Having spoken in the preceding chapter of the squares of the town, I shall proceed to say something of the markets. These markets, as far as regards provisions, are held every working day, and even on the lesser festivals, from six or seven in the morning until noon; so, too, the great market, which is held all along the great straight street, the one end whereof touches the Misericordia, and the other the palace of the viceroy. This street is very handsome and broad, full of shops of jewellers, goldsmiths, lapidaries, carpet weavers, silk mercers, and other artizans. While this market is afoot, there is so great a crowd in the street that one can hardly pass. They fear neither rain in winter nor heat in summer, by reason of the large sombreros or parasols which everyone carries; these are six or seven feet in diameter at the least, in such wise that when a crowd is assembled they all touch one another, and the whole seems but one covering.

About three months before I left Goa it was ordered that the large square between the town-hall and the Inquisition should be taken as an addition to the market, which was too small. This market is called Laylon, as I have already said, because of the auctions that are held there.