This kingdom, you must know, is so much frequented by the Saracen merchants that they have converted the natives to the Law of Mahommet—­I mean the townspeople only, for the hill-people live for all the world like beasts, and eat human flesh, as well as all other kinds of flesh, clean or unclean.  And they worship this, that, and the other thing; for in fact the first thing that they see on rising in the morning, that they do worship for the rest of the day.[NOTE 3]

Having told you of the kingdom of Ferlec, I will now tell of another which is called BASMA.

When you quit the kingdom of Ferlec you enter upon that of Basma.  This also is an independent kingdom, and the people have a language of their own; but they are just like beasts without laws or religion.  They call themselves subjects of the Great Kaan, but they pay him no tribute; indeed they are so far away that his men could not go thither.  Still all these Islanders declare themselves to be his subjects, and sometimes they send him curiosities as presents.[NOTE 4] There are wild elephants in the country, and numerous unicorns, which are very nearly as big.  They have hair like that of a buffalo, feet like those of an elephant, and a horn in the middle of the forehead, which is black and very thick.  They do no mischief, however, with the horn, but with the tongue alone; for this is covered all over with long and strong prickles [and when savage with any one they crush him under their knees and then rasp him with their tongue].  The head resembles that of a wild boar, and they carry it ever bent towards the ground.  They delight much to abide in mire and mud.  ’Tis a passing ugly beast to look upon, and is not in the least like that which our stories tell of as being caught in the lap of a virgin; in fact, ’tis altogether different from what we fancied.[NOTE 5] There are also monkeys here in great numbers and of sundry kinds; and goshawks as black as crows.  These are very large birds and capital for fowling.[NOTE 6]

I may tell you moreover that when people bring home pygmies which they allege to come from India, ’tis all a lie and a cheat.  For those little men, as they call them, are manufactured on this Island, and I will tell you how.  You see there is on the Island a kind of monkey which is very small, and has a face just like a man’s.  They take these, and pluck out all the hair except the hair of the beard and on the breast, and then they dry them and stuff them and daub them with saffron and other things until they look like men.  But you see it is all a cheat; for nowhere in India nor anywhere else in the world were there ever men seen so small as these pretended pygmies.

Now I will say no more of the kingdom of Basma, but tell you of the others in succession.

NOTE 1.—­Java the Less is the Island of SUMATRA.  Here there is no exaggeration in the dimension assigned to its circuit, which is about 2300 miles.  The old Arabs of the 9th century give it a circuit of 800 parasangs, or say 2800 miles, and Barbosa reports the estimate of the Mahomedan seamen as 2100 miles.  Compare the more reasonable accuracy of these estimates of Sumatra, which the navigators knew in its entire compass, with the wild estimates of Java Proper, of which they knew but the northern coast.