the
cinnamon tree, which gives a pleasant scent. In this island there is
great store of rubies, sapphires, and spinels of the best kind, but the
king will not allow the inhabitants to dig for them, lest they should
tempt his enemies to make war upon him and deprive him of his dominions.
There are no horses in this country, but many elephants, which are not
so large as those of Pegu, which are of prodigious size; yet it is said
all other elephants are afraid of those of Ceylon, and refuse to fight
them, though small. The women of this island wear a cloth round their
middles, reaching only to the knees, all the rest of their bodies being
bare. Both men and women are black and very little. Their houses are
small, being constructed of the branches of the palmer or coco tree, and
covered with the leaves of the same tree.

The 11th of March we departed from Ceylon and doubled Cape Comorin. Not
far from thence, between Ceylon and the main-land of India at
Negapatnam, they fish for pearls every year, whence all India, Cambaya,
and Bengal are supplied. But these pearls are _not so orient_ [are not
so round or of so fine a water] as those of Bahrain in the gulph of
Persia. From Cape Comorin we went to Coulan, a fort of the Portuguese,
whence comes great store of pepper for Portugal, as frequently one of
the caraks is laden here. We arrived at Cochin on the 22d of March,
where we found the weather very warm, and a great scarcity of
provisions, as neither corn nor rice grows here, having mostly to be
supplied from Bengal. They have here very bad water, as the river is far
off; and by this bad water many of the people are like lepers, and many
have their legs swollen as big as a mans waist, so that they can hardly
walk. The people here are Malabars, of the race of the Nairs of Calicut,
who differ much from the other Malabars. These have their heads very
full of hair, bound up with a string, above which is a great bush of
hair. The men are tall and strong, and excellent archers, using a long
bow and long arrows, which are their best weapons; yet they have some
fire-arms among them, which they handle very badly.

In this country pepper grows, being trained up a tree or pole. It is
like our ivy berry, but something longer, like an ear of wheat. At first
the bunches are green, but as they become ripe they are cut off and
dried. The leaf is much smaller and thinner than that of ivy. The houses
of the inhabitants are very small, and are