Part m. Travels into the IN DIE S. S9' 
drefs. The Nains have feveral degrees of Nobility amongft them ^ and 
the infcrioiir make no difficulty to give place to thole that are above them. 
They have a great averfion to a Cafte ç»f Gentiles , who are called Poleas. PoUae, 
If a Naire come lb near a ?oleai as to have teit his breath , he thinks himfelf 
polluted , and is obliged to kill him -, becaufeif he kilitd him not , and it 
came to the Kings knowledge, he would caiife the Naire to be put to deathj 
or if he pardoned him as to life, he would order him to be fold for a Slave ^ 
but befides that5he mufi: make publick Ablutions with great Ceremonies. 
For avoiding any mifchance that may happen upon that account ^ The 
Voleas cry inceffantly when they are abroad in the Fields Vopo, to give notice Po],o. 
to the Naires who may be there, not to come near. If a Naire hear the word 
Pfl/>o, he anfwers (crying) Coucouya^znà. then the Voleas knowing that there is Commys. 
a Naire not far from him, turns afide out of the way, that he may not meet 
him. Seeing thcfe Pe/e.^^ cannot enter into Towns , if any of them need a- "^^^ ^"^^^^ 
ny thing, they arc obliged to ask for it without the Town , crying as loud "^^^l"^^^^^^ 
as they can, and leaving Money for it in a place appointed for that Traffick -, ° 
when they have left it and told fo, they are to withdraw , and a Merchant 
fails not to bring what they demand -, he takes the true value of his Commo- 
dity , and fo foon as he is gone , the Voleas comes and takes it , and fo de- 
parts. 
Cavalrie are not ufed in the W ars, neither in Cochin^ nor the reft of Mala- No cavahis 
lar \ they that are to fight othcrwife than on Foot, are mounted upon Ele- cochin. 
Êhants, of which there are many in the Mountains , and thcfe Mountain- Mountain Ele- 
iephants are the biggeft of the Inclies, The Idolaters tell a falfe ftory at phanw. 
Cochin^ which they would have no body to doubt of, becaufe of the extra- 
ordinary refpedl tney have for a certain Refervatory, which is in the mid- 
dle of one of their Pagods. This great Pagod ftands upon the fide of a River, 
called by the Portuguefe Rio Largo , which runs from Cochin to Cranganor , it Rio Largo. 
goes by the name of the Pagod of Swearing ■■> and they fay, that the Re- The Paged of 
lervatory or Tansjuie , which is in that Temple, has Communication under Sweanng, 
ground with the River , and that when any one was to make Oath judici- 
ally about a matter of importance , he that was to Swear, was brought to 
the T^»gr«ie, where a Crocodile was called upon , which commonly kept 
there , that the Man put himfelf upon the back of this Creature when he 
Swore , that if he faid truth, the Crocodile carried Jiim from one end of the 
Refervatory to the other, and brought him back again found and fafe to 
the place where it took him up ; and if he told a lie, that the Beaft having 
'carried htm to one fide of the Tanejuie , carried him again into the middle, 
where it dived under water with the Man -, and though at prefent there be 
no Crocodile in that Refervatory, yet they confidently affirm that the Sto- 
ry is true. 
Coulam (which is the Capital Town of the little Kingdom of that name) coukm. 
is four and twenty Leagues to the South of Cochin, but the King keeps not 
commonly his Court there. Before Calicut^wns in reputation, all the Traf- 
fick of that Countrey was at Coulam, and then it was a flourifliing Town , 
but it is much diminiftied now both in Wealth and Inhabitants. The Haven 
of it is fafe , and the Tide runs a great way up in the River. There are a 
great many Chriftians of St. Thomas at Coulam as well as at Cochin ^ they pre- Chrlftians o( 
tend that they have preferved the Purity of the Faith , which that Apoftle Thomas. 
taught their Anceftors -, and there are a great many alfo in the Mountains 
that run from Cochin to St. Thomas by Madura : In the divine Office they ^^"r 
make ufe of the Sariack Language , and moft of them are Subjects of the 
King of Cochin, as well as many Families of the Jews, who live in that Coun- 
trey. I have been alfo told of a little Kingdom (called Cargbelan) that is in ca-rgheian. 
thofe parts , where there is alfo another little Prince -, and fo thefe little 
Kingdoms terminate Malabar to the South , as Cananor begins it to the 
North. 
There is a good Harbour at Cananor^ which is a large Town -, the little cananor. 
King (who is called King of Cananor ) lives not there -, he holds his Court to- 
wards a ftreight farther from the Sea ^ his Countrey affords all things necef- 
fary for life -, zheTortuguefe have been always his Friends, and many of them 
live in his Countrey. N 2 The 
