this may well be reckoned as one of the ten considerable Cities which are upon the Danube accounting from Ulme unto Belgrade as Ulme Ingolstadt Ratisbone Passaw Lintz Vienna Presburg Strigonium Buda Belgrade all which from Ratisbone I had the opportunity to see before the end of my Journey Near to a Wall over against the great Church at Passaw which was then repairing I saw a vast Head cut in stone the Mouth whereof was two spans wide and the rest proportionable The River Iltz which runneth in here from the North is considerable for the Pearls which are found in it and the noble River Inne or Oenus from the South is the greatest River which hath yet entred the Danube having passed by Insbrug and taken in the River Saltz upon which stands Saltzburg and arising in the Alpes in such a high Country as Tirolis it runneth in here with a great force and addeth much unto the swiftness of the Danube Upon the Sixteenth we came to Lintz the chief City in the higher Austria not very great but as neat and handsome a City as most in Germany There is in it a very great Market-place with never a bad House in it the whole Town built of a very white Free-stone and the Castle upon the Hill is of Modern Building and very large There is also a Bridge over the Danube The Imperial Forces rendezvoused here when Solyman came to Vienna This was also besieged by the Peasants of Austria in the time of Ferdinand the Second they having got a Body together of Forty thousand men and many pieces of Ordnance but were stoutly repulsed after many Assaults and at last overcome by Papenheim Not far below Lintz the River Draun enters the Danube this cometh from the Gemundner Sea or Lacus Felicis passing by Lampack Weltz and other Towns and hath a noted Cataract or Fall of Waters The Whirle-poole in the Danvbe I. Olivor Fe THE DESCRIPTION OF VIENNA VIENNA or Wien which the Turks call Berch is the chief City of Austria in the Latitude of forty eight Degrees twenty Minutes not much differing from the Latitude of Paris The old Seat of the Dukes of Austria and for a long time of the Emperours of Germany According to ancient account it standeth in Pannonia superior the Bounds of Pannonia extending unto Kalemburg or Mons Cetius five or six miles Westward of Vienna beyond which still Westward all that lieth between that Hill and the great River Oenus or Inne which runneth into the Danube at Passaw or Castra Batava was anciently called Noricum It was an ancient place of Habitation in the time of the Romans and called Vindobona as the Learned Petrus Lambecius hath at large declared where the Classis Istrica sometimes lay and the tenth German Legion had its station all this shoar or side of the Danube being famous for the actions of Roman Emperours against the Marcomanni and Quadi who possessed the Country on the other side of the River and especially for the wars of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Philosophus who notably defeated those Nations and who as Aurelius Victor who was Governour of Sirmium in Pannonia inferior in the time of Constantius affirmeth fell sick at Carnuntum now Petronel and died at Vindobona now Vienna And to confirm the Antiquity hereof besides what Wolfgangus Lazius hath delivered not many years since some Antiquities were found For in the year 1662. when a wall was digged up near the old Palace the workmen digging still on below the Foundation found a Stone Trough or Coffin containing hard Earth and Bones with a small Gold Coyn a Glass Urn enclosed in a Brass one an Iron Knife like a Sicespita or Knife used about Sacrifices a little Roll or Scroll of pure Gold shut up with a Golden cover at both ends wherein was an Inscription in strange Characters Not far from the Sepulchral Monument were found a Head in Brass a Brazen Patera Lamps Lachrymatories and other Vessels and a Copper Coyn of Antoninus Caracalla The writing in the Golden Scroll which no man could read was conceived by the Learned Lambecius to be the old Pannonian Character and that this might be the Monument of some Pannonian Priest in the days of Caracalla who as good Authors deliver spent some time about these parts It is seated on the South-side of the Danube on the ripa Romana that side nearest to Rome and many Roman Colonies according to the usual position of Roman Stations both upon this River and the Rhine as may be exemplified in Colen Bonna Andarnach Coblentz Ments Wormes Spier and Strasburg And in like manner in the old Roman Stations on the South or Roman side of the Danube which were in no small number in or near the Austrian shoar as Carnuntum or Petronel Vischmund or Aquinoctium Ebersdorff or Ala Nova Melck or Nomale Arlape or Pechlarne Lentia or Lintz for hereby they better secured their Conquests and hindred the incursions of the Barbarians before them It is not seated upon the main stream of the Danube but by a branch thereof for the River running through a low Country it is divided into several Streams and maketh many Islands A small River named Wien runneth by the East part of this City and entreth the Danube below it which upon floods doth often much hurt yet sometimes low and very shallow so as I have stepped over it some will have it to give the Name unto this City it divideth part of the Suburbs from it and hath divers Bridges over it For that we may have a distinct apprehension of Vienna we must consider the City and Suburbs thereof the Suburbs are very great and not without fair Houses Gardens Walks and all Accommodations at large The City it self is that walled and fortified part designed not only for convenience of Habitation but also to sustain a Siege or any Attack from the Turk and is now separated from the Suburbs by a fair Esplanade or open Ground above a Musket shot over The Houses near the wall were pulled down since the last Fortification in the Turkish war when they were in some fear that the Turkish Forces about Gran and New-heusel would move towards them It is fortified a la moderna with ten Bastions towards the Land and a very deep Ditch into which they can let the Danube and with two other Bastions towards the water on that part of the River which lieth on the North-side of the Town The Bastions are large upon one of them I saw Count Souches muster a good part of the Militia of the City The Ditch is large and very deep into which although they can let in the River yet it is commonly kept dry lest they might incommode their deep Cellars There are two walls the one old and inward little considerable at present built at first with the ransome of our King Richard the First who in his return from the Holy War was detained Prisoner by the Duke of Austria upon the 20th of December
or Bingium was an old Roman Fortress upon the Rhine where the River Navus or Naw entreth into it over which latter there is a handsome Stone-bridge In this Town were many of the Duke of Lorrain's Army sick and wounded who three weeks before had maintained a fight against the Forces of the Elector Palatine near this place From Bing we continued our Journey to Mentz at Rudesheim in Rhinegaw a place noted for good Wine they shewed us a Boy whose hair was thick and woolly like to the African-Moors but of a fine white colour which being somewhat an odd sight I took away some of his hair with me Mentz Moguntia Moguntiacum and by the French Mayence is seated over against the Confluence of the River Main with the Rhine or rather a little below it in a fertile Country abounding in all Provisions and good Wine it lieth at length and is most extended towards the River and that part excelleth the other towards the Land which is not so populous or well-built It is a strong place and well guarded it hath many Churches and Monasteries and some fair Buildings especially those of publick concern as the Palace of the Elector and others But the narrowness of the Streets and many old Houses take away much from the beauty of the City It is an University begun about the year 1486. or as others will have it 1461. This place also challengeth the Invention of Printing or at least the first promotion or perfection thereof And the Territory about it is famous for the destruction of the Roman Legions under Varus by the Germans Gustaphus Adolphus King of Sweden was wonderfully pleased upon the taking of this City 1631. entring into it in State upon the 14th of December it being his Birth-day which began the 38th year of his life and kept his Court and Christmas here where at one time there were with him six chief Princes of the Empire twelve Ambassadours of Kings States Electors and Princes besides Dukes and Lords and the Martial men of his own Army At the taking of the Town they found great store of Ordnance and Powder and the City redeemed it self from Pillage by giving the King a Ransome of Eighty thousand Dollars and the Clergy and Jews gave Two and twenty thousand more of which the Jews paid Eighteen thousand Archbishop Wambold saving himself upon the Rhine and retiring to Colen The King caused also two great Bridges to be made one over the Main founded upon fifteen great flat bottom'd Boats the rest being built upon great Piles of Wood Another over the Rhine supported by sixty one great flat Boats each lying the distance of an Arch from one another and many Families of people living sometimes in the Boats under the Bridge The Bridge over the Main is taken away but that over the Rhine is still continued Upon which I saw the present Elector passing in his Coach a Person of great Gravity of a middle Stature having long grey Hair and was very Princely attended his Name Joannes Philippus of the Noble Family of Schoenburg Elector and Archbishop of Mentz Bishop of Wurtzburg and Bishop of Worms Arch-Chancellour of the Empire for all Germany the first of the Electoral Colledge in all publick Conventions he sits at the right hand of the Emperour and is a Successour of the famous Boniface an English man Bishop of Mentz who so much promoted the Christian Religion in these parts But though his Dignity and Place excelleth the two other Ecclesiastical Electors of Colen and Triers yet his Territories come short and they lye not together but scatteringly with those of the Palatinate Spier Franckfort and divers places in Franconia But of late he hath much encreased his Power by seizing the great City of Erfurdt in Turingia which he hath since much beautified and strengthned by a Citadel built upon St. Peters hill From Mentz I passed by water up the River Main to Franckfort a free City of the Empire called Trajectum Franconum a Passage or Ford of the Franks as serving them for a Retreat when they entred or returned from Gaul at present Franckford upon the Main to difference it from Franckford upon the River Oder which is an University It is a large Town divided into two parts by the River the lesser called Saxonhausen or Saxon-houses united to the other by a Stone-bridge over the Main of twelve or thirteen Arches It is a place of good Trade and well seated for it as having the advantage of the River Main which passeth by Bamberg Schweinfurt Wurtzburg Guemund or Gaudia mundi and also the Tauber and other Rivers running into it affordeth conveniency for Commerce with the remoter parts of Franconia and the Main running into the Rhine makes a large communication both up and down that Stream But this place is most remarkable for the Election of the Emperour which by the Laws of the Golden Bull should be in this City as also for two great Marts or Fairs kept in March and September at which times there is an extraordinary concourse of people from remote parts in order to buying and selling of several Commodities especially for Books as well printed here as in other parts whereof they afford two Catalogues every year and have no small dealings that way by the Factors of the Germans Hollanders Italians French and English although at other times their trading in Books seems not great for when I was there out of the time of the Mart the Stationers Shops being shut up made but a dull show Here are also a great number of good Horses bought and sold and on the North-side of the City there is a spacious place for a Horse-Fair The City is strong and well fortified and most part of the Town are Lutherans In the German wars the King of Sweden having taken Hanaw sent a Messenger to Franckfort to know whether the City would peaceably and speedily set open their Gates unto him and accept fairly of a Garrison or stand to the hazard of a Siege And although they were unwilling to yield yet for fear of the worst they consented That the King should have free passage for his Army through the City and that for the better assurance of it six hundred of his men should be received for a Garrison into Saxonhausen and also that the Magistrates and People should take an Oath unto his Majesty So that upon the 17th of November 1631. the King's Army passed through Saxonhausen over the Bridge quite through the Town Colonel Vitzthumb was left Governour in Saxonhausen and the King himself rode bare-headed through the Streets and by his obliging behaviour did generally win the affections of the beholders and three days after returned thither again with the Landtgrave of Hessen-Cassell and the Landtgrave of Hessen-Darmstadt where they met the Seventeen Earls of the Wetteraw or Veteravia and were feasted in the same room where the Emperours at their Coronation use to be entertained In Saxonhausen there is
a House anciently belonging unto the Knights of the Teutonick Order which hath the priviledge of a Sanctuary for Man-slayers and Bankrupts but it is a security but for fourteen days Upon this side there is the largest portion of Land belonging to Franckfort on the other side very little This being a trading place it is no wonder that there are so many Jews in it for a distinction they wear great Ruffs their Sons Bonnets and their Wives a peculiar dress of their Head The Collegiate Church of St. Bartholomew where many of the Emperours have been crowned is large hath a high Steeple and is built of a red stone There are divers handsome Fountains in the Town and good Houses in one of the best of which liveth Monsieur Pierre Neufville a great Merchant and a civil worthy person well known in most places of Commerce who obliged me with Letters to Venice and other places From Franckfort I continued my Journey through the Bergstraes passing by Darmstadt which belongs to one of the Brothers of the House of Hessen commonly known by the name of the Landtgrave of Hessen Darmstadt and afterwards through a fruitful plain Country in the sight of Hills and sometimes near them the whole Country planted with Wallnut-trees Vines Corn and in some places with Tobacco till I arrived at Heidelberg In coming into this Town we passed over the River Neccar Nicer or Necarus upon a Bridge covered over from one end to another with a large Roof of Wood in the same manner is the long Bridge covered at the entrance of the City of Alessandria della paglia in Italy The River Neccar ariseth near the Sylva Martiana now Swartzwald or Black Forest and passing through the Territories of the Duke of Wittenberg runneth into the Rhine at Manheim This though none of the greatest yet is a considerable River of Germany and hath divers good Towns upon it and near it as Sultz Tubingen Wirtingen Essingen Stutgard Canstat Lauffen Hallbrun Heidelberg There being wars at that time when I was in this Country between the Elector Palatine and the Duke of Lorain The Elector resided for the most part at Frankendale to be near his Forces Heidelberg is seated on the South-side of the River Neccar between it and a ridge of high Hills so as it cannot well admit of a modern Fortification or hope to be extraordinary strong as being over-looked by the adjacent Mountains It lieth most at length from East to West It hath been an University since the year 1346. at which time it was begun by Rupertus Count Palatine and at present is much frequented In the great Church was kept the famous Library which after that the Spaniards had taken this Town 1620. was carried to Rome and added to the Vatican where I saw it in the year 1664. being placed upon one side of a very long Gallery belonging to the Vatican Library and the Duke of Urbin's Library placed on the otherside over-against it both which made a notable addition to the Papal Library In this Church and the Church also of St. Peter are divers Monuments of Princes of the Palatine Family and of Learned and Famous Men. The French have a Church here and the present Elector is of the Order of the Holy Ghost and his Son a Mareschal of France and good French and High-dutch are both generally spoken here The Lutherans have also a Church in this Town by the favour of the present Elector although he himself be a Calvinist and to express his generous kindness the higher in this point the first Stone was laid by himself and his Son and it is called the Church of Providence according to the Elector's Motto Dominus Providebit Upon the Town-house is a Clock with divers Motions and when the Clock strikes the figure of an Old man pulls off his hat a Cock crows and shakes his wings Souldiers fight with one another and the like The Prince's Stables for above a hundred Horses are seated upon the River very conveniently but were fairer formerly above half thereof having been ruined by the Imperialists as also divers of the Statues on the outside of the Castle which is seated high above the Town The present Elector is Carolus Ludovicus Son to the King of Bohemia Frederick the Fifth he was born in the year 1617. and passed his Youth an Exile from his Fathers Kingdom and Electorate and at the pacification at Prague 1635. he was excluded from any restitution to be made to him But at length in the Treaty of Munster 1648. he was restored to the lower Palatinate and 1652. returned to the possession of his Fortunes a highly accomplished Prince much honoured and beloved by his Subjects In the year 1650. he married Charlotta Daughter to William the Fifth Landgrave and to the famous Amelia Elizabeth Landgravess of Hassia by whom he had the Chur Prince or Electoral Prince Charles and a Daughter the Princess Charlotta Elizabetha but upon some discontent the Princess Electress since returned to her own Friends and Country This Elector is also Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter Great Treasurer of the Empire and together with the Elector of Saxony Vicar of the Empire In his Palace or Castle at Heidelberg are divers things remarkable a very great Tower to be equalled by very few within which is a Theatre for Comedies This was formerly called Trutzkaisar or the Tower that bad Defiance or threatned the Emperor but since the Restauration of the Elector there are some Works drawn about it in the figure of a Star and the old disobliging Name is by Proclamation forbidden to be continued and it is at present called the Sternschanz or the Star-fort By it is a handsome Garden in the Ditch whereof there was then kept a great Bear and a very large Wolf The Grotto's and Water-works are very handsome they were also making divers others having the advantage of the side of the Hill to bring down the water and to make Grots and Caves in the Rock Amongst other Fountains that of the Lions head with a Frog in his Ear is taken notice of The Cellars are very large and cool filled with Vessels of no ordinary size yet inconsiderable if compared to the great Tun kept in a great Building joyning to the Cellars it was built by this present Elector's Order 1664. and goeth far beyond any made before It contains 204 Faiders and odd measure or about two hundred Tuns instead of Hoops it is built with large knee Timber like the ribs of a Ship which are painted and carved and have divers Inscriptions upon them and supported by carved Pedistals Upon one side of it is a handsome Staircase to ascend to the top of the Vessel upon the top of which is a Gallery set round with Ballisters three and forty steps high from the ground About an English mile from Heidelberg between the Hills is a solitary place where three large Streams or Springs gush out of the
Bishop of Triers The Picture of St. Katherine of Sienna drawn by Sigismund King of Poland A Picture of the Emperour as he giveth Audience to be looked upon through a little round hole A neat Table of Inlay'd Stone made by the present Empress Dowager Eleonora A Nail of our Saviour's Cross almost a foot long our Saviour's Blood and two Thorns of his Crown the one whiter than the other Priests Garments covered all over with large Pearl The great and high esteemed Agate Dish between three and four spans Diameter with XRISOS naturally in it Unto which one applied that of St. Luke Dico vobis quia si hi tacuerint lapides clamabunt Unto which magnificent Rarities there is one more added the noble Chain of Pearl of eight yards long taken from the Graff Tokoly in the late Hungarian war as I understand since my Return I went unto divers noted Places about Vienna I walked unto the Hill of Vienna two English miles distant from the Town going up all the way by an easie Ascent from whence I had a prospect of the City and the Campagnia about it together with the high Mountains in Steirmark covered with Snow and in my return saw the Palace of the Empress Dowager without the Town called la Favorita and passed by the Convent of the Paulini About two English miles Eastward from Vienna there is a very noble Garden-place belonging to the Emperour built by Rodolphus the Second which hath been formerly well furnished and provided with Plants but now seems to be neglected and somewhat ruinous It consisteth of an inward and an outward square Garden The inward is two hundred ordinary paces square about the same bigness with the Place Royal at Paris It hath a Portico or Cloyster supported by Forty Pillars of white Stone on each side and is covered with Copper as are also the Pavilions which the common people think to be Gold Besides this there is an handsome row of Buildings well seated called Néw-gabaú in which at present are many wild Beasts kept Lions and Tigres breed here and have young ones Some say this was the place of Solyman the Magnificents Tent when he besieged Vienna There is also about two or three miles from Vienna a noted place of Devotion called Arnols much frequented especially in Lent divers carrying Crosses very heavy all the way upon their shoulders There is here a little House built exactly after that of the Sepulchre at Jerusalem and also a handsome Copy of the Picture of our Saviour and the Virgin Mary with their exact heights That of our Saviour is about two yards high that of the blessed Virgin three or four singers breadth lower These are taken from the Original in St. John de Lateran at Rome Hither the Empress desired to go one morning from her own Palace on foot out of Devotion which she performed though with a great deal of difficulty she being not used to walk and the way was dusty The Emperour accompanied her and all the Court followed on foot which made a handsome shew Nearer unto Vienna there is also a remarkable place for Devotion called Itzing and in the way from Vienna unto it the twelve Stations of the Cross are marked out in imitation of what is observed near Jerusalem in the Via Crucis or Dolorosa in our Saviours proceeding from the City unto Mount Calvary the Figures thereof are printed and the several paces between every Station set down The Emperour hath a handsome Park near Vienna called the Brater wherein I beheld the effects of the great Lightning and Thunder which happened three days before upon many great Trees which were torn split or twisted There is a House of Pleasure in it where among other things I could not but take notice of a Musical Instrument which I had not seen before a Seat or Chest-drum it hath a Cord like that of a Sea-trumpet but soundeth like a Kettle-drum I went also unto Laxambourg whither the Emperour often retireth he hath a House in this place but it is old and not large There is also a House of Pleasure in the Mote into which there is no other passage but through a high Gorridore The Castle is commodiously seated for the Emperours recreation and there is an eight-square House in the Marsh from which the Nobility and the Empress Dowager sometimes used to shoot she being very expert therein Over the Gate of the Emperours House hangs a great Rib and Jaw-bone whereof I could get no better account then they were the Rib and Jaw-bone of a heathen-maid They seemed to me to be Bones of an Elephant But many things that are old or obscure they call in this Country Heathen as Roman Coyns they call Heathen mony And the Peasants brought me in a place which had been formerly an old Roman Station part of the bit of a Bridle digged up which they concluded to be a Heathen Key From hence I went unto Mannersdorff seated not far from the River Leyta where there is a natural hot Bath called the Wildebath it ariseth under a Church the Church being built over the Spring-head The water of it is but Lukewarm and therefore when they desire it hotter they boyl it and so bathe in Tubs in a large room From that Substance which sticketh to the sides of the Coppers in the boyling of it they judge it to be impregnated with Sulphur Salt-peter and Chalk The water colours the stones and makes them look when wet like fine Turquoises And the vapour of the Bath hanging upon the Moss on the sides gives it an Amber or Gold colour The Physicians of Vienna have given a good account concerning the use of these Baths in High-dutch Not far from hence is a noted Quarry of Stone out of which a great part of Vienna is built The Stones being large they cut and square them at the Quarry From hence I proceeded to the Newsidler-sea or Lake so called from Newsidle which is a Town seated upon the Northern part of it consisting of one street and some back-houses and a small square old Castle upon a Hill from whence I had a good prospect over the Lake It is about three German miles broad and seven miles long The fairest Lake in these parts affording plenty of Fish encompassed and thickly set about with small Towns and Villages and hath no River at least not considerable running into or out of it A little way from the Gate of Newsidle they dig out a black earth out of which they make Salt peter In this Journey not far from Himburg we passed by a place called Rauckward which though it seems not high looks over a great part of Austria and as far as Brin the second City of Moravia a part also of the Kingdom of Bohemia and a part of the Kingdom of Hungaria I went afterwards four English miles up the Stream of the Danube to see a noted Quarry of Stone in a Hill called Altenburg The beds rows or
River Elbe the third great River of Germany whereby it may have Commerce with a great part of that Country and as far as Bohemia Hamburg is full of Strangers and Merchants of several Countries The English Company have good Priviledges and a rich Trade and Ships come laden thither with Cloath to the value of an hundred thousand pounds sterling and they live here in good Reputation and to the honour of their Country they are Persons of worth courtesie and civility and I heartily wish them all success in their Affairs I must not omit the acknowledgment of my particular Obligation to that learned and worthy Person Mr. Griffin Preacher unto the Company Mr. Free the Treasurer Mr. Banks who hath been in many places of Natolia and the Holy Land Mr. Jenkinson and my very obliging Friends Mr. Catelin and Mr. Townly This place hath the happiness to be quiet when the great Princes of Europe are at war for it desires to hold a strict Amity with Princes and declines all Dissention with them I found a Ship at Hamburg bound for London and while it was fitting for Sail I made a short excursion into part of the King of Denmarks Country and returning to Hamburg again I ordered my affairs for England upon the first wind and hoped the next Tide to get over the Altenaw sand and to pass the Blanckness but a cross wind prevented so that I left not Hamburg till the tenth of December and then I had the good Company of Mr. Hoyle who came from Narva and set Sail in a new Ship but the days being at the shortest and the nights dark in the New Moon the Tide falling also in the day time we were able to get no further the first day than Stadt or Stoade upon the River Zwingh a strong Town belonging to the King of Sweden where the Ships that come up the River pay Custome and where the English Merchants had formerly their Residence when they left Hamburg upon a Discontent December the 11th we came by Gluckstadt belonging to the King of Denmark where the Castle the King's Palace and the Church are handsome and Anchored that night before the Mouth of the River Oast which ariseth in Bremerland and falleth into the Elbe a mile from Brunsbüttel on the other Holsatian shoar December the 12th we lost sight of the Northern shoar and passed Cook 's Haven in full hopes to put out to Sea that night but about Three in the Afternoon we were becalmed a League and a half below it where we were forced to come to an Anchor again lest the strong Ebbe should set us on ground among the Sands So we lay that night between Thicksand on the North and Newark on the South right over against a Light-house December the 13th the wind turning Westernly and blowing hard we returned to Cook 's Haven and came to Anchor Here I came a shoar and went up the Land to the Fort in this place belonging to the City of Hamburg It is a high square Work with a double Ditch and some Vessels come up to the Fort but the Ditch or Chanel which comes thither out of the Elbe is dry at low water The Town is called Reutsbüttel not far from the Lands end Two or three days after with a cold North-East-wind we set Sail for England Coming out of the Elbe we were all the Afternoon in sight of an Island called Heilige-landt or Holy-land belonging to the Duke of Holstein which being very high Land is to be seen at a good distance and is of excellent use to direct and guide Ships into the Mouth of the Elbe without which they would be at a great loss the Country about that Rivers Mouth being all very low Land Heiligeland is a small Island having about two thousand Inhabitants and six or seven small Vessels belonging to it which are imployed a great part of the year in bringing Lobsters and other Fish to London or Quinborough the Inhabitants living most upon Fish We bore out to Sea all night and the next day made towards the Land again and sailed in sight of Schiemoniekeoghe Amelandt and Schelling in the Evening we saw the Lights at the Vly and Texel when we were near the Land we were much troubled with the Frost and cold Weather and less when we were off at Sea The next day we had a fair wind and made such way that in the Evening we took down our Sails and let the Vessel drive not being willing to deal with the shoar in the night The next morning we soon discovered the Northforeland covered with Snow and came to an Anchor in Margarite-Road where the wind growing very high we rode it out for two days and two nights and came safe on shoar praised be God upon Christmas-day morning Now having made so long a walk in Germany I must confess I returned with a better opinion of the Country than I had before of it and cannot but think it very considerable in many things The Rivers thereof are noble and seem to exceed those of France and Italy Of the Rivers of Italy the Padus or Po is the most considerable which notwithstanding hath no very long course before it runneth into the Adriatick Sea And Italy being divided by the Appennine-hills running from West to East the Rivers which arise from either side cannot be long neither on the South-side before they run into the Mediterranean as the Arno Garigliano and others Nor on the North side before they run into the Adriatick or the Po. The chief Rivers of France as the Loyre the Seine the Rhosne and the Garonne I cannot but highly commend having passed upon them for divers days There are also four great Rivers in Germany the Danube the Rhine the Elbe and the Oder but none of France seem comparable unto the Rhine and Danube France having the Sea upon the North the West and the two large Provinces of Languedoc and Province upon the Mediterranean Sea hath the opportunity of Noble Cities and Sea-ports But some doubt may be made Whether any thereof do exceed Hamburg Lubeck and Dantzick The great number of populous large and handsome Cities doth afford great content unto a Traveller in Germany for besides about Sixty six free Imperial Cities are many more of good note belonging to particular Princes and divers highly priviledged And surely a true Estimation of the Cities and Towns of these days cannot be duly made from the Accounts and Descriptions thereof left an hundred years since or more for since those times Buildings have been better modelled and ordered Fortifications and Out-works more regularly contrived Convents and Publick Houses more neatly and commodiously built and the fair Colledges and Churches of the Jesuites which are now to be seen in most do much set off the Beauty of great Places Every where we meet with great and populous Towns Villages Castles Seats of the Nobility Plains Forests and pleasant Woods And besides the satisfaction we may have
was formerly a Monastery belonging to the Nuns of the Order of St. Clare and converted to this use 1595. They who are put in are forced to work and gain their Bread with hard labour I saw those who rasped Brazil having a certain task set them every day work so hard that being naked and in a sweat and the dust of the Brazil wood flying upon them they were all over painted of a beautiful red colour Which odd sight made me call to mind the Phansie of my Lady Marchioness of Newcastle of a Nation wherein the People were of Orange-tawny colour and the King of Purple They told us that some that were committed to their charge and not to be brought to work by blows they placed in a large Cistern and let the water in upon them placing only a Pump by them for their relief whereby they are forced to labour for their lives and to free themselves from drowning One we saw put into a narrow Dungeon and kept from meat Some are put into this House for a longer time some for a shorter It hath been a punishment for such as have drawn their Daggers or offered to stab any one And some Citizens though able and rich enough contrive it so that when their Sons are extravagant and masterless the Officers seize upon them and carry them into this House where they are not forced to any hard labour but kept in till they see sufficient signs of a mending their life This way of Correction may seem severe to many yet is not comparable to that which is said to have been formerly used in Germany Particularly at Colen in the white Tower at the North end of the Town near the Rhine where it is reported that such Youths who were not otherwise to be reclaimed were in a barbarous manner shut up in the white Tower The height and thickness of the walls secured them from escaping or from their complaints being heard Near the top was placed out of their reach a loaf of bread the last remedy against starving which while their bold necessity forced them to reach at they executed their last sentence upon themselves and miserably brake their own necks Somewhat like the Raspelhuis is the Spinhuis or House of Correction for the young women who live loosely are taken in the night or can give no account of their living They are put in for a certain time according as their fault meriteth and are bound to make lace sew or employ their time perpetually in some honest labour Those of the better sort are permitted to have Chambers apart In one large Room I saw about an hundred of them and some very well dressed and fine which was an unexpected sight to me and would sure be more strange to behold in France and England The Weeshuis or Hospital for Children where there are Six hundred Orphans carefully looked after and well educated The Dolhuis or a House for such as are Delirious Maniacal or Melancholical of both Sexes The Gasthuis or Hospital for the Sick being large and hath a great Revenue The Mannenhuis or Hospital for old Men and such as are no longer able to labour towards their own support Besides all which there are great Sums of mony collected for the poor so that there is not a Begger to be seen in the Streets and upon all assignations or appointments of meeting at the Tavern or elsewhere and upon many other occasions whosoever faileth to come at the exact time forfeiteth more or less to the use of the Poor The East-India-houses are remarkable and the great Stores of their Commodities Cinamon Green-ginger Camphire Pepper Calecuts Indico c. The ships are of a great burden their House was then enlarging although it was great before and a perfect Town for all Trades within it self The Admiralteyt or Admiralty where their Stores for War and Shipping are laid up is encompassed with water near to it there lay then 72 Men of War In the House we saw their Cables Grapling irons Pullies Oars Charges for Powder Lanthorns for ships c. At the entrance of the Gate hangeth up a Canoe with a man in it dryed up so as to be preserved from corruption and a Paddle in his hand he was enclosed up to the waste in the Canoe in such sort as the Fish-skins which were the cover to it being so sewed together that no water could get in he might keep the Sea in the greatest Storms without danger The top of this House as of divers others also in this City is a Reservatory for Rain-water which they have the more need of because they have little good water hereabouts The fairest Streets in the Town are Harlem-street the Cingel Princes Graft Kaisers Graft and the New Buildings in the Island towards Gottenburg And if they continue to build with Freestone they will still surpass these which I 'le assure you are in no small measure beautiful I saw a Globe to be sold made by Vingbomes between six and seven foot Diameter valued at Sixteen thousand Guldens The Meridian alone being of brass cost a thousand Guldens The Globe is made of Copper-plates excellently well painted with all the new Discoveries in it as that of Anthony Van Dimons Land found out 1642. in 42 degrees of Southern Latitude and 170 of Longitude those towards the Northwest of Japan and those places both about N. Z. and also in the Tartarian Sea beyond the Streights of Voygats New-Holland West-Friesland Cape d'Hyver c. but I have since met with a Book which doth somewhat contradict this entituled A Voyage into the Northern Countries by Monsieur Martiniere who went in one of the three ships belonging to the Northern Company of Copenhagen in the year 1653. and by that means had occasion to converse with the Norwegians Islanders Laplanders Kilops Borandians Siberians Zemblians and Samojedes who are Neighbours to the Tartars and Tingorses in his 46 Chapter he expresseth himself after this manner There having fallen into my hands several Geographical Charts of sundry eminent and much celebrated Authors I am much amazed to see how they are mistaken in the position of Zembla which they place much nearer the North Pole than really it is they divide it likewise by the Sea from Greenland and place it far distant from it when as indeed those two Countries are Contiguous the Coasts of Greenland butting upon the Coasts of Zembla so as did not the great quantity of Snow and the violence of the cold render those Borders uninhabitable the passage would be very easie by Land from Greenland to Zembla and from Zembla passing the Pater-noster Mountains to enter into Samojedia from thence into Tartary or Muscovy as one pleased But of the truth of this we shall be further informed at the return of Captain Wood. I was amazed likewise to see they had described the Streight called Voygat not above ten French Leagues in length whereas it contains above five and thirty Dutch Leagues which is
neatness as their Antiquity and odd shape As also a Horn made out of a Tooth said to be given at the same time There are also three Unicorns Horns little differing in length the longest being five foot and an half I drank out of one of them the end being tipp'd with Silver and made hollow to serve for a Cup. These were of the Sea-Unicorn or the Horn or long wreathed Tooth of some Sea-Animal much like it taken in the Northern Seas of which I have seen many both in Publick Repositories and in Private Hands Two such as these the one Ten foot long were presented not many years since to the King of Denmark being taken near to Nova Zembla and I have seen some full fifteen foot long some wreathed very thick some not so much and others almost plain Some largest and thickest at the End near the head others are largest at some distance from the Head Some very sharp at the end or point and others blunt My honoured Father Sir T. B. hath a very fair piece of one which was formerly among the Duke of Curlands Rarities but after that he was taken Prisoner by Douglas in the wars between Sweden and Poland it came into a Merchants hands of whom my Father had it he hath also a piece of this sort of Unicorns Horn burnt black out of the Emperour of Russia's Repositorie given him by Dr. Arthur Dee who was Son to Dr. John Dee and also Physician to the Emperour of Russia when his Chambers were burned in which he preserved his Curiosities I have seen a walking Staff a Scepter a Scabbard for a Sword Boxes and other Curiosities made out of this Horn but was never so fortunate as from experience to confirm its Medical Efficacy against Poysons contagious Diseases or any other evident effect of it although I have known it given several times and in great quantity But of these Unicorns Horns no man sure hath so great a Collection as the King of Denmark and his Father had so many that he was able to spare about an hundred of them to build a Magnificent Throne out of Unicorns Horns I had the honour to see divers Persons of Note in this City as D. Cyprianus ab Oostergo Dr. Regius Voetius the only Member then left alive of the Synod of Dort and others but missed the sight of the Learned Anna Maria Skurman who was then gone out of Town and was forced to content my self with beholding her Picture well drawn by her own hand with this Inscription of hers under it Ceruitis hic pict â nostros in Imagine vultus Si negat ars formam gratia vestra dabit The Painters Hall is considerable wherein are many good pieces to be seen of several Masters Amongst which there are good Heads by Van Colen and Tuart Landskips by Soft-lever and good Drapery especially in some Turkish Habits by Van der Mere. This Town is also beautified with a fair Piazza or Market-place divers long Streets and a Pall-mall with five rows of Trees on each side In the Church of St. Katherino is the Tomb of my Lord Gorge Though I had seen France and Italy and the Noble Cities thereof which are worthily admired by all yet I was much surprized upon the first sight of the United Provinces especially of Holland and the adjoyning places He that hath observed the easie accommodation for Travel therein both by Land and Water their excellent order and regular course in all things the number of Learned men the abundance of Varieties in all kinds the industry frugality and wealth of the people their numerous good Towns their extraordinary neatness in their Buildings and Houses their proper Laws and administration of Justice and their incredible Number of Shipping and Boats will think it an omission to rest in the sight of other Countries without a view of this A Country of little extent and soon travelled over but so replenished with People with good Cities fair Towns and Villages as not to be met with upon so little a compass of ground except perhaps in China From Utrecht in two hours I came to Friswick and passed over the River Leck to Viaenen where there is little remarkable besides the House and Gardens of Count Brederode one of the Ancient Nobility of Holland or according to common esteem of the most Noble Family of all the Family of the Egmonds being formerly esteemed the Richest the Wassenaer's the most ancient and the Brederodes the Noblest The Mount in this Garden serveth for the Rampart to the Town and on a round Bullwark are divers small brass Guns planted The Statua's of the twelve Caesars of Aristotle the Pyramids and Partitions with the Paintings upon the wall are the rest of its Ornaments From hence I passed still by Boat through the Land of Arkel some say derived from Hercules belonging formerly to the Lords of Gorchom and Arkeland till by Mary daughter to the last Lord of Arkeland it sell to John Lord of Egmond and afterwards was sold to William the sixth Earl of Holland I arrived this night at Gorchom a Town well seated near three Rivers the Ling the Wael and the Maes The Market-place is fair the Stadthuis is sunk somewhat on one side The Governour hath a good House and the Church a very high thick Steeple the Works are of Earth the Water-gate is handsome and over it in Great Letters is this Inscription Civitas in quâ maximè Cives legibus parent in pace beata bello invicta 1642. The more remarkable because it made good its Inscription in the year 1672. when Louis the Fourteenth King of France came down with so powerful an Army into the Low-Countries that in that Summers Expedition he took thirty walled Towns and Cities this Water-gate being the Limit to his Conquests this way beyond which his Forces were not able to attempt any thing Leaving Gorcum I passed by Worcum on the other side of the River and then by the Castle of Lovesteyn strongly seated and well fortified and therefore hath been often made use of to secure Persons of Note Sir George Ascue of late years suffered his Imprisonment herein and formerly Barnevelt upon which occasion this Castle hath been much spoken of and hath given the name to that whole party who sided with him well known at present by the name of the Lovestein Faction Passing on further up the Maes I left Proye on the left hand and Huesden on the right and the next day morning arrived at the Bosch Hertogen Bosch Sylva Ducis Boscum Ducis Boisleduc Bolduc takes its name from a Wood belonging to the Dukes of Brabant It is a strong pleasant City seated upon the River Disa or Deese which entreth the Maes about two Leagues below it one of the greatest Cities in Brabant and for its strength for which 't is beholden both to Nature and to Art the States of the United Provinces possess not any one more considerable and is a very
good Frontier against all Enemies on this side It is encompassed on all sides with Fenns and Marshy Grounds The Avenues to it are by narrow Causies made turning and winding to be commanded in all places by one or other of the six Sconces or Forts built at some distance without the Town for its greater Security Besides which the Hollanders having some reason to be jealous of the Inhabitants whose affections might incline them towards the neighbouring Princes of whose Religion most of them are they have built a Citadel within the Town a Briel or pair of Spectacles to look more accurately into their Affairs It is a handsom regular Fort of five Bastions each Curtain is 84 ordinary paces long the Faces of each Bastion 63 and the Flank or Neck 24. There is a handsome House of Stone for the Centry at the point of each Bastion and the middle of each Curtain every one of which cost Seven hundred Guldens Here is also a Field Canon of an extraordinary length said to be able to fling a Bullet almost as far as Bommel The Piazza in this Town is Triangular This City was made an Episcopal See 1559. The Cathedral is Dedicated to St. John In the Quire are painted the Arms of many of the Knights of the Golden Fleece And over the upper Stalls or Seats an Inscription in French which contains the History of the first Institution and Model of this Order by the most High and mighty Prince Philip the Good Duke of Burgundy Lorain and Brabant Besides divers Statua's and Pillars There are also several Monuments of the Bishops of Bosche and others This Town was taken from the King of Spain by the Forces of the Confederate Estates in the year 1628. after a long and chargeable Siege in which the little Sconce one of the Forts towards the South did excellent Service Divers of the Nuns were still alive in this Town but at Utretcht they were all dead From the Bosche we travelled through a plain Country somewhat Sandy to Breda upon the River Merck A place very considerable pleasantly seated and well-fortified It hath formerly had more Outworks than at present For they have taken away the Crown-works and left only the Half-moons and Horn-works and Conserves or Contregards about the Half-moons There is a large Ditch of Water round the Counterscarp and a small Ravelin between each Bastion joyned to the Rampart within side of the Ditch There is also a double Haye or Quickset-hedge almost quite round the Town besides Palisados The Parapet is very thick and strengthned with a row of Elms and seconded with another row at three or four yards distance round the Town the bodies of the Bastions are sunk down or hâ—llowed away and filled with a thicket of Elms. The Half Moons are the like without the Town and after all a brest-work between the Town and the Bastions and Cavaliers upon several places of the Rampart This Town belongeth unto the Prince of Orange unto whom it hath descended by the right of the house of Nassaw by the Marriage of Engelbert the seventh Earle of that house with Mary daughter and Heir of Philip the last Lord thereof about the year 1400. It was taken by the Spaniards in the beginning of the Low Country Wars and was afterwards Surprised by the Dutch by a stratagem performed by eighty men hid in a Boat covered over with Turf and so let into the Castle In the year 1625. the Spaniards took it again as by Inscriptions and Chronograms are to be seen in divers places as that over the door of the Church a MbrosI spIno Lae VIg ILantIa bre Da e XpUgnata As also this PhILIppUs hIspanlae reX gUbernante Isabe LLa CLarâ EUgenIa Infanta obsIDente spInoLa qUaternIs regIbus frUstra ConIUrantIbus breDa VIGtor potItur Afterwards it was besieged and taken by Frederick Hendrick Prince of Orange as an Inscription at the Westend of the Church sets it down Auxilio solius Dei Auspiciis confederati Belgij Ferdinando Austriaco Hispaniae Infanta cum ingenti exercitu frustra succurrente a Iulij 23 obsessamad 19 Augusti oppugnatam Fredericus Henricus Princeps araUsIUs bre DaMe eXpUgnat seXta OCtobris The Church is fair and hath many good Monuments as Renesse's Tombe a Monument for Sir Thomas Alesbury set up by the Lord Chancellor Hide an old Tombe erected 1349. for John Lord of Lech and Breda the Tombe of Grave Engleberg Van Nassaw and his family on the side of the Wall the Here Van Horne and his three Wives but the Principal Monument is that of Grave Hendrick Van Nassaw whose Armour is supported by four Warriers upon their Knees he built the Castle of Breda which is at present both strong and beautiful I observed the place where the Turfe-Boat came in and where the Prince came over into the Town The Gallery the Garden the Walks and Dials are worth the seeing the Town in handsomely built populous and generally hath a great Garrison in it Leaving Breda we soon came by Land to St. Gertruydenberg the last Town on the North of Brabant where it joyneth to the Province of Holland a small place but a good Town for fishing lying upon a Hill near the great broad Water called de Waert made by the falling of the Maes and many other Rivers into it This Town is fortified and Garrisoned The Church and Steeple have been Large and fair and the ruines of the latter are observable in regard that this Steeple was shot down by a Stratagem of the Prince of Orange while the Governour and chief of the Town were upon it to observe a false alarm in the Prince's Camp and so lost themselves and the Town We Passed from hence over a large Water which hath overflow'd a great part of the Country upon one side of it no less than seventy two Parishes being drowned at once the Village of Ramsdun onely escaping and so by an old Tower called the house of Murney to the Maiden Town of Dort or Dordrecht Dordracum so called by some from Duri or Dureti forum at present Dort being seated in the Waves of those great Lakes made by the Maes and Waal is not unaptly from its situation compared to a Swans nest it is reckoned the first and chief Town of South Holland in respect of its antiquity as having served to secure Odocer in his retreat almost eight hundred years since and also in respect of its Priviledges in having the Mint here and being the Staple for Rhenish wine and English Cloath In this Town are many fair houses and pleasant Gardens The great Church is large the Steeple 312 steps high the top thereof being made of four large Dyalls There is also an Exchange or Place for Merchants to meet The English have two Churches and the French one The Key or Head to the water side is handsome and the Country about very pleasant we saw the Chamber wherein the Synod of Dort was assembled 1611. a large fair
room and took a collation in the same house in a high turret overlooking the Town and Country Our seats Moving round about the Table continually so as the diversity of the prospect made it more delightful The great Vessels round-bellied which trade between Coln and this City seemed strange as also the long Luyck or Liege-boats and the number of People that continually live in them At my going away from hence I embarked in a Vessel bound for the Island of Walcheren sayling by most of the Islands of Zealand and in sight of divers good Towns as Willemstadt Zirickze Tergoes observing in some places where the Sea had overflow'd the Land and in others where the Industry of the Inhabitants still keep it out by keeping up their banks and thatching the Shoars of the Sea We Landed at Ter-Vere where there is a good Haven and Harbour for Ships the Walls were built in the year 1357 towards the Sea are round towers The Piazza is long The Scotch have had a Factory here for above two hundred years and the Marquiss of this Place did formerly make one of the three States by which Zealand was Governed The Abbot of St Nicholas in Middleburg representing the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the Towns of Middleburg Zirickzee Ter-Veer Flussing Tolen Martins-dike Romerswal and Tergoes supplying the Third over against this place where a Town had formerly sunk into the Sea the Steeple only remaineth to be seen From hence to Middleburg the way is Paved with Brick as it is also from Town to Town in most places of Holland Middleburg is the chief Town in the Island Walachria seated almost in the middle of it being well built large rich and Populous it is the fourth Port for the East-India trade hath a large broad Water within the Town and a streight cut through the Land to carry Vessels out to Sea the whole is very well Fortified the Officers here are chosen by Strangers or Foreigners the Churches are many and remarkable the new Church is of an eight-square figure with a Cupola the Tower of the old great Church very high the Stadthuise with the old statuas about it the round Piazza and many private buildings are Considerable and the whole Country about it is fruitful either divided into Gardens and Orchards or Planted with Madder Pompions or Grain and Fruits The Zealanders are generally addicted to the interest of the Prince of Orange and great Lovers of his Person I found them not a little delighted that the Prince had been with them some days before and was made Premier Noble or chief of the States of Zealand which was chiefly brought about as I was informed by Pensioner Hubert Le Sage Duvelaer and Vriebergen formerly no great friends to the Prince especially Vriebergen who was the most earnest of any to bring him in in despite to the Hollanders for General Worts his sake who being set over the Zealand forces by those of Amsterdam lately affronted Vriebergens Son who was a Colonel at the head of his Regiment I was entertained at Middleburg very courteously by Mr. Hill the Minister who also sent his Kinsman with me to Flussing Flissinga or Vlussing hath Stone-Wals towards the Sea and Mudworks towards the Land a very good Port and a strong Town the waves of the Sea washing its walls it was one of the first Towns which the Low Country men took from the Spaniards in the year 1572 and was made Cautionary to Queen Elizabeth together with Rammakins and the Briel 1585. The renowned Sr. Philip Sidney being the first Governour of it and surrendred by King James to the United states 1616. The Sea shoar here abouts is not only faced with rushes flaggs and reeds staked down as high as the Tide usually ariseth but it is also strongly bound over with Osiers and hurdles and great Posts driven in to break the force of the Water and secure the Piles which make the Harbour or Havens mouth The Town-house is handsomely built standing in the Piazza having three rowes of Pillars in the Front one above another the Lower Dorick the second Ionick and the highest Corinthian and on the top there is a Gallery or Balcony to Discover ships at Sea This is the third Port for the East India trade Amsterdam and Rotterdam being the first and second here lay many great ships in the middle of the Town and considerable men of War as the St. Patrick and the Admiral of Zealand we saw them also building of divers ships and when the Prince was here they Lanched one to divertise him to which he gave the name of William Frederick they also presented him with a Golden Bottle that being the Arms of the Town the Prince Landed at Armuyden and went from thence to Tergoes and thence to Breda they reported his entertainment in Walcheren amounted to fifty thousand Guldens The Women in this Island wear most of them red Cloth and straw-Hats if a Man dies a great bundle of Straw is layd at the Door if a Boy a little one if a Woman the straw lies on the left side of the Door when any Woman is brought to bed they fasten a piece of Lawne to the ring and rapper of the Door and make it up into a little baby or puppet finely pleated and in such manner as to distinguish of what sex the young Child is Returning to Middleburg by Land I observed there was a row of Trees round the Town between the moat and rampart where ordinarily there is only a breast-worke or a hedge and embarked at Middleburg again and passed down the River by the fort Rammakins and so for the Schelde Sayling up that noble River till we had passed the Fort Frederick Henrick and came to Lillo where we stayd till the Vessell was searched Over against Lillo lyeth another Fortification called Lifgens hock the Fort de la croix is the last that belongeth to the Hollanders and lieth on the North side of the River the Banks are cut nigh to it and the Country drowned for its greater security The Spanish Forts hereabouts to defend the Frontiers are the Philip the Pearl and the Maria. The River Scaldis or Scheld mentioned by Caesar is a gallant River affording plenty of fish and convenience for Navigation and passage unto several noted places It ariseth in the Country of Vermandois passing to Cambray Valencienne so to Tournay or Dornick Oudenard Gaunt Rupelmond and Antwerp and pursuing its course is afterwards divided into two streams whereof the Southern is called the Hont the other runs by Bergen ap Zome and so into the Sea between the Isles of Zealand The next day morning we went on our Voyage still up the Scaldis or Schelde and arrived at Antwerp Where I had the good fortune to see Mr. Hartop one very well known in all those parts and of high esteem for his personal strength and valour A Gentleman also so courteous that he makes it his business to oblige strangers he shew'd me many
curiosities in this City carrying me with him in his Coach The Walls of Antwerp are very large faced with Brick and freestone having divrs rows of Trees upon them broad walks and conveniences for the Coaches to make their tour upon The Bastions are not so large as generally they build now a dayes yet after the modern way The Ditch is very broad and deep the Country about it all Gardens The Cittadel is a regular fortification of five Bastions wherein lies alwayes a Garrison of Spanish Soldiers upon every curtain there are two mounts or Cavaliers and between them below a row of building or lodgings for the Soldiers the ears of the Bastions are cut down and Casamates made and Palisados set round upon the Esplanade the Walls are lined with excellent Brick and stone nor is there any where a more regular beautifull Fortification of five Bastions that is finished it commands the City the River and the Country besides this Cittadel there is another Fort within the Town near the Scheld to command the River having eight Guns in it called St. Laurence Fort. The Exchange is handsome supported by 36 Pillars every one of a different carving four streets lead unto it so that standing in the middle we see through every one of them The Meer or Largest street is considerable for the water running under it and for the meeting of Coaches upon it every evening to make their tour through the streets of the City which are clean and beautiful at one end of it stands a large Brass Crucifix upon a Pedestall of Marble The Jesuites Church goeth far beyond any of that bigness that I have seen out of Italy The Front is noble with the Statua of Ignatius Loyola on the top A great part of the inside of the Roof was painted by Rubens and some of it by Van Dyke there be many Excellent peeces of flowers done by Segers a Iesuite the Carving and gilding of all the works is exquisite The Library of the Colledge is great the Books disposed handsomely into four Chambers the Founder hereof was Godfridus Houtappel whose Monument together with his Wife and Children are worth the seeing in a Chappel on the South side of this Church In the Church of the Carmelites is a large Silver Statua of our Lady and models of Cityes in stone Onsar Lieven Vrowen Kerck or the Church of our blessed Lady is the greatest in the City and the Steeple one of the fairest in the World five hundred foot high one of their feet is eleven of our inches so as it is 459 of our feet In this Church there is much Carving and a great number of Pictures highly esteemed among which one piece is much taken notice of drawn by Quintin at first a Smith who made the neat Iron work of the Well before the West door and afterwards to obtain his Mistress he proved a famous Painter his head is set up in Stone at the entrance of the Church with an inscription and this verse Connubialis amor de Mulcibre fecit Apellem I was at the famous Abby of St. Michael pleasantly seated upon the Scheld where among other curiosities I saw a glass which represented the Pictures of our Saviour and the Virgin Mary collected from the Putting together of divers other heads One was represented from a Picture wherein were thirteen faces and another from one of twelve over the blessed Virgin was this Inscription Diva nitet variis expressa Maria Figuris The Countess of Brabants Tombe who was drowned and her Statua as also the Monument of Ortelius are here shewn Macarius Simoneus was then Abbot the Monks 63. Near unto the Wharf-gate is the Church of St. Walburgis an English Saint who contributed much towards the conversion of these Countries The Town-house is fair the House built for the East-country Merchants is very stately and large but runneth now to ruine in this I saw among other curiosities divers strange Musical instruments which at present are not understood or at least not made use of The Hessen house hath been also formerly considerable The water which they make use of in Brewing is brought by an Aqueduct from Herentall about thirty miles distant from hence and is conveyed into the Town by a large Channel peculiarly walled in by it self where it passeth the Ditch in this City are many good Collections of Pictures both Ancient and Modern and excellent Miniature or Limning by Gonsol one fine piece which I saw was peculiarly remarkable it being the work of 35 several Masters From Antwerp I passed to Brussels by water changing Boats five times and going through divers locks by reason that the Country is so much higher about Brussels and the water above two hundred foot lower at Antwerp At Fontaine a league and half from Brussels three Rivers cross one another one of them being carried over a bridg The Piazza of Brussels is fair and oblong in figure upon one of the longest sides stands the Town-house and over against it the Kings-house where upon a Scaffold hanged with Velvet Count Fgmond and Horne were beheaded the whole Piazza being hanged with Black Cloth Upon the top of the Town-house stand St. Michael the Patron of the City in Brass Count Marsins house formerly belonging to the Prince of Orange hath a fair Court and overlooks a good part of the City but a quarter of it is ruined by Lightning The Thunder bolt or Stone which they affirm to have effected it is bigger than two Mens heads and hangs up upon the door at the entrance The Iesuites Church is handsome and in it the fair white Tower is beautifully gilded at the top The Carmelites Church hath a noble Altar and near unto the Church is the Statua of a pissing boy which is a continual Conduit The Armory was well furnished as we were informed before the Governours of the low Countries sold the Arms and Cassel Roderigo the Governour left it very bare There remains the Armour of Charls the fifth of Duke Albert of the Prince of Parma Ernestus and of the Duke d'Alva and of the Duke Alberts horse who being shot saved his Master and died the same day twelve month Spears for the hunting the wild Boar one with two Pistols The Armour of Cardinal Infante and of an Indian King A Polish musket which carrieth six hundred paces Charles the Fifth's Sword for the making the Knights of the Golden Fleece and Henry the Fourth's Sword sent to declare war Good Bucklers for Defence and some well wrought especially one with the Battel of Pyrrhus and his Elephants and Banners taken with Francis King of France at the Battel of Pavia Somewhat like Godfrey of Bouillons shooting the three Pigeons near the Tower of David is the shot which Infanta Isabella made when with an Arrow she killed a Bird in memory whereof a Bird pierced with an Arrow is set upon the top of a Tower in the Count which is large and if the New Buildings
and Design were continued it would be very handsome Before the Court stand five brass Statues The Park is pleasant with Trees set in order and adorned with Grotto's Fountains and Water-works which come very near the Italian one piece somewhat imitating Frascati in which all Musical Instruments are imitated and a perpetual motion attempted and on the Front of the Buildings stand the Caesars head But the Eccho is most remarkable which may perfectly be distinguished to ten or twelve Replies The greatest Church is that of St. Gudula in which is her Statua the Devil striving to blow out the Light of her Lanthorn Two Chappels therein are remarkable the one built by Leopoldus very fair on the outside the other towards the North hath been visited by five Kings in which is the Host which bled being stabbed by the Jews In the Dominican Church is the Monument of the Duke of Cleve and his Dutchess in Gorinthian brass But for a New Church that of the Begennes or Pious Maids is very considerable there being Eight hundred of them in this City who have a particular place allotted to them where they have built this milk white Church The Plague was much in this place at that time three hundred Houses being shut up and a Garland placed on the doors in the middle of which †was written IHS I saw the English Nunnery and other considerable Buildings And after I had refreshed my self at the Fish-Tavern which is worth the seeing especially for two Rooms in it furnished from top to bottom with very good Pictures I returned to Antwerp Octob. 4. I travelled through an open Country and lodged at Molin bruslè The Spanish Souldiers met us upon the Road this day some of them well mounted and armed and begged of us and were well satisfied with a small Benevolence The next day we entred the Country of Liege and passed great Heaths and on the Sixth in the morning arrived at Maestreicht Trajectum ad Mosam or Maestreicht is a strong Town seated upon the Maes four Leagues below Liege The Out-works are very considerable the Wall is old Towards the South-east lyeth a Hill which ariseth gently and overlooks part of the Town Under this Hill is one of the noblest Quarries of Stone in the World To secure the Town from the disadvantage it might receive from this Hill there was formerly a Fort built upon it but it hath been long since slighted and they have made out an Horn-work within Musket-shot of it and the Bastion answering to it is made very high to cover the Town On the other side of the River standeth Wicke very well fortified also and rather stronger than Maestreicht into which they might retire if the Town should be taken by Storm it being united to Maestreicht by a handsome Bridge over the Maes consisting of Nine Arches All about Wicke the Country is flat there are many Inhabitants in it and a handsome Glass house The private Houses of Maestreicht are generally covered with a black Slat or Ardoise otherwise not very beautiful The Town house is fair seated in one of the Piazza's built of white Stone it hath Nine large Windowes in a row on each side and within is very well painted by Theodorus van der Schuer who was Painter to the Queen of Sweden In another Piazza is a Fountain rows of Trees and the great Church This Town was besieged and taken from the King of Spain by the Confederate States in the year 1632. October the Seventh I dined at Gallop a small place and came that night to Aken Aix la Chapelle or Aquisgrane an ancient noble City the Inhabitants Courteous and much frequented by reason of its hot Baths of which I shall speak more particularly in my Journey from Colen to London Leaving Aken I travelled towards Juliers or Gulick but it being late before we arrived the Gates were shut up so as we went only under the Walls leaving it on our right hand Near unto Gulick runneth a shallow swift River called the Roer At the Mouth of it where it falleth into the Maes is seated a considerable Town called Roermonde through which I passed in the year 1673. when Sir Lionel Jenkins and Sir Joseph Williamson were sent Plenipotentiaries to Cologne in our Journey from Antwerp to that City We then passed the Country of Brabant by the way of Thornhaut Weert Roermonde and the next Night passing by Erkelens lodged at Castro or Caster in Gulickland where there are still the remains of an old Castle formerly built for the Defence of that part of the Country Roermonde is seated upon a rising Hill near the River Roer hath a Colledge of Jesuits in it a handsome Piazza and an old Abby with divers Monuments very ancient founded by Gerard Earl of Guelderland From this Town their Excellencies were saluted with the Guns from their Walls charged with Bullets The Spaniards in most places striving to express the highest of their respects From Gulick I travelled to Cologne where I arrived October the 10th 1668. A JOURNEY FROM COLEN TO VIENNA COlen Coln or Colonia Agrippina was anciently the Capital City of the Ubii a people who were at first possessed of the Countries now called Berg and March but being over run by the Germans next to them Agrippa Lieutenant of Gallia received them into protection and placed them upon this side of the Roman shoar of the Rhine where they built this place and called it Oppidum Ubiorum and the Romans seating themselves here for the defence of the Country in Honour of Agrippina daughter to Germanicus and wife to Claudius whose Birth-place it was gave it afterwards the Name of Colonia Agrippina It is at present one of the largest if not the greatest of any City in Germany secured towards the Land by a high Wall and two deep Trenches and towards the Water by a Wall of Stone The Rhine renders it delightful upon one side and divers rows of Trees enclose the Town towards the Land They have some Out-works as Half-moons and Ravelins but their best security is in the great number of men which they are able to raise within themselves Many of the Streets are broad and paved with broad stones It received the Christian Faith very early and Maternus was their Bishop above 1350 years since who subscribed amongst others to the Council of Arles They have a great number of Churches and well endowed which take up a great part of the Town The Prebends and Canons Houses having in many places Vineyards and large Gardens adjoyning Towards the North end of the Town the Church of St. Kunibald is considerable The Convent of the Dominicans is fair and newly built with a Garden in the Court and all the Chambers uniform The Jesuites Church is well built and stored with rich Copes Altar-pieces and other Ornaments In the Church of St. Gereon a Saint of great name here martyred about Colen in the time of Maximianus are about a thousand Saints heads
before by the Electors of Triers and Colen it belonging at that time to the Duke of Lorrain On the 16th early in the Morning we came to Andernach where the plague was very much at that time and they kept a great many of their sick in Boats upon the Rhine Andernach of old Antenacum was one of the Roman Fortresses Upon this River some think that Caligula was born and that Valentinian was buried hereabouts Near unto this place are also Mineral Springs well frequented and much made use of The Town is encompassed with an old Wall and the Gates were shut up by reason of the Plague Notwithstanding there being divers Friers in our company several of the Towns-men sent out dishes of Meat to them which we eat in the Field upon Trees which were laid along near the Town This day the passage by water seeming tedious to us Mr. Mulstroth a worthy German Gentleman with whom I travelled as far as Spire was willing we should hire a Coach together which we did and invited the Friers with whom we had breakfasted to go along with us in it to Coblentz We passed through a very pleasant Country between rows of Walnut-trees in sight of two of the Elector of Triers Houses and near to a House belonging to the Count de Wert We passed the Mosella over a hand some Stone-bridge of thirteen Arches built by Archbishop Baldus or Balduinus in the year 1344. and coming into the Town we went to the Dominican Convent which is pleasantly seated near the Banks of the River Mosella but the Prior of the Convent whom we had brought with us was so obliging that he would not part with us that night and we were very civilly entertained by him in his Lodgings He invited also some of the Convent to bear us company and after a handsome Supper with plenty of excellent Moselle wine we went to bed between two Feather-beds Coblentz or Confluentia is a Town of a Triangular Figure seated at the meeting of two great Rivers the Rhine and the Mosella which make two sides thereof and the third is made by a Line drawn from one River to the other which is now well fortified after the most regular Modern way The Wall within these Works had many old high Towers and formerly there was another still nearer to the uniting of the Rivers and consequently containing a less space of ground This Town is under the Elector and Archbishop of Triers Carolus Caspar of the Noble Family of the Leyen Arch-Chancellour for the Empire in Gallia Belgica and the Kingdom of Arles It was given to the Church of Triers when Medoaldus was Archbishop above a thousand years since in the time of King Dagobert The Situation is pleasant and convenient and lieth over against the Castle of Hermanstein or Ehrenbreitstein that is The Stone of far extended Honour at the foot of which Castle upon the shoar of the Rhine under a great Rock stands a very Noble Palace of the Electors two large Wings and the Front with five Pavilions standing towards the River and from it a long Bridge of Boats over the Rhine to Coblentz when any great Vessel passeth by they let slip three Boats whereby the passage lieth open and make them fast again afterwards In the German wars the Spaniards thrust in a Garrison into this Town which was afterwards beaten out by the Rhinegrave for the King of Sweden and the strong Castle of Ethrenbrietstein being put into the hands of the French the Emperours Forces seized upon the Archbishop of Triers who then was Philippus Christophorus and carried him away to Vienna In places where the Rhine runneth through a low Country and a fat Soyl it washeth away the Banks to secure which in divers places they have made great Works of Wood and also to secure Vessels from the danger of the Ice And I remember riding near the Banks of the River Loire in France I observed them in some places to be handsomly defended for a long way together with Free-stone Near unto Coblentz upon a Hill is a Convent of Carthusians October the 17th we went up the Rhine to Boppart a walled Town upon the western bank where Van Trump was at that time It is a very old Town one of the Roman Fortresses against the Germans called anciently Bodobriga some would have it called Bopport from Beauport Fair-haven or Bonport a good convenient place for Vessels to retire into or to ride in On the 18th we dined at St. Guer a pleasant Town belonging to the Landtgrave of Hesse who hath a Castle here Coming on shoar we met with an odd custome for upon the Wall side there is fastned a Collar of Brass at present but was formerly of Lead and given by Charles the Fifth into this most Strangers that come put their Necks at which time they ask them Whether they will be sprinkled with water or drink wine and if they choose the latter they give an entertainment of wine to the Company The Queen of Sweden passing by this place gave a great Silver Cup out of which they now drink at this Ceremony We lodged this night at Wesel a Town situated between a high Hill and the River belonging to the Archbishop of Triers Here in the Market-place they shew us the print of St. Huberts Horses foot in a Free-stone On the 19th we came to Baccharach or ad Bacchi aras belonging to the Elector Palatine a place famous for Excellent Wines We passed by an old Castle seated upon a Rock in the middle of the Rhine being of an irregular figure called Pfalts where formerly the Prince Palatines of the Rhine were born the Princesses being sent hither to be brought to Bed We came this night to Dreickshausen the next day we went by a dangerous Passage there being many Rocks under water which cause the River to run very rapid and unequally A little above this we came to a round Tower on a Rock in the Rhine called the Mouse-tower built by Hatto Archbishop of Mentz in the year 900. who as the Story goeth in a time of great Scarcity pretending to relieve the poor who wanted bread invited them together into a Barn where he burnt them all saying They were like the Rats and Mice which would devour the Corn. After which he was so persecuted with Rats and Mice that to avoid them he caused this Tower to be built in the middle of the Rhine which did not avail him for they followed him thither also and at last devoured him A little above this lieth Bing upon the Western shoar a considerable Town belonging to the Elector of Mentz here our Boat stayed to pay Custome as it had done also at Bonna Liutz Hammerstein Andernach Coblentz Lodesheim Bopport St. Gower Cub and Baccharach For the trade of the Rhine being great Princes and Lords who have Towns upon it make use of that advantage which though it abateth the gains of the Merchant brings considerable profit to themselves Bing
travelled to Lauterbach near which we passed through a Wood and found a Noble Church upon the top of a high Hill which being much frequented by Pilgrims they have made handsome stone Stairs from the bottom to the top then to Rotenburg and lodged at Burgperner and the next day by Schantzbach we came to Nurenberg Rotenburg is an Imperial City which some have likened unto Jerusalem for its Situation upon hilly places and many Turrets in it It is Situated near the head of the River Tauber which may be accounted the second River of Franconia passing by Rottingen Landen and Werthaim where it runneth into the Main Nurenberg is the fairest City that I saw in Germany the Houses most of them of Free-stone very high and divers of them painted on the outside and adorned with gilded Balls on the top many are of six or seven Stories high Der Herr Peller hath one of the fairest The City is very populous and full of Trade although it stands in a barren Country and wants a Navigable River The three best Churches are the Hospital Church lately built very fair St. Laurence which is very large with two high Steeples in the Front and St. Sebald the best of the three The Body of St. Sebald being laid upon a Cart drawn with Oxen in that place where the Oxen stood still they buried the Body and erected this Church in his memory In this Church is a Crucifix of Wood very well carved and esteemed at a high rate The Crucifix without the Church is very great and of a black colour and some fancy that the Raht Herrn or Magistrates of the Town have reposited a Treasure within it The Pulpit is well carved and gilded and the whole Church so stately that it may pass in the first rank of Lutheran Churches that Religion being here practised in its splendour The Priest every morning reads the Scripture to the people for half an hour or preacheth a Sermon The Town-house is well worth the seeing In it the Hall is spacious as also the Chambers and furnished with good Pictures and Stones well gilded and painted with white and gold green and gold dark coloured and gold and the like There is one Picture of most of the Great Persons in Germany entertained in the Great Hall another of the three Brothers of Saxony one of an Elephant as big as the life a piece of St. John and St. Mark and another of St. Peter and St. Paul both by Albert Durer but the most rare piece is that of Adam and Eve by the same Master with this Inscription Albertus Durer Almang faciebat post Virginis partum 1507. Another excellent one is that of St. Luke drawing the Picture of our Saviour and the blessed Virgin Over the Gate at the entrance of the Shambles is a large Oxe carved in Wood and painted over with this Inscription Omnia habent ortus suaque incrementa sed ecce Quem cernis nunquam Bos fuit hic Vitulus The Castle standeth upon a high Hill from whence the Town makes a handsome show In it are observable a very deep well the Emperors Chappel his Picture and the Pictures of the Electors good Night pieces and one of a man behind a white Curtain transparent very well expressed The Armour of Hebbele van Gailinghen the great Sorcerer is here shown and in the Wall of the Castle the marks of his Horses feet when he leaped from thence over the Town ditch The new Fountain was not then finished but the Statua's in Brass made for it were excellent the Sea-Horses large the Sea-Nymphs much bigger than the life and Neptune who was to stand on the top is above three yards and a half high When I came first into this place I was not a little surprized to behold the fairness of the Houses handsome Sreets different Habits industrious People and neatness in all things more than I had observed in German Cities before and no place hath greater number of curious Artificers in Steel Brass Ivory Wood wherein they work at an extraordinary cheap rate and there are Officers to inspect and enquire into the works of Artificers that they be true perfect and without fraud they make strong and handsome Clock-work The King of Poland presented the Grand Signior with a very noble Clock who took so much delight in it that when it required some mending the Turks being ignorant in Clock-work he sent it from Adrianople as far as Nurenburg to be set in order again Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden was more magnificently received and entertained in this City than in any other of Germany which so incensed Wallensteyn that he afterwards encamped before their Town and did great spoil upon their Territories But the King of Sweden marched thither towards their Relief and from thence towards Lutzen where in a bloody Battel he lost his life The River Pegnitz runneth through Nurnberg and hath divers Stone Bridges over it and below the Town joyning with the River Rednitz runneth into the River Main at Bamberg and the Main runs at last into the Rhine The Reduitz ariseth at Weissenberg and is not far from the River Altmul which runneth into the Danube towards Regensburg Upon this convenience Charles the Great designed to make a Communication of passage between the Danube and the Rhine and made a Canale thirty paces broad between the Rednitz and the Altmul to joyn those Streams for the commodity of Passage by Boat but after he had proceeded two German miles in this work Boggs Rains and his warlike Diversions made him give over that noble Design whereby there might have been a Commerce by water from the Low-Countries to Vienna and even unto the Euxine Sea The Roman Lieutenant in Nero's time had a desire to unite the River Soane and the Mosella and to make a passage between the Mediterranean and the German Ocean having been at the mouth of the Mosella by Coblentz and passed from Chaalon upon the soft and noble River Araris or Soane unto Lyon I cannot but think these very goodly Streams and fit for such a purpose The present King of France hath a design to unite the River Aude with the Garonne and so to have a passage by Boat from the Mediterranean Sea by Tholouse and Bourdeaux into the Ocean When I travelled in those parts viewing the Country well I thought it would be a difficult work and so it proveth but the King hath proceeded already very far therein About four Leagues from Nurnberg lyeth Altdorff belonging unto it made an University in the year 1623. containing when I was there about 150 Scholars The Physick Garden is handsome and well stocked with Plants to the number of two thousand Dr. Hoffman the Botanick and Anatomick Professour shew'd me many of the most rare of them and presented me with divers The Anatomy School is not large yet the only one in those parts of Germany And they have divers Curiosities preserved in it as the Skeleton of a
Hart of a Horse of a Man of a Bear bigger than a Horse And some Pictures as one of a Ninivite and another of Moses which they take to be Ancient Dr. Wagenseyl Professour of Law and History brother to Captain Wagenseyl who travelled with me from Heidelberg invited us to lodge at his House and shew'd me his Library and all his Rarities and Coyns whereof he hath a good Collection having lived in most places of Europe and speaks many Languages well he gave me a piece of the first mony that was coined in Germany In the University Library I saw a fair Hortus Eystetensis and Youngerman's Collection of Plants by his own hand At Nurnberg I met with the Son and the Secretary to the Holland Ambassador in Turky who had travelled hither over-land from Constantinople in their return into the Low-Countries travelling in Greek Habits From hence I went to Newmarkt a good Town in the upper Palatinate belonging to the Duke of Bavaria and the next day through Heinmaw subject to the Duke of Newburg to Regensburg Ratisbona Regensburg Augusta Tiberii Colonia Quartanorum the chief place of the Roman Forces in this limit of the Empire where the fourth Italick Legion had a constant station was made a Colony by Tiberius in the year as some conceive of the Passion of our Saviour It was much augmented and adorned by the Emperour Arnulphus who had a great affection for this place so pleasantly seated and in a good Country Here the River Regen runs into the Danube from whence it was called Regensburg There are two Bridges one of wood below the Town and another Bridge of stone of about fifteen Arches which is the fairest stone Bridge over the Danube It is an Imperial City but not without some acknowledgment to the Duke of Bavaria And although it be strongly fortified yet it was taken by the Swedes in the German wars There are many fair buildings in it both private and publick and though I am not able to confirm what some report that there as many Churches and Chappels in this City as there are dayes in the year yet are there many fair Churches and Convents As the Cathedral of St. Peter in the South-side of which is the Picture of St. Peter in a ship and on the North aother of the Apostles first Mission In the Piazza stands a neat little Church the Convent of St. Paul founded by St. Wolfgangus Bishop of this place the Convent of St. Emerammus Bishop of Ratisbone a Saint of great Veneration here though but of little mention or name in other parts The name of Albertus Magnus Bishop of this place hath also added unto the Fame of Regensburg But that which chiefly promoteth its lustre is the General Diet or Parliament which is often held in this City and is not to be called in any part out of Germany and the place is not unfit for the accommodation of such a noble Convention as are the Estates of Germany The Vice-Marshal taketh care to provide Lodgings respectively to their persons and seeth that all things be brought hither and at a just price that the Hall or Place of Assembly be furnished and adorned sutably to the dignity of the Persons convened and hath an especial eye and regard towards the Publick safety By this Convention the great Concerns of Germany are much secured and their peace and quiet Established Wherein Germany seems to have a better advantage than Italy For Italy being likewise divided into many Dominions and Principalities hath no Common Diet or Great Council whereby to proceed for their Publick safety Which makes them often so divided in their common Concerns in times of Danger and when they most need a joynt Combination I entred the notable River Danubius at this place which hath already run a good course and passed by many fair Towns or Cities as the large City of Ulme in Swabenland where it beginneth to be Navigable as also Donawert Neuburg and Ingolstadt and hath already received the considerable River of Licus or Leck whereby the Commodities of that great Trading City of Augsburg are brought into it When I first embarked at Regensburg I thought I might have taken leave of the Danube not far below Vienna but an opportunity made me see this great Stream beyond Belgrade as I have declared in another Account of my Travels The first day we passed by Thonawsteyn where there is a Castle seated upon a high Rock and came to Pfeter or Vetera Castra of old now but an ordinary place The Boats upon the Danube are generally painted black and white are flat bottom'd and broad at the Head and Stern there is a Chamber built in the middle and the Rudder is very large to be able to command the Boat where the River is rapid and of a swift Course The next day we came to Straubing a handsome walled Town belonging to the Duke of Bavaria the Streets are streight and there is a Tower in the Market-place painted all over with green and gold-colour There is also a Bridge of wood over the Danube We passed by Swartz in the Afternoon where the Church is seated upon a Hill and is frequented by Pilgrims and lodged at Deckendorff where there is another Bridge Near this Town comes into the Danube that considerable River Iser or Isara having passed by divers considerable Towns as Landshut Frising and München the Seat of Ferdinandus Maria Elector of Bavaria Great Steward of the Empire and at present the first of the Secular Electors and he is to take place immediately after the King of Bohemia it being so concluded on at the Treaty of Munster where Maximilian Duke of Bavaria was allowed to hold the Electorship which was confirmed upon him by the Emperour Ferdinand the Second when he excluded Frederick the Fifth Count Palatine and in lieu hereof there was an eighth Electorship erected for the Palatinate Family who also if the Bavarian branch doth fail are to re-enter into their ancient Electorship and the other newly erected is to be abolished Thursday November the fifteenth we came by Wilshoven to Passaw Patavia or Boiodurum a long and noble City in the lower Bavaria or Bayern made up of three Towns Iltstadt Passaw and Innstadt at the concurrence of the River Inne the Danube and the Iltz. As Towns are commonly of great Antiquity which are built at the Confluence of great Rivers for the Strength of the Situation and convenience of Commerce so is this accounted ancient as being a Roman Colony and the place of the Castra Batava in old times The Church of St. Stephen is stately besides other fair Churches The Bishop who is Lord of the City hath a strong Palace upon a Hill his Revenues are large and besides what he possesseth hereabouts he hath the tenth part of the notable great Lead-Mine at Bleyberg in Carinthia This place had lately suffered much by fire but a good part was rebuilt and very fairly after the Italian manner So that
them had silver Rings with the same Signatures of the Turkish Seales They took much Tobacco in very long Pipes Their Tobacco is not in Rolls but in Leaves and dry They went about wandring and gazing at most things as Churches Houses Shops And took much delight to be in the Fair where they would take much notice of small trifles Yet these are the men that make such sad Incursions into the Eastern parts of Europe and carrying away so many thousands sell them to the Turks and so repair the defect of People in Turky And now after the Consumption of men in Constantinople and the Country about by the Plague are like to be active in that Trade hoping to find better Markets for their Plagiaries and Depredations There are divers Greeks who trade to Vienna and many live in the Town among which I met with three considerable persons One a grave Abbot who was forced from his Convent by the Turk upon suspicion that he corresponded with those of Candia Another who went by the name of Constantinus Catacuzenos and was of the Blood Royal of the Catacuzeni The third was Jeremias a Greek Priest who had travelled through Italy and France into England and from thence through the Low-Countries and Germany to Vienna and intended for Constantinople He came into England to enquire after a young man who was in a Ship which was first taken by an Algerine and afterwards by an English man of war in the Levant He was very kindly used in England and particularly at Cambridge He did a great deal of honour at Vienna unto the English Nation declaring that they were the most civil generous and learned people he had met with in all his Travels and that he no where found so many who could speak or understand Greek or who gave him so good satisfaction in all parts of Knowledge And as a testimony of his respect and gratitude requested me to enclose a Greek Letter unto Dr. Pierson now Lord Bishop of Chester and Dr. Barrow now Master of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge Most men live here plentifully there being abundance of all provision They have great quantity of Corn which upon Scarcity by the help of the Danube might be brought unto them from remoter parts The Country affordeth such plenty of wine that they send a considerable quantity up the River They have also rich wines out of Hungary and Italy and such variety that there are more than thirty several sorts of Wine to be sold in Vienna They are not also without good Beer Halstadt in Austria affordeth them Salt where they make it by letting in water into the hollow parts of a Mountain where it drinketh in the Salt of the Earth and is afterwards let out and boiled up This affordeth great profit to the Emperor and therefore the Hungarian Salt is not permitted to be brought higher than Presburg They have also plenty of Sheep and Oxen but for Oxen at present they are also supplied from Hungary nor only from the Countries in the Emperours Dominions but from the Turkish parts by permission of the Grand Signor and they are brought hither by the Eastern Company of Vienna They eat much wild Boar whereof the Fat is delicious like that of Venison with us They want not Hares Rabbets Partridges Pheasants A Fowl called Hasenhendal or Gallina Corylorum is much esteemed by them which made me the more wonder to meet with some odde dishes at their Tables as Guiny-pigs divers sorts of Snails and Tortoises The Danube and many Rivers which run into it afford them plenty of Fish extraordinary Carps Trouts Tenches Pikes Eels several sorts of Lampries and many Fishes finely coloured the white Fish Crevises very large the best come out of the River Swechet not far from Vienna They have also that substantial large fish called a Scheiden or Silurus Gesneri larger than Pike Salmon or any of our River Fishes but the great Fishes called Hausons or Husones in Johnstonus for largeness exceed all others some being twenty foot long Some think this to be the same Fish which Aelian nameth Antacetus and speaketh largely of the fishing for them in Ister I was at the fishing places for Hausons in Schut Island between Presburg and Komara for they come not usually higher especially in shoals and it is much that they come so high for they are conceived to come out of the Euxine-sea and so up the stream They eat them both fresh and salted they taste most like Sturgeon It is a Cartilagineous Fish consisting of gristles and they have a hollow nervous chord all down the back which being dried serveth for a whip When they fish for them they blow a Horn or Trumpet and know where they go by the moving of the water From Venice they are supplied with Oysters with salt Sturgeon and sometimes with red Herrings and great variety of other Fishes pickled up as also with Oranges Limons and other Fruits Observing much freedom musick and jollity in the City I wondered how they could content themselves without Plays for there were few while I was there till the Players came hither out of Saxony and acted here for a time The Jesuites would sometimes entertain the Emperour and Empress with a Comedy at their Colledge and I had once the favour to be at one when they were present Rutten out of the Danube Koppen Grondel Biscurn I. Oliuer Fe. In Treason and high Crimes they cut off the right Hand of the Malefactor and his Head immediately after I saw a Woman beheaded sitting in a Chair the Executioner striking off her Head with a Fore-blow she behaved her self well and was accompanied unto the Market place by the Confraternity of the Dead who have a charitable care of such Persons and are not of any Religious Order but Lay men among whom also in this place there are many Fraternities and Orders as of the Holy Virgin of the Holy Cross and others Another person also executed after the same manner as soon as his Head fell to the ground while the Body was in the Chair a man ran speedily with a Pot in his hand and filling it with the Blood yet spouting out of his Neck he presently drank it off and ran away and this he did as a Remedy against the Falling Sickness I have read of some who have approved the same Medicine and heard of others who have done the like in Germany And Gelsus takes notice that in his time some Epileptical persons did drink the Blood of the Gladiatours But many Physicians have in all times abominated that Medicine Nor did I stay afterwards so long as to know the effect thereof as to the intended cure But most men looked upon it as of great uncertainty and of all men the Jews who suffer no Blood to come into their Lips must most dislike it At Presburg they have a strange way of Execution still used at Metz and some other places by a Maid or Engine like a Maid
wherein the Swedes obtained the Victory but the King of Sweden was slain and on the Imperial side that famous Commander Godfrey Count of Pappenheim There is also an University at Leipsick first occasioned by the German Scholars of Prague who in the troubles of the Hussites came hither to the number of Two thousand in one day and is still one of the Three Universities in the Elector's Dominions the other being Jena by the River Sala and Wittenberg upon the Elbe In this University they are much addicted to the study of the Law but there are also Learned men in other Faculties The Magistrates of Leipsick are also considerable Der herr von Adlershelme was the Burgomaster a courteous Learned Person and great Virtuoso who had collected and observed many things He hath had five fair Daughters brought up in all commendable ways of working Drawing Painting Inlaying with Flowers with Mother of Pearl Stones and other pretty Works And they speak divers Languages which they learned at a School in Holland So that his House hath a great deal of excellent Furniture of his Childrens work and is one of the most considerable Curiosities to be seen in Leipsick His Summer-house is handsome painted both within and without And in the Water about are Muscovy Ducks Indian Geese and divers rare Fowls In his Chamber of Rarities there are many things considerable But I have seen divers of them in other places and lately set down some Varieties of the Elector of Saxony I shall mention but a few An Elephants Head with the dentes molares in it An Animal like an Armadillo but the Scales are much larger and the Tail broader Very large flying Fishes A Sea-horse Bread of Mount Libanus A Cedar-branch with the Fruit upon it Large Granates as they grow in the Mine A Sirens hand A Chameleon made out of a Fish A piece of Iron which seemeth to be the head of a Spear found in the Tooth of an Elephant the Tooth being grown about it The Isle of Jerscy drawn by our King A piece of Wood with the Blood of King Charles the First upon it A Greenland Lance with a large Bell at the end of it Much Japan painting wherein their manner of hunting and working may be observed A Picture of our Saviour the Hatches of which are writing or written and contain the story of his Passion Bevers taken in the River Elbe A Picture of the murther of the Innocents done by Albert Durer Pictures of divers strange Fowls A Greenland Boat The Skins of white Bears Tigres Hilves and other Beasts And I must not omit the Garter of an English Bride with the story of it of the Fashion in England for the Bridemen to take it off and wear it in their Hat which seemed so strange to the Germans that I was obliged to confirm it to them by assuring them that I had divers times wore such a Garter my self Leaving this busie and trading City of Leipsick I directed my Journey unto Magdeburg and travelled through a plain Country between the River Sala and the Elbe by Landsberg nigh to Petersdorff where there is a small Hill which overlooks all the Country so to Kihten the Residence of the Prince of Anhalt then to Caln and over the River Sala before it runneth into the Elbe which arising at Mount Fichtelberg now hastneth towards it Fichtelberg is a considerable Mountain near which are divers Mines Bathes and Mineral-waters of which Gaspar Bruschius hath written a Description And from it arise four Rivers running to the four quarters of the World The Maine or Moenus towards the West the Nab or Nabus towards the South the Aeger towards the East and the forementioned Sala towards the North. These four afterwards fall into the three greatest Rivers of Germany the Danube the Rhine and the Elbe Then to Sals or Saltz a placed noted for Salt-springs and that night to Magdeburg Parthenopolis or Magdeburg is seated by the River Elbe formerly the Metropolitan City of Germany now under the Marquiss of Brandenburg of very great Circuit but little more than half built again since it was sacked and burnt by Tilly and Thirty six thousand persons put to the Sword and destroyed I could not but observe the ruinous and destructive effects of the late wars in many parts of Germany but not in any so great and flourishing a place as this And a man might think that after this great destruction of Houses and People this place should not be able to stand a Siege yet a few years after it was besieged by General Hatzfield unto whom Bannier the Swede not being able to relieve it it was yielded The Cathedral Church is very fair and built like an English one by the Emperour Otho the First and his Empress Editha an English woman Daughter unto King Edmund whose Effigies in Stone I saw in the Church with nineteen Tuns of Gold by her which she gave thereto And to say the truth English mony hath done great things in Germany for hereby or with a good part thereof this Church was built or endowed Leopoldus Duke of Austria built the old Walls of Vienna with the ransome of King Richard the First whom he detained in his return through Austria from the Holy Land King Edward the First sent a great Sum of Mony unto the Emperour Adolphus for the raising of Souldiers in Germany which the Emperour employed in purchasing a great part of Misnia for himself The Lutheran Churches are handsome and their Pulpits are extraordinary noble and richly set off as I observed through all Saxony Norimberg And where they are Masters of the Places and have not their Churches only by permission here they shewed me in the Cathedral Church of St. Maurice the Statua's of the five wise Virgins smiling and of the five foolish Virgins lamenting which are very well expressed They shewed me also two odd Reliques which they still kept as Rarities that is the Bason wherein Pilate washed his hands when he declared himself free from the blood of our Saviour and the Ladder whereon the Cock stood when he crowed after St. Peter's denying of Christ In the Ruines of the Cloister of the Augustines there is still to be seen Luther's Chamber his Bedstead and Table and upon the Door are these German Verses Dis war Lutheri Kammerlin Waner in 's Closter kam herin Gedachnis halb wird noch it zund Herin gesehen sein Bettespund i. e. Luther did lodge within this little Room When first he did into the Cloister come In memory whereof we still do keep The Bedstead upon which he us'd to sleep I lodged at Magdeburg in an old man's House who would tell me many stories of the burning of the Town the cruelties and bloody usage of the people who were destroyed without exception The Nuns many of them being drowned in the River Elbe After which some observed that Count Tilly never prospered in his wars He told me also that Dureus lodged with
wheel is turned which lets out the water which turns the wheel and also the water which cometh out of the Mine into the Neighbouring Valley 2. The washing of the Ore or Stone which they perform as at other works by letting the water over it and stirring it and this they do wheresoever they begin to work near the Superficies of the Earth for there the Calmey is less and more mixed with Clay and Earth but the most remarkable work is the calcining of the Ore for all our Lapis Calaminaris of the Shops is the calcined Calmey and it is worth the seeing for they place Faggots in a handsome order first and cover a large round Area with them of about Forty or Fifty yards Diameter upon which they place Charcoal in as good an order till all be covered and filled up a yard from the ground then they place ranks of the largest Stones of Calmey and after them smaller till they have laid all on and then by setting fire to the bottom the fire comes to each stone and all is handsomely calcined From hence we went to Limburg meeting with divers Souldiers upon the Road who desired mony of us but did not attempt any thing against us we being many of us together in Company Limburg is seated upon a high Rock which overlooks all the Country and a little River runneth almost round it at the bottom The Avenue to the Town on the North-side is difficult all along upon the edge of the Rock and the Gate of the Town over which is the Governour 's House spreads it self from one side of the Rock to the other and locketh up the passage Here we shew our Pasports from the Spanish Plenipotentiaries and in the Afternoon had a pleasant Journey to the Spaa In the way we saw where the French Army had passed the Country towards Metz having lain about a Fortnight at Vichet after the taking of Maestreicht Spà is a neat Villedge in the Forest of Ardenna seated in a bottom encompassed on all sides with Hills and on the North with steep Mountains So that it happening to rain while we were there the place was in some hours time filled with water the Hay washed out of the Meadows the falls in the River made even and Pohunt one of the Mineral Fountains was drowned There was not much Company when we were there although it were in the hottest time of the year which is most seasonable for drinking the waters by reason of the wars and the danger of coming through the Country to them But in Spà it self all people are free from danger all the Neighbouring Princes protecting it and would count it very dishonourable to disturb a place which by the virtue of its Mineral Springs is so beneficial to Mankind These Waters are not only drunk upon the place but are also sealed up in Bottles and sent into many parts of Europe And Mr. Coquelet at whose House we lodged told me that he sent it as far as Saragossa in Spain and that he had at that time Thirty thousand Bottles empty and waited for a good season to fill them which is the hottest dryest time of the Summer and the hardest Frost in Winter at which times the water is strongest sparkling and brisk The chiefest of these Mineral Fountains are these Geronster Saviniere Tonnelet and Pohunt Geronster is in the middle of a thick Wood about an English mile and a half Southward of the Spà it is the strongest of any and the best adorned being built up with stone and a Pavilion over it supported with four handsome stone Pillars There is a green place cleared in the Wood near to it and a little House for the Patients to warm themselves in early in the morning or in cold weather The Arms of Sr Conrad Bourgsdorff who adorned this Fountain are placed over on two sides and on the other two this Inscription in French and High-dutch in a handsome Oval Le Reverendissime Excellentissime Sr Sr Conrade Bourgsdorff Grand Chamberlan premier Conseiller d'Estat Colonel Gouverneur General de tous les Forts Forteresses du Serenissime Electeur de Brandebourg dans son Estat Electoral Grand Prevost des Eglises Cathedrales d'Halberstadt Brandebourg Chevalier de l'Ordre de St. Jean Commandeur du Baillage de Lagow de gros Machenau Golbeck Bouckow Oberstorff c. c. c. This Fountain smelleth very strong of Brimstone and causeth vomiting in a great many yet passeth chiefly by Urine as they do all and strikes a purple with Nut-galls more inclining to red than the waters of Tunbridge The Sediment is of a light blew in the Fountain but of a dark dirty red every where else Not far from this is another large Spring in the Wood much like it but not as yet built and beautified Saviniere is another Fountain almost as far from the Spà Eastward and built after the manner of a Tower the Acidulae are not so strong as the former There is another Fountain hard by this almost the same held to be particularly good for the Stone and Gravel The third is Tonnelet arising in the Meadow and built up with stone But being there are no Trees nor Shades about it it is not so delightful as the others And Henricus ab Heer 's in his Spadacrene saith that this is more nitrous than the rest and causeth such a coldness in the mouth and stomach that few can drink of it The fourth is Pohunt in the middle of the Town from whence most of the water is drawn which is sent abroad if no particular one be sent for This was beautified with handsome Stone-work by the Bishop of Liege to whom this place belongeth and this Inscription set over it Sanitati Sacrum It is also called the Fountain of St. Remaclus to whom it was dedicated and these Verses are likewise engraven upon it Obstructum reserat durum terit humida siccat Debile fortificat si tamen arte bibis i. e. This opens all Obstructions And wears away hard Tumours This strengthneth much the weaker parts And dries up cold moist Humours Being at the Spà we visited Franchimont one Afternoon passing through a thick Wood there is an old Castle and good Brimstone and Vitriol-works the same Stone affording both and I presume may also make the Spa-water under ground or at least be a principal Ingredient in it We saw the manner here how they melted and cast their Brimstone first into great Pails the florid and clear parts remaining at the top and middle the thick and more obscure subsiding and adhering to the bottom and sides and is that which is sold for Sulphur Vivum We saw also the manner of casting the Brimstone into Rolls or Magdaleons And near unto this place a smoaking burning little Hill which is thus caused They throw out the burnt Pyrites out of which Brimstone hath been distilled and the Vitriol drawn out by infusion upon this Hill which
consists all of the same matter which ferments in time grows hot smoaks and burns perpetually and withal drinks in a new Vitriol into its self From the Spà we crossed over to Frapont a Village seated upon the pleasant River Uta or Ourte where we took Boat and went down a rapid Stream yet one of the pleasantest I ever saw winding and turning between so many green Hills in part of the Forest of Arduenna We descended afterwards thirty or forty small Falls in a long Boat made on purpose The Oar or Paddle being only a square piece of Board fixed to the end of a Pole the Pole standing perpendicularly in the middle of it The delightful River Vesa or the Wesdret soon met us and joyning together we fell down with them into the Maes near Liege Upon the Banks of these Rivers all the Arms Guns and other Instruments are made for which the Country of Liege is remarkable Liege Luick Leodium or Augusta Eburonum Learned Men think this City to be seated near that Valley wherein two Legions of Julius Caesar under Sabinus and Cotta were destroyed by Ambiorix chief Commander of the Eburones It is seated upon the River Mosa which entring with two Streams makes some pretty Islands Three other small Rivers arising in the Forest of Ardenna are also here received into the Maes whereby they have plenty of Fish and other Conveniencies The City is very populous and so it hath been in former Ages when as Charles Duke of Purgunay sacked it and destroyed an hundred thousand of the people It aboundeth with fair Churches stately Convents and Religious Foundations richly endowed so that it hath been called the Paradise of Priests and is in that kind the most notable in all these parts The Palace of the Bishop is a noble Fabrick built by Cardinal Erardus Bishop of Liege The Cathedral beareth the Name of St. Lambert who being Bishop of Maestreicht was murdered by Dodo and others about the year 622. The See was afterwards translated unto Liege by Hubertus as it had been formerly from Tongres to Maestreicht and the Body of St. Lambert removed unto this Church which is at present very noble being built of a reddish Stone very much carved without and handsomely adorned within Between the Quire and Sacristy is this Inscription in very large Letters D. O. M. Intemeratae Virgini Mariae Sancto Lamberto Ecclesiae Patriae Divis Tutelaribus Maximilianus Henricus utriusque Bavariae Dux Archiepiscopus Elector Coloniensis Episcopus Princeps Leodiensis Ernesti Ferdinandi Bavariae Ducum Episcoporum Principum Leodiensium Nepos Successor in sui Praedecessorum memoriam Ponebat MDCLVIII The Canons hereof are of great riches and power and have the Election of the Bishop and Prince who hath also had the Titles of Duke of Bouillon Marquiss of Franchimont and Count of Lootz and Hasbania In the Coin of Maximilian the present Elector of Colen and Bishop of Liege I find this Inscription Maximilianus Henricus Dei gratiâ Archiepiscopus Coloniensis Episcopus Princeps Leodiensis Supremus Bullonensis Dux Speutus the Bishop of Liege bought the Principality of Liege of Godfrey of Bouillon when he went to the Holy Land And in the Treaty of Cambray 1559. the possession of Bouillon and precedency of Title was granted to the Bishop of Liege although at this time also the Houses of La Tour and Mark do bear the same Of the Parish Churches that of St. John and of St. Servasius are fair Of the Abbies that of St. Jacob within the Town and of St. Lawrence built by Bishop Raginardus upon an Hill out of the Town are noble There is also a Colledge of English Jesuites well-seated upon a Hill where the Garden is handsome and the Dyals made by Franciscus Linus are worth the seeing And an English Nunnery handsomely built In the Church of the Gulielmites out of the Town lieth the Body of our famous Country-man Sir John Mandeville who after he had travelled through so many parts took an affection unto this place and here passed the remainder of his life and whose Epitaph and some Rarities of his are still to be seen Bishop Notger who was consecrated by St. Gereon Arch-bishop of Colen and died in the year 1007. built the walls of this City and being Tutor to Otho the third he found means very much to beautifie it to repair and build divers Churches and endow them with rich Revenues and let the River Maes into the Town which before ran upon one side of it As their Churches are fair and numerous so are their Bells and Chimes remarkable In the Cathedral of St. Lambert there are eight large Bells and twelve lesser and there is one so great as it is said to require Twenty four men to ring it In the Church of St. Paul the Bells and Chimes are considerable as also at St. Lawrence and the crossed Friers It is also an University and was so famous in former Ages that they still take notice that at one time there have been Nine Sons of Kings Twenty four Dukes Sons Twenty nine of Counts besides many of great Barons Students therein Their Speech here as also at Spaw is called Roman and is a kind of old French or Dialect of that Language a great part of which is made up of Latin or Roman words and they call the Neighbouring Language of the Dutch Tuiscon But many speak very good French They have some Vineyards affording a small Wine The Hills about furnish them with Quarries of good Stone and of several kinds They have also divers Mines and Minerals and great quantity of Pit-coal for Fire in some places fetched deep out of the Earth in others nearer the Surface and in one place I saw them beginning to dig where they immediately found Coal Their Pumps and Engines to draw out the water are very considerable at these Mines in some places moved by Wheels at above a Furlongs distance to which they are continued by strong Wood-work which moves backwards and forwards continually The Citadel standeth upon a Hill and is of great Strength It was built to keep the City of Liege under Subjection For 1649. there being some disturbances in the City Ferdinand the Elector of Colen offering to come into the Town to appease it was opposed by the Consul Jacobus Hennet who was soon after surprised and beheaded together with Bartholomaeus Rolandus the Consul having sworn the Elector should never come in whilst he were alive And the Citadel soon after was ordered to be built The Bridges are handsome that over the great Stream of the Maes is very broad and fair and hath large Arches From hence we could read the Elector's name upon the Citadel Maximilianus although it were at a very great distance the Letters were so large From Liege we had a pleasant passage down the Water to Maestreicht passing by Argentau a Castle seated upon a high Rock on the right side of the River belonging
then to the King of Spain afterwards by Vichet in the half way and then by Navagne a strong Fort in the Maes which commands the River and at that time did the Spaniard service then by pleasant Rocks on our left hand wherein many Cuts and Passages have been digged till we came in sight of Maestreicht This Town having been a little before taken from the United States by a sharp Siege was full of French and had a Garrison in it of about Ten thousand men and in the Market-place stood about Two hundred large Field-pieces We saw the places where they had their Batteries and their Mines and the Half-moon which the Duke of Monmouth took the Out-works were very numerous and many of them undermined Colonel Storff shew'd us a handsome Draught of all the Works Approaches and Manner of taking of the Town About a quarter of a Mile out of the Town we went into the great Quarry of Stone which is one of the noblest sure in the World Between Padoa and Vicenza I had formerly seen the famous Cave of Custoza or Cubola said to be above Five hundred Fathoms in breadth and Seven hundred in length but this doth far surpass it the Roof is very high and stately in most places the Pillars not to be numbred all very large we passed two miles under ground amongst them No Labyrinth can be contrived more intricate and yet all parts are uniform The Floor all in a level and the Roof in most places of the same height and so much hath that uniform rule which I suppose was set to those who first digged and so hath successively been observed added to the beauty of this place that there is scarce any thing more noble It put me in mind of the hundred Chambers of Nero which he caused to be made under Ground in the Rocks at Baiae And the Water which we met with in one place made me think of Nero's admirable Fish-pond built in the like manner within the Earth We came out again near to a Convent upon the Banks of the River and returned by water to Maestreicht The next day we parted Company Mr. Newton Mr. Ettrick Mr. Grove Mr. Carlton and Mr. Newcomb went for Aken and Colen Mr. Bates and Mr. Daston went up the River again to Liege at which place staying a day or two to find a convenience to pass to Brussels we were nobly entertained at a Dinner with Venison Wild-boar and other Dishes by that worthy Person and Learned Mathematician Franciscus Slusius one of the great Canons of Liege who also continued his high Civilities to us to the last Minute we stayed in Town Leaving Liege we soon came in sight of Tongres or Tungrorum oppidum the most ancient place in all these Countries Ortelius would have it to be called of old Atuatuca It was a strong hold before the coming of Julius Caesar into Gaul and was afterwards made a Roman Station and in process of time became so great that Attila the Hun destroyed an hundred Churches in it it being at that time a Bishops See which in the year 498 St. Servatius removed unto Maestreicht Many old Coins and Antiquities are still found here and part of an old Chappel said to be built by St. Maternus Disciple to St. Peter is still remaining When the King of France made his great inroad into the Low Countries 1672. he borrowed this Town of the Elector of Cologne and then passed on to Maseick where crossing the Country to the Rhine by the sides of these great Rivers Rhine and Maes he made that notable Incursion and quitted not Tongres till he had taken Maestreicht the year following We dined this day at Borchloe and lodged at St. Trurn or St. Truden a handsome little Town so called from a Church and Abby herein dedicated to that Saint The next day we dined at Tienen or Tilmont on the little River Geet once one of the chief Towns in Brabant but long since decayed In these Plain Countries in many places we saw small Hills or Sepulchral Eminences of the Ground And near unto the Walls of Yienen are three very remarkable ones said to be the Tombs of great Commanders In the Evening we came to Lovain Lovain is the chief City of that quarter of Brabant which comprehendeth Arschot Halen and Judoigne an ancient and large City pleasantly seated upon the River Dele it is of great Circuit and the compass of the wall accounted above four miles about but there are many void Spaces Hills Fields and Gardens within it which makes it very pleasant and delightful There are herein divers good Buildings Convents and Churches the chief whereof is the stately Church of St. Peter the Convent of the Carthusians the Hospital The publick Palace or Senate-house are also Noble It is the great University of these parts said to have had its beginning about 926. but endowed by John the Fourth Duke of Brabant and confirmed by Pope Martin the Fifth 1425. There are Forty three Colledges in it whereof the four chief are Lilium Falco Castrum Porcus Goropius Becanus a Learned Man and Native of Brussels affirmeth That no University in Italy France Germany or Spain is to be compared unto it for its elegant and pleasant Situation The University is under the Government of Rector who is in great esteem and honour among them This University hath produced many Learned Men But neither the Buildings of the Colledges nor their Endowments do equal those of our Universities and the Situation thereof seems not to exceed that of Oxford We travelled from hence to Brussels being most part of the way in the sight of the very high Tower of the Church of St. Rombald at Machlin Count Monterei was then Governour of the Low-Countries and resided at Brussels the ordinary Seat of the Governours of the Spanish Netherlands which City he had taken care to fortifie and to make it more tenable if it should be attempted by the French From Brussels we passed to Antwerp where we were handsomely treated by Mr. Wauters and Mr. Hartop and having visited some of our Friends the next day we passed the River Schelde and took Coach in the morning travelling through a fruitful plain flat Country set with rows of Trees in most places and arrived in the evening at Ghent Gaunt Gandavum or Ghent is esteemed to be the greatest City not only of Flanders but of all the Law-Countries and challengeth a pace amongst the greatest in Europe but at present it decreaseth and decays rather than encreaseth And if Charles the Fifth were now alive he could not put Paris into his Gant a greater Glove would not fit that City which is so much increased since his time In Ghent are many noble Convents among which the Jesuites is one of the fairest There is a Cloister also of English Nuns The Cathedral is stately and the Tower belonging to it being very high gives a prospect of a pleasant and fruitful Country round about it