seems to have been given, but it is quite true of the western coast generally.” (Rev. Dr. C.) One can only suppose that Polo inadvertently applied to Maabar that which he knew to be true of the regions both west of it and east of it. The Coromandel coast derives its chief supply of rain from the north-east monsoon, beginning in October, whereas both eastern and western India have theirs from the south-west monsoon, between June and September.
NOTE 16.—Abraham Roger says of the Hindus of the Coromandel coast: “They judge of lucky hours and moments also by trivial accidents, to which they pay great heed. Thus ’tis held to be a good omen to everybody when the bird Garuda (which is a red hawk with a white ring round its neck) or the bird Pala flies across the road in front of the person from right to left; but as regards other birds they have just the opposite notion.... If they are in a house anywhere, and have moved to go, and then any one should sneeze, they will go in again, regarding it as an ill omen,” etc. (Abr. Roger, pp. 75–76.)
NOTE 17.—Quoth Wassáf: “It is a strange thing that when these horses arrive there, instead of giving them raw barley, they give them roasted barley and grain dressed with butter, and boiled cow’s milk to drink:—
“Who gives sugar to an owl or a crow? Or who feeds a parrot with a carcase? A crow should be fed with carrion, And a parrot with candy and sugar. Who loads jewels on the back of an ass? Or who would approve of giving dressed almonds to a cow?” —Elliot, III. 33.
“Horses,” says Athanasius Nikitin, “are fed on peas; also on Kicheri, boiled with sugar and oil; early in the morning they get shishenivo.” This last word is a mystery. (India in the XVth Century, p. 10.)
“Rice is frequently given by natives to their horses to fatten them, and a sheep’s head occasionally to strengthen them.” (Note by Dr. Caldwell.)
The sheep’s head is peculiar to the Deccan, but ghee (boiled butter) is given by natives to their horses, I believe, all over India. Even in the stables of Akbar an imperial horse drew daily 2 lbs. of flour, 1½ lb. of sugar, and in winter ½ lb. of ghee! (Ain. Akb. 134.)
It is told of Sir John Malcolm that at an English table where he was present, a brother officer from India had ventured to speak of the sheep’s head custom to an unbelieving audience. He appealed to Sir John, who only shook his head deprecatingly. After dinner the unfortunate story-teller remonstrated, but Sir John’s answer was only, “My dear fellow, they took you for one Munchausen; they would merely have taken me for another!”
NOTE 18.—The nature of the institution of the Temple dancing-girls seems to have been scarcely understood by the Traveller. The like existed at ancient Corinth under the name of ἰερόδουλοι, which is nearly a translation of the Hindi name of the girls, Deva-dási. (Strabo, VIII. 6, § 20.) “Each (Dási) is married to an idol when quite young. The female children are generally brought up to the trade of the mothers. It is customary with a few castes to present their superfluous daughters to the Pagodas.” (Nelson’s Madura Country, Pt. II. 79.) A full account of this matter appears to have been read by Dr. Shortt of Madras before the Anthropological Society. But I have only seen a newspaper notice of it.
NOTE 19.—The first part of this paragraph is rendered by Marsden: “The natives make use of a kind of bedstead or cot of very light canework, so ingeniously contrived that when they repose on them, and are inclined to sleep, they can draw close the curtains about them by pulling a string.” This is not translation. An approximate illustration of the real statement is found in Pyrard de Laval, who says (of the Maldive Islanders): “Their beds are hung up by four cords to a bar supported by two pillars.... The beds of the king, the grandees, and rich folk are made thus that they may be swung and rocked with facility.” (Charton, IV. 277.) In the Rás Mála swinging cots are several times alluded to. (I. 173, 247, 423.) In one case the bed is mentioned as suspended to the ceiling by chains.
[1] “Audax omnia perpeti,” etc.
[2] The G. T. has nuns, “Li nosnain do mostier.” But in Ramusio it is monks, which is more probable, and I have adopted it.
[3] M. Pauthier has suggested the same explanation in his notes.
[4] Running a-muck in the genuine Malay fashion is not unknown among the Rajpúts; see two notable instances in Tod, II. 45 and 315. [See Hobson-Jobson.]
[5] See Journ. Asiat. sér. VI. tom. xi. pp. 505 and 512. May not the dinár of red gold have been the gold mohr of those days, popularly known as the red tanga, which Ibn Batuta repeatedly tells us was equal to 2½ dinárs of the west. 220 red tangas would be equivalent to 550 western dinárs, or saggi, of Polo. (Elliot, II. 332, III. 582.)
[6] I observe, however, that Sir Walter Elliot thinks it possible that the Paraya which appears on the oldest of Indian inscriptions as the name of a nation, coupled with Chola and Kerala (Coromandel and Malabar), is that of the modern despised tribe. (J. Ethn. Soc. n.s. I. 103.)