Sonderlinge reysen van Joseph, den geboornen Indiaan; bevattende een aanmerklijke beschrijvingh der landen,...

to Meilopetam Masulipatam, which city stands under the king of Narsinga. This land looks toward the east and lies ninety miles from the river Indus. Here they now drive their trade.

The nation Malasines.

A certain nation called Malasines brings here many kinds of goods, such as silk, copper, lead, tin, musk, and other fragrant things. In exchange for these, they barter and carry away with them corals and all kinds of spices. They say that their land lies six thousand miles away from Calicut. They wear excessively costly ornaments on their heads, since they are very rich.

Court of the king of Calicut,

The king of Calicut is called Baufer by his subjects. He has a large royal court, like an amphitheater, and always about him for his bodyguard seven thousand men to protect him. These go through the city at night, which is large and open, having no wall. For that reason, there are rows of guards, three hundred strong, to prevent anything from arising while the people are asleep to their detriment.

and particulars thereabout.

In this court are four large halls: one for the Moors, the other for the Indians, the third for the Jews, the fourth for the Christians. Each of these nations knows where they shall be heard, which is not permitted to them elsewhere. Before they go thither, they must wash themselves; otherwise, one would not allow them to appear before the king, as they are dirty and unclean.

These pagans never dare to eat at sea; and why not.

The pagans at Calicut have this custom: they never eat on the sea, for if they did such, they would never dare to behold the king. Once more, I must repeat what has already been said above: to wit, that the Indian women consider nothing more honorable and praiseworthy than to die with their deceased husbands and therefore desire to be burned with their corpses. One needs not to be surprised at this, since it is strongly impressed upon them that they would otherwise not be able to attain blissful immortality.