238] Ramusio, Revoler; Lisbon ed., Revoleens.

[239] Ramusio, Puler; Lisbon, Poleas.

[240] Ramusio, Pareas; Lisbon, Parcens.

[241] Dañados de todo, this might be intended for dañosos, hurtful in every way; the word occurs before and is translated contaminated, but hurtful or noxious would make a better reading.

[242] Ramusio, Cheliis; Lisbon, Chatis.

[243] About two hundred tons.

[244] Cubiertas.

[245] Caña fistola.

[246] Ramusio, Crecati; Munich MS. 571, Crecate.

[247] Ramusio, Capogato; Lisbon ed., Quategatam.

[248] Or ezerubs.

[249] Root of ginger and other plants used in medicine.

[250] Culebras de sombrero, a shade, canopy, hood, hat.

[251] Ramusio, Pananie; Lisbon edit., Pananee; Munich MS. 570, Panane, 571, Pananx.

[252] Ramusio, Catua; Lisbon, Chatua; Munich, 570 and 571, Chatua.

[253] Caranganor, Ortelius: Cranganor, Homannus: it was taken by the Portuguese in 1505.

[254] Beledy: Arabic word no longer in use.

[255] Cuartillo, fourth part of an azumbre, equal to 2 litres and 016.618.

[256] Notwithstanding the extreme value and utility of these trees, as here described, some thousands of them were lately cut down to make way for sugar canes, and in spite of the remonstrances of the inhabitants, by a European who had got the loan of some land for a term of years, in one of the Comoro Islands. The loss to the islands was still greater from the fact that they depend chiefly on their own resources, being out of the regular track of trading vessels.

[257] Here Ramusio adds: "which the Christians of the country affirmed to me was described in their books, which they preserve with great veneration."

Camoens puts this event, as well as the tomb of St. Thomas at Mailapur. Canto x, stanza

108. Olha que de Narsinga o senhorio Tem as reliquias santas, e bemditas Do corpo de Thomé, varão sagrado Que a Jesu Christo teve a mão no lado.

109. Aqui a cidade foy, que se chamava Meliapor, formosa, grande e rica: Os idolos antiguos adorava, Como inda agora faz a gente inica: Longe do mar naquelle tempo estava Quando a Fé, que no mundo se publica, Thomé vinha pregando, e ja passara Provincias mil do mundo, que ensinara.

110. Chegado aqui pregando, e junto dando A doentes saude, a mortos vida, A caso traz hum dia o mar vagando Hum lenho de grandeza desmedida: Deseja o Rei, que andava edificando, Fazer delle madeira, e não duvida Poder tira-lo a terra com possantes Forças d'homens, de engenhos, de elefantes.

111. Era tão grande o pezo do madeiro, Que, só para abalar-se, nada abasta; Mas o nuncio de Cristo verdadeiro Menos trabalho em tal negocio gasta: Ata o cordão, que traz por derradeiro No tronco, e facilmente o leva, e arrasta Para onde faça hum sumptuoso templo, Que ficasse aos futuros por exemplo.

112. Sabia bem que se com fé formada Mandar a hum monte surdo, que se mova, Que obedecerá logo á voz sagrada; Que assi lho ensinou Christo, e elle o prova: A gente ficou disto alvoroçada, Os Brãhmenes o tem por cousa nova Vendo os milagres, vendo a sanctidade, Hão medo de perder autoridade.

113. São estes sacerdotes dos gentios, Em quem mais penetrado tinha inveja, Buscam maneiras mil, buscam desvios, Com que Thomé, não se ouça, ou morto seja. O principal, que ao peito traz os fios, Hum caso horrendo faz, que o mundo veja, Que inimiga não ha tão dura, e fera, Como a virtude falsa da sincera.

114. Hum filho proprio mata, logo accusa De homicidio Thomé, que era innocente: Dà falsas testemunhas, como se usa, Condemnaram-no á morte brevemente: O Sancto, que não vê melhor escusa, Que appellar para o Padre Omnipotente, Quer diante do Rei, e dos senhores, Que se faça hum milagre dos maiores.

115. O corpo morto manda ser trazido, Que resuscite, e seja perguntado Quem foi seu matador, e será crido For testemunho o seu mais approvado: Viram todos o moço vivo erguido Em nome de Jesu crucificado: Da graças a Thomé, que lho deo vida, E descobre seu pai ser homicida.

116. Este milagre fez tamanho espanto, Que o Rei se banha logo na agua santa, E muitos após elle: hum beija o manto, Outro louvor do Deos de Thomé canta. Os Brahmenes se encheran de odio tanto, Com seu veneno os morde inveja tanta, Que, persuadindo a isso o povo rudo, Determinam mata-lo em fin de tudo.

117. Hum dia, que pregando ao povo estava, Fingiram entre a gente hum arruido: Ja Christo neste tempo lhe ordenava Que, padecendo, fosse ao ceo subido, A multidão das pedras, que voava, No Sancto dá já a tudo offerecido: Hum dos maos, por fartarse mais depressa, Com crua lança o peito lhe atravessa.

118. Choraram-te, Thomé, o Gange e o Indo; Chorou-te toda a terra, que pizaste; Mais te choram as almas, que vestindo Se hiam da sancta Fé que lhe ensinaste.

[258] Mar Thomas is Syriac for St. Thomas; this word must have been introduced by the Nestorians or Armenians, as they are called here, though St. Thomas may have carried the word there himself in speaking of others, as of Mar Elias.

[259] Ancient coin equal to two reals vellon or sixpence.

[260] Mailapur, a league and two-thirds south of Madras, seat of a catholic bishop and two churches, was taken by the Portuguese in 1545 and by the French in 1672.

[261] These were Nestorians, who call themselves in Mesopotamia Esky Chaldany, old Chaldæans. In 1599 Archbishop Alexander Menezes held a conference at Culam, for the purpose of uniting the Roman Catholics and Nestorians.

[262] Blessed bread, is bread in little pieces distributed in churches on great feast days.

[263] It is hardly necessary to state that this is absolutely opposed to catholic practice.

[264] Selling the sacraments, canonically a great offence: it was condemned by the 48th Canon of the Council of Elvira, A.D. 305.

[265] This passage is translated in the Lisbon edition from Ramusio; the next paragraph is not to be found in either of them.

[266] It is vexatious that the date should be wanting; it is probable, however, that this was an Italian and an overland traveller, for if not he could not have been buried more than fifteen years, and a fresh tomb would have hardly called for notice from the writer.

[267] This passage is not in the Italian or Portuguese edition of Barbosa. It is in the MS. No. 571 of the Munich Library, and the date is also wanting; in the Munich MS. No. 570 this paragraph is entirely wanting, as in Ramusio.

[268] This group is called Maldivar in Ortelius, and is there stated to contain seven or eight thousand isles. One of the islands is called Y^a de Ilheos, or island of small islands, the second word being Portuguese and apparently not understood by the compiler of the atlas.

[269] Muxama or mojama, preserved tunny fish.

[270] "Vês corre a costa celebre Indiana Para o Sul até o cabo Comori, Já chamado Cori, que Taprobana (Que ora he Ceilão) defronte tem de si." Os Lusiadas, canto x, stanza 107.

[271] There is something wrong here; for, from Cape Comorin to Maylepur is more than double fifty leagues; the direction of the compass and length of the channel, make it probable that the island of Manar was intended instead of Maylepur.

[272] Jargon or Zircon is a stone having a superficial resemblance to a diamond. Milburn's Oriental Commerce, p. 361. Possibly this stone may be connected with the jarkna stein mentioned in the Edda, and supposed by Grimm to be the opal. In Ramusio the spelling is the same as in this MS. The whole of this passage is much shortened in the Lisbon edition.

[273] "Olha em Ceylão, que o monte se alevanta Tanto, que as nuvens passa, ou a vista engana Os naturaes tem por cousa sancta, Por a pedra em que està á pegada humana." Lusiadas, canto x, 136.

[274] The ascent is still performed in the same manner, and is difficult in windy weather.

[275] Chilao in Ortelius's Map of Asia, the Portuguese way of writing Chilam.

[276] Comp. Malay sampan.

[277] Cael in Ortelius and Homannus, the cedilla has been omitted in another part of this work.

[278] Maestros: this may also mean dealers.

[279] Cholmandel, Ortelius.

[280] This story is evidently of Hindu origin, since the peacock is respected by the Hindus. It also in some measure confirms the antiquity of the establishment of Christianity in India, which from this story must have been established before the arrival in India of any of the Nestorian priests: since they came from a country where the peacock is associated with the devil, especially amongst the devil-worshiping Yezidys, who have got a peacock for an idol, which was seen and described by Mr. Layard. Many of their superstitions come down from the Manichees of the second century. Besides this, I have seen an Arabic description of animals written in Syria, in which the peacock is described as the first creature expelled out of Paradise, on account of its pride. This idea and the Yezidy love for it, probably have a common origin.

[281] Romeria: this word here translated pilgrimage, means a visit to a shrine or holy place, and is inferior to peregrinage: it implies a shorter distance, and is equivalent to ziaret.

[282] Paleacate, Ortelius.

[283] Guenga, Ortelius; it should be Gunga.

"Ganges, no qual os seus habitadores Morrem banhados, tendo por certeza, Que inda que sejão grandes peccadores, Esta agua sancta os lava, e da pureza."--Lusiad. x, 121.

[284] In Ortelius there is a place called Aralem, east of Bengala.

[285] Bengala, Ortelius, and on the same spot in Homannus Chatigan; in our maps Chittagong, which name was changed by the Moghuls in 1666 to Islam Abad.

"Vê Cathigão cidade das melhores De Bengala provincia; que se preza De abundante; mas olha, que está posta Para o Austro de aqui virada a costa."--Lusiad. x, stan. 121.

[286] Abasis.

[287] The employment of eunuchs was forbidden by the Prophet, since their employment induced people to supply the demand. Hidayah, vol. iv, p. 121.

[288] Verma, Ortelius and Ramusio.

[289] Aracangil, Lisbon edit.

[290] Here Ramusio adds: "And they say that by this trial they know which of them are healthy and of a good temperament."

[291] Pegu, Ortelius and Ramusio.

[292] The Dicco. Geogo. Universal, Barcelona, states the distance at twelve leagues, as this work is chiefly translated from French authorities, these distances would agree, and the river deposit may have increased the distance.

[293] This is also related by Nicolo Conti, India in the Fifteenth Century, Hakluyt Society.

[294] Saddle between _à la gineta_, a high saddle and short stirrups, and _à la brida_, long stirrups and hardly any saddle at all.

[295] Martabam, Ortelius.

[296] Ava, Ortelius.

[297] Capelan, Ortelius, near the mouth of the river Menam.

[298] Sian, Ortelius.

[299] Tanazaru, Ortelius.

[300] Java frankincense, in Arabic.

[301] Queda, Ortelius; Keddah, Malay State tributary to Siam, it derives its name from the Arabic, a cup. Ramusio and Lisbon edit., Quedaa.

"Olha Tavay cidade, onde começa De Syão o largo imperio tão comprido Tenessary, Queda, que he so cabeça Das que pimienta aly tem produzido; Mays avante fareys que se conheça Malaca, por Emperio ennobrecido, Onde toda a província domar grande, Suas mercadorias ricas mande."--Lusiadas, x, stanza 123.

[302] Paam, Ortelius; Pahang, now an independent Malay State.

[303] Not in Ortelius; Salangore, an independent Malay State.

[304] "Vé nos remotos montes outras gentes Que Gueos se chamão de selvages vidas; Humana carne comem, mas a sua Pintão com ferro ardente, usança crua." Lusiade, stanza 126.

[305] "Mas na ponta da tierra Gingapura Veràs, onde o caminho às naos se estreyta, De aqui tornando a costa à Cynosura Se encurva, e para a Aurora se endereyta. Ves Pam, Patàne reynos, e alongura De Syão, que estes, e outros mays sogeyta. Olha o rio Menão, que se derrama Do grande lago, que Chiamay se chama." Lusiade, x, stanza 125.

[306] The Lisbon edition has _sulia_, and explains the word in a note as translated above.

[307] Encienço is the old word for ajenjo, absinthe, or it may be the old form of incenso, incense.

[308] The English word to _fish_ a mast or fishing rod, comes from the Spanish word used here, fajar; anciently pronounced as the Catalan faixar, to wrap or wind a sash, to swathe.

[309] Rattan.

[310] Small coins, three ceutis make one blanca, an ancient coin. Escuela de leer letras Antiguas, p. 207: not in the dictionaries.

[311] Kris.

[312] This passage fixes the Hindu origin of running amok, which from this seems to have been connected with the worship of Shiva or Bhowani. Now it would be difficult to get any other explanation than that of _adet_, custom.

[313] The Barcelona MS. has plainly Amuco, which is correct. Ramusio has Amulos, and the Lisbon edition Guanicio.

[314] Thirty men according to other accounts.

[315] Nicobar, Ortelius' map of Asia, and Nicovan in map of India; Ramusio, Navacar.

[316] Medio _giorno_, Italian.

[317] Samotra and Sumatra, Ortelius.

[318] Pedir, Ortelius.

[319] Biraen, Ortelius, on the north-west coast.

[320] Pasem and Pazer, Ortelius; Passam, Homannus.

[321] Camper, Ortelius and Homannus, between Siuk and Jambi.

[322] Amdaragui, Ortelius; Andragari, Homannus; east coast.

[323] Menancabo, Ortelius, south-west coast.

[324] Sunda, Ortelius.

[325] Ramusio has here translated south-east, the Lisbon edition has south-west.

[326] Java Maior, Ortelius. It is still called Java Major by the Arabs.

[327] Ramusio, Palevdora; Lisbon, Pateudru.

[328] They look very like Crim Tatars.

[329] Raydas.

[330] Java Minor, Ortelius, now Bali, the inhabitants are still pagans; the island Sumbawa also in Ortelius is not the same as Java Minor, but apparently the one here called Oçare, as it contains a great volcano. Here Ramusio says some lines are wanting; he calls the island Oçare, Nucopora.

[331] Timor, Ortelius:--

"Aly tambien Timor, que o lenho manda Sandalo salutifero, e cheyroso. Olha a Sunda tão larga, que humabanda Esconde para o Sul difficultuoso. A gente do sertão, que as torras anda, Hum rio diz que tem miraculoso, Que por onde elle so sem outro vae Converte em pedra o pao que nelle cae." Lusiad. x, stanza 134.

[332] Bandan, Ortelius:--

"Olha do Bandá asilhas que se esmaltão Da varia cor, que pinta o rosco fruto, As aves, variadas, que aly saltão, Da verde Noz tomando seu tributo. Olha tambem Borneo, onde não faltaõ Lagrimas, no licor qualhado, e enxuto, Das arvores, que camphora he chamado Com que da ilha o nome he celebrado." Lusiad., 133.

[333] Chapel is also the same as chapin, a slipper or sandal.

[334] Ramusio, Ambon; Lisbon, Andam.

[335] Molucos, Ortelius.

[336] Bachian, Machian, Motir, Tidore, Tarenate, Ortelius; Bluteau's dictionary names them Bachan, Maquien, Moutel, Tidor, Ternate, and says they were anciently named Seque, Mara, Moutil, Duco, Gape. The only remaining possession of the Portuguese in the Malay Archipelago is Dili in the island of Timor.

[337] Nury is the real name of Molucca parrots, which has been changed to loro and lori. Ramusio calls them mire, and the Lisbon ed. noire.

[338] This section is not in the Lisbon MS.

[339] The Bugis of Celebes still make the best krises.

[340] Celebes, Ortelius.

[341] This section is not in the Lisbon MS.

[342] Ramusio and the Lisbon ed., Tendaya. Banguey island, north of Borneo, 7 deg. 13 min. N. lat. and 120 deg. 12 min. E. long.; 6-3/4 leagues long and 3-1/2 broad: it is desert. Geographical Dict., Barcelona, 1831.

[343] The island now called Solor is in another direction E. of the island Flores, 8 deg. 30 min. S. lat. and 126 deg. 52 min. E. long.

[344] Ramusio stops here and says several lines are wanting.

[345] Borneo, Ortelius.

[346] Champa, Ortelius and Homannus, the southern portion of Cochin China next to Cambodia; it is not an island as here stated.

[347] Ramusio says three hundred maravedis, the Lisbon MS. says thirty or forty pardoes.

[348] Borceguies--the Turkish mest.

[349] There is a _no_, not, here in the manuscript, which seems to be put in by mistake; the Spanish idiom does not allow of adding another negative at the beginning of the sentence; the one negative alone makes nonsense, and is contrary to what has been said above.

[350] A French missionary, quoted in the "Dictionnaire de la Conversation," does not believe this story, which he assumes to be invented for the sake of increasing the value of the porcelain.

[351] The Liu Kiu Islands. Lequio major and minor, Y^{a.} Fermosa, and Reix magas, form a group in Ortelius: in Homannus Formosa is in its proper place, and the group is called Lequeyo or Riukiu Islands.

[352] Here the Lisbon edition says that the manuscript of Duarte Barbosa ends, and that what follows about the precious stones has been translated from the Italian of Ramusio: this appendix about precious stones is wanting in the Munich MS. No. 570.

[353] Martin Centurion according to the Munich MS. No. 571, where the name is given in full.

[354] Fano, fanam, fanão--a weight for weighing rubies, according to Bluteau = 1 quilat or carat; according to the Dicco. Enciclopedico, Madrid, 1853, and the Encyclopedie of Diderot and D'Alembert = to 2 carats of Venice. Also a coin equal to two Spanish reals or twenty Portuguese reis, or ten of which made a cruzado. The author has said in another place that it is equal to thirty-six maravedis. The following table of coins will be useful with reference to the prices named in this work.

Ducado = 375 maravedis. Dobla = 365 " Florin = 265 " Real = 34 "

These maravedis were worth double those of the present time, in which a real contains 34 maravedis, so that a fanam would be worth 2 reals or half a peseta = 6d. The author of the Escuela de leer Letras Antiguas, from which these figures are taken, has added lists of prices at different times as guides to the value of coins.

In 1348, law of Don John I.

Fanega of wheat 15 maravedis. Ditto barley 10 " Ditto oats 8 " Cubit of French cloth 60 " Ditto Flanders or English cloth 50 " Day's wages from November to March 3 " Ditto ditto March to November 4 " Each yoke for ploughing all day 10 " A servant by the year 100 " A maid ditto 50 " For grinding a fanega of wheat 2 " A thousand tiles 60 " Ditto bricks 55 " A fanega of mortar 6 " Ditto lime 5 " An ox 200 " A calf 180 " A pound of mutton 2 " A hare 3 " A rabbit 2 " A fowl 4 " A goose 6 " A pigeon 3 " A partridge 5 "

These maravedis were worth 22-1/2 actual maravedis, or about 2d. each.

In 1524 the fanega of wheat was fixed at 70 maravedis. Ditto ditto of barley " 40 "

These maravedis were worth two of the actual ones.

1865, a fanega of wheat = 50 reals.

[355] A miskal.

[356] A real de plata means two reals vellon, or actual reals of the present time.

[357] Son bermejos y deslavados, y encarnados.

[358] 65 in Ramusio.

[359] Balassia in Ramusio.

[360] Toque or proof.

[361] Equal to a carat and a third.

[362] These two names must be the same word Kringa-nila; blue stone, perhaps. In Ramusio, Quiniganilam.

[363] Capucar in Ramusio.

[364] A jour.

[365] Exer in Ramusio.

[366] Kerman. Chiraman, Ortelius.

[367] In the MS. the passage reads _as mina y tierra seca_.

[368] The _Times_ reviewer of Mr. Emmanuel's book _On Precious Stones_, April 5, 1866, is in error in saying that "the zircon is known in trade as the jacinth or hyacinth".

The jargon, corindon or circon, which was much used in the xvi^{th} century, is not held in any estimation at the present time; it has the merit of possessing the hardness of the sapphire.

[369] Mar Deignan in Ramusio.

[370] I have been informed by Mr. Capt, jeweller, of Geneva, that the proportions of the prices of precious stones, according to their weight, are still very exact for uncut stones in the Indian market, and that the general accuracy of the details given in this MS. is very great. With respect to the doubts which had been expressed as to the stones of combined colours, they do exist, but are held in no estimation in Europe. Experiments have been made in Europe, and especially in Germany, for the purpose of deepening the colour of precious stones, particularly rubies, by the process here mentioned; but success was so hazardous, and so costly, that speculators would no longer incur the risks of it.

[371] 6562 in Ramusio.

[372] Beledin, of the country, local; Arabic. Ramusio has not translated it.

[373] xl in Ramusio.

[374] El peso del es el mayor. This may refer to the old and new weights, or it may mean that this ginger is heavier than the other ginger.

[375] Syn enbarar.

[376] Faratela, Indian weight equal to seven and a quarter pounds. Encicloped. Dict., Madrid, 1853.

[377] Atincar, Anglicè tincal, when refined, borax.

[378] Calamo aromático, also called acoro, a kind of aquatic plant used in medicine.

[379] This may be either incense or wormwood. Incenso in Ramusio.

[380] Lombriguera, southernwood, wormwood: Artemisia abrotanum.

[381] Turbith, Convolvulus turpethum; its root is used as a purgative, and it comes from India and Ceylon.

[382] Gum from the giant fennel: also called sagapeno, is known in commerce as yellowish white drops of a strong aromatic smell something like garlic; is used for diachylum.

[383] Atulia, a sublimate of calamine.

[384] Probably cubebs.

[385] Or four hundredweight English.

[386] Lo al, old Spanish.

[387] This voyage is not in Ramusio nor in the Lisbon edition, and apparently has been hitherto unpublished. The Munich MS., No. 570, gives the date 1522, but 1512 is the correct reading.

[388] Leste o este.

[389] Surat glaized cotton stuff.

[390] Sudueste and su sudueste, these terms have not been ever used in the body of the book.

[391] Norueste.

[392] Singaduras for Singladuras, Portuguese Singradura, derived by Bluteau from French Cingler, and that from the German Segelen.

[393] Setentrional.

[394] Del sur al sueste.

[395] Or Colayres and giravales according to another reading.

[396] Les nordeste.

[397] This passage important. Los marineros q. tomamos en borney llevaban carta de marear e trayan una aguja y piedra yman e una carta en q. trayan muchas rayas e lineas de lo qual nos espantamos mucho. See the Pillars of Hercules, by D. Urquhart with respect to the Phenician compass.

[398] Line across the forehead.