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Vain, for to escape would have been a Thing impossible; upon which, the King appointed him to attend upon his Person, and to live with his other Servants, giving him Orders at the same Time not to go out of the City.
There was nothing at all uncomfortable in the Life he led here, for the Service was easy, having very little to do; his chief Business was carrying up the Pataes or Dishes for the King's Dinner, who eat upon the Ground, the Floor being sometimes covered with a Mat instead of a Cloth, and sometimes bare without any Thing; the Diet was generally boiled Rice, with broiled Meat, sometimes Venison, sometimes wild Goat; as also Fowl of all Sorts, which are smaller than those of Europe, but of an excellent Taste; they have also several Fowl not known to us; their Beef and Mutton are both excellent, but small; they also had Variety of Fish which they dress, either by boiling or broiling, as for Sawce, the King himself had none, except Kajan, Pepper, for they eat most of their Things very hot, and boiled Rice is what serves them instead of Bread.
Thus he lived in Plenty, eating as much as he would of what was left, when the King had done Dinner, so that few People as to Eating and Drinking tasted so great a Variety as he did; the Diet of the common Sort of People, consists generally of Plantanes, Bonana's, boiled Rice (which they call Pasida) and Oil, and a Dish they call Kaja, which is Plantanes and Rice boiled together, sometimes indeed they have Venison and wild Goat, which they kill themselves, but whatever it is, they eat it out of the Crock it is boiled in, for none but those of great Condition have the Use of Pataes or Dishes; if it be broiled, whether it be Fish or Flesh, they eat it off the Coals, and to avoid burning their Fingers, they take a Bit of green Stick which they break half through, and so bending it together, it serves the Use of a Pair of Tongues as well as a Fork, in turning the Meat upon the Coals as well as taking it off when it is ready. As for Knives and Forks the King himself is not acquainted with the Use of them; so that he pulls his Meat to Pieces with his Fingers, which is generally so well done that it requires no great Labour.
It was about two Months before he ventured to stir abroad beyond the Palace; but one Day one of the Servants who had Business about the City, ask'd him to go along with him, and in Discourse told him, the King would not be displeas'd, if he should go out often; upon this Encouragement he used to walk about the City almost every Day, chusing the Time when the King went to sleep, which was constantly his Practice every Afternoon. He took this Liberty three or four Months together, sometimes being absent several Hours without receiving the least Reprimand; he made an Acquaintance with several in the City, and had Leisure to satisfie his Curiosity, in observing every Thing that appeared new and strange, to one who had lived so long amongst the Europeans.
The City of Magadoxa lies (as has been observ'd) in the Latitude of one Degree and fifty one Minutes: It is built betwixt two Hills or rather on the Sides of two Hills, the greatest Part of it standing on the Declivity of that Hill next the Sea, so that there is scarce any of it to be seen by any Ship in the Road, or that passes by, which indeed are but few; for scarce any ever touch there, except driven by 'stress of Weather, as was the Case of the Albemarle. They have no Vessels of their own, except a few employ'd in Fishing, which they call Juncks, and not above ten or twelve of those; and tho’ some of them are large enough to carry thirteen or fourteen Ton, they never venture far from the Land.
The City contains betwixt three and four thousand Houses, some built of rough Stone, others of Marble, of which they have many Quaries, extreamly fine, and of various Colours, but they want the Art of polishing it; but the most esteemed and most expensive Houses, are those of rough Stone covered over with a Kind of Plaister, which is peculiar to this Country; after it is laid on, it is not above three Days in drying, and grows as hard and durable as the Stone itself; but the greatest Curiosity of it is, that they can make it of what Colour they please; and as the Houses of all Persons of Condition are covered with it, It has a mighty pretty Effect to the Eye, for some have their Houses white, others red, some yellow, and some blue, that of the King was green, while the Inside is floor'd with the same Plaister, the Rooms all differing in Colour from each other, which Variety makes the City appear very beautiful, tho’ the Streets are very narrow and very nasty.
Notwithstanding the Houses look so bright without Side, their Furniture within consists of very little more than Cobwebs, for they have neither Tables, Chairs, nor Glasses, they have indeed Matts which serve them instead of Table-Cloths by Day, and Beds by Night, upon which they lie without either Pillow or Bolster, with a Covering of Mokaz or thick Dungeree over them, which is so call'd from a Tree of that Name, of the Bark of which it is made, which being beaten, is drawn into long Threads, and wove or rather work'd with fine Needles made of Wood, either thick or thin, according to which it is intended; and to such a Perfection are they arrived in this Sort of Manufacture, that they can make it as smooth, and as soft, as a Piece of English Broad-Cloth, and much stronger.
We should have observed that they have no such Things as Glass-Windows to their Houses, however there are either large round or square Vacancies in every Room to receive both Air and Light; these Sort of Windows are covered generally all Day with Shutters of thick Plank, in which many Holes are bored, in order to keep out the Heat of the Sun. As for Chimneys they have no such Thing: In all great Houses there is a Room appropriated for the Dressing the Victuals, where the Fire is made in a Corner upon the Ground, and those that are employ'd in that Service must be well smoaked. The common People frequently make their Fires without Doors, for Rice and Fish they never eat without some Sort of Dressing, but Flesh, to save Trouble and Fire, they frequently eat raw.
The King maintains nothing which has the State or Air of a Court, having no Guards about his Person, so that he frequently walks abroad in the Streets in the Dress before described, without either Shoes or Stockings: All those that meet him pass him by, and go on upon their Business without showing him any external Mark of Respect; nay so little a Notion have they of Ceremony, that it is common for Persons of both Sexes to ease Nature in the Streets, perhaps when the King is passing by, and yet he is as well obey'd as any Prince in the World.
The Nobility walk about in as careless a Manner as the King, and are known by their Turbants; the better Sort of the common People wear Caps of various Colours, the Rest go intirely naked.
The Queen also walks about the Streets without either Guards or Attendants, and would pass as unregarded as the King, were it not that the Gaiety of her Dress must draw the Eyes of the Spectators; she commonly wears a Garment of either purple or green Silk, which being tied about her Waste reaches down to her Heels, with Variety of white, red, and green Feathers artfully disposed in her Hair, however she is bare-footed like the Rest, whilst all the poorer Sort of the Sex go quite naked, without thinking they carry any Thing about them they ought to be ashamed of.
The Wives of the Men of Condition indeed all wear Clothes, and are dress'd in the same Fashion with the Queen, tho’ not all so gay or so rich; but whatever their Habits may be, they take Care always to show their naked Breasts, which hang down to their Bellies, if they have had any Children; and which we suppose is look'd upon as a Beauty, by their taking Care to expose them to View; they also paint the Nipples red, which is the only Art they use in setting off their Persons; they bring their Children into the World with little or no Pain, and without an Hour's Confinement from the common Occupations of Life.
The only Occasion when the King appears with any Thing that looks like Pomp or Magnificence is, when he rides abroad to take the Air, then he is mounted upon one of his Elephants, with his Favourites and Companions about him; they have a Way of fixing upon the Back of the Elephant, a Frame of Boards about eight or ten Foot Square, on which, he, with such as he carries with him to bear him Company, sit as commodiously as if in a Room, whilst two of his Servants on Foot conduct the Beast; yet even here, tho’ he goes thro’ any Crowd of People, no Man stops to do him Homage, or to pay him any Sort of Obedience, nor does he seem to expect it, having no Notion, that the Subjects are to be kept in Awe by the Show of Grandeur which surrounds their Prince: A Mark of good Sense, beyond what is to be met with in the Courts of European Princes.
His Way of maintaining an inward Respect in the Hearts of the People which they have Sense enough to know, is preferable to that External which consist only in Show and Appearance, and sometimes conceals Contempt and Hatred at Bottom, is by doing Justice in his Person, according to the best of his Judgment and Capacity; he is