Having said enough of the island, I come now to tell more particularly of the king of the Maldives, his genealogy, wives, conduct, and divers events that happened in his time. This king often asked me about the king of France, his age, manner of life, wars, armaments, ships, cannon, and other matters, and if the two ships we came in belonged to him. I answered him in some detail on these points, and said that if our king were to send ships to the Indies, it would not he two or three only, but two or three hundred, which surprised him much. He also inquired if the French were the Franki or Franqui who were spoken of in the Indies. This question I could not well resolve at the time, but since then I have learnt that this name Franki signifies all the Western peoples: to wit, the French, Italians, Spaniards, and other Europeans, but principally the French, who in former days, by their great conquest in the holy wars of the East, wherein they took the leading part, have left their name in the Indies, since then applied in common to the rest.

The king of the Maldives asked me many other questions, among others, of the court of our king, which I described to him at length as best I could. Then I enlarged upon the greatness of the king and his state, with all which he was highly pleased.