_Of a great yland called Dodyn, where are many diverse men of
evill conditions._
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THEN there is another yle that men call Dodyn, & it is a great yle. In
this yle are maner diverse maner of men y^t haue evyll maners, for the
father eateth the son & the son the father the husband his wyfe and
the wyfe hir husbande. And if it so be that the father be sicke, or
the mother, or any frend, the sonne goeth soone to the priest of the
law & prayeth him that he will aske of the ydoll if his father shall
dye of that sicknesse or not. And then the priest and the son kneele
downe before the ydole devoutly & asketh him, and he aunswereth to
them, and if he say that he shall lyve, then they kepe him wel, and if
he say that he shall dye, then commeth the priest with the son or with
the wyfe or what frende that it be unto him y^t is sicke, and they lay
their hands over his mouth to stop his breath, and so they sley him &
then they smite all the body into peces & praieth all his frendes
for to come and eate of him that is dead, and they make a great feste
thereof and haue many minstrels there, and eate him with great melody.
And so when they haue eaten al y^e flesh, then they take the bones and
bury them all singing with great worship, and all those that are of
his friendes that were not there at the eating of him haue great shame
and vylany, so that they shall never more be taken as frends. And
the King of this yle is a great lord and mightie, & he hath under him
LIIII grete Yles and eche of them hath a King, and in one of these
yles are men that haue but one eye, & that is in the middest of theyr
front and they eate not flesh & fishe all rawe. And in another yle
dwell men that haue no heads & theyr eyen are in theyr shoulders &
theyr mouth is on theyr breste.[1] In another yle are men that haue no
head ne eyen and theyr mouth is in theyr shoulders. And in another yle
are men that haue flatte faces without nose and without eyen, but they
haue two small round holes in stede of eyen, and they haue a flatte
mouth without lippes. And in that yle are men also that haue their
faces all flat without eyen, without mouth & without nose, but they
haue their eyen and their mouth behinde on their shoulders. And in
an other yle are foule men that haue the lippes aboute the mouth so
greate that when they sleepe in the sonne, they cover all theyr face
with the lippe. And in another yle are lyttle men as dwarfes, and haue
no mouth but a lyttle rounde hole & through that hole they eate their
meat with a pipe, & they haue no tongue & they speake not but they
blow & whistle and so make signes one to another. And in another yle
are men with hanging eares unto their shoulders.[2] And in another yle
are wild men with hanging eares & haue feete lyke an hors & they run
faste & they take wild beastes and eate them. And in another yle are
men that go on theyr handes & feete lyke beasts & are all rough and
will leape upon a tree like cattes or apes. And in an other yle are
men that go euer uppon theyr knees mervaylosly, and haue on euery
foote viii Toes.[3] Many other maner of folke bee in the sea in yles
thereabout, of whome it were to longe to tell all.
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[Footnote 1: Here again Pliny says in his 7th book, cap.
2:--"These people dwell not very far from the Troglodytæ
(_dwellers in caves_) to the west, of whom again there is
a tribe who are without necks, and _have eyes in their
shoulders_."]
[Footnote 2: See Appendix.]
[Footnote 3: Here a paragraph is omitted, not being suitable
for general readers.]