ABSTRACT
The money-changers and bankers of Calicut have some weights, that is, balances, which are so small that the box in which they stand and the weights together do not weigh half an ounce ; and they are so true that they will turn by a hair o f the head. And when they wish to test any piece of gold, they have carats of gold as we have ; and they have the touchstone like us. And they test after our manner. When the touchstone is full o f gold, they have a ball, of a certain composition which resembles wax, and with this ball, when they wish to see if the gold be good or poor, they press on the touchstone and take away some gold from the said touchstone, and then they see in the ball the goodness o f the gold, and they say : <e Idu mannu, Idu aga,” that is, “ this is good, and this is poor.” And when that ball is full o f gold they melt it, and take out all the gold which they have tested by the touchstone. The said money-changers are extremely acute in their business. The merchants have this custom when they wish to sell or to purchase their mer chandise, that is, wholesale:— They always sell by the hands of the Cortor or of the Leila,1 that is, o f the broker. And when the purchaser and the seller wish to make an agreement, they all stand in a circle, and the Cortor takes a cloth and holds it there openly with one hand, and with the other hand he takes the right hand of the seller, that is, the two fingers next to the thumb, and then he covers with the said cloth his hand and that of the seller, and touching each other with these two fingers, they count from one ducat up
1 Cortor is probably a contraction o f the Portuguese Mercadar. Leila is doubtless a corruption o f the Arabic JDalldl, a go-between, a broker.
