t him in the front rank,
where he has to stand the whole brunt of the combat; and they do not
exert themselves vigorously against the enemy, till they know that
the king has fallen: then they begin to fight for liberty and for
their new king: nor has any king of theirs entered on a war without
being slain in battle. For this reason they seldom engage in war, and
they think it unjust to extend their frontiers. Their chief care is to
avoid giving offence to the neighboring nations or to strangers. But if
at any time they are attacked, they retaliate; and yet, lest further
ill should arise, they at once endeavor to come to terms. They think
that party acts most creditably, which is the first to propose terms
of peace; that it is disgraceful to be anticipated in so doing; and
that it is scandalous and detestable to refuse peace to those who ask
for it, even though the latter should have been the aggressors: all
the neighboring people unite in destroying such refusers of peace as
impious and abominable. Hence they mostly pass their lives in peace
and leisure. Robberies and murders are quite unknown among them. No
one may speak to the king but his wives and children, except at a
distance by hollow canes, which they apply to his ear, and through
which they whisper what they have to say. They think that at death
men have no perception as they had none before they were born. Their
houses are small, built of wood and earth, covered partly with rubble
and partly with palm-leaves. It is ascertained that there are twenty
thousand houses in the city of Porne. They marry as many wives as
they can afford to keep; they eat birds and fish; make bread of rice;
and drink a liquor drawn from the palm tree--of which we have spoken
before. Some carry on trade with the neighbouring islands, to which
they sail in junks, some are employed in hunting and shooting, some in
fishing, some in agriculture: their clothes are made of cotton. Their
animals are nearly the same as ours, excepting sheep, oxen, and asses:
their horses are very slight and small. They have a great supply of
camphor, ginger, and cinnamon. On leaving this island our men, having
paid their respects to the king, and propitiated him by presents,
sailed to the Moluccas, their way to which had been pointed out to
them by the king. Then they came to the coast of the island of Solo,
[234] where they heard that pearls were to be found as large as doves'
eggs, or even hens' eggs, but that