The SERRAS reach as far as the kingdom of Daquem,[390]and border upon the territories belonging to the Ydallcao,and upon a city called Rachol that formerly belonged to the king of Narsymga;there has been much war over it,and this king took it from the Ydallcao.So that these ranges are in a way the cause (of the two kingdoms)never uniting and always being at war;and even on the side of Orya also there are ranges,but they are different from these,since like ours they have scrub and small patches of brushwood;these ranges are low and between them are great plains.On the extreme east of these two kingdoms you must know that the country is all covered with scrub,the densest possible to be seen,in which there are great beasts,and (this)forms so strong a fortress for it that it protects both sides;it has its entrances by which they pass from one kingdom to the other.In these passes on the frontier the king of Narsymga has a captain with a quantity of troops,but on the side of (Portuguese)India he has none,except as I have said.
Now turning to the gates of the first range,I say that at the entrance of the gate where those pass who come from Goa,which is the principal entrance on the western side;this king has made within it a very strong city[391]fortified with walls and towers,and the gates at the entrances very strong,with towers at the gates;these walls are not like those of other cities,but are made of very strong masonry such as would be found in few other parts,and inside very beautiful rows of buildings made after their manner with flat roofs.There live in this many merchants,and it is filled with a large population because the king induces many honourable merchants to go there from his cities,and there is much water in it.Besides this the king made a tank[392]there,which,as it seems to me,has the width of a falcon-shot,[393]and it is at the mouth of two hills,so that all the water which comes from either one side or the other collects there;and,besides this,water comes to it from more than three leagues by pipes which run along the lower parts of the range outside.This water is brought from a lake which itself overflows into a little river.The tank has three large pillars handsomely carved with figures;these connect above with certain pipes by which they get water when they have to irrigate their gardens and rice-fields.In order to make this tank the said king broke down a hill which enclosed the ground occupied by the said tank.In the tank I saw so many people at work that there must have been fifteen or twenty thousand men,looking like ants,so that you could not see the ground on which they walked,so many there were;this tank the king portioned out amongst his captains,each of whom had the duty of seeing that the people placed under him did their work,and that the tank was finished and brought to completion.