When any one goes to Pegu to buy jewels, he will do well to remain there a whole year; for if he would return by the same ship, he can do very little to purpose in so short a time. Those who come from San Thome usually have their goods customed about Christmas, after which they must sell their goods, giving credit for a month or two, and the ships depart about the beginning of March. The merchants of San Thome generally take payment for their goods in gold and silver, which are always plentiful in Pegu. Eight or ten days before their departure they are satisfied for their goods. They may indeed have rubies in payment, but they make no account of them. Such as propose to winter in the country ought to stipulate in selling their goods for payment in two or three months, and that they are to be paid in so many ganzas, not in gold or silver, as every thing is most advantageously bought and sold by means of this ganza money. It is needful to specify very precisely both the time of payment, and in what weight of ganzas they are to be paid, as an inexperienced person may be much imposed upon both in the weight and fineness of the ganza money; for the weight rises and falls greatly from place to place, and he may be likewise deceived by false ganzas or too much alloyed with lead. For this reason, when any one is to receive payment he ought to have along with him a public weigher of money, engaged a day or two before he commences that business, whom he pays two byzas a-month, for which he is bound to make good all your money and to maintain it good, as he receives it and seals the bags with his own seal, and when he has collected any considerable sum he causes it to be delivered to the merchant to whom it belongs. This money is very weighty, as forty byzas make a porters burden. As in receiving, so in paying money, a public weigher of money must be employed.

The merchandises exported from Pegu are gold, silver, rubies, sapphires, spinels, great quantities of benzoin, long-pepper, lead, lac, rice, wine, and some sugar. There might be large quantities of sugar made in Pegu, as they have great abundance of sugar-canes, but they are given as food to the elephants, and the people consume large quantities of them in their diet. They likewise spend many of these sugar-canes167 in constructing houses and tents for their idols, which they call varely and we name pagodas. There are many of these idol houses, both large and small, which are ordinarily constructed in a pyramidical form, like little hills, sugar-loaves or bells, some of them being as high as an ordinary steeple. They are very large at the bottom, some being a quarter of a mile in compass. The inside of these temples are all built of bricks laid in clay mortar instead of lime, and filled up with earth, without any form or comeliness from top to bottom; afterwards they are covered with a frame of canes plastered all over with lime to preserve them from the great rains which fall in this country. Also about these varely or idol-houses they consume a prodigious quantity of leaf gold, as all their roofs are gilded over, and sometimes the entire structure is covered from top to bottom; and as they require to be newly gilded every ten years, a prodigious quantity of gold is wasted on this vanity, which occasions gold to be vastly dearer in Pegu than it would be otherwise.

It may be proper to mention, that in buying jewels or precious stones in Pegu, he who has no knowledge or experience is sure to get as good and as cheap articles as the most experienced in the trade. There are four men at Pegu called tareghe or jewel-brokers, who have all the jewels or rubies in their hands; and when any person wants to make a purchase he goes to one of these brokers, and tells him that he wants to lay out so much money on rubies; for these brokers have such prodigious quantities always on hand, that they know not what to do with them, and therefore sell them at a very low price. Then the broker carries the merchant along with him to one of their shops, where he may have what jewels he wants according to the sum of money he is disposed to lay out. According to the custom of the city, when the merchant has bargained for a quantity of jewels, whatever may be the amount of their value, he is allowed to carry them home to his house, where he may consider them for two or three days; and if he have not himself sufficient knowledge or experience in such things, he may always find other merchants who are experienced, with whom he may confer and take counsel, as he is at liberty to shew them to any person be pleases; and if he find that he has not laid out his money to advantage, he may return them back to the person from whom he had them without loss or deduction. It is reckoned so great a shame to the tareghe or jewel-broker to have his jewels returned, that he would rather have a blow on the face than have it believed that he had sold his jewels too dear and have them returned on his hands; for which reason they are sure to give good bargains, especially to those who have no experience, that they may not lose their credit. When such merchants as are experienced in jewels purchase too dear it is their own fault, and is not laid to the charge of the brokers; yet it is good to have knowledge in jewels, as it may sometimes enable one to procure them at a lower price. On the occasions of making these bargains, as there are generally many other merchants present at the bargain, the broker and the purchaser have their hands under a cloth, and by certain signals, made by touching the fingers and nipping the different joints, they know what is bidden, what is asked, and what is settled, without the lookers-on knowing any thing of the matter, although the bargain may be for a thousand or ten thousand ducats. This is an admirable institution, as, if the lookers-on should understand what is going on, it might occasion contention.

When I was at Pegu in August 1569, having got a considerable profit by my endeavours, I was desirous to return to my own country by way of St Thome, but in that case I should have been obliged to wait till next March; I was therefore advised to go by way of Bengal, for which country there was a ship ready to sail to the great harbour of Chittagong, whence there go small ships to Cochin in sufficient time to arrive there before the departure of the Portuguese ships for Lisbon, in which I was determined to return to Europe. I went accordingly on board the Bengal ship; but this happened to be the year of the Tyffon, which will require some explanation. It is therefore to be understood that in India they have, once every ten or twelve years, such prodigious storms and tempests as are almost incredible, except to such as have seen them, neither do they know with any certainty on what years they may be expected, but unfortunate are they who happen to be at sea when this tempest or tyffon takes place, as few escape the dreadful danger. In this year it was our evil fortune to be at sea in one of these terrible storms; and well it was for us that our ship was newly over-planked, and had no loading save victuals and ballast, with some gold and silver for Bengal, as no other merchandise is carried to Bengal from Pegu. The tyffon accordingly assailed us and lasted three days, carrying away our sails, yards, and rudder; and as the ship laboured excessively, we cut away our mast, yet she continued to labour more heavily than before, so that the sea broke over her every moment, and almost filled her with water. For the space of three days and three nights, sixty men who were on board did nothing else than bale out the water continually, twenty at one place, twenty in another, and twenty at a third place; yet during all this storm so good was the hull of our ship that she took not in a single drop of water at her sides or bottom, all coming in at the hatches. Thus driving about at the mercy of the winds and waves, we were during the darkness of the third night at about four o'clock after sunset cast upon a shoal. When day appeared next morning we could see no land on any side of us, so that we knew not where we were. It pleased the divine goodness that a great wave of the sea came and floated us off from the shoal into deep water, upon which we all felt as men reprieved from immediate death, as the sea was calm and the water smooth. Casting the lead we found twelve fathoms water, and bye and bye we had only six fathoms, when we let go a small anchor which still hung at the stern, all the others having been lost during the storm. Our anchor parted next night, and our ship again grounded, when we shored her up the best we could, to prevent her from over-setting at the side of ebb.