In the Indies, when one man accuses another of a capital crime, it is usual to ask the accused if he is willing to undergo the trial by fire, and if he consents, the ceremony is conducted in the following manner: A piece of iron is heated red hot, and the accused is desired to stretch out his hand, on which they put seven leaves of a certain tree, and above these the red hot iron is placed. In this condition he walks backwards and forwards for some time, and then throws off the iron. Immediately after this his hand is covered with a leathern bag, which is sealed with the prince's signet; and if at the end of three days he appears and declares that he has suffered no hurt, they order him to take out his hand, and if no sign of fire is visible, he is declared innocent of the crime laid to his charge, and the accuser is condemned to pay a fine of a man of gold to the prince. Sometimes they boil water in a caldron, till it is so hot that no one can touch it; they then throw in an iron ring, and the accused is commanded to thrust down his hand to bring up the ring. I saw one who did this and received no manner of harm. In this case, likewise, if the accused remain unhurt, the accuser pays a fine of a man of gold.
When a king dies in the island of Serendib, which is the last of the islands of the Indies, his body is laid in an open chariot, in such a posture, that his head hangs backward, almost touching the ground, with his hair trailing on the earth; and the chariot is followed by a woman, who sweeps the dust on the face of the deceased, while she proclaims with a loud voice: "O man! behold your king! He was yesterday your master, but now the dominion which he exercised over you is at an end. He is reduced to the state you now see, having left the world; and the arbiter of life and death hath withdrawn his soul. Count not, therefore, O man! upon the uncertain hopes of this life." This or a similar proclamation is continued for three days; after which the body is embalmed with sandal wood, camphor, and saffron, and is then burned, and the ashes are scattered to the winds. When they burn the body of a king, it is usual for his wives to jump into the fire and burn along with him; but this they are not constrained to do. The same custom of burning the bodies of the dead prevails over all the Indies.
In the Indies there are men who devote themselves to live in the woods and mountains, professing to despise what other men most value, abstaining from every thing but such wild herbs and fruits as are to be found in the woods, and they affix an iron buckle to their genitals in such a manner as to interdict all commerce with woman. Some of these go quite naked, or have only the skin of a leopard thrown over them, and keep perpetually standing with their faces to the sun. I formerly saw one in that posture; and on my return to the Indies, sixteen years afterwards, I found him in the very same attitude, it being astonishing that he had not lost his sight by the heat and glare of the sun. In all these kingdoms the sovereign power resides in the royal family, without ever departing from it, and the heirs of the family follow each other in regular succession. In like manner, there are families of learned men, of physicians, and of all the artificers concerned in the various arts; and none of these are ever mixed with the family of a different profession. The several states of the Indies are not subject to one king, but each province has its own; though the Balhara is considered in the Indies as king of kings. The Chinese are fond of gaming and all manner of diversions; but the Indians condemn them, and have no pleasure in such employments. They drink no wine, neither do they use vinegar, because it is made from wine; although this abstinence does not proceed from any religious duty: but they allege that a king given to wine is not worthy of being a king; for how should a drunkard be able to manage the affairs of a kingdom, especially as wars are so frequent between the neighbouring states? Their wars are not usually undertaken to possess themselves of the dominions of others, and I never heard of any except the people bordering on the pepper country that seized the dominions of their neighbours after victory. When a prince masters the dominions of a neighbour, he confers the sovereignty upon some person of the royal family of the conquered country, and thus retains it in dependence upon himself, under the conviction that the natives would never submit to be otherwise governed.
When any one of the princes or governors of cities in China is guilty of a crime, he is put to death and eaten; and in general, it may be said that the Chinese eat all those who are put to death. When the Indians and Chinese are about to marry and the parties are agreed, presents are interchanged, and the marriage ceremony is solemnized amidst the noise of drums and various sorts of instruments. The presents consist in money, and all the relatives and friends contribute as much as they can afford. If any man in the Indies runs away with a woman and abuses her, both are put to death; unless it is proved that force has been used against the woman, in which case the man only is punished. Theft is always punished capitally, both in India and China, whether the theft be considerable or trifling; but more particularly so in the Indies, where, if a thief have stolen even the value of a small piece of money, he is impaled alive. The Chinese are much addicted to the abominable vice of pederasty, which they even number among the strange acts they perform in honour of their idols. The Chinese buildings are of wood, with stone and plaster, or bricks and mortar. The Chinese and Indians are not satisfied with one wife, but both nations marry as many as they please, or can maintain. Rice is the common food of the Indians, who eat no wheat; but the Chinese use both indifferently. Circumcision is not practised either by the Chinese or Indians. The Chinese worship idols, before whom, they fall down and make prayers, and they have books which explain the articles of their religion. The Indians suffer their beards to grow, but have no whiskers, and I have seen one with a beard three cubits long; but the Chinese, for the most part, wear no beards. Upon the death of a relation, the Indians shave both head and face. When any man in the Indies is thrown into prison, he is allowed neither victuals nor drink for seven days together; and this with them answers the end of other tortures for extorting from the criminal a confession of his guilt. The Chinese and Indians have judges besides the governors, who decide in causes between the subjects. Both in India and China there are leopards and wolves, but no lions. Highway robbers are punished with death. Both the Indians and Chinese imagine that the idols which they worship speak to them, and give them answers. Neither of them kill their meat by cutting the throat, as is done by the Mahomedans, but by beating them on the head till they die. They wash not with well water, and the Chinese wipe themselves with paper, whereas the Indians wash every day before eating. The Indians wash not only the mouth, but the whole body before they eat, but this is not done by the Chinese. The Indies is larger in extent by a half than China, and has a great many more kingdoms, but China is more populous. It is not usual to see palm trees either in the Indies or in China, but they have many other sorts of trees and fruits which we have not. The Indians have no grapes, and the Chinese have not many, but both abound in other fruits, though the pomegranate thrives better in India than in China.
The Chinese have no sciences, and their religion and most of their laws are derived from the Indians. They even believe that the Indians taught them their worship of idols. Both nations believe the Metempsycosis, though they differ in many of the precepts and ceremonies of their religion. Physic and philosophy are cultivated among the Indians, and the Chinese have some skill in medicine; but that almost entirely consists in the art of applying hot irons or cauteries. They have some smattering of astronomy; but in this likewise the Indians surpass the Chinese. I know not that even so much as one man of either nation has embraced Mahomedism, or has learned to speak the Arabic language. The Indians have few horses, and there are more in China; but the Chinese have no elephants, and cannot endure to have them in their country. The Indian dominions furnish a great number of soldiers, who are not paid by their kings, but, when called out to war, have to take the field and serve entirely at their own expense; but the Chinese allow their soldiers much the same pay as is done by the Arabs.