184 nobility’s sake, and the smaller their eyes the more gentlemanly they are considered. The women are very well-dressed in cottons, silks and woollens, their clothes are like the Germans’, they eat at high tables like us, with a very white tablecloth. For each person who is going to eat, they lay a knife; a bowl; a napkin, and a silver goblet on the table, they do not touch their food with their hands. They bring their bowl up very close to their mouths and use silver or wooden tongs to put the food in their mouths with great rapidity, because they eat very quickly and make many delicacies from meat andfish and many other things. They eat excellent wheat bread, they drink all kinds of wine, and several times at each meal. They eat dog meat, which they consider to be excellent meat. They are very genuine, however, they are not good horsemen, but excellent businessmen in all merchandise. They make large quantities of porcelain here which is a good commodity for all places. They make it from ground cowries; eggshells and egg-white and other materials to form a paste which they bury for some time. They consider this to be a great treasure and wealth because the closer the time comes to working it, the more it is worth. When the time comes, they shape it into all sorts of figures, some of them are thick, others fine, and when they are ready, they glaze and paint them. Fine silk is produced here, from which they make a lot of coloured damasks; satins; other common cloths, and brocades. There is also plenty of rhubarb; musk; silver; seed-pearls and pearls, which are not, however, perfectly round. Many beautiful golden ornaments are made in this kingdom such as wonderful boxes; wooden plates; salt cellars and other fine things. There are very skillful men in this country to do this. They wear boots like people from cold countries. They sail junks with mats like in Mozambique, and cables and rigging made out of a type of wicker; some of them are great pirates. They sail to Malacca with all the Chinese goods, which sell for a good
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