52,8 The Difcovery, Settlement, and Commerce 
comely Stature, fair, and by no means addicted to Ex- 
ceffes of Wine \ their Hair is blacker than the Hair of 
any other Nation in the World, and the Chinefe Women 
wear it curled. 
24. In the Indies , when a Man accufes another of a 
Crime punifhable with Death, the Cuftom is to afk the 
Accufed if he is willing to go through the Trial by Fire ; 
and if he anfwers in the Affirmative, they heat a Piece of 
Iron till it is red-hot. This done, they bid him ftretch 
forth his Hand, and upon it they put feven Leaves of a 
certain Tree, and upon thefe Leaves they put the red-hot 
Iron, and in this Condition he walks backward and for- 
ward for fome time, and then throws off the Iron. Im- 
mediately after this, they put his Hand into a Leathern 
Bag, which they feal with the Princess Signet 5 and if at 
the End of three Days he appears, and declares he has 
buffered no Hurt, they order him to take out his Hand ; 
when, if no Sign of Fire is vifible, they declare him in- 
nocent, and delivered from the Punifhment which threat- 
ned him, and his Accufer is condemned to pay a Man of 
Gold as a Fine to the Prince. 
Sometimes they boil Water in a Chaldron z , till it is fo 
hot that no one can touch it •, then they throw an Iron 
Ring into it, and command the Perfon accufed to thruft 
his Hand down, and bring up the Ring. I faw one who 
did this, and received no manner of Hurt. The Accufer 
is in this Cafe alfo to pay a Man of Gold. 
25. When a King dies in this Hand of Serendib , they 
lay his Body on an open Chariot, in fuch a manner, that 
his Plead hangs backwards till it almoft touches the 
Ground, and his Hair is upon the Earth *, and this Cha- 
riot is followed by a Woman with a Broom in her Hand, 
therewith to fweep Dull on the Face of the Deceafed, 
while fhe cries out with a loud Voice, “ O Man behold 
s< your King, who was 'yefterday your Mailer, but now 
“ the Empire he exercifed over you is vanilhed and gone ; 
Sf he is reduced to the State you behold, having left the 
tc World, and the Arbiter of Death hath withdrawn his 
“ Soul : Reckon therefore no more upon the uncertain 
<e Hopes of Life.’* 
This a Proclamation, or fome other like it, they con- 
tinue for three Days ; after which, the dead Body of the 
King is embalmed with Sandal Wood, Camphire and 
Saffron, and is then burned, and the Alhes are fcattered 
abroad to the Wind. It is a univerfal Cuftom all over 
the Indies , to burn the Bodies of the Dead. The Ifland 
of Sarandib is the laft of the Iflands of the Indies. When 
they burn a King, it is ufual for his Wives to jump into 
the Fire, and to burn with him •, but this they are not 
conftrained to do, if they are not willing. 
In the Indies there are Men, who profefs to live in the 
Woods and Mountains, and to defpife what other Men 
moft value. Thefe abftain from, every thing but fuch 
wild Flerbs and Fruits as fpring in the Woods, and put 
an Iron Buckle upon their natural Parts, that they may not 
be able to have any Commerce with Women. Some of 
them are quite naked, or have only a Leopard’s Skin 
thrown over them, and in this Plight, keep Handing with 
their Faces towards the Sun. I formerly faw one in the 
Pollute I have defcribed, and returning to the Indies about 
fixteen Years afterwards, I found him in the very fame 
Attitude, and was aftonifhed he had not loft his Eye-fight 
by the Heat of the Sun b . 
In all thefe Kingdoms, the Sovereign Power relides in 
the Royal Family, and never departs from it ; and the 
next Heirs of this Family fiicceed each other. In like 
manner, there are Families of learned Men, of Phyli- 
cians, and of all the Artificers concerned in Architecture, 
and none of thefe are mixed with a Family of a Profeftion 
Book I. 
different from their own. The feveral States of the Indies 
are not fubjeCt to one King •, but each Province has its own 
King. The Balhara is neverthelefs in the Indies as Kino* 
of Kings. The Chinefe are fond of Gaming, and aS 
Manner of Diverfions 5 on the contrary, the Indians 
condemn them, and have no Pleafure in them. They drink 
no Wine, nor make any Ufe of Vinegar, becaufe it j s 
made of Wine ; and yet they abftain not therefrom as a 
religious Duty, but for another Reafon. They fay. that if 
a King is given to Wine, he ought not to be deemed a 
King : For, continue they, as there are frequent Wars 
with the neigbouring States, how fhould a Drunkard 
manage the Affairs of his Kingdom ? 
26. The Wars, in which they engage with neighbour- 
ing- Princes, are not ufually undertaken with a View to 
poffefs themfelveg of their Dominions ; and I never heard 
of any but the People bordering upon the Pepper Coun- 
try, that have feized on the Pofleffions of their Neigh- 
bours after Victory. When a Prince makes himfelf M a f. 
ter of fome other Principality, he confers the Govern- 
ment thereof upon fome Perfon of the Royal Family of 
the conquered Country, and thus he keeps it in Subjection 
to himfelf, from a Perfwation that the Natives would 
never agree to be otherwife. governed. When any one of 
the Princes or Governors of Cities within the Dominions 
of the Emperor of China is guilty of a Crime, he is put 
to Death, and eaten ; and in general, it may be faid, that 
the Chinefe eat all thofe that are put to Death. When 
the Indians and Chinefe are about to marry, the Parties 
come to an Agreement ; then Prefents are made, and, at laft, 
the Marriage is celebrated with the Sound of many forts of 
Inftruments and Drums. The Prefents they fend confift 
of Money, and in this every one does what he can afford. 
27. If a Man in the Indies runs away with a Woman, 
and abufes her Body, they kill both him and the Woman, 
unlefs it be proved that Ihe was forced j then the Man on- 
ly is punilhed with Death : But if the Woman confented 
to the evil Deed, they are both punilhed with Death. 
Theft is always punilhed capitally, as well in the Indies as 
in China , whether the Theft be confiderable or incon- 
fiderable ; and particularly in the Indies , where, if a 
Thief has ftolen but the Value of a fmall Piece of Mo- 
ney, or a thing of greater Wor th, they take a long, ftrong, 
and fharp Stake, which they apply to his Fundament, 
and thruft it through till it comes out at his Neck. The 
Chinefe are addided to the abominable Vice of Sodomy, 
and the filthy PraClice of it they number among the in- 
different things they perform in Honour of their Idols. 
The Chinefe Buildings are of Wood, with Stone, Plaif- 
ter, Brick and Mortar. The Chinefe and Indians are not 
fatisfy’d with one Wife, but both Nations marry as many 
as they pleafe. Rice is the common Food of the Indians , 
who eat no Wheat ; whereas the Chinefe eat of Rice and 
W 7 heat indifferently. Circumcifion is not praCtifed either 
by the Indians or Chinefe. The Chinefe worfhip Idols, 
pray to them, and fall down before them ; and they have 
Books which explain the Articles of their Religion. The 
Indians fuffer their Beards to grow, and I have feen one 
of them with a Beard three Cubits long ; they wear no 
Whifkers ; but the Chinefe , for the moft part, have no 
Beard, and have all fmootb. The Indians , upon the 
Death of a Relation, {have both Head and Face. Whea 
any Man in the Indies is call into Prifon, they allow him 
neidier Victuals nor Drink for feven Days together, and 
this with them anfwers the End of other Tortures to extort 
from the Criminal a Confeffion of the Truth. The Chinefe 
have Judgas befides the Governors, who decide in Caufes 
between SubjeCt and Subject,' and the fame they have in 
the Indies. Both in China and in the Indies there are Leo- 
2 This Manner of finding out the Truth by appealing to God in fo extraordinary a Manner, was in ufe in moft Countries, Sophocles, mentions x£ 
as prattifed by the Ancients. The Cafers on the Coaft of Mofambique , if they are accufed of any capital Crime, lick Iron to prove their Innocence. 
The Indians of Calicut decide their Differences in the fame Manner. If a Man is accufed of Theft, he and the Accufer are brought before the 
Judge ; a Pint of Oil is heated till it almoit boils, and then the Party accufed dips in three of his Fingers, which are immediately bound up, and 
opened on the third Day; when, if it appears he is fcalded, he fuffers Death ; and if not, the fame Sentence falls^ upon the Accufer. All this is 
the more probable, fince this was once the common Law of our own Country, as the Reader will perceive by confuiting any of our Gloffographers 
on the Word Ordeal. 
a The Author of 'Cos. Arabian Geography, and many other of the Oriental Writers, have tranfcribed this Pafiage ’verbatim, from whence it ap- 
pears evidently that they were acquainted with this Work. The Reader may remember, that the Accounts given by the Ancients of the Manners of 
the Inhabitants of laprobana agree perfectly well with this Account. 
b Thefe Penances among the Indians, as furprizing or as incredible as they feem to be, are confirmed by all the Travellers that have written of thofe 
Countries, whether ancient or modern, as we lhall have an Opportunity of Ihewing in the fubfequent Part of tnis Chapter. 
4 parus 
