108 man also holds all the decrees of the realm in his possession. Nobody eats meat orfish during these thirteen days, nor does any vessel go out to fish on pain of death. During this time, many alms are made of the king’s estate to fishermen and many poor and Brahmins are fed. Once these thirteen days are over and the new king has been proclaimed in the manner I have just described, they all return to chewing betel and eating meat andfish, except for the new king who observes a period of mourning of one year, during which he neither eats meat nor fish, nor does he chew betel. He does not shave, nor cut any hair or nails from his body. He prays at certain times of day, and does not eat more than once a day. He washes before eating and once he has washed does not see anyone until he eats. The king of Calicut is always in the city in a large palace which is set apart from it. When a year has passed since the king’s death, the next crown-prince and the heirs, who are his brothers and nephews and all the other lords of the realm come to him and help him conduct a ceremony which is held to mark the end of the year of mourning, a celebration to lift his mourning, in which many alms are given and large sums of money are spent in feeding the Brahmins and the poor, and all those who come to see him and everyone they bring with them. Over one hundred thousand men gather and they confirm the prince as the heir, and all those who come after him, in their respective positions. The dead king’s governors and officials are removed from their offices and others appointed to them. Then, the prince sends everyone home to where they live, and the prince goes to his lands which are a certain distance away. He will not set foot in Calicut again until the king dies. All the others may come to see him at the court and walk with him, with the exception of the prince who is not allowed to by law. When he takes his leave, he goes to a bridge over a river, close by the city, and takes his bow and shoots an arrow towards the king’s palace and says a
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