Part III. Travels into thel^DlES. 
Bajfaim it is eighteen Leagues ; This laft Town lies in the height of about Bapim. 
nineteen Degrees and a half, (upon the Sea,) being Walled round , and al- 
moft as big as Daman -, it hath Churches , and a College of Jefuits as 
Daman hath. 
From Bajfaim lo Bombaim^ it is fix Leagues^; this laft Town hath a good Bomhaimmidt 
Port, and was by the Portuguefe made over to the EngUjh, upon the Marri- "^'^y^ 
age of the Infanta of Portugal with the King of England, in the year 1662 ; k ' 
is fix Leagues more from Bombaim to Chaoul. The Port of Chaoul is difficult 
to enter, but very fafe and fecure from all foul weather -, it is a good Town, 
and defended by a flrong Citadel upon the top of a Hill , called by the Eu~ ^^^^^ ^. 
ropeanSf II Mono M Ciaul y it was taken by the P<>r;«g«e/ê , in the year One cw/" * 
thoufand five hundred and feven. 
From Chaoul to Dahul^ it is eighteen good Leagues. Dahul is an ancient oaiul. 
Town , in the Latitude of feventeen degrees and a half-, it has its Water 
from a Hill hard by, and the Houfes of it are low , it being but weakly for- 
tified -, I am told Sh'agi hath feized iz, notwithftanding its Caftle , as alfo 
Rajapour^ Fwgourla^ Raftgar , and fome Other places upon that coaft of De- Rajapour,rm^ 
can. It is almoft fifty Leagues from Dabul to Goa^ which is in l^tziapour. gouria,Rafgar 
As all the People of that coaft are much given to Sea-faring, fo the Gen- Towns, 
tiles offer many times Sacrifices to the Sea, eipecially when any of their Kin- sacrifice 
dredor Friends are abroad upon a Voyage. Oftce I faw that kind of Sacri- sea. 
crifice ,a Woman carried in her handsa Veflel made of Straw , about three 
Foot long , it was covered with a Vail -, three Men playing upon the Pipe 
and Drum accompanied her , and two others had each on their head a 
Basket full of Meat and Fruits s being come to the Sea-fide , they threw in- 
to the Sea the Veflel of Straw , after they had made fome Prayers, and left 
the Meat they brought with them upon the Shoar, that the poor and others 
might come and eat it. I have feen the fame Sacrifice performed by Ma- 
hometans. 
The Gentiles offer another at the end of September , and that they call to opening of the 
open the Sea, becaufe no body can Sail upon their Seas from M/y till that Sea. 
time-, but that Sacrifice is performed with no great Ceremonies , they on- 
ly throw Coco^ into the Sea, and every one throws one. The only thing 
in that Aftion that is pleafant,is to fee all the young Boys leap into the Wa- 
ter to catch the Coco's -, and whilft they ftrive to have and keep them , 
Ihew a hundred tricks and feats of Agility. 
In this Province (as in the reft of Decan ) the Indians Marry their Chil- 
dren very young,and make them Cohabit much fooner than tney do in ma- chiid^'n 
ny places of the Indies -, they Celebrate Matrimony at the Age of four,fivc or ° ' 
fix Years, and fuffcr them to Bed together when the Husband is ten Years 
old, and the Wife eight -, but the V/omen who have Children fo young , 
foon leave off Child-bearing, and commonly do not conceive after thirty 
Years of Age , but become extreamly wrinkly -, and therefore there are 
places in the Indtes where the young Married couple are not fuffered to lye 
together before the Man be fourteen Years old : After all , a Gentile mar- 
ries at any Age, and cannot have fevcral Wives at a time as the Mahometans An indim 
have \ when his Wife dies, he may take another, and fo fucceffively, provi- cannot have 
ded fhe he takes be a Maid, and of his own Cafte. kv^r^x wives 
There are many Ceremonies to be feen at the Weddings in Indoflan^ be- ^ 
caufe the Gentiles are numerous there -, there are certain times ( when in ^•"'^^'^ numbers 
great Towns) Five or fix hundred are Celebrated a day , and nothing is to ^^^^^'^g" 
be feen in the Streets but Inclofures -, thefe Wedding Inclofures are juft as weddfng in- 
big as the Front of the Husbands Houfe to the Street, they are made of ciofuresf 
Poles and Canes hung in the infide, and covered with Tapiftry or Cloaths, 
to preferve the Guefts from the heat of the Sun , and there they feaft and 
make merry. 
But before the Wedding Feaft, they muft make the ufual Cavalcade The Cavalcade 
through the Town -, Perfons of Quality perform it in the manner I defcrib- of the Wed- 
ed in the Chapter of Surrat^ and the Citizens with far lefs Pomp. This ^'"S- 
is their cuftom, Firft appear a great many People playing on Infiruments, 
fome 
