_ 172 _ Item 46: I believe that in Your Highness’s lands in Malacca and China, there are products which have not been brought to your attention, such as the pellitory, which is rated highly in Malacca and among the Chinese. Item 47: Beads are highly valued in the lands of Malacca, Java, Sumatra, and the balsam known to the Christians as storax, and to the Moors as seila, is highly valued in Malacca, Java and Sumatra. There are many other things, but I do not know their Portuguese name. I just know them by sight. Your Highness would be better served if, instead of Portuguese money and gold, you sent merchandise to India, just as the Moors do. The King of Aden sent a load of red stone to India that cost him six xerafins in merchandise and sold it for twenty-five. After a round trip of three or four months, his transaction had realized thirty-six. Item 48: If Your Highness had a fortress in Arkik, you would be just three days sailing from a land called Jizan on the Arabian mainland. This is the hinterland of Aden and a country in its own right. Last year, the King of Aden made the ruler his tributary and forbade him to export red stone because there was so much of it and it was superior to that of Aden.
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