92 half of his income is taken away from him, and despite this, the king allows him to return to his lodgings as honourably as he came, and thus there are always many litters and horsemen outside the palace entrance. This King of Vijayanagara always has over nine hundred elephants which he purchases for between one thousand five hundred and two thousand ducats each. They are enormous and fine-looking beasts, which travel with him everywhere, whether he is attending a ceremony or going to war. And he has over twenty thousand horses, each of which cost him between four and six hundred ducats, and some which are chosen especially for him, are purchased for between nine hundred and a thousand ducats. These horses are shared around the leading lords to whom the king gives them for them to look after and keep him informed of their well-being. He likewise gives horses to other noblemen. Knights are given one horse each for their personal use, as well as a servant boy and a girl slave to serve them, and four or five pardaus every month, accordingly, and daily provisions for the horse and boy, who get them from huge kitchens where the king orders food to be given to the elephants and horses. These kitchens are in many, enormous houses, where there are a large number of copper vats. There are many officials there who order food to be prepared and many more people to do this. It is rice with many cereals and other vegetables, and all of them, as I have stated, send their horses or elephant to get their feed. If they see that a horse or elephant is thriving in the hands of the person it was given to, they take that one away from him and give him a better one, and if it is not growing, they take it away and give him a worse one, and so in order to have a good horse or elephant, they all look after them very well, and the great lords do the same thing with their vassals. Horses do not thrive in this land, they survive for only a short period, and those that live here are brought from the Kingdom of Hormuz and Cambay, and because they are greatly needed, they are worth a lot here.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy