Of a strange and uncouth idole: & of certaine customes and ceremonies.
IN the kingdome of Mobar there is a wonderfull strange idole, being made after the shape and resemblance of a man, as big as the image of our Christopher, & consisting all of most pure and glittering gold. And about the necke thereof hangeth a silke riband, ful of most rich & precious stones, some one of which is of more value than a whole kingdome. The house of this idol is all of beaten gold, namely the roofe, the pavement, and the sieling of the wall within and without. Unto this idol the Indians go on pilgrimage, as we do unto St. Peter. Some go with halters about their necks, some with their hands bound behind them, some with knives sticking on their armes or legs: and if after their peregrination, the flesh of their wounded arme festereth or corrupteth, they esteeme that limme to be holy, & thinke that their God is wel pleased with them. Neare unto the temple of that idol is a lake made by men in an open and common place, whereinto the pilgrimes cast gold, silver and precious stones, for the honour of the idol and the repairing of his temple. And therefore when anything is to be adorned or mended, they go unto this lake taking up the treasure which was cast in. Moreouer at euery yerely feast of the making or repairing of the said idol, the king and queene, with the whole multitude of the people, & all the pilgrimes assemble themselues, & placing the said idol in a most stately & rich chariot, they cary him out of their temple with songs, & with all kinds of musical harmonie, and a great companie of virgins go procession-wise two and two in a rank singing before him. Many pilgrims also put themselves under the chariot wheeles, to the end that their false god may go ouer them, and al they ouer whom the chariot runneth, are crushed in pieces, & divided asunder in the midst, and slaine right out. Yea, & in doing this, they think themselves to die most holily & securely, in the service of their god. And by this meanes every yere, there die under the said filthy idol, mo then 500 persons, whose carcases are burned, and their ashes are kept for reliques, because they died in that sort for their god. Moreover they haue another detestable ceremony. For when any man offers to die in the service of his false god, his parents & all his friends assemble themselues together with a consort of musicians, making him a great & solemne feast: which feast being ended, they hang 5 sharpe knifes about his neck carrying him before the idol & so soone as he is come thither, he taketh one of his knives crying with a loud voice, For the worship of my god do I cut this my flesh, and then he casteth the morsel which is cut, at ye face of his idol: but at the very last wound wherewith he murthereth himselfe, he uttereth these words: "Now do I yeeld myself to death in the behalfe of my god" and being dead his body is burned, & is esteemed by al men to be holy. The king of the said region is most rich in silver, gold, and precious stones, & there be the fairest unions in al the world.
Traveling from thence by the Ocean sea 50 daies journey southward, I came unto a certaine land named Lammori,1 where, in regard of extreeme heat, the people both men and women go stark-naked from top to toe: who seeing me apparelled, scoffed at me, saying that God made Adam and Eve naked. In this countrey al women are common, so that no man can say, this is my wife. Also when any of the said women beareth a son or a daughter, she bestowes it upon anyone that hath lien with her, whom she pleaseth. Likewise al the land of that region is possessed in common, so that there is not mine & thine, or any propriety of possession in the division of lands: howbeit euery man hath his owne house peculiar unto himselfe. Mans flesh, if it be fat, is eaten as ordinarily there as beefe in our countrey. And albeit the people are most lewd, yet the countrey is exceeding good, abounding with al commodities, as fleshe, corne, rise, silver, gold, wood of aloes, Camphir, and many other things. Marchants coming unto this region for traffique do usually bring with them fat men, selling them unto the inhabitants as we sel hogs, who immediately kil and eat them. In this island towards the south, there is another kingdome called Simoltra,2 where both men and women marke themselves with red-hot yron in 12 sundry spots of their faces: and this nation is at continual warre with certaine naked people in another region. Then I traveled further unto another island called Java, the compasse whereof by sea is 3000 miles. The king of this Iland hath 7 other crowned kings under his jurisdiction. The said Island is throughly inhabited & is thought to be one of the principall Ilands of ye whole world. In the same Iland there groweth great plenty of cloves, cubibez, and nutmegs, and in a word all kinds of spices are there to be had, and great aboundance of all victuals except wine. The king of the said Iland of Java hath a brave and sumptuous pallace, the most loftily built, that euer I saw any, & it hath most high greeses3 and stayers to ascend up into the roomes therein contained, one stayre being of silver, & another of gold, throughout the whole building. Also the lower roomes were paved all ouer with one square plate of silver, & another of gold. All the walls upon the inner side were seeled ouer with plates of gold, wherupon were ingraven ye pictures of knights, having about their temples, ech of them a wreath of golde, adorned with precious stones. The roofe of the palace was of pure gold. With this King of Java the great Can of Catay hath had many conflicts in war; whom notwithstanding the said king hath always overcome and vanquished.