marcheth, many of them goe before him, and the rest come after him. They are of the race of the Chingalayes, which they say are the best kinde of all the Malabars. Their eares are very large; for the greater they are, the more honourable they are accounted. Some of them are a spanne long. The wood which they burne is Cinamom wood, and it smelleth very sweet. There is great store of rubies, saphires, and spinelles in this Iland: the best kinde of all be here; but the king will not suffer the inhabitants to digge for them, lest his enemies should know of them, and make warres against him, and so drive him out of his countrey for them. They have no horses in all the countrey. The elephants be not so great as those of Pegu, which be monstrous huge: but they say all other elephants do feare them, and none dare fight with them, though they be very small. Their women have a cloth bound about them from their middle to their knee: and all the rest is bare. All of them be blacke and but little, both men and women. Their houses are very little, made of the branches of the palmer or coco-tree, and covered with the leaves of the same tree.

The eleventh of March we sailed from Ceylon, and so doubled the cape of Comori. Not far from thence, betweene Ceylon and the maine land of Negapatan, they fish for pearles. And there is fished every yere very much; which doth serve all India, Cambaia, and Bengala, it is not so orient as the pearle of Baharim in the gulfe of Persia. From cape de Comori we passed by Coulam, which is a fort of the Portugals: from whence commeth great store of pepper, which commeth for Portugall: for oftentimes there ladeth one of the caracks of Portugall. Thus passing the coast we arrived in Cochin the 22 of March, where we found the weather warme, but scarsity of victuals for here groweth neither corne nor rice: and the greatest part commeth from Bengala. They have here very bad water, for the river is farre off. This bad water causeth many of the people to be like lepers, and many of them have their legs swollen as bigge as a man in the waste, & many of them are scant able to go. These people here be Malabars, and of the race of the Naires of Calicut: and they differ much from the other Malabars. These have their heads very full of haire, and bound up with a string: and there doth appeare a bush without the band wherewith it is bound. The men be

tall and strong, and good archers with a long bow and a long arrow, which is their best weapon: yet there be some calivers among them, but they handle them badly.

Heere groweth the pepper; and it springeth up by a tree or a pole, and is like our ivy berry, but something longer like the wheat eare: and at the first the bunches are greene, and as they waxe ripe they cut them off and dry them. The leafe is much lesser then the ivy leafe and thinner. All the inhabitants here have very little houses covered with the leaves of the coco-trees. The men be of a reasonable stature; the women litle; all blacke, with a cloth bound about their middle hanging downe to their hammes all the rest of their bodies be naked: they have horrible great eares with many rings set with pearles and stones in them. The king goeth incached, as they do all; he doth not remaine in a place above five or sixe dayes: he hath many houses, but they be but litle his guard is but small: he remooveth from one house to another according to their order. All the pepper of Calicut and course cinamom groweth here in this countrey. The best cinamom doth come from Ceylon, and is pilled from fine yoong trees. Here are very many palmer or coco trees, which is their chiefe food for it is their meat and drinke: and yeeldeth many other necessary things, as I have declared before.

The Naires which be under the king of Samorin, which be Malabars, have alwayes wars with the Portugals. The king hath alwayes peace with them; but his people goe to the sea to robbe & steale. Their chiefe captaine is called Cogi Alli; he hath three castles under him. When the Portugals complaine to the king, he sayth he doth not send them out: but he consenteth that they go. They range all the coast from Ceylon to Goa, and go by foure or five parowes or boats together; and have in every one of them fifty or threescore men, and boord presently. They do much harme on that coast, and take every yere many foists and boats of the Portugals. Many of these people be Moores. This kings countrey beginneth twelve leagues from Cochin, and reacheth neere unto Goa. I remained in Cochin untill the second of November, which was eight moneths; for that there was no passage that went away in all that time: if I had come two dayes sooner I had found a passage presently. From Cochin I went to Goa, where I remained three dayes. From

Cochin to Goa is an hundred leagues. From Goa I went to Chaul, which is threescore leagues, where I remained three and twenty dayes: and there making my provision of things necessary for the shippe, from thence I departed to Ormus; where I stayed for a passage to Balsara fifty dayes. From Goa to Ormus is foure hundred leagues.

Here I thought good, before I make an end of this my booke, to declare some things which India and the countrey farther Eastward do bring forth.

The pepper groweth in many parts of India, especially about Cochin and much of it doeth grow in the fields among the bushes without any labour and when it is ripe they go and gather it. The shrubbe is like unto our ivy tree and if it did not run about some tree or pole, it would fall downe and rot. When they first gather it, it is greene; and then they lay it in the Sun, and it becommeth blacke.

The ginger groweth like unto our garlike, and the root is the ginger: it is to be found in many parts of India.

The cloves doe come from the Iles of the Moluccoes, which be divers Ilands: their tree is like to our bay

tree.

The nutmegs and maces grow together, and come from the Ile of Banda: the tree is like to our walnut tree, but somewhat lesser.

The white sandol is wood very sweet & in great request among the Indians; for they grinde it with a litle water, and anoynt their bodies therewith: it commeth from the Isle of Timor.

Camphora is a precious thing among the Indians, and is solde dearer then golde. I thinke none of it commeth for Christendome. That which is compounded commeth from China: but that which groweth in canes and is the best, commeth from the great Isle of Borneo.

Lignum Aloes commeth from Cauchinchina.

The benjamin commeth out of the countreys of Siam and Jangomes.

The long pepper groweth in Bengala, in Pegu, and in the Ilands of the Javas.

The muske commeth out of Tartarie, and is made after this order, by report of the marchants which bring it to Pegu to sell; In Tartarie there is a little beast like unto

a yong roe, which they take in snares, and beat him to death with the blood: after that they cut out the bones, and beat the flesh with the blood very small, and fill the skin with it and hereof commeth the muske.

Of the amber they holde divers opinions; but most men say it commeth out of the sea, and that they finde it upon the shores side.

The rubies, saphires, and spinelles are found in Pegu.

The diamants are found in divers places, as in Bisnagar, in Agra, in Delli, and in the Ilands of the Javas.

The best pearles come from the Iland of Baharim in the Persian sea, the woorser from the Piscaria neere the Isle of Ceylon, and from Aynam a great Iland on the Southermost coast of China.

Spodium and many other kindes of drugs come from Cambaia.

Now to returne to my voyage; from Ormus I went to Balsara or Basora, and from Basora to Babylon: and we passed the most part of the way by the strength of men by halling the boat up the river with a long cord. From Babylon I came by land to Mosul, which standeth nere to Ninive, which is all ruinated and destroyed; it standeth fast by the river of Tigris. From Mosul I went to Merdin, which is in the countrey of the Armenians; but now there dwell in that place a people which they call Cordies, or Curdi. From Merdin I went to Orfa, which is a very faire towne, and it hath a goodly fountaine ful of fish; where the Moores hold many great ceremonies and opinions concerning Abraham; for they say he did once dwell there. From thence I went to Bir, & so passed the river of Euphrates. From Bir I went to Aleppo, where I stayed certaine moneths for company; and then I went to Tripolis; where finding English shipping, I came with a prosperous voyage to London, where by Gods assistance I safely arrived the 29 of April 1591, having bene eight yeeres out of my native countrey.

The report of John Huighen van Linschoten concerning M.Newberies and M. Fitches imprisonment, and of their escape, which happened while he was in Goa.

IN the moneth of December, Anno 1583, there arrived in the towne and Iland of Ormus foure English men,

which came from Aleppo in the countrey of Syria, having sailed out of England, & passed thorow the straights of Gibraltar to Tripoli a towne and haven lying on the coast of Syria, where all the ships discharge their wares & marchandises, & from thence are caried by land unto Aleppo, which is nine dayes journy. In Aleppo there are resident divers marchants & factours of all nations, as Italians, French men, English men, Armenians, Turks and Moores, every man having his religion apart, paying tribute unto the great Turke. In that towne there is great traffique, for that from thence every yeere twise, there travell two Caffyls, that is, companies of people and camels, which travell unto India, Persia, Arabia, and all the countreys bordering on the same, and deale in all sorts of marchandise, both to and from those countreys, as I in another place have already declared. Three of the sayd English men aforesayd, were sent by the company of English men that are resident in Aleppo, to see if in Ormus they might keepe any factours, and so traffique in that place, like as also the Italians do, that is to say, the Venetians which in Ormus, Goa, and Malacca have their factours, and traffique there, aswell for stones and pearles, as for other wares and spices of those countreys, which from thence are caried over land into Venice. One of these English men had bene once before in the sayd towne of Ormus, and there had taken good information of the trade, and upon his advise and advertisement, the other were as then come thither with him, bringing great store of marchandises with them, as Clothes, Saffron, all kindes of drinking glasses, and Haberdashers wares, as looking glasses, knives, and such like stuffe and to conclude, brought with them all kinde of small wares that may be devised. And although those wares amounted unto great summes of money, notwithstanding it was but onely a shadow or colour, thereby to give no occasion to be mistrusted, or seene into: for that their principall intent was to buy great quantities of precious stones, as Diamants, Pearles, Rubies, &c. to the which end they brought with them a great summe of money and golde, and that very secretly, not to be deceived or robbed thereof, or to runne into any danger for the same. They being thus arrived in Ormus, hired a shoppe, and beganne to sell their wares: which the Italians perceiving, whose factours continue there (as I