Note 34 — Chapter VII

6. That is the kingdom where the men and women dress only in paper; and, since it is a material which does not last long, the women are continually working at it with great industry. The material consists of the bark of a small tree,34 which we saw there. They beat it out with a stone into curious patterns, and make it as they desire, coarse, fine, and most fine; and they dye it in all colors. Twenty paces away, these appear like fine camlets. Much of it is taken to Manila and Macao, where I saw excellent bed-curtains [made of it]; in cold weather they are as good as one can desire. In the rainy season, which is the great enemy of paper, the remedy applied by those people is to undress and put one’s clothes under one’s arm.