Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/254

 210 VASCO DA GAMA AT CALICUT When we disembarked, the captain-major (Vasco da Gama) once more entered his palanquin. The road was crowded with a countless multitude anxious to see us. Even the women came out of their houses with children in their arms and followed us. ,When we arrived (at Calicut) they took us to a large church (a Hindu temple), and this is what we saw: 1 The body of the church is as large as a monastery, all built of hewn stone and covered with tiles. At the main entrance rises a pillar of bronze as high as a mast, on the top of which was perched a bird, apparently a cock. In addition to this, there was another pillar as high as a man and very stout. In the centre of the body of the church rose a chapel, all built of hewn stone, with a bronze door sufficiently wide for a man to pass, and stone steps leading up to it. Within this sanctuary stood a small image which they said represented Our Lady. Along the walls, by the main entrance, hung seven small bells. In this church the captain-major said his prayers, and we with him. We did not go within the chapel, for it is the custom that only certain servants of the church, called quasees (Arabic kdzi, " judge "), should enter. These quasees wore some threads passing over the left shoulder and under the right arm, in the same manner as our deacons wear the stole. They threw holy water over us, and 1 The description of this so-called " church " gives a good picture of the typical Hindu temple, with its columns, shrines, carved images, and Brahman priests wearing the sacred cord, marked with the characteristic signs of their caste, and bowing before painted representations of the Indian pantheon.