consist of ebony, being a very lofty tree with leaves like those of our
apple trees, and fruit resembling medlars, but not eatable, the whole
stem and branches being thickly covered with thorns. The bark is as
susceptible of fire as tinder, and when one of these trees is cut down
it never springs up again. There is another sort of a yellowish colour,
which is reckoned valuable. The best manna is produced in this country.
Among the fish of this river is one equally voracious with the
crocodile, from which no man escapes that gets within their reach, but
they never injure women. One of these of a prodigious size was caught
having gold rings in its ears, which was supposed to have been done as
some species of witchcraft or incantation by the Kafrs to clear the
river from these dangerous animals. In confirmation of this opinion, we
read in an Arabian author named _Matude_, giving an account of
prodigies, that about the year 863 a brazen crocodile was found under
the ruins of an Egyptian temple, on which certain characters or
symbolical letters were impressed, and when this image was broken in
pieces the crocodiles of the Nile began again to devour men.

During the viceroyalty of Don Duarte de Menezes fresh troubles broke out
in the kingdom of Visiapour, in consequence of which the Moguls invaded
the country, and after laying it waste to a great extent possessed
themselves of many of its towns cities and districts. The occasions of
these troubles was this: The king being ill of a contagious distemper,
his two favourite ministers, Acede Khan and Calabate Khan, kept him
concealed in the palace, so that no person was allowed to see him. The
prince and the people had recourse to arms, in order to force these
tyrants to admit them into the kings presence; on which they persuaded
the infirm king that the prince wished to depose him, so that the king
went to war against the prince, and defeated him with great slaughter,
upon which the Moguls were called in to their assistance, and used the
opportunity to plunder the country and appropriate it to themselves.

Towards the close of the viceroyalty of Don Duarte de Menezes, Raju who
had usurped the sovereignty of Ceylon, determined upon making a conquest
of the Portuguese fortress of Columbo, with a view of expelling them
from that island. For this purpose he collected an immense army, in
which were 50,000 soldiers, 60,000 pioneers, and nearly as many
artificers of various descriptions