The Best 90 Plus Years of My Life: A Voyage

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Think of a first-class seat in the observation car on a Swiss train as it rolls gently through fairytale Alpine scenery. Or even a public service on a scenic country railway, perhaps in the West Highlands of Scotland, where stopping at tiny wayside stations is part of the charm. As the essayist A. Make your own choice, but here is my personal selection of the 25 greatest train journeys in the world. Mile for mile, the most scenic journey in the world, running from Chur and St Moritz in eastern Switzerland across the border to Tirano in northern Italy.

The four-hour, mile journey through 55 tunnels and bridges traverses a sensational alpine landscape, past lofty waterfalls, glaciers and crossing dramatic ravines. Every carriage on the narrow gauge train has vista windows so nobody gets a crick in the neck. A must for altitude-seekers, the Tren a las Nubes along part of the old line from Salta in Argentina to the Chilean border, climbs to 13,ft during its seven-hour journey through dramatic Andean scenery — the highest train journey in the world not using a rack and pinion system.

The backdrop of multicoloured rock formations interspersed with giant cactus fields extends as far as the eye can see as the powerful diesel on the front weaves ever upwards. But many come to gawp at the pioneering arch Glenfinnan Viaduct, more famous these days as a location for the Harry Potter films. Arrive by steam aboard the daily Jacobite train — the only steam timetabled service on the national network. It is the highest major rail route in northern Europe as well as the most spectacular, passing through desolate mountain terrain at 4,ft, and running for nearly 60 miles above the tree line.

This is the ultimate scenic railway, with few tunnels and nothing but a road between the train and the river. Get a seat on the left side on the slowest stopper and sit back and enjoy. Grande dame of luxury trains, simply the most glamorous, luxurious and thrilling service on the planet. Here in magnificent Twenties art-deco carriages is world-class service, the finest haute cuisine freshly cooked on board, gorgeous alpine scenery, and, for the romantically-inclined, a piano bar for the evenings.

You will find no Wi-Fi, showers or private bathrooms on board. But who cares when you are travelling on the original — and best. A thrilling two-day journey by private train over four different routes through the Rockies, over the old Canadian Pacific line to Vancouver, which created the modern nation of Canada in Here are glacier-fed lakes, carpets of green forest, rushing rivers and an abundance of wildlife. If you are lucky, the driver will slow down and stop when he spots some bears by the lineside.

It's Amazon's first truly premium Kindle, unless you count the dodo that was the DX , and this time around the company's catering to die-hard readers. But here's the real question: In a word, yes. With an impressive high-resolution display and a vast content catalog to match, the Kindle Voyage is easily the best e-reader Amazon has ever crafted.

Still, its high price tag means it just doesn't make sense for the average reader. The last time Amazon's higher-end Kindles got a redesign was two years ago, so it's no surprise that the Voyage represents the most dramatic overhaul since that time Amazon gave up on physical keyboards.

Gone is the Kindle's longstanding curvy aesthetic: The Voyage borrows considerably from the Kindle Fire's design language , with a more angular back fashioned out of magnesium and capped with glossy black plastic.

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The magnesium, as it turns out, was a really good call. After a week of tossing the Voyage in and out of my bag which is sort of a gadget minefield, to say the least there weren't any scuffs or smudges that a few seconds of frenzied rubbing couldn't take care of. Alas, the Voyage's matte rear which is where the power button now lives is a magnet for your greasy fingerprints, so reading and eating chips is inadvisable if you're stickler for appearances.

That magnesium chassis makes the Voyage a little lighter, too, which some of you will notice more than others. Oh, you're a two-hander? You probably won't be able to tell. More importantly, the 6-inch E Ink display is finally flush with the rest of the Voyage's body. This might not sound like the biggest improvement -- it's not like the Paperwhite's recessed screen and raised bezels were particularly bothersome -- but it helps the Voyage feel less like a bunch of components cobbled together and more like a single, cohesive piece of kit.

Honestly, though, between the lack of raised bezels and that angled back, the whole thing bears more than a passing resemblance to last year's Kobo Aura I can just imagine Kobo's Japanese overlords chortling with glee. I still yearn for the days when the deep, satisfying click of a physical button punctuated the turn of a page, but those days are clearly over and Amazon's PagePress is about as worthy a replacement as we could get.

Don't worry, you can still tap on the screen to change pages. The whole thing is simple enough: Press the long vertical line on either side of the screen to turn the page, and the dot sitting above it to flip back one. By default, both vibration and sensitivity are set to medium which is plenty responsive , but you better believe I cranked both options to high in search of a more button-like experience.

It's still not as tactile as a physical button, but it's awfully close. There's no two ways about it: The Voyage's screen is downright phenomenal I fear my pictures don't do it justice. The 6-inch display manages to squeeze in a full pixels per inch, bringing it closer to actual ink on paper than any other E Ink screen I've seen Kobo's Aura HD has a bigger screen, so the pixel density there doesn't quite match the Voyage.

This thing is a champ, especially when you consider how awful my eyes are. Traditional e-readers have never been ideal for images, but the Voyage generally handles them with gusto. Consider the humble graphic novel: Thumbing through Bryan Lee O'Malley's Seconds wasn't bad at all on the Paperwhite, with lovingly crafted images and text boxes coming through clearly. It wasn't until I put it next to the Voyage that I realized what I was missing -- details that were glossed over on the Paperwhite were easy to spot on the Voyage's high-res display. Naturally, digital comic die-hards should invest in a good tablet, but the Voyage is no slouch.

Some would argue that trying to cram more pixels into an E Ink screen is overkill. James, was lost in going to discover the coast; all the men, however, were saved by a miracle, for they were hardly wet at all. Two men of these, who were saved, came to us and told us all that had passed and happened, on which the captain at once sent some men with sacks full of biscuit for two months. So, each day we found something of the ship of the other men who had escaped from the ship which was lost; and the place where these men were was twenty-five leagues from us, and the road bad and full of thorns, and it required four days to go there, and no water to drink was to be found on the road, but only ice, and of that little.

In this port of St. Julian there were a great quantity of long capres, [61] called Missiglione; these had pearls in the midst. In this place they found incense, and ostriches, foxes, sparrows, and rabbits [62] a good deal smaller than ours.

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We were about two months in this river, as it supplied fresh water and a kind of fish an ell long, and very scaly, [64] which is good to eat. Before going away, the captain chose that all should confess and receive the body of our Lord like good Christians. After going and taking the course to the fifty-second degree of the said Antarctic sky, on the day of the Eleven Thousand Virgins [October 21], we found, by a miracle, a strait which we called the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, this strait is a hundred and ten leagues long, which are four hundred and forty miles, and almost as wide as less than half a league, [66] and it issues in another sea, which is called the peaceful sea; [67] it is surrounded by very great and high mountains covered with snow.

In this place it was not possible to anchor [68] with the anchors, because no bottom was found, on which account they were forced to put the moorings [69] of twenty-five or thirty fathoms length on shore. This strait was a round place surrounded by mountains, as I have said, and the greater number of the sailors thought that there was no place by which to go out thence to enter into the peaceful sea.

But the captain-general said that there was another strait for going out, and said that he knew it well, because he had seen it by a marine chart of the King of Portugal, which map had been made by a great pilot and mariner named Martin of Bohemia. Anthony and the other the Conception , to seek for and discover the outlet of this strait, which was called the Cape de la Baya. And we, with the other two ships, that is to say, the flagship named Trinitate , and the other the Victory , remained waiting for them within the Bay, where in the night we had a great storm, which lasted till the next day at midday, and during which we were forced to weigh the anchors and let the ships go hither and thither about the bay.

The other two ships met with such a head wind [71] that they could not weather [72] a cape which the bay made almost at its extremity; wishing to come to us, they were near being driven to beach the ships. Seeing that it was not a corner, but a strait of land, they went further on and found a bay, then going still further they found another strait and another bay larger than the first two, at which, being very joyous, they suddenly returned backwards to tell it to the captain-general.

Amongst us we thought that they had perished: And being thus in doubt [76] we saw the two ships under all sail, with ensigns spread, come towards us: Afterwards, all together, thanking God and the Virgin Mary, we went to seek further on. After having entered inside this strait we found that there were two mouths, of which one trended to the Sirocco S. On that account the captain again sent the two ships, St. Anthony and Conception , to see if the mouth which was towards Sirocco had an outlet beyond into the said peaceful sea. One of these two ships, named St. Anthony , would not wait for the other ship, because those who were inside wished to return to Spain: But, on account of the arrival of the captain-general, the Emperor did not give them to this pilot, on account of which he agreed with some Spaniards, and the following night they took prisoner the captain of their ship, who was a brother [78] of the captain-general, and who was named Alvar de Meschite; they wounded him, and put him in irons.

So they carried him off to Spain. And in this ship, which went away and returned, was one of the two above-mentioned giants whom we had taken, and when he felt the heat he died. The other ship, named the Conception , not being able to follow that one, was always waiting for it, and fluttered hither and thither. But it lost its time, for the other took the road by night for returning. When this happened, at night the ship of the captain and the other ship went together to discover the other mouth to Garbin S.

But at the end [79] we arrived at a river which we named the River of Sardines, because we found a great quantity of them. So we remained there four days to wait for the other two ships. A short time after we sent a boat well supplied with men and provisions to discover the cape of the other sea: They told us that they had found the cape, and the sea great and wide.

At the joy which the captain-general had at this he began to cry, and he gave the name of Cape of Desire to this cape, as a thing which had been much desired for a long time. Having done that we turned back to find the two ships which were at the other side, but we only found the Conception , of which ship we asked what had become of her companion.

To this the captain of the said ship, named John Serrano who was pilot of the first ship which was lost as has been related , replied that he knew nothing of her, and that he had never seen her since she entered the mouth. However, we sought for her through all the strait, as far as the said mouth, by which she had taken her course to return.

Besides that, the captain-general sent back the ship named the Victory as far as the entrance of the strait to see if the ship was there, and he told the people of this ship that if they did not find the ship they were looking for, they were to place an ensign on the summit of a small hill, with a letter inside a pot placed in the ground near the ensign, so that if the ship should by chance return, it might see that ensign, and also find the letter which would give information of the course which the captain was holding.

This manner of acting had been ordained by the captain from the commencement, in order to effect the junction of any ship which might be separated from the others. So the people of the said ship did what the captain had commanded them, and more, for they set two ensigns with letters; one of the ensigns was placed on a small hill at the first bay, the other on an islet in the third bay, where there were many sea wolves and large birds. The captain-general waited for them with the other ship near the river named Isles: This river comes and falls into the sea near the other river of the Sardines.

If we had not found this strait the captain-general had made up his mind to go as far as seventy-five degrees towards the antarctic pole; where at that height in the summer time there is no night, or very little: The land of this strait on the left hand side looked towards the Sirocco wind, which is the wind collateral to the Levant and South; we called this strait Pathagonico. In it we found at every half league a good port and place for anchoring, good waters, wood all of cedar, and fish like sardines, missiglioni, and a very sweet herb named appio celery. This herb grows near the springs, and from not finding anything else we ate of it for several days.

I think that there is not in the world a more beautiful country, or better strait than this one.

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In this ocean sea one sees a very amusing chase of fish, which are of three sorts, of an ell or more in length, and they call these fish Dorades, Albacores, and Bonitos; these follow and pursue another sort of fish which flies, which they call Colondriny, [81] which are a foot long or more, and are very good to eat. When these three sorts of fish find in the water any of these flying fish, immediately they make them come out of the water, and they fly more than a cross bow-shot, as long as their wings are wet; and whilst these fishes fly the other three run after them under the water, seeing the shadow of those that fly: All these words are pronounced in the throat, because they pronounce them thus.

These words were given me by that giant whom we had in the ship, because he asked me for capac , that is to say bread, since they thus name that root which they use for bread, and oli that is to say water. When he saw me write these names after him, and ask for others he understood what I was doing with my pen in my hand.

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When this giant was unwell [92] he asked for the cross, and embraced and kissed it much, and he wished to become a Christian before his death, and we named him Paul. When these people wish to light a fire they take a pointed stick and rub it with another until they make a fire in the pith of a tree which is placed between these sticks. Pigafetta's Map of Magellan's Straits. When we had gone out of this strait, if we had always navigated to the west we should have gone [] without finding any land except the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, which is the eastern head of the strait in the ocean sea, with the Cape of Desire at the west in the Pacific sea.

These two capes are exactly in fifty-two degrees of latitude of the antarctic pole. The antarctic pole is not so covered with stars as the arctic, for there are to be seen there many small stars congregated together, which are like to two clouds a little separated from one another, and a little dimmed, [] in the midst of which are two stars, not very large, nor very brilliant, and they move but little: Our compass needle still pointed a little to its arctic pole; nevertheless it had not as much power as on its own side and region.

They all replied, by the course he had given, punctually [pricked in]; then he answered, that they were pointing falsely which was so , and that it was fitting to arrange the needle of navigation, because it did not receive so much force as in its own quarter. When we were in the middle of this open sea we saw a cross of five stars, very bright, straight, in the west, and they are straight one with another. During this time of two months and twelve days we navigated between west and north-west maestral , and a quarter west of north-west, and also north-west, until we came to the equinoctial line, which was at [a point] one hundred and twenty-two degrees distant from the line of repartition.

This line of delimitation is thirty degrees distant from the meridian, [] and the meridian [] is three degrees distant from the Cape Verd towards the east. After we had passed the equinoctial line we navigated between west, and north-west and a quarter west, by north-west. Afterwards we made two hundred leagues to westwards, then changed the course to a quarter of south-west, until in thirteen degrees north latitude, in order to approach the land of Cape Gaticara, [] which cape under correction of those who have made cosmography , for they have never seen it , is not placed where they think, but is towards the north, in twelve degrees or thereabouts.

It must be known that when we wounded any of this kind of people with our arrows, which entered inside their bodies, they looked at the arrow, and then drew it forth with much astonishment, and immediately afterwards they died. But they threw stones at us, and then ran away, and in their flight they passed with their little boats between the boat which is towed at the poop and the ship going under full sail; but they did this so quickly, and with such skill that it was a wonder. And we saw some of these women, who cried out and tore their hair, and I believe [] that it was for the love of those whom we had killed.

These people live in liberty and according to their will, for they have no lord or superior; they go quite naked, and some of them wear beards, and have their hair down to the waist. They wear small hats, after the fashion of the Albanians; these hats are made of palm leaves.

The people are as tall as us, and well made: The women also go naked, except that they cover their nature with a thin bark, pliable like paper, which grows between the tree and the bark of the palm. They are beautiful and delicate, and whiter than the men, and have their hair loose and flowing, very black and long, down to the earth. They do not go to work in the fields, nor stir from their houses, making cloth and baskets of palm leaves. Their provisions are certain fruits named Cochi, Battate; there are birds, figs a palm long, [] sweet canes, and flying fish.

The women anoint their bodies and their hair with oil of cocho and giongioli sesame. Their houses are constructed of wood, covered with planks, with fig leaves, which are two ells in length: These people have no arms, but use sticks, [] which have a fish bone at the end. They are poor, but ingenious, and great thieves, and for the sake of that we called these three islands the Ladrone Islands. The pastime of the men and the women of this place, and their diversion, is to go with their little boats to catch those fish which fly, with hooks made of fish bones.

The pattern of their small boats is painted here-after, they are like the fuseleres, [] but narrower. Some of them black and white, and others red. On the opposite side to the sail, they have a large piece of wood, pointed above, with poles across, which are in the water, in order to go more securely under sail: They have certain shovels like hearth shovels, [] and there is no difference between the poop and the prow in these boats, and they are like dolphins bounding from wave to wave.

These thieves thought, according to the signs they made, that there were no other men in the world besides them. Saturday, the 16th of March, , we arrived at daybreak in sight of a high island, three hundred leagues distant from the before-mentioned Thieves' island. This isle is named Zamal. He set up there two tents on shore for the sick, and had a sow [] killed for them. Monday, the 18th of March, after dinner, we saw a boat come towards us with nine men in it: Five of the most showy [] of them remained with us, the others who remained with the boat went to call some men who were fishing, and afterwards all of them came together.

When these people saw the politeness of the captain, they presented some fish, and a vessel of palm wine, which they call in their language Uraca; [] figs more than a foot [] long, and others smaller and of a better savour, and two cochos. To explain the kind of fruits above-named it must be known that the one which they call cochi, is the fruit which the palm trees bear.

And as we have bread, wine, oil, and vinegar, proceeding from different kinds, so these people have those things proceeding from these palm trees only. It must be said that wine proceeds from the said palm trees in the following manner. They make a hole at the summit of the tree as far as its heart, which is named palmito, from which a liquor comes out in drops down the tree, like white must, which is sweet, but with somewhat of bitter.

This palm produces a fruit named cocho, which is as large as the head, or thereabouts: Under this husk there is another very hard, and thicker than that of a walnut. They burn this second rind, and make with it a powder which is useful to them. Under this rind there is a white marrow of a finger's thickness, which they eat fresh with meat and fish, as we do bread, and it has the taste of an almond, and if anyone dried it [] he might make bread of it. From the middle of this marrow there comes out a clear sweet water, and very cordial, which, when it has rested a little, and settled, congeals and becomes like an apple.

When they want to make vinegar, they let the water in the cocoa-nut get bad, and they put it in the sun, when it turns to vinegar like white wine.

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From this fruit milk also can be made, as we experienced, for we scraped this marrow and then put it with its water, and passed it through a cloth, and thus it was milk like that of goats. This kind of palm tree is like the date-palm, [] but not so rugged. Two of these trees can maintain a family of ten persons: For if they did not, otherwise the trees would dry up.

In this manner they last a hundred years. These people became very familiar and friendly with us, and explained many things to us in their language, and told us the names of some islands which we saw with our eyes before us. The captain seeing that they were of this good condition, to do them greater honour conducted them to the ship, and showed them all his goods, that is to say, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, mace, [] gold and all that was in the ship. He also had some shots fired with his artillery, at which they were so much afraid that they wished to jump from the ship into the sea.

They made signs that the things which the captain had shown them grew there where we were going.

When they wished to leave us they took leave of the captain and of us with very good manners and gracefulness, promising us to come back to see us. The island we were at was named Humunu; nevertheless because we found there two springs of very fresh water we named it the Watering Place of good signs, [] and because we found here the first signs of gold. There is much white coral to be found here, and large trees which bear fruit smaller than an almond, and which are like pines. There were also many palm trees both good and bad.

In this place there were many circumjacent islands, on which account we named them the archipelago of St. Lazarus, because we stayed there on the day and feast of St. This region and archipelago is in ten degrees north latitude, and a hundred and sixty-one degrees longitude from the line of demarcation. Friday, the 22nd of March, the above-mentioned people, who had promised us to return, came about midday, with two boats laden with the said fruit cochi, sweet oranges, a vessel of palm wine, and a cock, to give us to understand that they had poultry in their country, so that we bought all that they brought.

The lord of these people was old, and had his face painted, and had gold rings suspended to his ears, which they name Schione, [] and the others had many bracelets and rings of gold on their arms, with a wrapper of linen round their head. We remained at this place eight days: Near this isle is another where there are a kind of people who wear holes [] in their ears so large that they can pass their arms through them; these people are Caphre, that is to say, Gentiles, and they go naked, except that round their middles they wear cloth made of the bark of trees.

But there are some of the more remarkable of them who wear cotton stuff, and at the end of it there is some work of silk done with a needle. These people are tawny, [] fat, and painted, and they anoint themselves with the oil of coco nuts and sesame, [] to preserve them from the sun and the wind. Their hair is very black and long, reaching to the waist, and they carry small daggers and knives, ornamented with gold, and many other things, such as darts, [] harpoons, and nets to fish, like The Monday of Passion week, the 25th of March, and feast of our Lady, in the afternoon, and being ready to depart from this place, I went to the side of our ship to fish, and putting my feet on a spar to go down to the store room, [] my feet slipped, because it had rained, and I fell into the sea without any one seeing me, and being near drowning by luck I found at my left hand the sheet of the large sail which was in the sea, I caught hold of it and began to cry out till they came to help and pick me up with the boat.

I was assisted not by my merits, but by the mercy and grace of the fountain of pity. That same day we took the course between west and southwest, [] and passed amidst four small islands, that is to say, Cenalo, Huinanghar, Ibusson, and Abarien. Thursday, the 28th of March, having seen the night before fire upon an island, at the morning we came to anchor at this island; where we saw a small boat which they call Boloto, with eight men inside, which approached the ship of the captain-general. Then a slave of the captain's, who was from Sumatra , otherwise named Traprobana, spoke from afar to these people, who understood his talk, [] and came near to the side of the ship, but they withdrew immediately, and would not enter the ship from fear of us.

So the captain seeing that they would not trust to us showed them a red cap, and other things, which he had tied and placed on a little plank, [] and the people in the boat took them immediately and joyously, and then returned to advise their king. Two hours afterwards, or thereabouts, we saw come two long boats, which they call Ballanghai, full of men. In the largest of them was their king sitting under an awning of mats; when they were near the ship of the captain-general, the said slave spoke to the king, who understood him well, because in these countries the kings know more languages than the common people.

Then the king ordered some of his people to go to the captain's ship, whilst he would not move from his boat, which was near enough to us. This was done, and when his people returned to the boat, he went away at once. The captain gave good entertainment to the men who came to his ship, and gave them all sorts of things, on which account the king wished to give the captain a rather large bar of solid gold, and a chest [] full of ginger.

However, the captain thanked him very much but would not accept the present. After that, when it was late, we went with the ships near to the houses and abode of the king. The next day which was Good Friday, the captain sent on shore the before-mentioned slave, who was our interpreter, to the king to beg him to give him for money some provisions for his ships, sending him word that he had not come to his country as an enemy, but as a friend. The king on hearing this came with seven or eight men in a boat, and entered the ship, and embraced the captain, and gave him three china dishes covered with leaves full of rice, and two dorades , which are rather large fish, and of the sort above-mentioned, and he gave him several other things.

The captain gave this king a robe of red and yellow cloth, made in the Turkish fashion, and a very fine red cap, and to his people he gave to some of them knives, and to others mirrors. After that refreshments were served up to them. The captain told the king, through the said interpreter, that he wished to be with him, cassi [] cassi , that is to say, brothers. To which the king answered that he desired to be the same towards him. After that the captain showed him cloths of different colours, linen, coral, and much other merchandise, and all the artillery, of which he had some pieces fired before him, at which the king was much astonished; after that the captain had one of his soldiers armed with white armour, and placed him in the midst of three comrades, who struck him with swords and daggers.

The king thought this very strange, and the captain told him, through the interpreter, that a man thus in white armour was worth a hundred of his men; he answered that it was true; he was further informed that there were in each ship two hundred like that man. After that the captain showed him a great number of swords, cuirasses, and helmets, and made two of the men play with their swords before the king; he then showed him the sea chart and the ship compass, and informed him how he had found the strait to come there, and of the time which he had spent in coming; also of the time he had been without seeing any land, at which the king was astonished.

At the end the captain asked [] if he would be pleased that two of his people should go with him to the places where they lived, to see some of the things of his country. This the king granted, and I went with another. When I had landed, the king raised his hands to the sky, and turned to us two, and we did the same as he did; after that he took me by the hand, and one of his principal people took my companion, and led us under a place covered with canes, where there was a ballanghai, that is to say, a boat, eighty feet long or thereabouts, resembling a fusta.

We sat with the king upon its poop, always conversing with him by signs, and his people stood up around us, with their swords, spears, and bucklers. Then the king ordered to be brought a dish of pig's flesh and wine. This the king did, and presented to me his fist, so that I thought that he wanted to strike me; I did the same thing towards him; so with this ceremony, and other signs of friendship, we banqueted, and afterwards supped with him.

I ate flesh on Good Friday, not being able to do otherwise, and before the hour of supper, I gave several things to the king, which I had brought. There I wrote down several things as they name them in their language, and when the king and the others saw me write, and I told them their manner of speech, they were all astonished. When the hour for supper had come, they brought two large china dishes, of which one was full of rice, and the other of pig's flesh, with its broth [] and sauce.

We supped with the same signs and ceremonies, and then went to the king's palace, which was made and built like a hay grange, covered with fig and palm leaves. It was built on great timbers high above the ground, and it was necessary to go up steps and ladders to it. Then the king made us sit on a cane mat, with our legs doubled as was the custom; after half an hour there was brought a dish of fish roast in pieces, and ginger fresh gathered that moment, and some wine.

The eldest son of the king, who was the prince, came where we were, and the king told him to sit down near us, which he did; then two dishes were brought, one of fish, with its sauce, and the other of rice, and this was done for us to eat with the prince. My companion enjoyed the food and drink so much that he got drunk. The king made a sign that he wished to go to rest, and left with us the prince, with whom we slept on a cane mat, with some cushions and pillows of leaves. Next morning the king came and took me by the hand, and so we went to the place where we had supped, to breakfast, but the boat came to fetch us.

The king, before we went away, was very gay, and kissed our hands, and we kissed his. There came with us a brother of his, the king of another island, [] accompanied by three men. The captain-general detained him to dine with us, and we gave him several things. In the island belonging to the king who came to the ship there are mines of gold, which they find in pieces as big as a walnut or an egg, by seeking in the ground.

All the vessels which he makes use of are made of it, and also some parts of his house, which was well fitted up according to the custom of the country, and he was the handsomest man that we saw among these nations. He had very black hair coming down to his shoulders, with a silk cloth on his head, and two large gold rings hanging from his ears, he had a cloth of cotton worked with silk, which covered him from the waist to the knees, at his side he wore a dagger, with a long handle which was all of gold, its sheath was of carved wood. He was tawny and painted all over. The island of this king is named Zuluan and Calagan, and when these two kings wish to visit one another they come to hunt in this island where we were.

On Sunday, the last day of March, and feast of Easter, the captain sent the chaplain ashore early to say mass, and the interpreter went with him to tell the king that they were not coming on shore to dine with him, but only to hear the mass. The king hearing that sent two dead pigs. When it was time for saying mass the captain went ashore with fifty men, not with their arms, but only with their swords, and dressed as well as each one was able to dress, and before the boats reached the shore our ships fired six cannon shots as a sign of peace. At our landing the two kings were there, and received our captain in a friendly manner, and placed him between them, and then we went to the place prepared for saying mass, which was not far from the shore.

Before the mass began the captain threw a quantity of musk rose water on those two kings, and when the offertory of the mass came, the two kings went to kiss the cross like us, but they offered nothing, and at the elevation of the body of our Lord they were kneeling like us, and adored our Lord with joined hands. The ships fired all their artillery at the elevation of the body of our Lord.

After mass had been said each one did the duty of a Christian, receiving our Lord. After that the captain had some sword-play by his people, which gave great pleasure to the kings. Then he had a cross brought, with the nails and crown, to which the kings made reverence, and the captain had them told that these things which he showed them were the sign of the emperor his lord and master, from whom he had charge and commandment to place it in all places where he might go or pass by.

He told them that he wished to place it in their country for their profit, because if there came afterwards any ships from Spain to those islands, on seeing this cross, they would know that we had been there, and therefore they would not cause them any displeasure to their persons nor their goods; and if they took any of their people, on showing them this sign, they would at once let them go. Besides this, the captain told them that it was necessary that this cross should be placed on the summit of the highest mountain in their country, so that seeing it every day they might adore it, and that if they did thus, neither thunder, lightning, nor the tempest could do them hurt.

The kings thanked the captain, and said they would do it willingly. Then he asked whether they were Moors or Gentiles, and in what they believed. They answered that they did not perform any other adoration, but only joined their hands, looking up to heaven, and that they called their God, Aba. Hearing this, the captain was very joyful, on seeing that, the first king raised his hands to the sky and said that he wished it were possible for him to be able to show the affection which he felt towards him.

The interpreter asked him for what reason there was so little to eat in that place, to which the king replied that he did not reside in that place except when he came to hunt and to see his brother, but that he lived in another island where he had all his family. Then the captain asked him if he had any enemies who made war upon him, and that if he had any he would go and defeat them with his men and ships, to put them under his obedience.

The king thanked him, and answered that there were two islands the inhabitants of which were his enemies; however, that for the present it was not the time to attack them. The captain therefore said to him that if God permitted him to return another time to this country, he would bring so many men that he would put them by force under his obedience. Then he bade the interpreter tell them that he was going away to dine, and after that he would return to place the cross on the summit of the mountain.

The two kings said they were content, and on that they embraced the captain, and he separated from them. After dinner we all returned in our dress coats [] , and we went together with the two kings to the middle of the highest mountain we could find, and there the cross was planted. After that the two kings and the captain rested themselves; and, while conversing, I asked where was the best port for obtaining victuals. They replied that there were three, that is to say, Ceylon, Zzubu, [] and Calaghan, but that Zzubu was the largest and of the most traffic.

Then the kings offered to give him pilots to go to those ports, for which he thanked them, and deliberated to go there, for his ill-fortune [] would have it so. After the cross had been planted on that mountain, each one said the Paternoster and Ave Maria, and adored it, and the kings did the like. Then we went down below to where their boats were. There the kings had brought some of the fruit called cocos and other things to make a collation and to refresh us. The captain, being desirous to depart the next day in the morning, asked the king for the pilots to conduct us to the above-mentioned ports, promising him to treat them like themselves, and that he would leave one of his own men as a hostage.

The first king said that he would go himself and conduct him to this port, and be his pilots but that he should wait two days, until he had had his rice gathered in and done other things which he had to do, begging him to lend him some of his men so as to get done sooner.

This the captain agreed to. This kind of people are gentle, and go naked, and are painted. They wear a piece of cloth made from a tree, like a linen cloth, round their body to cover their natural parts: The women are dressed in tree cloth from their waists downwards; their hair is black, and reaches down to the ground; they wear certain gold rings in their ears.

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