_ 357 _ er with the portion of Arabaia the city itself give a total revenue of 98,078 xerafins. This excludes what the island used to yield, because they now spend almost as much as they earn. This was the case in the year 1515, and in earlier years the situation had been much the same. In order to give an idea of the way of life of these princes, we shall relate how these revenues were spent, even in trivial or vain ways. We shall give this account in leques, which is a numeral in use in those lands, and also in xerafins, azars, candils and diners, which is a coin. This is in order not to depart from the account we obtained of these matters, taken from the ledgers of the treasury of the Kings of Ormuz. A leque consists of fifty xerafins, and a xerafin is worth three hundred reals in our currency. Two ezers are worth two xerafins, and ten candils half a xerafin. There are a hundred dinars in a candil. Reporting the accounts using these numbers and values, the King spent each year on his kitchen 24 leques; on cardamom, betel-nut and cloves, of which certain delicacies are made, as also are certain cordials which they take from time to time to settle the stomach, one and a half leques. About the same through the year on plons. On rosewater, aromatic vinegar and pomegranates two leques. On the barber who shaved him fifty ezers. Forty azars on
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