This is how Japanese described us in 1571:
>"These men (the Portuguese) are merchants >... They drink in a glass without offering it to others. They eat with their fingers (1) and not with chopsticks like us ... They are people who spend their lives traveling From there to beyond, without a right address, and exchange products that have the ones they do not have, but deep down they are not bad people. "
>*Crónica Teppo-Ki (adaptado)
>(1) cutlery began to be used recurringly in Europe only from the 18th century onwards
and the chinese described us like this:
>"It can be said that the first objective of the Fu-lang-chi (the Portuguese) to China was the commerce (...).
>Fu-lang-chi people are tall and have big noses. The eyes are like those of the cat and the shape of the mouth like that of the eagle. >The hair grows on the backs of their hands, and their beards are red. They love commerce and, based on their military power, have a habit of invading and oppressing smaller countries. They go to any place where there is profit ... They wear clean and beautiful clothes >... Whenever a dispute arises, they point to the sky and swear to tell the truth. "
>*História de Ming (adaptado)
this was how africans described us when we reached there:
>"A day from the sea came a great ship, white wings, and shining like knives in the sun, white men came out of the water, saying words that no one understood, our ancestors were afraid and thought they were Vumbi, souls of the other world. They managed to make them return to the sea by shooting clouds of arrows, but the "Vumbi" began to spit fire with a noise of thunder .... "
>* African oral tradition, in F. Braudel, Material Civilization ... III.
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