[362] Ramusio adds: “many sapphires and other jewels”. He then says: “Pepper and ginger grow around the said city of Calicut”. The paragraph is worded obscurely, but my version seems to be preferable. Sapphires are mentioned at the end of the letter. [363] Ramusio does not mention almonds, nor does Peutinger. [364] This expression proves that the letter was not written at one sitting, but by degrees. [365] Ramusio has much condensed the whole of this paragraph, and seems to have misunderstood the writer. The statement that provisions were sent from Melinde to Calecut can hardly be accepted, and it was perhaps for this reason that Ramusio suppressed the name of that town. The country around Calecut is certainly sandy, but it is not as sterile as the bald statement of the writer would lead one to believe, for the city lies in the midst of extensive groves of palm, mango, and jack trees. Peutinger thus summarises this passage: “The country around Kalekut is mostly sand, and neither corn nor any other fruit grows there. These are imported by sea.” [366] Should be Chalechut, as Bandini prints it. [367] The last two paragraphs have been omitted by Ramusio. [368] Translated from the _Paesi novamente retrovati_, Vicenza, 1507. [369] The true history of the Jewish colony in Malabar has been written by Claudius Buchanan (_Christian Researches in Asia_, Edinburgh, 1812). Ritter (_Erdkunde_, v, pp. 595-601) gives an excellent summary. [370] Gaspar da Gama was quite right. There were no Christians at Calecut when Vasco da Gama first visited that town, nor are there many now. Cochin, and not Calecut, was the chief seat of the Syrian Christians of Malabar. They were an offshoot of the church of Persia, which recognised the Nestorian patriarch of Babylon (Mosul). After the condemnation of their dogmas by the Council of Ephesus (431) they sought a refuge in distant countries. After 1599 many of them recognised the Pope, but after the ascendency of the Dutch (since 1653) some turned Protestants, whilst others recognised the Jacobite bishop of Antioch as their head. Popularly they are known as S. Thomas Christians, although there exists not the slightest evidence of that Apostle ever having visited India. Their worship is of a simple nature: they admit no images to their churches, reject the doctrine of transubstantiation, and allow their priests to marry (G. Milne Rae, _The Syrian Church in India_, 1892; Percy Badger, _The Nestorians and their Ritual_, 1852; German, _Die Kirche der Thomaschristen_, 1877). [371] Ramusio says: “excepting those called Jacobites and those of Prester John.” [372] Ramusio says forty days. [373] Ramusio adds: “towards the Gulf of Persia”. [374] Ramusio says 300 leagues. The real distance of Bahrein is about 550 leagues. There may be some confusion with the Manar pearl fishery.