ABSTRACT
The said elephant, when he wishes to generate, goes into a secret place, that is, into the water in certain marshes,1 and they unite and generate like human beings. In some coun tries, I have seen that the finest present which can be made to a king is the parts o f an elephant, which said king eats the said parts; for in some countries an elephant is worth fifty ducats, in some other countries it is worth one thousand and two thousand ducats. So that, in conclusion, I say that I have seen some elephants which have more under standing, and more discretion and intelligence, than any kind of people I have met with. This king of Narsinga is the richest king I have ever heard spoken of. This city is situated like Milan, but not in a plain. The residence of the king is here, and his realms are placed as it might be the realm of Naples and also Venice ; so that he has the sea on both sides. His Brahmins, that is, his priests, say that he possesses a revenue of 12,000 pardai per day. He is constantly at war with several Moorish and pagan kings. His faith is idolatrous, and they worship the devil, as dp those of Calicut. When the proper time comes we will state in what manner they worship him. They live like pagans. Their dress is this: the men of condition wear a short shirt, and on their head a cloth of gold and silk in the Moorish fashion, but nothing on the feet. The common people go quite naked, with the exception of a piece of cloth about their middle. The king wears a cap of gold brocade two spans long, and when he goes to war he wears a quilted dress of cotton, and over it he puts another gar ment full of golden piastres, and having all around it jewels of various kinds. His horse is worth more than some of our cities, on account of the ornaments which it wears. When he rides for his pleasure he is always accompanied by three
1 This peculiarity is also noticed by Turpin. Id. p. 614. K
or four kings, and many other lords, and five or six thou sand horse. Wherefore he may be considered to be a very powerful lord. His money consists o f a pardao, as I have said. He also coins a silver money called tare, and others of gold, twenty of which go to a pardaot and are called fanom. And of these small ones o f silver, there go sixteen to a fanom. They also have another coin called cas, sixteen of which go to a tare of silver.1 In this kingdom you can go
1 The subjoined is a comparison o f the Hindu coins current at Bijayanagar, and their relative value, as given by ’Abd er-Razz&k and Varthema.
