ABSTRACT
The early Europeans saw virtues in toddy brewed from palm juice, and the arrack distilled from it. Then changes set in. Punch was a blend of arrack with spices, sugar, lime juice and water; it was first noted in 1638 by Mandelslo as palepuntz, and became a popular drink in all the British colonies. John of Monte Corvino, an Italian, whom the Pope afterwards appointed Archbishop of Peking, came to India overland by way of Persia in 1292, and spent 13 months here. About 1410, a German soldier, Hans Schiltberger, was in India, and on his return detailed, among other things, the three kinds of pepper of south India, and its lemons and limes, fruits then quite new to the whole of Europe except for Italy. The magnificence of Vijayanagar, situated near the Hampi of today, was a magnet for the European traveller with an eye on a profitable trade deal.
