will produce from one hundred to two hundred of these nuts, the outer part of which is taken off and used as firewood. And then, next to the second bark, there is taken off a certain substance like cotton or linen flax, and this is given to workmen to beat, and from the flower, stuffs which appear like silken stuffs are made. And the coarse part they spin, and make of it small cords, and of the small they make large cords, and these they use for the sea. Of the other bark of the said nut excellent charcoal is made. After the second bark the nut is good to eat. The size of the said fruit is [at first] that of the little finger of the hand. When the said nut begins to grow, water begins to be produced within; and when the nut has arrived at perfection, it is full of water, so that there are some nuts which will contain four and five goblets of water, which water is a most excellent thing to drink, and is also like rose-water, and extremely sweet. Most excellent oil is made from the said nut, and thus you have eight utilities from it. Another branch of the said tree they do not allow to produce nuts, but they cut it in the middle and give it a certain inclination; and in the morning and evening they make an opening with a knife, and then they apply a certain fluid and that fluid draws out a certain juice. And these men set a pot underneath and collect that juice, of which one tree will produce as much as half a jug between the day and the night. This they place over the fire and boil it one, two, and three times, so that it appears like brandy, and will affect a man's head by merely smelling it, to say nothing of drinking it. This is the wine which is drunk in these countries. From another branch of the said tree they produce in a similar manner this juice, and convert it into sugar by means of fire; but it is not very good. The said tree always has fruit either green or dry, and it produces fruit in five years. These trees are found over two hundred miles of country, and all have owners. As to the goodness of this tree, when

the kings are at enmity one with another, and kill each other's children, they nevertheless sometimes make peace. But if one king cut down any of these trees belonging to another king, peace will never be granted to all eternity.1 You must know that the said tree lives for twenty or five and twenty years, and grows in sandy places. And when these nuts are planted to produce these trees, and until they begin to germinate, or that the tree begins to grow from them, it is necessary that the men who plant them should go every evening to uncover them, in order that the cool night air may blow over them; and early in the morning they return to cover them up, in order that the sun may not find them thus uncovered. And in this manner does this tree generate and grow. In this country of Calicut, there is found a great quantity of zerzalino, from which they make very excellent oil.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING THE PRACTICE THEY FOLLOW IN SOWING RICE.

The men of Calicut, when they wish to sow rice, observe this practice. First, they plough the land with oxen as we do, and when they sow the rice in the field they have all the instruments of the city continually sounding and making merry. They also have ten or twelve men clothed like

1 The Israelites were expressly forbidden to cut down food-bearing trees even in an enemy's country. (Deut. xx. 19.) To injure trees, according to Manu, was an offence proportioned to the value of the tree. (viii. 285.) Quintus Curtius was correct when he said of the ancient Hindus that they deified certain trees, which it was a capital crime to destroy. (Lib. viii. cap. 9.) "The ficus religiosa, and other trees, are never injured by the Hindus. Ward mentions a tree which was so much reverenced that not even its withered branches were permitted to be cut." Bombay Quarterly Magazine, October 1850.

2 Sesame, see note 2, p. 86 ante.

devils, and these unite in making great rejoicing with the players on the instruments, in order that the devil may make that rice very productive.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING THE PHYSICIANS WHO VISIT THE SICK IN CALICUT.

When a merchant, that is, a Pagan, is sick and in great danger, the abovementioned instruments and the aforesaid men dressed like devils go to visit the sick man ; and they go at two or three o'clock in the morning; and the said men so dressed carry fire in their mouths; and in each of their hands and on their feet they wear two crutches of wood, which are one pace (passo) high, and in this manner they go shouting and sounding the instruments, so that truly if the person were not ill, he would fall to the ground from terror at seeing these ugly beasts. And these are the physicians who go to see and to visit the sick man. And although they should fill the stomach full up to the mouth, they pound three roots of ginger and make a cup of juice, and this they drink, and in three days they no longer have any illness, so that they live exactly like beasts.1

Hindus generally attribute all disease to malignant spiritual agency, which must be either propitiated or exorcised; and although this notion does not wholly prevent their seeking relief from dietetics and physic, their chief reliance, nevertheless, is placed on medical thaumaturgy. The practitioners are men of low caste, who pretend to effect great cures by amulets, philtres, and various incantations, not unfrequently associated with a noisy display similar to that above described by Varthema. Buchanan mentions a tribe of Telinga origin, called the Pacanet Joghis, which is scattered over the peninsula, whose business consists in collecting and exhibiting the plants used in medicine. He says: "Their virtuous men, after death, are supposed to become a kind of gods, and frequently to inspire the living, which makes them speak incoherently, and enables them to foretel the event of diseases ;" and then adds: "Medicine in this country has, indeed, fallen into the hands of charlatans equally impudent and ignorant." (PINKERTON's Voyages, vol. viii.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING THE BANKERS AND MONEY-CHANGERS.

The money-changers and bankers of Calicut have some weights, that is, balances, which are so small that the box in which they stand and the weights together do not weigh half an ounce; and they are so true that they will turn by a hair of the head. And when they wish to test any piece of gold, they have carats of gold as we have; and they have the touchstone like us. And they test after our manner. When the touchstone is full of gold, they have a ball, of a certain composition which resembles wax, and with this ball, when they wish to see if the gold be good or poor, they press on the touchstone and take away some gold from the said touchstone, and then they see in the ball the goodness of the gold, and they say: "Idu mannu, Idu aga," that is, "this is good, and this is poor." And when that ball is full of gold they melt it, and take out all the gold which they have tested by the touchstone. The said money-changers are extremely acute in their business. The merchants have this custom when they wish to sell or to purchase their merchandise, that is, wholesale:-They always sell by the hands of the Cortor or of the Lella,1 that is, of the broker. And when the purchaser and the seller wish to make an agreement, they all stand in a circle, and the Cortor takes a cloth and holds it there openly with one hand, and with the other hand he takes the right hand of the seller, that is, the two fingers next to the thumb, and then he covers with the said cloth his hand and that of the seller, and touching each other with these two fingers, they count from one ducat up

p. 669.) For some valuable remarks on Medical Thaumaturgy in India, see the Bombay Quarterly Magazine for October 1850, and FORBES'S Chapter on Bhoots, Râs Mâlâ, vol. ii. pp. 379-400.

1 Cortor is probably a contraction of the Portuguese Mercador. Lella is doubtless a corruption of the Arabic Dallûl, a go-between, a broker.

to one hundred thousand secretly, without saying "I will have so much" or "so much." But in merely touching the joints of the fingers they understand the price and say: "Yes" or "No." And the Cortor answers "No" or "Yes." And when the Cortor has understood the will of the seller, he goes to the buyer with the said cloth, and takes his hand in the manner above mentioned, and by the said touching he tells him he wants so much. The buyer takes the finger of the Cortor, and by the said touches says to him: "I will give him so much." And in this manner they fix the price.

1 This method of transacting business prevails among the Arabs in the Red Sea and along the north-eastern coast of Arabia. Dr. Beke also noticed it at the market of Baso in Abyssinia, and describes it thus :"The principals or their brokers, seated on the ground, take each other's hand,—the hands being covered with their clothes so that they may not be seen, and then by a peculiar grasping or pressing of the fingers they make known the price which they are respectively willing to give or accept. A few examples will best explain this: Having first settled between themselves whether the price in question is to be in gold (ounces,) in silver (dollars,) or in salt (ámoles,) they then, if the price is in úmoles, for fifty grasp the whole five fingers; for forty, only four. For sixty they first grasp the whole five, and then say 'this,' and then, after a momentary pause, add 'and this,' accompanying the latter words with the pressure of one finger only. One hundred úmoles would be five fingers and then again five, or simply a single finger; 110, one finger alone, say 'this'-' and this,' and pressing it twice; 120 would, of course, be first one finger and then two. If the price is settled in silver or gold, then it will be two, three, or four fingers, according to their value; and subdivisions of the woklet [ounces] are made known by pressing the nail of the forefinger on the forefinger of the other party, the end joint being , the second joint or middle of the finger, and the middle of the first phalanx . As it mostly happens that several persons are interested,— or, if not so, at all events take part in the transaction as friends or advisers, its progress is communicated to them by the principals through their other hands, which are in like manner hidden under their clothes; and thus the price can be passed on in succession to an indefinite number of individuals, without its being once openly named. When any of these think the amount offered sufficient, they cry out 'sell, sell;' and should the conclusion of the bargain be long delayed, this cry is repeated, making a curious impression on a bystander, who may not happen to be aware what is going on." Letters on the Commerce and Politics of Abyssinia, p. 19.