Volume 1 / Part 1 — CHAPTER IV. (continued 2)

Before the late commotions, the good order observed in the administration of justice, and the majesty of their tribunals, were very admirable. To fill these, the Chinese chose men who were perfectly versant in the laws; men of sincerity, and zealous in the cause of justice, who were not to be biassed by the interference of the great, and who always administered the laws with impartiality, neither oppressing the poor, nor accepting bribes from the rich. When any one was to be promoted to the office of principal judge, he was previously sent to all the chief cities of the empire, to remain a month or two in each, inquiring minutely into the various customs and affairs of the people, and informing himself of all such persons as were worthy of being credited in their testimony, that his judgment might be regulated in the future discharge of his high office by this preliminary knowledge. After going through all the cities in this manner, and making some stay in those which are most considerable, he repaired to the imperial court, and was invested with the dignity of supreme judge. To him the nomination of all the other judges was confided, after acquainting the emperor with the names of all who, in his estimation, were most worthy of exercising jurisdiction in the various cities and provinces. Every day, the supreme judge causes proclamation to be made, that of any man has been wronged by the viceroy or governor, or by any of his relations or officers, or any other person, he shall receive ample justice. A viceroy or governor is never degraded, except by letters issued from the council, or divan of kings, and this is done only for some flagrant malversation, or for the refusal or delay of justice. The posts of judicature being conferred upon none but men of probity and justice, good order is efectually maintained.

The province of Chorassan is almost on the borders of China. From China to Sogd is about two months journey, through impracticable deserts of sand, where there is no water; for which reason the Chorassanians can make no irruptions into China. The most westerly province of China is Medu, which borders on Thibet, and the two nations are often at war. A person who had been in China, informed us, that he had seen a man at Canfu, who had traveled from Samare, all the way on foot, through all the cities in China, with a vessel of musk on his back for sale; which he might easily do, as the part of Thibet, which produces musk, is contiguous to China. The Chinese carry off as many of the animals which produce musk as they can procure; but the musk of Thibet is far better than that of China, because the animal feeds on aromatic plants in the mountains of Thibet, while in China it has to subsist upon the ordinary pastures; and because the inhabitants of Thibet preserve their cods of musk in its natural state of purity, while the Chinese adulterate all that gets into their hands; for which reason the musk of Thibet is in great request among the Arabs. The most exquisite of all the sorts of musk, is that which the musk animals leave behind them, in rubbing themselves on the rocks of their native mountains. The humour whence the musk is generated, falls down towards the navel of the animal, where it gathers into tumors like grumous blood; and when this tumor is ripe, it produces a painful itching, on which the animal rubs himself against rocks or stones till he bursts the tumor, and the contents run out and coagulate on the stone; after which, the wound heals, and the humour gathers again as before. There are men in Thibet who make it their business to collect this species of musk, which they preserve in bladders, and which, having ripened, naturally surpasses all others in goodness, just as ripe fruit exceeds in flavour that which is pulled green. There is another way of procuring musk, either by ensnaring the animals, or shooting them with arrows; but the hunters often cut out the bags before the musk is ripe or fully elaborated, in which case, the musk at first has a bad scent, till the humour thickens, after which it turns to good musk, though this sometimes takes a long while. The musk animal is like our roebuck, his skin and colour the same, with slender legs, and smooth slightly bent horns; having on each side two small white teeth, about half a finger-length, which rise about his muzzle, not much unlike the form of the teeth of the elephant, and by which he is distinguished from other roebucks.

The letters from the emperor of China, to the viceroys, governors, eunuchs, and lieutenants, are conveyed on post-horses, which are distinguished by cut tails, and these are disposed at regular stations, all over the empire, almost like the posts among the Arabs. In China, every man, from the emperor to the meanest of the people, makes water standing [8]; and for this purpose, persons of dignity have gilded hollow canes, a cubit long, to convey their water to a distance. They are of opinion, that pains in the kidneys, strangury, and even the stone, are occasioned by urining in a sitting posture, as the reins cannot free themselves absolutely from evil humours, except by evacuating in an erect position. They do not mould the heads of new born infants into a round form as we do, as they allege that this practice injures the brain, and impairs the senses. They suffer their hair to grow, which is carefully combed. The nation is divided into tribes, like those of the Arabs and some others, and no man ever marries in his own tribe: just as the children of Thummim among the Arabs never take a wife from that tribe. Or, for example, a man of the tribe of Robayat marries a daughter of the tribe Modzar, and a Modzar marries a Robayat; and they are of opinion, that such alliances add to the dignity and power of their children.

[8] This alludes to the custom of the Arabs, and other orientals, to squat upon this occasion.--E.

In the kingdom of the Balhara, and all the other kingdoms of the Indies, there are men who burn themselves in consequence of their belief in the doctrine of transmigration. When a man has come to this resolution, he asks leave of the king, which being obtained, he goes in procession round all the public squares of the city, and proceeds to the place appointed, where a pile of dry wood is ready for the purpose, having many persons all round to feed the fire, which blazes prodigiously. At last the person comes forward, preceded by a number of instruments, and moves round the pile in the midst of his friends and relations. During this ceremony, some person places on his head a garland of straw, or dry herbs, filled with burning coals, on which they pour sandrach, which takes fire as strongly as naphtha; notwithstanding of which, he continues his progress without betraying any sense of pain, or change of countenance, though the crown of his head be all on fire, and the stench of his burning flesh is felt all round. At length, he comes up to the pile, and throws himself in, where he is soon reduced to ashes. A credible person says, he once saw an Indian burn himself; and when he came near the pile, he drew out a cangiar, or sharp knife, with which he ripped himself open, and pulling out the lap of his liver with his left hand, cut off a piece of it with his cangiar, and gave it to one of his brothers, talking all the time with the most invincible contempt of death and torture, and at length leaped into the fire, in his passage to hell.

At the accession of some kings of the Indies, the following ceremony is observed: A large quantity of rice is dressed and spread out upon leaves of mousa, in presence of the king. Then three or four hundred persons come, of their own accord, without any constraint whatever; and after the king has eaten of the rice, he gives some of it to all that come forwards in succession, which they eat in his presence; and by this ceremony, they engage to burn themselves on the day when this king dies or is slain, and they punctually fulfil their promise.

In the mountainous parts of India, there are tribes who differ little from those we call Kanisians and Jelidians and who are addicted to all manner of superstition and vice; between whom, and the inhabitants of the people on the coast, there subsists great emulation, each daring the others to imitate them in the performance of strange superstitious tortures. There once came a man from the mountains on this errand, who gathered a multitude of the inhabitants of the coast to the following strange exhibition, daring them to imitate him, or otherwise to acknowledge themselves overcome. He sat down in a place planted with canes, and caused a strong one to be forcibly bent down, to which he strongly fastened the hairs of his head. "Now," said he, "I am going to cut off my own head with this cangiar; and as soon as it is severed from my body, let go the cane, and when my head flies up into the air, I will laugh, and you shall hear me." But the people of the coast had not courage to imitate him[9]. The person who related this, did it without emotion or wonder; and in our times, these facts are generally known, as this part of the Indies is in the neighbourhood of the country of the Arabs, and we hear from thence every day.

[9] It is presumable, that this was a mere bravado, in the full confidence that no one would be found sufficiently foolhardy to engage to follow the example. It is needless to say, that the promise of laughing aloud could not have been performed; so that any one might have safely accepted the challenge, conditioning for the full performance of the vaunt.--E.

In the Indies, they burn their dead; and it is customary for men and women to desire their families to throw them into the fire or to drown them, when they are grown old, or perceive themselves to sink under the pressure of disease, firmly believing that they are to return into other bodies. It has often happened, in the isle of Serendib, where there is a mine of precious stones in a mountain, a pearl-fishery, and other extraordinary things, that an Indian would come into the bazar or market-place, armed with a kris, and seize upon the most wealthy merchant there present, leading him out of the market, through a throng of people, holding the kris to his throat, while no one dared to attempt his rescue, as the Indian was sure, in such a case, to kill the merchant, and make away with himself; and when he had got the merchant out of the city, the Indian obliged him to redeem his life with a sum of money. To put an end to such outrages, an order was issued to seize such trespassers; but on attempting to execute this order, several merchants were killed, both Arabs and Indians, and the order was obliged to be repealed. In the mountains of Serendib, precious stones are found of various colours, red, green, and yellow[10], most of which are washed from caverns or crevices, by rains and torrents. In these places, the king has officers to watch over the people who gather the precious stones. In some places, these are dug out of mines, like the ores of metals, and the rock has often to be broken to come at the precious stones which it contains. The king of Serendib makes laws concerning the religion and government of the country; and there are assemblies held of doctors and learned men, like those of Hadithis among the Arabs, to which the Indians repair, and write down what they hear of the lives of their prophets, and the expositions of their laws. In this island, there are temples in which great sums of money are expended on incense; and in one of these temples, there is a great idol all of pure gold, but concerning the weight of which travellers are not agreed. In the same island, there are great numbers of Jews, and persons of many other sects, even Tanouis, and Manichees, the kings permitting the free exercise of every religion. At the end of the island are vallies of great extent, extending quite to the sea, called Gab Serendib, of extreme beauty, and chequered with groves and plains, water and meads, and blessed with a wholesome air. A sheep may be there bought for half a dram, and for the same as much of their drink, made of palm-honey, boiled and prepared with tari, or toddi, as will suffice for many persons. The inhabitants are much addicted to gaming, particularly draughts. Their other principal diversion is cock-fighting, their cocks being very large, and better provided with spurs than ordinary; and besides this, the Indians arm them with blades of iron, in the form of cangiars or daggers. On these combats, they bet gold and silver, lands or farms; and they game with such fury, that debauchees, and desperate people, often stake the ends of their fingers, when their other property is exhausted. While at play for this extraordinary stake, they have a fire by them, on which a small pot of walnut oil, or oil of sesamum, is kept boiling; and when one has won a game, he chops off the end of the loser's finger, who immediately dips the stump into the boiling oil, to stem the blood; and some will persist so obstinately, as to have all their fingers thus mutilated. Some even will take a burning wick, and apply it to some member, till the scent of the burnt flesh is felt all around, while the stoic continues to play, without betraying the least sense of pain. Both men and women are so exceedingly addicted to debauchery, that a foreign merchant has been known to send even for a king's daughter, to attend him at the fishing grounds, in quality of mistress; wherefore the Mahomedan doctors at Siraff, strictly warn young people not to go there.

[10] Rubies, emeralds, and topazes.--E.

In the Indies there are heavy rains, called jasara, which last incessantly day and night, for three months every year. The Indians prepare against these to the best of their power, as they shut themselves up in their houses during the whole time, all work being then performed within doors; and during this time, they are subject to ulcers in the soles of their feet, occasioned by the damps. Yet, these rains are of indispensable necessity; as, when they fail, the Indians are reduced to the utmost want, as their rice fields are watered only by the rains. It never rains during summer. The Indians have doctors, or devout men, named Bramins. They have poets also, who compose poems filled with the grossest flattery to their kings and great men. They have also astrologers, philosophers, soothsayers, men who observe the flight of birds, and others who pretend to the calculation of nativities, particularly at Kaduge, a great city in the kingdom of Gozar[11]. There are certain men called Bicar, who go all their lives naked, and suffer their hair to grow till it hides their hinder parts. They also allow their nails to grow, till they become pointed and sharp like swords. Each has a string round his neck, to which hangs an earthen dish, and when hungry, they go to any house, whence the inhabitants cheerfully supply them with boiled rice. They have many laws and religious precepts, by which they imagine that they please God. Part of their devotion consists in building kans, or inns, on the highways, for the accommodation of travellers; where also certain pedlars, or small dealers, are established, from whom the passengers may purchase what they stand in need of. There are also public women, who expose themselves to travellers. Some of these are called women of the idol, the origin of which institution is this: When a woman has laid herself under a vow, that she may have children, if she happens to produce a handsome daughter, she carries her child to the bod[12], so the idol is called. When this girl has attained the proper age, she takes an apartment in the temple, and waits the arrival of strangers, to whom she prostitutes herself for a certain hire, and delivers her gains to the priest for the support of the temple. All these things they reckon among their meritorious deeds. Praised be God who hath freed us from the sins which defile the people involved in unbelief!

[11] Obviously Canoge, in Bengal.--E.

[12] Buddah, the principal god of an extensive sect, now chiefly confined to Ceylon, and India beyond the Ganges.--E.

Not very far from Almansur there is a famous idol called Multan, to which the Indians resort in pilgrimage, from the remotest parts. Some of the pilgrims bring the odoriferous wood called Hud ul Camruni, so called from Camrun, where there is excellent aloes-wood. Some of this is worth 200 dinars the mawn, and is commonly marked with a seal, to distinguish it from another kind of less value. This the devotees give to the priests, that it may be burnt before the idol, but merchants often buy it from these priests. There are some Indians, making profession of piety, who go in search of unknown islands, or those newly discovered, on purpose to plant cocoa nut trees, and to sink wells for the use of ships. There are people at Oman who cross to these islands that produce the cocoa nut trees, of planks made from which they build ships, sewing the planks with yarns made from the bark of the tree. The mast is made of the same wood, the sails are formed from the leaves, and the bark is worked up into cordage: and having thus completed their vessel, they load her with cocoa nuts, which they bring to Oman for sale.

The country of the Zinges, or Negroes, is of vast extent[13]. These people commonly sow millet, which is the chief food of the negroes. They have also sugar-canes and other trees, but their sugar is very black. The negroes are divided among a great number of kings, who are eternally at war with each other. Their kings are attended by certain men called Moharamin, each of whom has a ring in his nose, and a chain round his neck. When about to join battle with the enemy, each of the Moharamin takes the end of his neighbour's chain and passes it through the ring in his own nose, by which the whole are chained together, so that no one can possibly run away. Deputies are then sent to endeavour to make peace, and if that is done, the chains are unfastened, and they retire without fighting. But otherwise, when once the sword is unsheathed, every one of these men must conquer or die on the spot[14].

[13] The author makes here an abrupt transition to the eastern coast of Africa, and calls it the country of the Zinges; congeneric with the country of Zanguebar, and including Azania, Ajen, and Adel, on the north; and Inhambane, Sabia, Sofala, Mocaranga, Mozambique, and Querimba, to the south; all known to, and frequented by the Arabs.--E.

[14] This incredible story may have originated from an ill-told account of the war bulls of the Caffres, exaggerated into fable, after the usual manner of the Arabs, always fond of the marvellous.--E.

These people have a profound veneration for the Arabs; and when they meet any one, they fall down before him, saying, "This man comes from the land of dates," of which they are very fond. They have preachers among them, who harangue with wonderful ability and perseverance. Some of these profess a religious life, and are covered with the skins of leopards or apes. One of these men will gather a multitude of people, to whom he will preach all day long concerning God, or about the actions of their ancestors. From this country they bring the leopards skins, called Zingiet, which are very large and broad, and ornamented with red and black spots.

In this sea is the island of Socotra, whence come the best aloes. This island is near the land of the Zinges, or Negroes, and is likewise near Arabia; and most of its inhabitants are Christians, which is thus accounted for: When Alexander had subdued the empire of Persia, his preceptor, Aristotle, desired him to search out the island of Socotra, which afforded aloes, and without which the famous medicine Hiera[15] could not be compounded; desiring him likewise to remove the natives and to plant there a colony of Greeks, who might supply Syria, Greece, and Egypt with aloes. This was done accordingly; and when God sent Jesus Christ into the world, the Greeks of this isle embraced the Christian faith, like the rest of their nation, and have persevered in it to this day, like all the other inhabitants of the islands[16].

[15] It is somewhat singular to find this ancient Arabian author mentioning the first word of the famous Hiera Picra, or Holy Powder; a compound stomachic purge of aloes and spices, probably combined by the ancients with many other ingredients, as it is by the moderns with rhubarb, though now only given in tincture or solution with wine or spirits. The story of Alexander rests only on its own Arabian basis.--E.

[16] Meaning, doubtless, the isles of the Mediterranean.--E.

In the first book, no mention is made of the sea which stretches away to the right, as ships depart from Oman and the coast of Arabia, to launch out into the great sea: and the author describes only the sea on the left hand, in which are comprehended the seas of India and China. In this sea, to the right as you leave Oman, is the country of Sihar or Shihr, where frankincense grows, and other countries possessed by the nations of Ad, Hamyar, Jorham, and Thabatcha, who have the Sonna, in Arabic of very ancient date, but differing in many things from what is in the hands of the Arabs, and containing many traditions unknown to us. They have no villages, and live a very hard and miserably wandering life; but their country extends almost as far as Aden and Judda on the coast of Yaman, or Arabia the happy. From Judda, it stretches up into the continent, as far as the coast of Syria, and ends at Kolzum. The sea at this place is divided by a slip of land, which God hath fixed as a line of separation between the two seas[17]. From Kolzum the sea stretches along the coast of the Barbarians, to the west coast, which is opposite to Yaman, and then along the coast of Ethiopia, from whence we have the leopard skins of Barbary[18], which are the best of all, and the most skilfully dressed; and lastly, along the coast of Zeilah, whence come excellent amber and tortoiseshell.

[17] Referring, obviously, to the Isthmus of Suez.--E.

[18] This does not refer to the coast of Barbary in the Mediterranean, but must mean the coast of the barbarian Arabs or Bedouins.--E.

When the Siraff ships arrive in the Red Sea, they go no farther than Judda, whence their cargo is transported to Cairo, or Kahira by ships of Kolsum, the pilots of which are acquainted with the navigation of the upper end of this sea, which is full of rocks up to the water's edge; because, also, along the coast there are no kings[19], and scarcely any inhabitants; and because, every night ships are obliged to put into some place for safety, for fear of striking on the rocks, or must ride all night at anchor, sailing only in the day-time. This sea is likewise subject to very thick fogs, and to violent gales of wind, and is therefore of very dangerous navigation, and devoid of any safe or pleasant anchorage. It is not, like the seas of India and China, whose bottom is rich with pearls and ambergris; whose mountains are stored with gold, precious stones, and ivory; whose coasts produce ebony, redwood, aloes, camphor, nutmegs, cloves, sandal, and all other spices and aromatics; where parrots and peacocks are birds of the forest, and in which musk and civet are collected in abundance: so productive, in short, are these shores of articles of infinite variety, and inestimable value, that it were vain to endeavour to make any enumeration.

[19] This singular expression probably signifies that the inhabitants are without law or regular government.--E.

Ambergris is thrown upon this coast by the flux of the sea, but its origin is unknown. It is found on the coast of the Indies, but the best, which is of a bluish white, and in round lumps, is got upon the Barbarian coast: or on the confines of the land of the Negroes, towards Sihar and that neighbourhood. The inhabitants of that country have camels trained for the purpose, on which they ride along the shore in moonshine nights, and when the camels perceive a piece of amber, he bends his knees, on which the rider dismounts, and secures his prize. There is another kind which swims on the surface of the sea in great lumps, sometimes as big as the body of an ox, or somewhat less. When a certain fish, named Tal, of the whale tribe, sees these floating lumps, he swallows them, and is thereby killed; and when the people, who are accustomed to this fishery, see a whale floating on the surface, they know that this whale has swallowed ambergris, and going out in their boats, they dart their harpoons into its body, and tow it on shore, and split the animal down the back, to get out the ambergris. What is found about the belly of the whale is commonly spoiled by the wet, and has an unpleasant scent; but the ambergris which is not contaminated by the ordure in the belly of the whale, is perfectly good[20].

[20] This curious account of the origin of ambergris, was revived again about twenty-five years ago, and published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, as a new discovery. The only difference in the modern account of the matter is, that the ambergris originates within the alimentary canal of the whale, in consequence, probably, of some disease; and that the lumps which are found afloat, or cast on shore, had been extruded by these animals.--E.

It is not unusual to employ the vertebrae of this species of whale as stools; and it is said, there are many houses in the village of Tain, ten leagues from Siraff, in which the lintels of the doors are made of whale ribs. An eye-witness told me that he went to see a whale which had been cast ashore, near Siraff, and found the people mounting on its back by means of ladders; that they dug pits in different parts of his body, and when the sun had melted the grease into oil, they collected this, and sold it to the masters of ships, who mixed it up with some other matter, used by seamen for the purpose of serving the bottoms of their vessels, and securing the seams of the planks, to prevent or to stop leaks. This whale-oil sells for a great deal of money; and the bones of the whale are sold by the druggists of Bagdat and Bassora.

The pearl oyster is at first a small thin tender substance, resembling the leaves of the plant called Anjedana, and swims on the surface of the sea, where it sticks to the sides of ships under water. It there hardens, grows larger, and becomes covered by a shell; after which, it becomes heavy, and falls to the bottom of the sea, where it subsists, and grows in a way of which we are ignorant. The included animal resembles a piece of red flesh, or like the tongue of an animal towards the root, having no bones, veins, or sinews. One opinion of the production of pearls in this shell-fish is, that the oyster rises to the surface when it rains, and, by gaping, catches the drops of rain, which harden into pearls. The more likely opinion is, that the pearls are generated within the body of the oyster, for most of them are fixed, and not moveable. Such as are loose are called seed pearls.

An Arab came once to Bassora with a pearl of great value, which he shewed to a merchant, and was astonished when he got so large a sum for it as an hundred drams of silver; with which he purchased corn to carry back to his own country. But the merchant carried his acquisition to Bagdad, where he sold it for a large sum of money, by which he was afterwards enabled to extend his dealings to a great amount. The Arab gave the following account of the way in which he had found this large pearl: Going one day along the shore, near Saman, in the district of Bahrein[21], he saw a fox lying dead, with something hanging at his muzzle, which held him fast, which he discovered to be a white lucid shell, in which he found this pearl. He concluded that the oyster had been thrown ashore by a tempest, and lay with its shell open on the beach, when the fox, attracted by the smell, had thrust in his muzzle to get at the meat, on which the oyster closed its shell, and held him fast till he died: for it is a property of the oyster never to let go its hold, except forcibly opened, by thrusting in an iron instrument between the shells, carefully guarding its included pearl, as a mother preserves her child.

[21] Bahrein is an island in the Persian gulf, on the Arabian shore, still celebrated for its pearl fishery.--E.

The kings of the Indies wear ear-rings of gold, set with precious stones, and they wear collars of great value, adorned with gems of various colours, chiefly green and red; yet pearls are most esteemed, and their value surpasses that of all other jewels, and these they hoard up in their treasuries, with their most precious things. The grandees of their courts, their great officers, and the military commanders, wear similar jewels in their collars. Their dress is a kind of half vest, and they carry parasols made of peacocks feathers to shade them from the sun, and are surrounded by great trains of servants.

Among the Indians, there are certain people who never eat two out of the same dish or even at the same table, on account of some religious opinion. When these come to Siraf, and are invited by our considerable merchants, were there a hundred of them more or less, they must each have a separate dish, without the least communication with the rest. Their kings and principal persons have fresh tables made for them every day, with little dishes and plates wove of the cocoa nut leaf, out of which they eat their victuals. And when their meal is over, the table dishes and plates are all thrown into the water, together with the fragments of their food; so that they must have a fresh service for every meal.

To the Indies the merchants used formerly to carry the dinars, called sindiat, or gold coins of the Sind, which passed there for three of our dinars, or even more. Thither also were carried emeralds from Egypt, which were much used for setting in rings.