152 which are a great commodity in the kingdoms of Cambay and Bengal, where they are used as small coins and are considered cleaner and better than copper ones. They makefine cotton; silk, and gold cloths in these islands, which are worth a lot of money to the Mouros, who make clothes and turbans out of them. The men from these islands sow their caps so delicately and the stitching is so well hidden that if our workers were to look at them, the only thing they would see is that there is the outside and the inside. They collect turtleshells in these islands, called alquama, which they make into veryfine pieces that sell extremely well in the Kingdom of Gujarat. One also finds large pieces of ambergris: some of it white, some brown, and the rest, black. I have asked many Mouros from here what ambergris is and where it comes from. They believe it to be bird droppings and say that in this archipelago, in the uninhabited islands, there are large birds that land on the sea-cliffs and rocks and lay this ambergris there, where it is tanned by sun, wind and rain, until great sea-storms and gales coming over the cliffs and rocks rip up small and large pieces that drift in the sea until they are found or washed up on the beach, or eaten by whales. They say that the white ambergris theyfind, which they call ponambar, has only been in the sea for a short time. This is the most valuable kind for them. The brown sort has been in the sea for longer and that is why it has turned this colour. They also think that it is very good, but not as good as the white kind. The other kind which is black and crushed when they find it, has turned this colour because it was eaten by whales. It has such powers that the whales cannot digest it and expel it whole again. They call it minamber and it is the least valuable to them. They make many large ships from palm-trees in these islands sown together with cord, because there is no other wood. They sail to the mainland in them. They have keels and can take a large cargo. They also make small rowing boats which are like brigs or pinnaces. They are
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