t a vessel without her masts may
go through underneath, while chariots and horses pass above. On the other
side of the city, there is a large canal forty miles[2] long, which
incloses it on that side, being deep and full of water, made by the ancient
kings, both to receive the overflowings of the river, and to fortify the
city, and the earth which was dug out from this canal, is laid on the
inside as a rampart of defence. There are ten great market places which are
square, half a mile in each side[3]. The principal street is forty paces
broad, having a canal in the middle with many bridges, and every four miles
[_Li_] there is a market place, two miles [_Li_] in circuit. There is also
one large canal behind the great street and the market places, on the
opposite bank of which there are many storehouses of stone, where the
merchants from India and other places lay up their commodities, being at
hand and commodious for the markets. In each of these markets, the people
from the country, to the number of forty or fifty thousand, meet three days
in every week, bringing beasts, game, fowls, and in short every thing that
can be desired for subsistence in profusion; and so cheap, that two geese,
or four ducks, may be bought for a Venetian groat. Then follow the butcher
markets, in which beef, mutton, veal, kid, and lamb, are sold to the great
and rich, as the poor eat of all offal and unclean beasts without scruple.
All sorts of herbs and fruits are to be had continually, among which are
huge pears, weighing ten pounds each, white within, and very fragrant[4],
with yellow and white peaches of very delicate flavour. Grapes do not grow
in this country, but raisins are brought from other places. They likewise
import very good wine; but that is not in so much esteem as with us, the
people being contented with their own beverage, prepared from rice and
spices. Every day there are brought up from the ocean, which is at the
distance of twenty-five miles, such vast quantities of fish, besides those
which are caught in the lake, that one would conceive they could never be
consumed, yet, in a few hours all is gone. All these market places are
encompassed with high houses, underneath which are shops for all kinds of
artificers, and all kinds of merchandize, as spices, pearls, and jewels,
and so forth, and in some the rice wine is sold. Many streets cross each
other, leading into these markets; in some of which there are many cold
baths, acco