The first voyage round the world, by Magellan : $b translated from the accounts of Pigafetta, and other contemporary writersPigafetta, Antonio
History
The first voyage round the world, by Magellan : $b translated from the accounts of Pigafetta, and other contemporary writers
Pigafetta, Antonio
Magalhães, Fernão de, -1521; Voyages around the world -- Early works to 1800
There are in this island of Giailolo some trees of nutmegs. These are
like our walnuts, and the leaves also are similar. The nutmeg, when
gathered, is like the quince in form and colour, and the down which
covers it, but it is smaller. The outside rind is as thick as the green
rind of our walnuts, beneath which is a thin web, or rather cartilage,
under which is the mace, of a very bright red, which covers and
surrounds the rind of the nuts, inside which is the nutmeg properly so
called.
There also grows in Tadore the ginger, which we used to eat green;
instead of bread. Ginger is not a tree, but a shrub, which sends out
of the earth shoots a span long like the shoots of canes, which they
also resemble in the shape of the leaves, only those of the ginger are
narrower. The shoots are good for nothing; that which makes ginger is
the root. When green, it is not so strong as when it is dry, and to dry
it they use lime, or else it would not keep.
The houses of these people are built like those already described,
but are not so high above the ground, and are surrounded with canes
after the fashion of a hedge. The women here are ugly, and go naked
like the others, having only their middles covered with cloth made of
bark. The men also are naked, and notwithstanding that their women are
ugly, they are exceedingly jealous; and amongst other things which
displeased them, was that we came ashore without cloaks,[374] because
they imagined that might cause temptation to their wives. Both men and
women always go barefoot.
Since I have spoken of cloth, I will relate how they make it. They
take a piece of bark and leave it in water until it has grown soft;
they then beat it with wooden clubs to extend it in length and breadth,
as much as they please; thus it becomes like a veil of raw silk with
filaments enlaced within it, so that it appears as if it was woven.
Their bread is made with the wood of a tree like a palm tree, and
they make it in this way. They take a piece of this wood, and extract
from it certain long black thorns[375] which are situated there; then
they pound it, and make bread of it which they call sagu. They make
provisions of this bread for their sea voyages.
Every day there came from Tarenate many boats laden with cloves, but
we, because we were waiting for the king, would not traffic for those
goods, but only for victuals: and the men of Tarenate complained much
of this.
On Sunday night, the 24th of November, the king arrived, and on
entering the port had his drums sounded, and passed between our ships.
We fired many bombards to do him honour. He told us that for four days
we should be continually supplied with cloves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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