Storia do Mogor 62.4

62.4

On the contrary, if the talk is of business, they give a ready answer, and are such strong arithmeticians that in the shortest time they can make any sort of calculation, never making a mistake of a single figure. They hold it as a great sin to kill any animal. Therefore, if they find on their bodies any louse, bug, flea, ant, or other kind of vermin, they lay hold of it gently with the tips of their fingers, and carry it away to a distance into a place of security. In their houses they have different receptacles full of these animals, whose sustenance is provided in the following manner: They search for some necessitous wretch, and paying him money, leave him for the whole night bound upon the receptacle or the bed, and in this way the animals referred to are fed ; for these baniyas are of a character more full of charity for animals than for men. Thus they make for animals niches in the walls of their houses, where all sorts of birds assemble to build their nests. To these they give food, and never do them any harm. In the kingdom of Guzurate (Gujarat) there is a town near the sea called Cambaya (Khambayat, Cambay) ; there these baniyas have a hospital for sick birds, and reward a surgeon for treating them. Once they got an injured falcon, and it was put among the other birds, whereupon it began to kill and devour its fellows. Upon seeing this, they turned it out, saying that it must be of FarangI race.