第128章

Of the manner of attendance on these kings,which is as follows.

[What follows concerns the reign of Achyuta Raya.]

All the service of this house,with the things which they make use of,is of silver and gold,that is to say basins and bowls,stools,ewers,and other vessels of that sort.The bedsteads[595]in which his wives sleep are covered and adorned with silver plates.Every wife has her bed in which she sleeps,and that of the King is plated and lined and has all its legs of gold,its mattress of silk,and its round bolster worked round the ends with large seed pearls.It has four pillows of the same pattern for the feet,and has no other sheet than a silk cloth on top.He always carries with him a mosquito curtain with a frame of silver,[596]and he has a house made of pieces of iron in which is contained a very large bed,which is intended for such time as he takes the field.

He has five hundred wives and as many less or more as he wants,with whom he sleeps;and all of these burn themselves at his death.When he journeys to any place he takes twenty-five or thirty of his most favourite wives,who go with him,each one in her palanqueen with poles.The palanqueen of the principal wife is an covered with scarlet cloth tasselled with large and heavy work in seed-pearls and pearls,and the pole itself is ornamented with gold.The palanqueens of the other wives are ornamented only with silver,but another palanqueen,which is for his own person,always goes on the right side,and is in the same way decorated with gold.For a son or a daughter,if such an one goes with him,he takes another bedstead of ivory inlaid with gold;and when he takes the field,wherever he pitches his camp there they make for him houses of stone and clay,for he does not stay in a tent,and he always has these decorated with cloths.[597]

In his palace within the gates he is served by women and eunuchs and servants numbering fully five or six hundred;and these wives of the King all have their own officials for their service,each for herself,just as the King has within the gates,but these are all women.The palaces of the King are large and with large rooms;they have cloisters like monasteries,with cells,and in each one is one of his wives,and with each of these ladies is her maid-servant;and when the King retires to rest he passes through these cloisters,and his wives stand at the doors and call him in;but these are not the principal wives,they are the daughters of captains and nobles of the country.Inside the gates of the palace they say that there are over two hundred milch-cows,from the milk of which they make butter for these ladies to eat.

The King has no expense in connection with his food,because the nobles send it to him every day to his house,namely rice and wheat and meat and fowls with all other necessary things.In the kitchen there are some two hundred inferior guards,and four over it,and two chief officers of the guard;and those who are now captains of the guard of this king are called,one Pedanayque and the other Ajanaique,they are also captains of soldiers;these porters do not go further inside than through four or five doors,because inside of these are none but eunuchs and women.

When the King rides out there go with him usually two hundred horsemen of his guard whom he pays,and a hundred elephants,and this in addition to the captains,forty or fifty in number,who are always in attendance with their soldiers.He takes with him two thousand men with shields,all men of good position,ranged in order on the flanks,and in front goes the chief ALCAID with about thirty horsemen having canes in their hands like porters;the chief ALCAIDbears a different wand;he who is now the chief ALCAID of this King is called Chinapanaique.Behind with the rearguard goes the Master of the Horse with two hundred horsemen,and behind the cavalry go a hundred elephants,and on their backs ride men of high estate.He has in front of him twelve destriers,saddled,and in front of these horses go five elephants,specially for the King's person,and in front of these elephants go about five-and-twenty horsemen with banners in their hands,and with drums and trumpets and other music playing so loudly that you can hear nothing.Before these goes a great drum carried by men at the sides,and they go now and then striking it;the sound of this is heard a long distance off;and this drum they call PICHA.After the King has mounted he counts the two hundred horsemen and the hundred elephants and the shield-bearers of the guard,and whoever is missing is severely punished and his property confiscated.