168 Martaban lac. Some people say that this lac is resin from the trees, and others say it comes from the thin branches, as in our country where scarlet grows on brambles, and this seems to be much more plausible, because it appears on both trunks and thin branches, which are too small to produce so much resin. They also make a lot of very large porcelain vases in this place. They are sturdy and beautiful. Some of them hold a barrel of water. They have a black glaze and are highy valued by the Mouros and worth a lot of money to them. They take them from here with lots of benzoin resin in loaves. The City and Kingdom of Ava In the interior of this kingdom of Pegu, heading towards Malacca, between the kingdoms of Arracan and Siam, lies a gentile kingdom, where among other places there is a large city called Ava. It is inhabited by rich merchants who have a flourishing trade in precious stones; rubies and spinels, produced locally. Many Mouros, gentile and Chetty merchants from various places come here to buy them and to buy the great quantities of musk to be found here. The king orders these precious stones and musk to be gathered for him, then he sells them to local merchants, who in turn sell them to the foreigners who come here to purchase them. They bring him a lot of copper; quicksilver; vermillion; saffron; rose-water, and opium from Cambay; coloured velvets from Mecca and many other goods that they appreciate, in return for which they take the said precious stones and musk. The king has them collected from mountains and streams, by digging deep pits. Spinels are found on the surface and rubies deep down, and there are always skilled lapidaires in the city who are very familiar with them. Musk is found in animals the size of gazelles. They have small tusks like elephants; they produce some growths beneath their bellies like furuncles and on their chests. And once they are fully grown, their pus makes them itch and so they
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