The king of this country has vast treasures in gold and silver, and precious stones, and possesses the largest and fairest pearls that are to be seen in the whole world. Leaving this country, I travelled fifty days journey to the southward, along the shore of the ocean, when I came to a country called Lamouri557, in which, owing to the extreme heat, the whole inhabitants go stark naked, both men and women, and they derided me for wearing clothes, saying, that Adam and Eve were created naked. In this country the women are all common, so that no one has a wife; and when a child is born, the mother gives it to any of the men she pleases, who may have been connected with her. The whole of the land, likewise, is possessed in common, but everyone has his own house. Human flesh, if fat, is used as commonly in that country as beef with us; and though the manners and customs of the people are most abominable, the country is excellent, and abounds in flesh and corn, gold and silver, aloes-wood, and camphor, and many other precious commodities. Merchants who trade to this country, usually bring with them fat men, among their other commodities, which they sell to the natives as we do hogs, and these are immediately slain and devoured.

In this region, toward the south, there is an island or kingdom called Symolora558, where both the men and women mark themselves with a hot iron in twelve different parts of their faces559; and this nation is continually at war with a certain naked people in another region. I then went to another island named Java, the coast of which is 3000 miles in circuit; and the king of Java has seven other kings under his supreme dominion. This is thought to be one of the largest islands in the world, and is thoroughly inhabited; having great plenty of cloves, cubebs, and nutmegs, and all other kinds of spices, and great abundance of provisions of all kinds, except wine. The king of Java has a large and sumptuous palace, the most lofty of any that I have seen, with broad and lofty stairs to ascend to the upper apartments, all the steps being alternately of gold and silver.

The whole interior walls are lined with plates of beaten gold, on which the images of warriors are placed sculptured in gold, having each a golden coronet richly ornamented with precious stones. The roof of this palace is of pure gold, and all the lower rooms are paved with alternate square plates of gold and silver. The great khan, or emperor of Cathay, has had many wars with the king of Java, but has always been vanquished and beaten back.

Near to Java is another country called Panten, or Tathalmasin560, the king of which has many islands under his dominion. In this country there are trees which produce meal, honey, and wine, and likewise the most deadly poison in the world; the only remedy for which is human ordure dissolved in water, which, drank in considerable quantify, acts as a cathartic, and expels the poison. These trees are very large; and, when cut down, a quantity of liquor exudes from the trunk, which is received into bags made of leaves, and after exposure for fifteen days to the sun, it hardens into meal. This is first steeped in sea water, and is afterwards washed in fresh water, when it becomes a savoury paste, which may either be eaten as bread, or cooked in various ways561. I have eaten of this bread, which is fair on the outside, and somewhat brown within. Beyond this country, the Mare Mortuum, or Dead Sea562, stretches with a continual current far to the south, and whatever falls into it is seen no more. In this country there grow canes of an incredible length, as large as trees, even sixty paces or more in height. There are other canes, called cassan, which spread over the earth like grass, even to the extent of a mile, sending up branches from every knot; and in these canes they find certain stones of wonderful virtue, insomuch, that whoever carries one of these about him, cannot be wounded by an iron weapon; on which account, most of the men in that country carry such stones always about them. Many of the people of this country cause one of the arms of their children to be cut open when young, putting one of these stones into the wound, which they heal up by means of the powder of a certain fish, with the name of which I am unacquainted. And through the virtue of these wonderful stones, the natives are generally victorious in their wars, both by sea and land. There is a stratagem, however, which their enemies often successfully use against them, to counteract the power of these stones. Providing themselves with iron or steel armour, to defend them from the arrows of these people, they use wooden stakes, pointed like weapons of iron, and arrows not having iron heads, but infused with poison which they extract from certain trees, and they thus slay some of their foes, who, trusting to the virtue of these stones, wear no defensive armour. From the canes formerly mentioned, named cassan, they build themselves small houses, and manufacture sails for their ships, and many other things are made from them. From thence, after many days travel, I came to another kingdom, called Campa563, which is a very rich and beautiful kingdom, abounding in all kinds of provisions. The king who reigned at the time of my being there, had so many wives and concubines, that he had three hundred sons and daughters. He had likewise 10,004564 tame elephants, which were pastured in droves as we feed flocks and herds.

The following most wonderful circumstance is to be observed in this country of Siampa. All the kinds of fishes which frequent those seas, swim towards the shore at certain times in such abundance, that nothing can be seen for a great way but the backs of fishes. The fish throw themselves upon the shore, and for the space of three days allow the people to take up as many of them as they please. At the end of these three days this shoal returns again to sea, and a different kind comes to the shore in the same manner, and remains for a similar period. And in the same way, all other kinds of fish in these seas come to the shore in succession, each kind by itself. This strange phenomenon happens once every year, and the natives pretend that the fishes are taught by nature to do this, in token of homage to their emperor. I saw many other strange things in this country, which would be incredible to any one who had not seen them; and among these, I may mention that they have tortoises as large as ovens. In this country, the bodies of their dead are burned, and the living wives are burned along with their dead husbands, as has been already mentioned when describing the customs of the city of Polumbrum; and they are believed by this means to accompany their husbands into the other world.

Travelling from this country to the southward, along the coast of the ocean, I passed through many countries and islands, one of which is called Moumoran565, and is 2000 miles in circumference. The people of this country, both men and women, go naked, except a small cloth before the middle of their bodies. They have dogs faces, and worship an ox as their god, and all of them wear the image of an ox in gold or silver on their foreheads. The men are very tall and strong, and when they go to battle, they carry targets of iron or steel, large enough to cover and protect their whole bodies. All the prisoners whom they take in war, unless they can ransom themselves with money, are eaten; but those who are able to pay ransom are set free. The king of this country wears a string of 300 large and fair pearls about his neck, which he employs as a rosary for counting his prayers; and says every day as many prayers to his god. He wears also on his finger a marvellously large and brilliant stone, of a span long, which resembles a flame of fire, so that no one dare approach him, and it is said to be the most valuable precious stone in all the world. The great Tartar emperor of Cathay, hath often used every endeavour to procure this wonderful jewel, but has never been able to prevail, either by force, policy, or money.