160 CRITICAL NOTICES OP NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



SO large that it schadewethe alle the bodye azen the sonne whanne 

 thei wole lye and reste them :" and here is a joyous gentleman repos- 

 ing in that comfortable position. 



Following our guide on his eastward " travaile," we find him de- 

 scribing the customes of the Yles abouten Ynde, the difference be- 

 twixt Ydoles and Symulacres, the 3 maner growing of Peper on o 

 tree, and the Welle that chaungethe his odour every hour of the day. 



" Symulacres," he affirms, " ben ymages made aftre lykenesse of men or 

 women, or of the sonne or of the mone, or of ony best, or of ony kyndely 

 thine; and Ydoles is an ymage made of lewed wille of man, that man may 

 not fiynden among kyndely things, as an ymage that hathe 4 heds, on of a 

 man, another of an hors, or of an ox, or of some other best that no man hathe 

 seyn aftre kyndely disposicioun." Jlegarding the vegetation and culture of 

 Pepper, '*zee schuUe undirstonde that the peper ^rowethe in maner as dothe a 

 wyide Vyne that is planted fast by the trees of that wode for to susteynen 

 it by. And the fruyt thereof hangethe in manere as reysynges, and the tre 

 is so thikke charged that it semethe that it wolde breke ; and whan it is ripe 

 it is alle grene as it were Ivy Beryes ; and than men kytten hem as men don 

 the vynes, and than thei putten it upon an ovven, and there it waxethe blak 

 and crisp. And there is 3 maner of peper alle upon o tre ; long peper, blak- 

 peper, and white peper. The long peper men clepen Sorbotyn, and the blak 

 peper is clept Fulfulle, and the white peper is clept Bano. The long peper 

 comethe first, whan the lef begynnethe to come, and it is lyche the chattes of 

 haselle that comethe before the lef, and it hangethe lowe. And aftre co- 

 methe the blak with the lef in manere of clusteres of resynges alle grene ; 

 and whan men ban gadred it than comethe the white that is somdelle lasse 

 than the blak : and of that, men bryngen but litille in to this contree." 



Like the " Holy Wells" of the West, our traveller's " Welle of 

 Zouthe" was marvellously salubrious. He thus defines its virtues : 



*' Near the cytee of Polombe is a grete montayne, and at the foot of that 

 mount is a fayr Welle and a gret, that hathe odour and savour of alle spices. 

 And at every hour of the day, he chaungethe his odour and his savour dy- 

 versely; and whoso drynkethe 3 tymes fasting of that watre of that Welle 

 he is hool of alle maner sykenesse that he hathe. And thei that duellen 

 there and drynken often of that Welle, thei nevere han sykenesse and thei 

 semen alle weys zonge. / have dronken there of 3 or 4 sithes, and zit me- 

 thinkethe I fare the better. Sum men clepen it the Welle of Zouthe, for thei 

 that often drynken there of semen alle weys zongly and leven with outen 

 sykenesse. And men seyn that that Welle comethe out of Paradys, and 

 therfore it is so vertuous." 



Sir John next enters on an interesting account of the Domes made 

 be Seynt Thomas in the cytee of Calamye, of the Devocyoun and 

 Sacrifice made to Ydoles there, and of the Procession of the Ydole's 

 Chare aboute the cytee : then he describes the evylle customes used 

 in the Yle of Lamary : and then he engages in an astronomical dis- 

 quisition to prove how the Erthe and the See ben of round forme and 

 schapp, be pref of the sterre that is clept Antartyk, that is fix in the 

 southe. 



Passing with our conductor into the Y'^le of Java, we accompany 

 him over the Palays of the kyng of that gret contree, the whiche is 



