Storia do Mogor 60.6.5

60.6.5

For the second inquiry he selected persons of good judgment and provided them with everything necessary — servants, conveyances, and sufficient money. They were on their travels for several months, and at the end of the time they returned and repaired to the king. He asked them what they had seen and where they had been. After all, the only thing they could say was that they had climbed many mountains, keeping always to the course of the stream, which each day grew smaller. After much marching, they arrived at mountains covered with forest. Here they had hard work to get through. When they had traversed these woods, they encountered a very high and large mountain having at its foot a great cow's head sculptured out of the very rock. From the mouth in this head issued a stream of water with such force that no one could keep his feet in front of it. They exerted themselves to ascend the great mountain, to see whether there was any river on beyond. But it was not possible to reach the top. Therefore they turned back and reported what they had seen. I am unable to affirm whether this was verily [92] the river Ganges or not. For it would require one to exhaust one's purse, and perhaps lose one's life, if another attempt were made. There happened to this king several things which will either be of use as a guide to his descendants or will serve to divert the reader. The first of these that I wish to recount is what happened to Akbar with a baniani (baniya).