74 January; February, and March. Those fromMalabar bring a lot of spices; areca nuts; coconuts; a lot of remedies; palm-sugar; beeswax; emery, which all sells at a good price and is used in the interior and in the Great Kingdom of Cambay. The latter’s ships come here to fetch these things and in return, they bring cottons; cloths, and other merchandise which is of high value in Malabar. Its zambucos also take back things in return for what they bring. Thus, they take back a lot of wheat; grains; rice; millet, and sesame, which is plentiful here, and many linens and muslins, that are made in this kingdom of Deccan. The merchants from Malabar also bring a lot of quicksilver; vermillion, and copper, which they but at Our Lord and King’s factories, and a quintal of copper is sold here for upwards of twenty ducats. It is used in the interior and in the kingdom of Gujarat. They work it into coins there, and make pans for cooking rice. The Portuguese also bring copper here, in addition to the large amount that comes from Mecca. Every year, the Mouros from Chaul take a large number of pieces of linen for caps from the port of Diu, which they trade in Arabia and Persia, where they are worth a lot, and they also have manyfine muslins and red belts, these three cloth items are made in this kingdom. The local people commonly wear muslins, and they wear them uncured, and then once they have worn them, they cure them and make them very white and starch them, and then they sell them to many parts and this is why they are often all torn. They also make them into capes once they have worn them. They join two together and then dye patterns on them infine colours, and then they wear them about their shoulders because this is their typical dress, with a piece of linen-cap on their heads; these sorts of cloths, these sorts of cloths (sic) are sold by the score, which they use to count, in the same way we use dozens; and a score of muslins or linens is worth ten pardaus, give or take a little, according to their quality. When it is the right time for sailing, as I said before, a lot of people gather here, and it resembles a fair, once it hasfinished, each one
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