Note 97 — A JOURNAL OF THE FIRST VOYAGE OF VASCO DA GAMA IN 1497-99.
Ernest Georg Ravenstein translation
Tamiça, lit. “spatry-cord”, popularly known as coir-rope. These “sewn boats” were already in use when the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea was written, and the town of Rhapta (from [Greek: rhaptein], to sew) derived its name from them. (See McCrindle, The Commerce and Navigation of the Erythrean Sea, p. 71).