Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 01).djvu/335

 the flesh of which weighed forty-seven pounds. Hence I should be disposed to believe that pearls of the size mentioned would be found there; for it is certain that large pearls are found in oysters. And, not to forget it, I will add that our men reported that the islanders of Porne asserted that the king wore two pearls in his crown as large as goose eggs. After this they came to the island of Gilona, where they saw some men with such long ears, that they reached down to their shoulders; and when they expressed their astonishment, the natives told them, that in an island not far off, there were men, who had such long and wide ears, that one ear could, when they liked, cover the whole of their heads. But as our men were not in search of monsters but of spices, they did not trouble themselves about such rubbish, but sailed direct for the Moluccas, where they arrived in the eighth month after their admiral Magellan had been slain in the island of Mauthan. The islands are five in number, and are called, Tarante, Muthil, Thedori, Mare, and Matthien, situated partly to the north, partly to the south, and partly on the equator; the productions are cloves, nutmegs, and cinnamon: they are all close together, but of small extent. A few years ago the kings [of] Marmin began to believe that the soul is immortal. They were induced to believe this solely from the following reason, that they observed that a certain very beautiful small bird never settled on the earth, or on anything that was on the earth; but that these birds sometimes fell dead from the sky to the earth. And when the Mohammedans, who visited them for trading purposes, declared that these birds came from Paradise, the place