161 The Kingdom of Orissa Heading further along the coast past the end of the great Kingdom of Vijayanagara, one comes to the gentile Kingdom of Orissa, which has fine soldiers. The King has a large number of foot-soldiers, and is often at war with Vijayanagara. This kingdom lies largely in the interior and has very few seaports and little trade. It meets the coast and towards the North of the kingdom, there is a river called the Ganges, which they call the Guorigua, and the Kingdom of Bengal begins on the far side of the river, with which the King of Orissa sometimes also has wars. All the gentiles make a pilgrimage to this river Ganges, and bathe in it, claiming that they will hence be saved, as the river springs from the source of earthly paradise. This is a very wide river, with beautiful banks on both sides, which are densely populated with handsome and rich gentile cities; the First India lies between this river and the Euphrates, and beyond this river towards Malacca lies the Third India, according to the Mouros who have known India for longer than we have. Between these two rivers, the land is very fertile and productive, both in the interior and close to the coast. Its people are mostly very slim and wealthy. They are prudent and thrifty, and their country has fine air, many trees and pleasant-smelling streets. None of them have to work very hard; it is neither too hot nor too cold, rather it has a very moderate climate. The Kingdom of Bengal Going further North along the coast past the river Ganges, one comes to the kingdom of Bengal, where there are many settlements inhabited by gentiles both in the interior and along the coast. Those who live in the interior are independent but their overlord is the King of Vijayanagara. The Mouros live in the seaports, where there is a busy trade in many commodities with small and large sailing ships going to many places, because the coastline
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