t a boat on shore with some janizaries, who were all cut to pieces.
After which the natives in our barge and some of their own barks,
attacked the galley and slew other sixty men of her crew, so that she
had much ado to escape. The Pacha sent for the pilot of this galley, and
caused him to be hanged for his bad management.

[Footnote 228: Probably meaning the dominions of the zamorin of
Calicut--E.]

On the 25th an Indian who had turned Christian and belonged to the
garrison in the castle, was made prisoner in a sally, and being brought
before the Pacha, but refusing to answer any questions, was condemned to
be cut in two. On the same day an old man presented himself before the
Pacha, who said that he was upwards of 300 years old, which was
confirmed by the people of the country, who asserted that there were
several very old men in that neighbourhood. The natives of this country
are very lean and live sparingly. They eat no beef, but use their oxen
for riding upon. Their oxen are small and handsome, very tractable, and
have an easy pace. Instead of a bridle, they use a cord passed through a
hole in the nostrils of the ox. Their horns are long and straight, and
they are used as beasts of burden, like mules in Italy. These animals
are held in much veneration, especially the cows, and they even make
great rejoicings on the birth of a calf, on which account these people
are reckoned idolaters. When any of the men of this country happens to
die, the widow makes a great feast for the relations; after which they
go in procession with music and dancing to a place where a great fire
is prepared, into which the corpse is thrown, carrying along with them
many large pots full of scalding hot grease. The widow then dances round
the fire, singing the praises of her husband, after which she
distributes her entire dress and ornaments among her relations, till she
has nothing left but a small apron. Immediately after this, having
thrown a pot of the scalding grease into the fire, she leaps into the
midst of the flames, and the assistants throw in all the other pots of
grease to increase the flames, so that she is dead in an instant. All
women who would be esteemed virtuous observe this custom, and such as do
not are accounted wicked, nor will any one marry them. The country of
Guzerat is rich and fertile, producing excellent ginger of all sorts,
and cocoa nuts. Of these last the natives make oil, vinegar, flour,
cordage, and mats. The