第92章

You must know that when these feasts of which I have spoken are ended,at the beginning of the month of October,when eleven of its days are past,they make great feasts,during which every one puts on new,and rich,and handsome cloths,each one according to his liking,and all the captains give their men handsome cloths of many colours,each one having his own colour and device.On the same day they give great gifts of money to the king,it is even said that they give on that day to the king in money a million and five hundred thousand gold PARDAOS,and each PARDAO is worth three hundred and sixty REIS,and from this you will be able to know how many REIS there will be.Iwish you to know that on this day begins their year;it is their New Year's Day,and for this they make the feast and give the gifts;and it is not to be wondered at,for we also do the same on New Year's Day.They begin the year in this month with the new moon,and they count the months always from moon to moon.[456]

And now I wish you to know that the previous kings of this place for many years past have held it a custom to maintain a treasury,which treasury,after the death of each,is kept locked and sealed in such a way that it cannot be seen by any one,nor opened,nor do the kings who succeed to the kingdom open them or know what is in them.They are not opened except when the kings have great need,and thus the kingdom has great supplies to meet its needs.This king has made his treasury different from those of the previous kings,and he puts in it every year ten million PARDAOS,without taking from them one PARDAO more than for the expenses of his house.The rest remains for him,over and above these expenses and of the expenses in the houses of his wives,of whom I have already told you that he keeps near him twelve thousand women;from this you will be able to judge how great is the richness of this kingdom,and how great the treasure that this king has amassed.

And if any one does not know what a PARDAO is,let him know that it is a round gold coin,which coin is not struck anywhere in India except in this kingdom;it bears impressed on it on one side two images and on the other the name of the king who commanded it to be struck;those which this king ordered to be struck have only one image.This coin is current all over India.Each PARDAO,as already said,is worth three hundred and sixty REIS.

After all these things (feasts)had passed the king betook himself to the new city,of which I have already told you that he delights in it much because it was made and peopled by him,of which I have already told you.In two years the king built this city.The king was received by the citizens with great feasts,and the streets were hung with rich cloths,and with many triumphal arches under which he passed.In this city the king held another review of the troops of his guard,and he distributed pay to all because it was the beginning of the year,and it is their custom to pay salaries year by year.An inspection is held by the officers of his house,and they write down the name of each one,and the marks that he has on his face or body.There are men of the guard who have a thousand PARDAOS pay,and others eight hundred,others six hundred and more,and a little more or less;there is a difference,and also a difference in the persons.Some men of them who are of higher rank than others have two horses or three,and others have no more than one.These troops have their captains,and each captain goes with his guard to mount guard at the palace according to order and custom;the king has in his guard five hundred horse,and these watch outside the palace armed with their weapons.There are two watches inside,and people with swords and shields.

The king,then,being in his new city,as I have said,Christovao de Figueiredo begged him of his kindness that he would permit him to be shown the palace of the city of Bisnaga,forasmuch as there had come with him many Portuguese who had never been in Bisnaga,and they would rejoice to see it,in order to have somewhat to tell of on their return to their own lands,whenever God should take them there.The king at once commanded that they should be shown certain of his residences,for that of his wives no one ever sees.As soon as we had returned to the city of Bisnaga,the governor of that place,who is called Gamdarajo,and is brother of Salvatinica,[457]showed us the palace.

You must know that on entering that gate of which I have spoken,by which the ladies serving the king's wives make their exit when they come to the feast,opposite to it there is another of the same kind.Here they bade us stand still,and they counted us how many we were,and as they counted they admitted us one by one to a small courtyard with a smoothly plastered floor,and with very white walls around it.[458]At the end of this courtyard,opposite this gate by which we entered,is another close to it on the left hand,and another which was closed;the door opposite belongs to the king's residence.At the entrance of this door outside are two images painted like life and drawn in their manner,which are these;the one on the right hand is of the father of this king,and the one on the left is of this king.The father was dark and a gentleman of fine form,stouter than the son is;they stand with all their apparel and such raiment as they wear or used to wear when alive.Afterwards,wishing to pass in at this door,they again counted us,and after they had finished counting us we entered a little house which contained what I shall now relate.