[14] He here distinctly indicates the manufacture of sego.--E.
[15] Nicobar and Andaman, on the east side of the bay of Bengal; called Necunera and Namgama in the Trevigi edition.--E.
SECTION XIX.
Of the Island of Ceylon, and various parts of Hither India.
Sailing from Angaman 1000 miles west, and a little to the south, we come to the island of Zelan or Ceylon, which is 2400 miles in circumference; but was anciently 3600 miles round, as appears from the former charts of the country, the north winds having occasioned the sea to destroy a great part of it. This is the finest island in the world, and its king is called Sendernaz. The men and women are idolaters, and go entirely naked, except a small cloth before them. They grow no corn except rice; and they have plenty of oil of sesame, milk, flesh, palm wine, Brazil wood, the best rubies in the world, sapphires, topazes, amethysts, and other gems. The king of the island is said to have the finest ruby that ever was seen, as long as the hand, and as thick as a mans wrist, without spot or blemish, and glowing like a fire. Cublai-Khan once sent to purchase this ruby, offering the value of a city for it; but the king answered that he would not part with it for all the treasure in the world, because it had belonged to his ancestors. The men of this island are unfit for soldiers, and hire others when they have occasion to go to war.
There is a high mountain in Ceylon, to the top of which no one can ascend, without the assistance of iron chains, and on which the Saracens report that the sepulchre of Adam is situated; but the idolaters say that it is the body of Sogomon Burchan, the first founder of idol worship, son of a king of the island, who betook himself to a recluse life of religious contemplation on the top of this mountain, from whence no pleasures or persuasions could induce him to withdraw. After his death, his father caused an image of him to be made of solid gold, and commanded all his subjects to adore him as their god: and hence they say is the origin of idol worship. People come here in pilgrimage from remote regions, and there his fore-teeth, and a dish which he used, are solemnly exhibited as holy relics. As the Saracens pretend that these belonged to Adam, Cublai-Khan was induced, in 1281, to send ambassadors to the king of this country, who obtained the dish, two teeth, and some of the hairs of Sogomon Barchan: These the great khan caused to be received without the city with great reverence and solemnity, by the whole people of Cambalu, and brought into his presence with great honour.
Sixty miles to the west of Ceylon is Moabar[1]. This is no island, but lies on the firm continent, which may be called the greater India. In it there are four kings, the principal one of whom is Sinder Candi, in whose kingdom they fish for pearls, between Ceylon and Moabar, in a bay where the sea does not exceed ten or twelve fathoms deep. Here the divers descend to the bottom, and in bags or nets which are tied about their bodies, bring up the oysters which contain the pearls. On account of certain great fish which kill the divers, they hire bramins to charm them from doing harm, and these have the twentieth part of the pearls, the king getting the tenth part[2]; These oysters are only found from the beginning of April to the end of May in this place; but from the beginning of September to the middle of October, they are got in another place, about three hundred miles distant. The king of this country goes naked, like the rest of his subjects, except that he wears some honourable marks of distinction, as a collar of precious stones about his neck, and a thread of silk hanging down to his breast, on which are strung 104 large fine pearls, by which he counts his prayers as with a rosary. These prayers are merely the word Pacaupa, repeated 104 times over. He wears a sort of bracelets on three places of his arms and on his legs, and rings on all his fingers and toes. This king has a thousand concubines, and if any woman pleases his fancy, he takes her away from whoever she may happen to belong to. He once did this unjust deed to his own brother, in consequence of which a civil war had nearly ensued; but as their mother threatened to cut off her own breasts if they continued their enmity, they were reconciled. He has a numerous guard of horsemen, who are under a vow, when he dies, to throw themselves into the fire in which his body is consumed, that they may serve him in the next world.
[1] This Pinkerton calls Moabar on the margin, and Nachabar in the text, of his dissertation on the Trevigi edition of Marco Polo, very justly observing that it refers to Coromandel, or the Carnatic below the gauts. Harris erroneously substitutes Malabar. Moabar and Madura may have a similar origin, as may Nachabar and Nega-patnam.--E.
[2] The fish here alluded to are sharks; and the same custom of employing bramins to defend the fishermen, by conjuration, against this formidable enemy, is continued to the present day.--E.
This prince, and the other kings of Moabar, buy their horses from Ormus and other parts, as their country produces none, or if any happen to be bred there, they are ugly and useless[3]. Condemned persons often offer themselves to die in honour of a particular idol; on which the devotee puts himself to death with twelve knives, giving himself twelve deep wounds in various parts of his body, calling out aloud on the infliction of each, that he does this in honour of such or such an idol; and the last of all is through his own heart, after which his body is burned by his kindred. The women of this country voluntarily burn themselves along with the bodies of their deceased husbands, and those who neglect to do this are held in disrepute. They worship idols, and most of them hold cows in such high veneration, that they would not eat their holy flesh for any consideration on earth. A certain tribe is called Gaui, who feed upon such oxen as die of themselves, but never kill any. These Gaui are descended from the people who slew St. Thomas, and dare not enter the shrine in which his body is preserved. The people of this country sit on carpets on the ground, using no chairs or stools. Their only grain is rice. They are not a martial people, and kill no animals; but when they are inclined for animal food, they get the Saracens or some other people to kill for them. Both men and women wash themselves twice a-day, and always before eating; and those who neglect this ceremony are reputed heretics. They never touch their meat with their left hands, which they only employ for wiping themselves, or other unclean purposes. Each drinks from his own pot, neither do they allow it to touch their mouths, but hold it above, and pour in the drink; and to strangers who have no pot, they pour liquor into their hands, from which they must drink, as they will not allow their pots to be touched by any other person.
[3] Mr. Pinkerton, from the Trevigi edition, has this passage as follows: "The king of Vor, one of the princes of Nacbabar, purchases about 10,000 horses yearly from the country of Cormos, formerly mentioned, each horse costing five sazi of gold."--E.
Justice is severely administered for crimes; and in some cases, a creditor has a singular manner of compelling payment, by drawing a circle round his debtor, out of which he must not stir till he has satisfied his creditor, or given security for the debt, under the pain of death. I, Marco, once saw the king on horseback thus encircled, by a merchant whom he had long put off with delays; and the king would not come out of the circle, which the merchant had drawn; till he had sent for the means of paying the merchant, all the people who were present highly applauding the kings justice. They are very scrupulous of drinking wine, and those who are addicted to that practice, are held disreputable and unworthy of being admitted as witnesses; which is the case likewise with those who go to sea, as they reckon them desperate persons. They look on letchery as no sin. In the months of June, July, and August, they have no rains, and it is excessively hot, insomuch, that they could not live if it were not for the refreshing winds which blow from the sea. They have many physiognomists