He Is Always Attended By A Sergeant And Six Men Armed
With Match-Locks; Besides Three Others, One Of Whom Wears A Head-Piece
And Carries A Large Drawn Scymitar, Another Has A Shield, And A Third A
Large Fan.
Four slaves sit at his feet, one holding his betel box,
another a lighted match, the third his box of tobacco for smoking, and
the fourth a spitting bason.
The petty kings and other great men sit on
his left hand and before him, every one attended by a slave, and they
chew betel or tobacco in his presence, sitting cross-legged, and when
they speak to him they lift their hands joined to their foreheads.
The town of Bouton is very populous, and beside it runs a fine river,
said to come from ten miles up the country. The tide ebbs and flows a
considerable way up this river, which has a bar at its mouth, so that
boats cannot go in or come out at low water. At least 1500 boats belong
to this river, fifty of which are war proas, armed with pattereroes, and
carrying forty or fifty men each. Fifty islands are said to be tributary
to this king, who sends his proas once a year to gather their stated
tribute, which consists in slaves, every island giving him ten
inhabitants out of every hundred. There is one mosque, in Boutan, which
is supplied with priests from Mocha, the people being Mahometans. They
are great admirers of music, their houses are built on posts, and their
current money is Dutch coins and Spanish dollars.
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