A Momentous Journey

163 hundred reais. These merchants would take them there to sell them and they made a lot of profit from it. They also make large quantities of ginger; orange; lemon and other local fruit conserves in this city. There are many horses; cows; sheep and many other livestock and chickens. The Mouros merchants from this city often travel inland to buy gentile children from their parents and others who steal and castrate them, cutting everything off. Many die from this, they castrate them and cure them well and sell them each..... [1] , they are highly valued as guards for their wives and property and for other revolting things. These eunuchs are highly valued, because they are often very trustworthy and some of them become their master’s factors, and governors and Mouros king’s captains, thus becoming rich men of substantial property. The respectable Mouros of this city wear very fine white cotton shirts, which come down to their ankles. Underneath them they wear girded cloths and silk scarves over them. They carry gold and silver adorned daggers in their belts, according to their status, many finelyjewelled rings on theirfingers; their cotton turbans on their heads. They are virile men who eat and drink well and spend freely. In addition, they have other vices. They wash regularly in tanks inside their houses. Each has three or four wives or however many he can keep. They are kept closed in their houses and are well-treated, with lots of gold and silver andfine silk clothes. They only go out at night to visit each other, when they hold many parties and celebrations, with lots of different kinds of wine which are made in this country, especially from palm-sugar, which women are used to drinking. They play all sorts of instruments very well. The humble people of this city wear white shirts which come down to their mid-thighs and small turbans with three or four turns on their heads. They all wear good leather on their feet, some of them shoes, others well-made golden sandals. 1. Some words appear to be missing from the text.

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