_Of diverse countreys & Kingdomes & yles of the lande of Inde._
[Illustration]
MANY diverse countreys & Kingdoms are in Inde, and it is called Inde
of a river that runneth through it, which is called Inde also & there
are many precious stones in that river Inde. And in that ryver men
finde Eles of xxx foote long & men y^t dwell nere that river are of
evill colour, yelowe & grene. In Inde is more than fyve thousande yles
that men dwell in good and great, beside those that men dwel not in.
And in eche one of those is great plenty of cities and muche people,
for men of Inde are of that condicion that they passe not out of theyr
lande commonly, for they dwell under a planet that is called Saturne,
& that planet maketh his course by the xii signes in xxx[1] yeare
and the Mone passeth through the xii signes in a moneth and for that
Saturne is of so late sterying,[2] therefore men that dwell under him,
& in that clymate have no good will to be much sterying aboute. And
in our countrey is it contrary, for we are in a climate that is of the
mone, & of light stering and that is the planet of way, & therefore
it giveth us will to much moving & steryng and to go into diverse
countreys of the world, for it goeth about the worlde more lyghtly
than any other planet dothe. Also men passe through Inde by many
countreys unto the great Occean Sea. And then they fynde the yle of
Hermes where marchaunts of Venis and of Gene and of other diverse
partes of christendome come for to by them marchaundise.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
In this lande men and women lye all naked in the ryvers and waters,
from undren[3] or heate of the day tyll it be past none, and they ly
all in the water but the face, for the great heat that is there,
and the women be not ashamed for the men. In that yle are the ships
without nayles of yron, or bond, for roches of Adamand[4] that are in
the sea would draw shippes to them. From this yle men go by the sea to
the yle of Lana where is great plenty of corne, and the King of this
yle was sometime so mighty that he helde war against King Alexander
with great strength. Men of this yle have many maner beleves and
faithe & have also diverse lawes, for some do worship the Sunne, some
the fyre, some the trees, & some the serpents, or any other
thinge that they fyrst meete in the morning, and some doe worship
simulacres[5] and Idoles, but betwene symulacres & ydoles is no[6]
difference, and that is to understande, ymages made to what lykenesse
of thing that man may invent, for some ymage hath an head lyke an Oxe,
some haue three or foure heddes, on of a man or an hors or Oxe or any
other best that no man hath seene. And ye shall understande that they
that worship symulacres they worship them as for worthy men that were
sometime, as Hercules, and other that dyd many mervayles in theyr
tymes. For they saye they know well that they are not god of kynde[7]
that made all thinges, but that they are wel[8] with god for the
mervayles that they did, and therefore they worship them. And so say
they of the sonne, for it chaungeth oft tymes, for it giueth sometime
great heate for to nourych[9] all things on earth, & bicause it is of
so greate profyte they knowe well that it is not God but it is well
with God & that God loveth it more than any other thing, and for this
cause they worshippe it. And also they saye theyr reasons of other
planettes, and of fyre also, for it is profitable, and nedefull. And
of ydolls they say the Oxe is the holyest that they may finde here in
earthe, and more profitable than any other, for he doth much good,
and none ille, and they knowe well that it maye not bee without the
speciall grace of God, and therefore they make theyr God of an Oxe,
the one halfe, and the other halfe a man, for man is the fairest and
the best creature of the worlde. And they doe worship to serpentes,
and other beastes that they fyrste meete with in the morninge, and
namely those bestes that have good, meting after whome they speake[10]
well all the day after, the which they have proved of long time,
& therefore they say that this meting cometh of Gods grace, and
therefore they doe make ymages lyke unto those things that they may
worship them before they meete anythinges else. And there are some
christen men that say that some bestes are better for to meet than
some, for hares, swine, and other bestes are ill to meete first, as
they saye. In this yle of Cana is many wilde bestes, & rattes in
that countrey are as great as houndes here, and they take them with
mastifes, for cattes may not take them. Fro thence men come to a citie
that men call Sarchys, and it is a faire and a goode citie and there
dwell many christen men of Gods faith, and there be men of religion.
From thence men come to the land of Lombe & in that lande groweth
peper in a forest that men call Tomber & it groweth in none other
place more in all the worlde than in that forest, and that forest is
well L[11] daies journey. And there by the lande of Lombe is the Citie
of Polomes,[12] and under that Citie is an hyll that men call Polombe
and thereof taketh the citie his name. And so at the fote of the same
hill is a right faire and a clere well, that hath a full good and
sweete savoure, and it smelleth of all maner of sortes of spyces, and
also at eche houre of the daye it changeth his savour diversly, and
who drinketh thries on the daye of that well, he is made hole of all
maner (_of_) sickenesse that he hathe. I have sometime dronke of that
well, and methinketh yet that I fare the better; some call it the well
of youth, for they that drinke thereof seme to be yong alway, and live
without great sicknesse, and they saye this well, cometh from Paradise
terrestre, for it is so vertuous, and in this lande groweth ginger,
and thither come many good marchauntes for spyces. In this countrey
men worship the Oxe for his great simpleness and mekenesse, and the
profite that is in him, for they make the Oxe to travaile vi or
vii yere and then men do eate him. And the Kinge of that land hath
euermore one Oxe with him, and he that kepeth him euery day taketh hys
fees for the keping. And also euery daye he gathereth his uryne and
his dong in a vessell of gold, and bereth it to the prelate that they
call, Archi porta papaton[13] and the prelate bereth it to the King,
and maketh thereupon a great blessing and then the King putteth his
hande therein, and they call it gaule and hee anoynteth his fronte,
and his breste therewith, and they doe it great worship, and saye he
shall be fulfilled with the vertu of the Oxe before sayde, and that he
is halowed through vertue of that holy thinge as they saye. And when
the Kinge hath this done, then doe it other lordes, and after
them other men after theyr degree, if they may haue any of the
remenaunt.[14] In thys countrey theyr ydoles are halfe men and halfe
oxe, as the figure sheweth in the seconde lefe here before, and out of
these ydolles the wycked ghost[15] speaketh unto them, and giveth them
aunswere of what thing that they aske him, and before these ydolles
they many times sleay theyr children, and sprinkle the blood on
the ydoles, and so make they sacrifice. And if any man die in that
countrey, they brene them in tokening of penaunce that he should
suffer no penance if he were layd in the earth for eating of wormes.
And if his wife haue no children then they burne hir with him, and
they saye that is good reason that she keepe him company in the other
worlde, as she dyd in this, & if she haue children she may liue with
them and[16] she will; and if the wyfe dye before, she shall be burnt,
& hir husbande also, if he will. In this countrey groweth good wine, &
women drink wine & men none, and women shaue theyr berds & not men.
[Illustration]
[Footnote 1: _Pynson_ says 20 years.]
[Footnote 2: Slow motion.]
[Footnote 3: An early hour before noon. A Latin edition has
it:--"_A diei hora tertia, usq: ad nonam_."]
[Footnote 4: Loadstone rocks.]
[Footnote 5: Images.]
[Footnote 6: Other editions have "a gret difference," which
the context shows should be the right reading.]
[Footnote 7: Similar to Him that made, &c.]
[Footnote 8: They were helped by God in the marvels, &c.]
[Footnote 9: Nourish.]
[Footnote 10: Speed, _i.e._ have good luck.]
[Footnote 11: Other editions say 18.]
[Footnote 12: Quilon, on the Malabar Coast.]
[Footnote 13: Archi proto papaton.]
[Footnote 14: Remnant.]
[Footnote 15: Wicked spirit.]
[Footnote 16: An, if.]