eyes; and of brasyll? colour.  They wear their hair long, have very broad and flat noses, and are of low mean stature.  Their money is of gold, silver, and tin.  On one side the gold coin has the head of a devil, and on the other a waggon or chariot drawn by elephants.  The silver coin is similar, and ten of them passes for one of gold; but it requires 25 pieces of tin to equal one gold piece.  In this country there are a greater number and finer elephants than in any other place I have been in.  The people are by no means warlike, being entirely devoted to merchandise and gain; they use strangers with much kindness and hospitality, and justice is well administered.  They have in this island great abundance of long pepper, which in their language is called Molaga, and is much longer and whiter than any other, yet very light and strong; it is sold by measure like corn, and is to be had in such plenty that twenty ships are loaded with it every year for Cathay, or China, where it is much in request on account of the coldness of the climate.  The tree which produces this pepper has a larger body, with broader and flatter leaves than the pepper tree of Calicut.  This island produces plenty of silk, which is the work of worms as with us; but there is another kind brought forth on the trees spontaneously without any care or labour, which is worse than the other.  Here likewise grows the laser tree, which produces the precious gum called Laserpitium or Belzoe[93], as we were told by the inhabitants and merchants, but not having myself seen it I am unable to give any distinct account of this substance.  Variety is always pleasing, and ingenious minds can never be satiated with contemplating the marvellous and diversified works of God in nature:  Therefore, that the reader may take the more pleasure in these my writings, or at least may experience less tediousness in reading them, I have thought good to set down such things as I have seen more at large.  It is therefore to be understood that the reason of no great quantity of aloes or Laserpitium being brought to us is because it comes from the farthest parts of the earth.  There are three kinds or sorts of aloes, differing greatly in point of goodness.  The most perfect is that called Calampat, which is not found in Sumatra, but is brought from the city of Sarnau near which it grows, as we were told by our companions the Christian merchants formerly mentioned.  There is another kind of aloes called Juba or Luba, brought to Sumatra by the before mentioned river or strait, but I know not from what country.  The third kind is called bochor.  These Christian merchants also told us that none of the finest and best kind of aloes is brought to us, because it comes from the kingdoms of Cathay, Chini, Macym, Sarnau, and Gravay, countries much richer than ours and more abounding in gold, having kings of great power and riches, who take great delight in sweet savours and use them much more than our western princes, owing to which circumstance the true and best kind of aloes is worth ten crowns the pound even in the city of Sarnau.