Lac is westwards from the shrine of St Thomas, from whence the Bramins have their original, who are the honestest merchants in the world, and will not lie on any account.  They faithfully keep any thing committed to their charge, or as brokers, they will sell or barter merchandize for others, with great fidelity.  They are known by a cotton thread, which they wear over their shoulders, and tied under their arms across their breast.  They have but one wife, are great astrologers, of great abstinence, and live to great ages.  They constantly chew a certain herb, which keeps their teeth good and helps digestion.  There are certain religious persons among them called Tangui, who live with great austerity, going altogether naked; their principal worship is addressed to cows, of which they wear a small brass image on their foreheads, and they make an ointment of ox bones, with which they anoint themselves very devoutly.  They neither kill nor eat any living creature, and even abstain from green herbs, or fresh roots till dried, esteeming every thing that lives to have a soul.  They use no dishes, but lay their victuals on dry leaves.  They ease themselves in the sands, and they disperse it, lest it should breed worms, which might die for want of food.  Some of these people are said to live to 150 years of age, and when they die their bodies are burned.

Cael is a great city governed by Aster, one of the four brethren[3], who is very rich and kind to merchants.  He is said to have three hundred concubines.  All the people this country are continually chewing a leaf called Tembul[4], with lime and spices.  Coulam[5] is 500 miles south-west from Moabar, being chiefly inhabited by idolaters, who are very much addicted to venery, and marry their near kindred, and even their own sisters.  It also contains Jews and Christians, who have a peculiar language.  They have pepper, Brazil, indigo, black lions, parrots of many kinds, some white as snow, some azure, and others red, peacocks very different from ours, and much larger, and their fruits are very large.  In this country there are many astrologers and physicians.  In Camari, there are apes so large, that they seem like men, and here we again came in sight of the north star.  Delai has a king, and its inhabitants have a peculiar language[6] and are idolaters.  Ships from Mangi come here for trade.

Malabar is a kingdom in the west, in which, and in Guzerat[7], there are many pirates, who sometimes put to sea with an hundred sail of vessels, and rob merchants.  In these expeditions they take their wives and children to sea along with them, where they remain all summer.  In Guzerat there is great abundance of cotton, which grows on trees six fathoms high, that last for twenty years; but after twelve years old, the cotton of these trees is not good for spinning; and is only fit for making quilts.