Storia do Mogor 238.2.1

238.2.1

Such is the custom of that country, where the priests are much venerated. If these men desire to favour anyone with the gift of a holy relic, they give him some of their own excrement. The recipients carry it with them hanging from the neck, placed in a little box of gold and silver in which it is preserved. It is their fond imagination that if they die with such filth hanging from their neck they will acquire salvation. It is through this country that lies the route to China, but it is a very long way, and the roads most hazardous from the great mountains and many rivers. I state this on information given me by some Armenians and others who had been there, including two Jesuits, who came from China by this road. One was a Fleming and the other a German, with whom I had many a talk about this country.