chap, xxv GOLD IN NUGGETS 125
this country takes the name of Emperor of Monomotapa, and his authority extends up to the confines of Preste Jan.1 It
is from these territories of Monomotapa whence the purest and finest
African gold comes, and it is extracted without great difficulty by
excavating in the ground to a depth of only 2 or 3 feet. In certain
places in this country which are not inhabited, because there is no
water there, gold is found on the surface of the ground in nuggets of
all kinds of shapes and weights, and there are some of these nuggets
which weigh an ounce. I have had, as curiosities, some pieces which I
have presented to my friends, and some of them weighed as much as 2
ounces. I still have one of them weighing an ounce and a half or
thereabouts.2 When at Surat with M. d'Ardiliere,3
son of M. du Jardin, of whom I have made mention in my account of
Persia, an Ambassador from the King of Abyssinia arrived, whom we went
to salute. I presented him with a pair of pocket pistols decorated with
silver, and when he invited us to dine with him he showed us the
presents which he was carrying to the Great Mogul on behalf of the
King, his master. They consisted of fourteen
1
i.e. Abyssinia. The name Prester John was given to the ruling monarch
by the Portuguese. (Varthema, Hakluyt Society, 63 ; Barbosa, ed.
Barnes, i. 39 ; Yule, Marco Polo, i. 205 ff.)
2 For the Portuguese gold trade from Monomotapa, see Linschoten, i. 30 ff.
3 The references to M. du Jardin and his son are very perplexing. In the Persian Travels, bk.
ii, ch. vi, Tavernier says he started on his fourth journey from Paris
with M. d'Ardiliere, son of M. du Jardin. When landing at Masulipatam
he refers to his companion as M. Louis du Jardin (vol. i, p. 206). He
again mentions him as being with him at Madras (vol. i, p. 215), and on
p. 245 he records his death in the year 1652. In vol. ii, p. 191, he
speaks of being in M. d'Ardiliere's company on the road from Golkonda
to Surat in 1653. From all of which it would seem to be the legitimate
conclusion that both father and son travelled with him in India, as is
suggested on pp. 336 and 690. However, it is due to M. Joret to say
that he may be right in treating these notices as all referring to the
same person, and consequently the date 1653 must be wrong, if du Jardin
died in 1652: J.-B. Tavernier, pp. 131, 114. But it should be
added that this present notice seems to contradict that view, as M. du
Jardin died within a few days of their arrival at Surat. Fryer in 1671
mentions M. Jordan (? Jardin) as having, with M. Eezin, succeeded
Tavernier in the trade of carrying diamonds to and from Europe (i. 226,
with the editor's note).
