ere clearly
expressed, as drifting to leeward while laying-to.--E.]

After this I went from Pegu to the Indies[170] and Ormuz, with a
quantity of _lac_. From Ormuz I returned to Chaul, and thence to Cochin,
from which place I went again to Pegu. Once more I lost the opportunity
of becoming rich, as on this voyage I only took a small quantity of
opium, while I might have sold a large quantity to great advantage,
being afraid of meeting a similar disappointment with that which
happened to me before. Being now again resolved to return into my native
country, I went from Pegu to Cochin, where I wintered, and then sailed
for Ormuz.

[Footnote 170: Here, and in various other parts of these early voyages,
India and the Indies seem confined to the western coast of the
peninsula, as it is called, or the Malabar coast.--E.]

SECTION XX.

_Some Account of the Commodities of India_.

Before concluding this relation of my peregrinations, it seems proper
that I should give some account of the productions of India.

In all parts of India, both of the western and eastern regions, there is
pepper and ginger, and in some parts the greatest quantity of pepper is
found wild in the woods, where it grows without any care or cultivation,
except the trouble of gathering it when ripe. The tree on which the
pepper grows is not unlike our ivy, and runs in the same manner up to
the top of such trees as grow in its neighbourhood, for if it were not
to get hold of some tree it would lie flat on the ground and perish. Its
flower and berry in all things resemble the ivy, and its berries or
grains are the pepper, which are green when gathered, but by drying in
the sun they become black. Ginger requires cultivation, and its seeds
are sown on land previously tilled. The herb resembles that called
_panizzo_, and the root is the spice we call ginger. Cloves all come
from the Moluccas, where they grow in two small islands, Ternate and
Tidore, on a tree resembling the laurel. Nutmegs and mace come from the
island of Banda, where they grow together on one tree, which resembles
our walnut tree, but not so large. Long pepper grows in Bengal, Pegu,
and Java.

All the good sandal-wood comes from the island of Timor. Camphor, being
compounded, or having to undergo a preparation, comes all from China.
That which grows in canes[171] comes from Borneo, and I think none of
that kind is brought to Europe, as they consume large quantities of it
in India, an