Chap. II. 
they have no Store of Palms, they have only a few about 
feme private Houfes. 
Their Drink is a kind of Wine made of Rice ; they 
have no other ¥v T ine in the Country, nor is there any 
brought to them : They know not what it is, nor do they 
drink of it. They have Vinegar alfo, and a kind of 
Comfit like what the Arabs call Natef \ and feme others. 
They are not very nice in point of Cleanlinefs, and 
walk not with Water when they eafe Nature, but only 
wipe themfelves with Paper ; they eat of dead Animals, 
and pra&ife many other Things like the Magians ; and 
in truth, the Religion of the one and the other is much 
the fame. The Chinefe Women appear uncovered, and 
adorn their Heads with fmall Ivory Combs, of which they 
wear fometimes a Score together ; the Men are covered 
with Caps of a particular Make. The Law they obferve 
with regard to Thieves is to put them to Death as foon as 
they are caught. 
Our Author feems here to interrupt his Narration, and 
to take occafion from what he has before reported (and 
which, in the main, is confirmed by later Writers) to 
compare the Cuftoms of the Indians and Chinefe , inter- 
mixing his Difcourfe alfo with other Matters. 
13. The Indians and Chinefe agree, that there are four 
great or principal Kings in the World'; they all allow the 
King of the Arabs to be the firft, and to be, beyond 
Difpute, the moft Powerful of Kings, the moft wealthy 
and the moft excellent every way ; becaufe he is the 
Prince and Head of a great Religion, and becaufe no 
other furpaffes him. 
The Emperor of China reckons himfelf next after the 
King of the Arabs, and after him the King of the Greeks , 
and laftly the Balhara , King of Moharmi al Adon , or of 
thefe who have their Ears bored p . 
This Balhara is the moft illuftrious Prince in all the In- 
dies and all the other Kings there, though each is Maf- 
ter and independant in his Kingdom, acknowledge thus 
far his Pre-eminence. When he fends Embafiadors to them 
they receive them with extraordinary Honours, becaufe of 
the Refpeft they bear him. This King makes magni- 
ficent Prefents after the Manner of the Arabs, and has 
Horfes and Elephants in great Numbers, and great Trea- 
fures in Money. He has of thofe Pieces of Silver called 
Thartarian Drams, which weigh half a Dram more than 
the Arabian Dram. They are coined with the Die of the 
Prince, and bear the Year of his Reign from the laft of 
the Reign of his Predeceflbr. 
They compute not their Years from the iEra of Mo- 
hammed, as the Arabs do, but only by the Years of their 
Kings. Moft of thefe Princes live a long Time, and ma- 
ny of them have reigned above fifty Years, and thofe of 
the Country believe, that the Length of their Lives and 
of their Reigns is granted them in Recompence for their 
Kindnefs to the Arabs. In truth, there are no Princes 
more heartily affectionate to the Arabs , and their Subjeds 
profefs the fame Friendfhip for us. 
Balhara q is not a proper Name, but an Appellative 
common to all thefe Kings, as was Cofroes and fome others. 
The Country under the Dominion of this Prince begins 
on the Coaft of the Province called Kamkam , and reaches 
by Land to the Confines of China . He is furrounded by 
the Dominions of many Kings, who are at War with him, 
and yet he never marches againft them. 
14. One of thofe Kings is the King of Harez, who 
has very numerous Forces, and is ftronger in Horfe than 
all other Princes of the Indies , but is an Enemy to the 
Arabs ; though he at the fame Time, confeffes their King 
*9 j 5 . 6 greateft of Kings, nor is there a Prince in the 
Indies, who has a greater Averfion to the Mohammedan 
S 2 5 
Faith. His Dominions a it on a Prornontofy, where are 
much Riches, many Camels and other Cattle. The In- 
habitants here traffick for Silver, which they watch for, and 
they fay there are Mines of the fame on the Continent. 
There is no Talk of Robbers in this Country, any more 
than in the reft of the Indies. 
On one Side of this Kingdom lies that of Tafek , which 
is not of very great Extent. This King has”" the fineft 
white Women in all the Indies but he is awed by the 
Kings about him, his Army being but fmail. He has a 
great Affecftion for the Arabs, as well as the Balhara. 
Thefe Kingdoms border upon the Lands of a King 
called Rami, who is at War with the King of Harez, and 
with the Balhara alfo. This Prince is not much confi- 
dered either for his Birth, or the Antiquity of his King- 
dom ; but his Forces are more numerous than thofe of 
the Balhara, and even than thofe of the Kino-s of Harez 
and Tafek . They fay, that when he takes the Field, he ap- 
pears at the Head of fifty thoufand Elephants, and that 
he commonly marches in the Winter Seafon ; becaufe the 
Elephants, not being able to bear Thirft, he can move at 
no other Time. They add likewife, that in his Army, 
there are commonly from ten to fifteen thoufand Tents. In 
this fame Country they make Cotton Garments in fueh extra- 
ordinary Perfection, that no where elfe are the like to be 
feen : Thefe Garments are for the moft Part round, and 
wove to that Degree of Finenefs, that they may be drawn 
through a Ring of a moderate Size. Shells are current in 
this Country, and ferve for fmail Money, notwithftand- 
ing that they have Gold and Silver, Wood Aloes, and 
Sable- fkins, of which they make the Furniture for Saddles 
and Houfings. 
In this fame Country is the famous Karkandan r , that is, 
the ( Rhinoceros , or) Unicorn, who has but one Horn upon 
his Forehead, and thereon a round Spot, with the Repre- 
fentation of a Man. The whole Horn is black, except the 
Spot in the Middle, which is white. The Unicorn is much 
fmaller than the Elephant ; from the Neck downwards he 
pretty much refembles the Buffaloe, his Strength is very ex- 
traordinary, for he excells therein all other Creatures, his 
Hoof is not cloven, and from his Foot to his Shoulder is all of 
a Piece. The Elephant flies from the Unicorn, whofe Low- 
ing is like that of an Ox, with fomething of the Cry of the 
Camel ; his Flefh is not forbidden, and we have eaten of it 5 
there are great Numbers of this Creature in the Fens of this 
Kingdom, as alfo in all the other Provinces of the Indies ; 
but the Horns of thefe are moft efteemed ; and upon them 
are generally feen the Figures of Men, Peacocks, Fifties, 
and other Refemblances. The Chinefe adorn their Girdles 
with thefe forts of Figures, fo that fome of their Girdles are 
worth two or three thoufand Pieces of Gold in China, and 
fometimes more, the Price augmenting with the Beauty of 
the Figure : All the things we have here enumerated are to 
be purchafed in the Kingdom of Rahmi for Shells, which 
are the current Money of the Country. 
After this Kingdom there is another, which is an inland 
State diftant from the Coaft, and called Kafchbin ; the In- 
habitants are white, and bore their Ears ; they have Camels, 
and their Country is for the moft part defert, and full of 
Mountains ; farther upon the Coaft there is a fmail King- 
dom called Hitrange, which is very poor ; but it has a Bay, 
where the Sea throws up great Quantities ofAmbergreece ; 
they have alfo Elephants Teeth, and Pepper ; but the In- 
habitants eat it green, becaufe of the Smallnefs of the Quan- 
tity they gather. Beyond thefe Kingdoms here mentioned, 
there are others of Number unknown, and among the reft 
that of Mujet ; the Inhabitants are white, and drefs after 
the^ Chinefe Mode ; their Country is full of Mountains, with 
white Tops, and of very great Extent ; here are very great 
of the East Indies. 
other than rhe sS 7 pr ^ S 1 ’ that !. h S Salh « ra < or Monarch of the Nation which have their Ears bored, which is plainly the Indians, was no 
kind of Emperor in °, f I ut> bA accord >ng to the Reports of the moft ancient Portugueze Hiftorians, was acknowledged as a 
TThhS, flX hu l udr u d L ears b T‘°, re the y dl Covered the Paffage to them by the Cape of Good Hope. g 
his proper ^Name hf h ’ a ™ entioned * ould be taken for Emperofof Calicut, fmee he likewife was not called by 
of thefe Words, that could be depended upon, ftis ve/y 
kav “ f !read J gi ven fo large an Account of the Rhinoceros, that we fhall not trouble the Reader with any thing on that Subieft here but 
have advanced^elf^^ ^ 16 1S wdent * this Wfit€r makes the Unicorn and the Rhinoceros the fame Creature, agreeable to what we 
NtJMBe 36, 
6 S 
Quan* 
