said of it than is contained in the text, which indeed is very
vague.--E.]

[Footnote 60: Verthema appears at this place to make an abrupt
transition to the city of Cambay, taking no farther notice of Cheo.--E.]

The sultan of Cambay maintains a force of 20,000 horse. Every morning
fifty men riding on elephants repair to his palace to reverence and
salute the king, which is done likewise by the elephants kneeling down.
As soon as the king wakes in the morning there is a prodigious noise of
drums, trumpets, and other warlike instruments of music, as if in token
of joy that the sultan still lives. The same is done while he is at
dinner, when likewise the elephants are again brought forward to do him
reverence. We shall afterwards have occasion to notice the customs,
docility, and wisdom of these beasts. The sultan has his upper lip so
large and gross that he sometimes beareth it up with a fillet as women
do their hair. His beard is white and hangs down below his girdle. He
has been accustomed to the use of poison even from his infancy, and he
daily eats some to keep him in use; by which strange custom, although he
feels no personal hurt therefrom, yet is he so saturated with poison
that he is a certain poison to others. Insomuch that when he is
disposed to put any noble to death, he causes the victim to be brought
into his presence and to stand before him while he chews certain fruits
called _Chofolos_[61] resembling nutmegs, chewing at the same time the
leaves of a certain herb named _Tambolos_, to which is added the powder
of oyster shells. After chewing these things for some time, he spits
upon the person whom he wishes to kill, and he is sure to die within
half an hour, so powerful is the venom of his body[62]. He keeps about
four thousand concubines, and whoever of them chances to sleep with him
is sure to die next day. When he changes his shirt or any other article
of his dress, no one dare wear it, or is sure to die. My companion
learnt from the merchants of Cambay that this wonderful venomous nature
of the sultan had been occasioned by his having been bred up by his
father from a child in the constant use of poison, beginning by little
and little, and taking preservatives at the same time.

[Footnote 61: It is evident from the text that the _areka_ nut is here
meant, which is chewed along with _betel_ leaf, called tambolos in the
text, and strewed with _chunam_ or lime made of oyster shells.--E.]

[Footnote 62: