The Island of Zanghibar

A Word on India in General

Zanghibar is a great and noble Island, with a compass of some 2000 miles.

The people are all Idolaters, and have a king and a language of their own, and pay tribute to nobody.

They are both tall and stout, but not tall in proportion to their stoutness, for if they were, being so stout and brawny, they would be absolutely like giants.

They are so strong that they will carry for 4 men and eat for 5.

They are all black, and go stark naked, with only a little covering for decency.

Their hair is as black as pepper, and so frizzly that even with water you can scarcely straighten it.

Their mouths are so large, their noses so turned up, their lips so thick, their eyes so big and bloodshot, that they look like very devils.

They are in fact so hideously ugly that the world has nothing to show more horrible.

Elephants are produced in this country in wonderful profusion.

There are also lions that are black and quite different from ours. And their sheep and wethers are all exactly alike in colour.

The body all white and the head black; no other kind of sheep is found there, you may rest assured.{2} They have also many giraffes.

This is a beautiful creature, and I must give you a description of it. Its body is short and somewhat sloped to the rear, for its hind legs are short whilst the fore-legs and the neck are both very long, and thus its head stands about three paces from the ground.

The head is small, and the animal is not at all mischievous. Its colour is all red and white in round spots, and it is really a beautiful object.{3}

The women of this Island are the ugliest in the world, with their great mouths and big eyes and thick noses.

Their breasts too are four times bigger than those of any other women, a very disgusting sight.

The people live on rice and flesh and milk and dates.

They make wine of dates and of rice and of good spices and sugar. There is a great deal of trade, and many merchants and vessels go thither.

But the staple trade of the Island is in elephants’ teeth, which are very abundant; and they have also much ambergris, as whales are plentiful.{4}

They have among them excellent and valiant warriors, and have little fear of death.

They have no horses, but fight mounted on camels and elephants.

On the latter they set wooden castles which carry from ten to sixteen persons, armed with lances, swords, and stones, so that they fight to great purpose from these castles.

They wear no armour, but carry only a shield of hide, besides their swords and lances, and so a marvellous number of them fall in battle. When they are going to take an elephant into battle they ply him well with their wine, so that he is made half drunk.

They do this because the drink makes him more fierce and bold, and of more service in battle.{5}

As there is no more to say on this subject I will go on to tell you about the Great Province of Abash, which constitutes the Middle India.

You must understand that in speaking of the Indian Islands we have described only the most noble provinces and kingdoms among them; for no man on earth could give you a true account of the whole of the Islands of India.

What I have described are the best, the Flower of the Indies.

Most of the other Indian Islands that I have omitted are subject to those best islands.

This Sea of India has 12,700 Islands, inhabited and uninhabited, according to the charts and documents of experienced mariners who navigate that Indian Sea.

India the Greater is that which extends from Maabar to Kesmacoran. It has 13 great kingdoms, of which we have described 10.

These are all on the mainland.

India the Lesser extends from the Province of Champa to Mutfili, and contains 8 great kingdoms.

These are likewise all on the mainland. And neither of these numbers includes the Islands, among which also there are very numerous kingdoms, as I have told you.