Note 6 — XX

“The Bisayans cover their teeth with a shining varnish, which is either black, or of the color of fire, and thus their teeth become either black, or red like cinnabar; and they make a small hole in the upper row, which they fill with gold, the latter shining all the more on the black or red ground.”—(Thévenot, Religieux, 54.) Of a king of Mindanao, visited by Magellan at Massana, it is written:—“In every tooth he had three machie (spots?) of gold, so that they had the appearance of being tied together with gold;” which Ramusio interprets—“On each finger he had three rings of gold.”—Pigafetta, p. 66; and compare also Carletti, Voyages, i. 153.