Longi de questa ysola dieze legue aL garbin dessemo in vna Jzola et costeandola ne pareua alquanto ascendere intrati neL porte ne a parue eL corpo sancto þ vno tempo oscurissimo daL principio de questa ysola fina aL porto li sonno cinquanta legue Lo Jorno sequente a noue de Juglio Lo re de questa ysola ne mando vno prao molto bello cō la proua et la popa lauorate doro era supa la proua vna bandiera de biancho et lazuro con penne de pauonne in cima alguni sonauāo con cinphonie et tamburi veniuāo cō questo prao due al ma die li prao sonno Como fuste et le almadie sonno le sue barche da pescare octo homini vecqi deli principali entrarono nele naui et sederonno neLa popa sopa vno tapeto ne apresentarono vno vazo de legnio de pinto pieno de betre et areca che e qeL fructo que masticano sempre con fiori de gelsomini et de naranci coperto de vno panno de seta Jallo due gabie pienne de galine vno paro de capre tre vazi pieni de vino de rizo lanbicato et alquanti fasci de canne dolci et cossi de tero a laltra naue et abraciandone pigliaronno lisentia eL vino de rizo he chiaro como lacqua ma tanto grande ɋ molti deli nosti sembriacarō et lo chiamano arach.
Deli asey giorni lore mando vnalta volta tre prao con molta pompa sonādo cinphonie tamburi et borchie de latone circondorono le naui et ne fecero reuerentia cō certe sue berete de tella ɋ li copreno solamente la cima deL capo li salutassemo cōle bonbarde senza pietre poy ne detero vno pñte de diuerse viuande solamente de rizo algune in foglie facte in pezi alquanto longhi algune como pannj de zucharo et alguni alti facti amodo de torte con oui et melle ne dissero como lo sue re era contento pigliassemo hacqua et legnia et contratassemo aL nȓo piaceȓ vdendo questo montassemo sette de nuy alti sopa lo prao et portassemo vno pñte al re elqalle era vna vesta de veluto þde a la turchesca vna cathedra de veluto morello cinque bracia de panno rosso vno bonnet et vno biquier dorato vno vaso de vetro coperto tre quinternj de carta et vno Calamaro dorato aLa regina tre bracia de panno [rosso: crossed out in original MS.] giallo vno paro de scarpe argentate vno guchiarollo dargento pieno de gugie AL gouuernatoȓ tre bracia de panno rosso vno bonnet et vno bichier dorato aL re darme ɋ era vennuto nelli prao gli desemo vna vesta de panno rosso et þde aLa turchesca vno bonnet et vno quinterno de carta a li alti sete principali a qi tella a qi bonnetj et a ogni vno vno quinterno de carta et subito se partissemo.
Quando Jongessemo aLa cita stessemo forsi due hore neli prao fin ɋ venirono dui elephanti coperti de seta et dudizi homini cō vno vazo þ vno de porce lana coperto deseta þ coprire nȓi presenti poy montassemo sopa li elefanty et questi dodice hominj ne andauāo dinanzi cō li presenti neli vazi anda semo cussi fin a la casa del gouuernatore oue ne fo data vna cena de molte viuande la nocte dormissemo soura matarasi de bambazo la sua fodra era de tafeta li linsoli de cambaia lo giorno seguente stessemo in casa fin amezo di poy andassemo aL palaçio del re soura elefanti cō li p??entj dinanci como lo giorno dananti da casa deL gouuernatoȓ fin in casa deL re tute le strate erano pienne de hominj con spade lancie et targonj þ che cussi haueua voluto lo re. Jntrassemo soura li elefanti ne la corte deL palatio andassemo su þ vna scala acompagniatj daL gouuernatoȓ et alti principali et Jntrassemo in vna sala grande piena de molti baronj oue sedessemo sopa vno tapeto cō li pñti neli vazi apresso noi AL capo de Questa sala nehe vnalta piu alta ma alquanto piu picola tuta ornata de panni de seta oue se aprirono due fenestre con due cortine de brocato daliqalli veniua la luce nella sala iui erano trecento homini in piedi cō stocqi nudi soura la cossa þ guardia deL re aL capo de Questa era vna grande fenesta dalaqalle se tiro vna cortina de brocato dento de questa vedessemo el re sedere ataula con vno suo figliolo picolino et masticare betre dietro da lui erano sinon donne Alhora ne disse vno principalle nuy nō poteuāo parlare al re et se voleuamo alguna cosa Lo dicessemo alui þ che la direbe avno piu principale et Quello avno fratello deL gouuernatoȓ ɋ staua nela sala piu picola et poi lui la direbe cō vna zarabotana þ vna sfisura deL pariete a vno ɋ staua dento cōlore et ne in segnio douessemo fare al re tre reuerentie cō li many Jonte so p lo capo alzando li piedi mo vno mo alto et poy le basassemo cosi fo facto Questa e la sua reuerentia reale li dicessemo como eramo deL re despagnia et que lui voleua pace seco et nō domandauāo alto saluo potere mẽcadā tare ne fece dire el re poy cheL re despagia voleua esere suo amicho lui era contentissimo de esser suo et disse pigliassemo hacqua et legnia et merchadantasemo a nȓo piacere poi li dessemo li presenti faceua dognj cosa cō Lo capo vn poco de riuerentia aciascuno de nuy alti fo dacto brocadelo et panny de oro et de seta ponendoneli sopa la spala Sinistra ma poco lasciando negli ne deteno vna Colatiōe de garofoli et canella alora foreno tirate le cortine et serate le fenestre li homini ɋ era neL palatio tuti haueuāo panni de oro [de oro: doublet in original MS.] et de seta intorno loro þgonie pugniali cō Lo manicho de oro et ornato de perle et petre preciose et molti aneli nele mani retornassemo Soura le elefanti ala casa deL gouuernatoȓ Sete homini portorono iL prezente del re sempre dinanzi Quando fossemo Jonti acasa dereno a ogniuno Lo Suo et nel missero soura la spala Sinistra aliqalli þ sua fatica donassemo a ciascaduna vno paro de Cortelli venirono in casa deL gouuernatoȓ noue hominj cō alti tanti piati de legnio grandi daL parte de re in ogni piato erāo x hoþo dudize scudelle de porcelana pienne de Carne de vitello de caponi galine pauonj et altry animali et de pesce cenassemo in tera soura vna stora de palma de trenta o trenta dui sorte de viuande de carne eccepto Lo pesce et alte cose beue uāo a ogni bocone pieno vno vazeto de porcelana grande como vno ouo de qeL vino lanbicato mangiassemo rizo et altre viuande de sucaro cō cuchiarj doro Como li nȓj oue dormissemo le due nocte stauāo due torcie de cera biancha sempre acceze soura dui Candellieri de argento vno poco alti et due lampade grande pienne dolio cō catro pauerj þ ogni vna et dui homini ɋ sempre le spauilauāo Venissemo soura li elefanti fino a La riua deL mare doue forono dui prao ɋ ne conduscero ale nauj Questa cita etuta fondata in acqua salsa saluo la casa del re et algune de certy principali et he de vinti cinque miglia focqi le case sonno tute de legno edificati soura pali grossi alti da tera Quando lo mare crescie vanno le donne þ la tera con barque vendendo cose necessarie aL suo viuere dinanzi la casa deL re e vno muro de Cadreli grosso con barbarcanj a modo de forteza nel qalle erano cinquanta sey bombarde de metalo et sey de fero in li dui giornj stessemo iui scaricorono molte Questo re e moro et se chiama raia Siripada era de Quaranta anny et grasso ninguno Lo gouerna se non donne figliole deli principali non si parte may fora daL palatio se non Quando va ala caza ninguno li po par lare sinon þ zarabotane tene x scriuanj ɋ scriueno le cose sue in scorse de arbore molto sotille a Questi chiamano Xiritoles.
Luni matina a vinti noue de Jullio vedessemo venire contra nui piu de cento prao partiti in tre scadronj con alti tanti tunguli ɋ sonno li sue barche picole Quando vedessemo Questo pensando fosse qalque Jnganno ne dessemo Lo piu presto fo possibile nela vella et þ pressa Lasciassemo vna anchora et molto piu ne dubitauāo de essere tolti in mezo de certi Junci ɋ neL giorno passato restarono dopo nuy Subito se voltassemo contra questi et ne pigliassemo cato amazando molte þ sonne tri o catro Junci fugirono in seco in vno de qelli ɋ pigliassemo era lo figliolo deL re deLa ysola de Lozon costui era capo gñale de questo re de burne et veniua cō questi Jonci da vna vila grande deta Laoe ɋ he in capo de questa isola verso Jaua magiore laqalle þ non volere hobedire aquesto re ma aqello de Jaua magiore la haueua ruynata et sacquegiata giouan Caruiao nȓo piloto lasso andare Questo capo et Lo Jonco senza nosto consentimẽto þ certa Cantita de oro como dapoy sapessemo se non Lassaua questo re lo capo ne haueria dato tuto qello hauessemo demandato þ che questo capo era molto temuto in queste parte ma piu da gentilli þ cio sonno Jnimicissimj de questo re moro. in questo porto glie vnalta cita de gentilli magiori de qella de li mori fondata anche ella in acqua salza þ ilche ogni Jorno Questi dui populi combateno insieme neL medesimo porto il re gentille e potente como Lo re moro ma nō tanto superbo facilmente se conuertirebe a la fede de xpo Jl re moro Quando haueua Jnteso in que modo haueuāo tractati li Jonci ne mando a dire þ vno de li nosti ɋ erāo in tera como li prao nō veniuāo þ farne despiacere ma andauāo conta li gentilli et þ verificatiōe de questo li mostrorono alguni capi de homini morti et li discero que erāo de gentili mandassemo dire aL re li piacesse lasciare venire li nostri duy homini ɋ stauano ne la cita þ contratare et Lo figliolo de Johā caruaio ɋ era nascuto nela tera deL þzin ma lui nō volce de questo fo cagiōe Johā Caruaio þ Lassiare qeL capo retenissemo sedizi homj? piu principali þ menarli in spagaia et tre donne in nome de la regina despaga ma Johā caruaio le vsurpo per sue.
LY Jonci sonno le sue naui et facti inquesto modo Lo fondo e circa duy palmi soura lacqua et de taule con cauechie di legnio assay ben facto suura de questo sonno tucti de cane grosissime þ contrapezo porta vno de questi tanta roba como vna naue li sui arbore sonno de canne et le velle de scorse de arbore la porcellana sorte de tera bianquissima et sta cinquanta anny soto tera inanzi lasiadopere þ che altramente non saria fina lo padre la sotera þ lo figliolo seL [veleno] si ponne in vno vazo de porcelana fino subito se rompe la moneta ɋ adoperano li morj in questa parte e dimetalo sbusata neL mezo þ insfilzarla et a solamte duna parte quato segni ɋ sonno lȓe deL grā re della Chijna et La chiamano picis per vno cathiL de argento viuo che e due libre de le noste ne dauano sey scutelle de porcelana per vno quinterno de carta cento picis þ cento sexanta cathili de metalo vno vazeto de porcelana þ tre cortelli vno vazo de porcelana þ 160 cathili de metalo ne danāo vno bahar de cera ɋ e duzento et tre cathili per octanta cathili de metalo vno bahar de sale þ quaranta cathili de metalo vno bahar de anime þ conciar le nauj þ que in queste parte nō si troua pegola vinti tahiL fanno vno cathiL Qiui se apretia metalo argento viuo vetro cenaprio pannj de lana telle et tutte le altri nȓe merce ma piu lo fero et li ochiali Questi morj vano nudi como li alti beueno largento viuo Lo infermo Lo beue per purgarse et Lo Sano þ restare sanno.
Jl re de burne a due perle grosse come dui oui de galina et sonno tanto rotonde ɋ non puono firmarse soura vna tauola et questo so certo þ ɋ quando li portassemo li presenti li fo facto segnio nele mostrase lui disse le mostrarebe lalto giorno poy alguni principali ne dissero Loro hauerle vedute.
Questi mori adoranno mahometo et la sua lege et non mangiar carne de porco lauarsi il culo cō la mano sinistra non mangiare cō qella nō tagliare cosa alguna cō la dextra sedere Quando vrinano nō amazare galine ne capre se pima nō parlano aL solle tagliare de galine le cime de le alle cō le sue pelecine ɋ li avanzano de soto et li piedi et poy scartarla þ mezo lauarse lo volto cō la mano drita nō lauarse li denti cō li ditti et none mangiare cosa alguna amazata se non da loro sonno circũ sisi como li Judei.
Jn questa ysola nasce la canfora specie de balsamo laqalle nasce fra li arbori et la scorsa e menuta como li remole Se la se tiene discoperta apoco apoco diuenta niente et la chiamano Capor li nasce cannela gengero mirabolani neranci limoni chiacare meloni cogomari zuche rapani ceuole scarlogne vache bufali porci capre galine oche ceruj elefanti cauali et altre cose Questa ysola e tanto grande ɋ si sta a circundarla con vno prao tre mezi sta de latitudine aL polo articho in cinque gradi et vno carto et in cento et setantasey et duy tersi de Longitudine de la linea Repartitionale et se chiama burne.
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Ten leguas southwest of that island, we came to an island, which, as we coasted by, seemed to us to be going upward. After entering the port, the holy body [i.e., St. Elmo's fire] appeared to us through the pitchy darkness. There is a distance of fifty leguas from the beginning of that island to the port. On the following day, July nine, the king of that island sent a very beautiful prau to us, whose bow and stern were worked in gold. At the bow flew a white and blue banner surmounted with peacock feathers. Some men were playing on musical instruments [cinphonie] and drums. Two almadies came with that prau. Praus resemble fustas, while the almadies are their small fishing boats. Eight old men, who were chiefs, entered the ships and took seats in the stern upon a carpet. They presented us with a painted wooden jar full of betel and areca (the fruit which they chew continually), and jessamine and orange blossoms, a covering of yellow silk cloth, two cages full of fowls, a couple of goats, three jarsful of distilled rice wine, and some bundles of sugarcane. They did the same to the other ship, and embracing us took their leave. The rice wine is as clear as water, but so strong that it intoxicated many of our men. It is called arach [i.e., arrack].
Six days later the king again sent three praus with great pomp, which encircled the ships with musical instruments [cinphonie] playing and drums and brass gongs beating. They saluted us with their peculiar cloth caps which cover only the top of their heads. We saluted them by firing our mortars without [loading with] stones. Then they gave us a present of various kinds of food, made only of rice. Some were wrapped in leaves and were made in somewhat longish pieces, some resembled sugar-loaves, while others were made in the manner of tarts with eggs and honey. They told us that their king was willing to let us get water and wood, and to trade at our pleasure. Upon hearing that seven of us entered their prau bearing a present to their king, which consisted of a green velvet robe made in the Turkish manner, a violet velvet chair, five brazas of red cloth, a cap, a gilded drinking glass, a covered glass vase, three writing-books of paper, and a gilded writing-case. To the queen [we took] three brazas of [red: crossed out in original MS.] yellow cloth, a pair of silvered shoes, and a silvered needle-case full of needles. [We took] three brazas of red cloth, a cap, and a gilded drinking-glass to the governor. To the herald who came in the prau we gave a robe of red and green cloth, made in the Turkish fashion, a cap, and a writing book of paper; and to the other seven chief men, to one a bit of cloth, and to another a cap, and to all of them a writing book of paper. Then we immediately departed [for the land].
When we reached the city, we remained about two hours in the prau, until the arrival of two elephants with silk trappings, and twelve men each of whom carried a porcelain jar covered with silk in which to carry our presents. Thereupon, we mounted the elephants while those twelve men preceded us afoot with the presents in the jars. In this way we went to the house of the governor, where we were given a supper of many kinds of food. During the night we slept on cotton mattresses, whose lining was of taffeta, and the sheets of Cambaia. Next day we stayed in the house until noon. Then we went to the king's palace upon elephants, with our presents in front as on the preceding day. All the streets from the governor's to the king's house were full of men with swords, spears, and shields, for such were the king's orders. We entered the courtyard of the palace mounted on the elephants. We went up a ladder accompanied by the governor and other chiefs, and entered a large hall full of many nobles, where we sat down upon a carpet with the presents in the jars near us. At the end of that hall there is another hall higher but somewhat smaller. It was all adorned with silk hangings, and two windows, through which light entered the hall and hung with two brocade curtains, opened from it. There were three hundred footsoldiers with naked rapiers at their thighs in that hall to guard the king. At the end of the small hall was a large window from which a brocade curtain was drawn aside so that we could see within it the king seated at a table with one of his young sons chewing betel. No one but women were behind him. Then a chief told us that we could not speak to the king, and that if we wished anything, we were to tell it to him, so that he could communicate it to one of higher rank. The latter would communicate it to a brother of the governor who was stationed in the smaller hall, and this man would communicate it by means of a speaking-tube through a hole in the wall to one who was inside with the king. The chief taught us the manner of making three obeisances to the king with our hands clasped above the head, raising first one foot and then the other and then kissing the hands toward him, and we did so, that being the method of the royal obeisance. We told the king that we came from the king of Spagnia, and that the latter desired to make peace with him and asked only for permission to trade. The king had us told that since the king of Spagnia desired to be his friend, he was very willing to be his, and said that we could take water and wood, and trade at our pleasure. Then we gave him the presents, on receiving each of which he nodded slightly. To each one of us was given some brocaded and gold cloth and silk, which were placed upon our left shoulders, where they were left but a moment. They presented us with refreshments of cloves and cinnamon, after which the curtains were drawn to and the windows closed. The men in the palace were all attired in cloth of gold and silk which covered their privies, and carried daggers with gold hafts adorned with pearls and precious gems, and they had many rings on their hands. We returned upon the elephants to the governor's house, seven men carrying the king's presents to us and always preceding us. When we reached the house, they gave each one of us his present, placing them upon our left shoulders. We gave each of those men a couple of knives for his trouble. Nine men came to the governor's house with a like number of large wooden trays from the king. Each tray contained ten or twelve porcelain dishes full of veal, capons, chickens, peacocks, and other animals, and fish. We supped on the ground upon a palm mat from thirty or thirty-two different kinds of meat besides the fish and other things. At each mouthful of food we drank a small cupful of their distilled wine from a porcelain cup the size of an egg. We ate rice and other sweet food with gold spoons like ours. In our sleeping quarters there during those two nights, two torches of white wax were kept constantly alight in two rather tall silver candlesticks, and two large lamps full of oil with four wicks apiece and two men to snuff them continually. We went elephant-back to the seashore, where we found two praus which took us back to the ships. That city is entirely built in salt water, except the houses of the king and certain chiefs. It contains twenty-five thousand fires [i.e., families]. The houses are all constructed of wood and built up from the ground on tall pillars. When the tide is high the women go in boats through the settlement [tera] selling the articles necessary to maintain life. There is a large brick wall in front of the king's house with towers like a fort, in which were mounted fifty-six bronze [metalo] pieces, and six of iron. During the two days of our stay there, many pieces were discharged. That king is a Moro and his name is Raia Siripada. He was forty years old and corpulent. No one serves him except women who are the daughters of chiefs. He never goes outside of his palace, unless when he goes hunting, and no one is allowed to talk with him except through the speaking tube. He has x scribes, called Xiritoles, who write down his deeds on very thin tree bark.
On Monday morning, July twenty-nine, we saw more than one hundred praus divided into three squadrons and a like number of tunguli (which are their small boats) coming toward us. Upon catching sight of them, imagining that there was some trickery afoot, we hoisted our sails as quickly as possible, abandoning an anchor in our haste. We expected especially that we were to be captured in between certain junks which had anchored behind us on the preceding day. We immediately turned upon the latter, capturing four of them and killing many persons. Three or four of the junks sought flight by beaching. In one of the junks which we captured was the son of the king of the island of Lozon. He was the captain-general of the king of Burne, and came with those junks from a large city named Laoe, which is located at the end of that island [i.e., Borneo] toward Java Major. He had destroyed and sacked that city because it refused to obey the king [of Burne], but the king of Java Major instead. Giovan Carvaio, our pilot, allowed that captain and the junks to go without our consent, for a certain sum of gold, as we learned afterward. Had the pilot not given up the captain to the king, the latter would have given us whatever we had asked, for that captain was exceedingly feared throughout those regions, especially by the heathens, as the latter are very hostile to that Moro king. In that same port there is another city inhabited by heathens, which is larger than that of the Moros, and built like the latter in salt water. On that account the two peoples have daily combats together in that same harbor. The heathen king is as powerful as the Moro king, but is not so haughty, and could be converted easily to the Christian faith. When the Moro king heard how we had treated the junks, he sent us a message by one of our men who was ashore to the effect that the praus were not coming to do us any harm, but that they were going to attack the heathens. As a proof of that statement, the Moros showed him some heads of men who had been killed, which they declared to be the heads of heathens. We sent a message to the king, asking him to please allow two of our men who were in the city for purposes of trade and the son of Johan Carvaio, who had been born in the country of Verzin, to come to us, but the king refused. That was the consequences of Johan Carvaio letting the above captain go. We kept sixteen of the chiefest men [of the captured junks] to take them to Spagnia, and three women in the queen's name, but Johan Carvaio usurped the latter for himself.
Junks are their ships and are made in the following manner. The bottom part is built about two palmos above the water and is of planks fastened with wooden pegs, which are very well made; above that they are entirely made of very large bamboos. They have a bamboo as a counterweight. One of those junks carries as much cargo as a ship. Their masts are of bamboo, and the sails of the bark of trees. Their porcelain is a sort of exceedingly white earth which is left for fifty years under the earth before it is worked, for otherwise it would not be fine. The father buries it for the son. If [poison] is placed in a dish made of fine porcelain, the dish immediately breaks. The money made by the Moros in those regions is of bronze [metalo] pierced in the middle in order that it may be strung. On only one side of it are four characters, which are letters of the great king of Chiina. We call that money picis. They gave us six porcelain dishes for one cathil (which is equivalent to two of our libras) of quicksilver; one hundred picis for one book of writing paper; one small porcelain vase for one hundred and sixty cathils of bronze [metalo]; one porcelain vase for three knives; one bahar (which is equivalent to two hundred and three cathils), of wax for 160 cathils of bronze [metalo]; one bahar of salt for eighty cathils of bronze [metalo]; one bahar of anime to calk the ships (for no pitch is found in those regions) for forty cathils of bronze [metalo]. Twenty tahils make one cathil. At that place the people highly esteem bronze [metalo], quicksilver, glass, cinnabar, wool cloth, linens, and all our other merchandise, although iron and spectacles more than all the rest. Those Moros go naked as do the other peoples [of those regions]. They drink quicksilver – the sick man drinks it to cleanse himself, and the well man to preserve his health.
The king of Burne has two pearls as large as two hen's eggs. They are so round that they will not stand still on a table. I know that for a fact, for when we carried the king's presents to him, signs were made for him to show them to us, but he said that he would show them next day. Afterward some chiefs said that they had seen them.
Those Moros worship Mahomet. The latter's law orders them not to eat pork; as they wash the buttocks with the left hand, not to use that hand in eating; not to cut anything with the right hand; to sit down to urinate; not to kill fowls or goats without first addressing the sun; to cut off the tops of the wings with the little bits of skin that stick up from under and the feet of fowls; then to split them in twain; to wash the face with the right hand, but not to cleanse the teeth with the fingers; and not to eat anything that has been killed unless it be by themselves. They are circumcised like the Jews.
Camphor, a kind of balsam, is produced in that island. It exudes between the wood and the bark, and the drops are as small as [grains of] wheat bran. If it is exposed it gradually evaporates [literally: becomes nothing]. Those people call it capor. Cinnamon, ginger, mirabolans, oranges, lemons, nangcas, watermelons, cucumbers, gourds, turnips, cabbages, scallions, cows, buffaloes, swine, goats, chickens, geese, deer, elephants, horses, and other things are found there. That island is so large that it takes three months to sail round it in a prau. It lies in a latitude of five and one-fourth degrees toward the Arctic Pole, and in a longitude of one hundred and seventy-six and two-thirds degrees from the line of demarcation, and its name is Burne.
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