that balassi might be woʳthe and what answere I had made, rehearsing my woʳds vnto them. I had before hearde this woʳde Cataini of an ambassadoʳ of Tartarie in his retoʳne from Cataio the yere 1436, who, passeng throwgh Tana wᵗʰ all his trayne, was lodged in my house: I hoping to get some jewell of him. At which time, talking of Cataio, he tolde me howe the chief of that Princes coʳte knewe well what the FRANCHI were. And vpon my demaunding of him howe it was possible they shulde haue knowledge of the Franchi, he asked me, why shulde they not knowe us? Thoʷ knowest, said he, howe neere we be vnto Capha, and that we practise thither continually; liek as also they reasorte into oʳ Lordo: addeng this further, we Cataini have twoo eyes and yoʷ FRANCHI one, whereas yoʷ (toʳneng him towards the Tartares that were wiᵗʰ him) haue never a one, which he spake merrylie. So that at this tyme I did the better vnderstande the proverbe, whan the king vsed these woordes vnto me. This doon, he shewed me a rubie, of an once and an halfe, of the fac̃on of a chest nutte, rounde, faire coloʷred, and clene: not bored throwgh and bounde in a cercle of golde, which seemed to me a mervailouse thinge, being so great: he shewed me aftre many balasses, both jewelled and vnjewelled, amongest the which there was one in a square table made aftre the fac̃on of a litle nayle, rounde about the which were v other table balasses, the great one in the middest weying xxx carretts or thereabouts, and the next twenty carrets or thereabouts, betwene the which there were certein great perles and turcasses set not of any great estimac̃on, for they were olde. [Sidenote: These Cassacks are longe and strait, and but half sleeved.] After this he caused certein CASSACKS[80] to be brought fooʳthe of clothe of golde, of sylke, and of damaskyne chamlette, lyned wᵗʰ sylke or furred wᵗʰ exceading faire armelynes and sables: telling me these be of the clothes of a towne of Ies.[81] Our apparaill, qd he, is faire; but it waieth a litle to much. Finally, he caused certein sylke carpetts to be brought fooʳthe, which were mervailouse faire.