Weather it is put into a Grave in a few days but in the hard Weather when the Ground cannot be dug they pile the Bodies up in a House they call God's House and when the Season is practicable every one fetches away his Dead and buries it The Muscovites are generally very Corpulent and of a large size strong and of late grown Dexterous in the feats of Arms particularly Fire-arms they have abundance of great Ordinance some carrying Bullets two foot Diameter They are curteous to Strangers unless they get in Drink and then they are very Rude and Mischievious and this they often do for the Men and Women are excessive Drinkers so that many have been Murthered by them in their drunken Revels before Dinner they usually drink a Cup of Aquavitae which they say gets them a good Appetite and after Dinner carouse stoutly of Meath and other strong Liquors and then â—o to sleep on Benches The better sort wear exceeding Rich Garments as Scarlet or Velvet lined with Furs down to their Ancles loose like the Greeks and under them Vests or Wastcoats of Cloath of Gold or Silk Imbroidered the Scull of the 12 Caps Imbroidered with Gold Silver or precious Stones according as they are able and over it a Cap or Bordering of Sables Ermin Minever or the like the Women unless Head attire are cloathed almost like the Men with open Sleeves down to their Fingers they wear Girdles Imbroidered or Plated with Gold and Silver but with the poor Mousack or Country Peasant tho' he keeps the Fashion it is as hard as with us his Garments are course Cloath or Sheepskin with the Wool on but every one has a differently suiting to Winter and Summer for in the Latter Season it is very hot more then commonly in England yet it lasts but June July and August They much delight in Musick tho' it be but Indifferent for I heard nothing like that of other nations whilst I remained amongst them as for Learning the lower degrees affect it not addicting themselves to Husbandry and Handicrafts very obedient they are to their Prince never disputing his Commands or Injunctions what ever they be paying their Taxes and Customs tho' somewhat heavy very chearfully If in a Law controversie the Judge cannot decide it he demands if they will kiss the Cross on their Affirmation or denial if the Defendant does it he is acquitted of his Debt or Injury done if both require it then they draw Lots and he that has the better Lot is only allowed it and concluded to be in the right But in Criminal matters they use Tortures and those very severe ones to extort confessions but if the party hold out against them he is acquitted They have one sort of Execution very odd which is by putting Criminals under the Ice to be smothered in the Waters but cannot be done at all times wherefore they have many more as Hanging and the like These are the Principal matters I observed or was Informed of in this Country worthy to be placed in a History of this Nature and now fearing to be Winter locked after my having been in so many warm Regions I bethought me of Removing nearer home because the cold Season was approaching wherein I was very sensible it would be very Incommodious for a Stranger to travel in these parts and therefore I took an opportunity of a Caravan going for Poland part of which Country I passed but had little or no time to take a survey of it only thus much I shall say in General The Borhistenes bounds it from the Muscovite Empire on the East on the West it has the Vistual on the North the Baltick Sea and Sinus Trinitus on the South Hungary and is divided into 10 Provinces viz. Luconia Lithunia Vollina Samogita Pedelia Russia Nigra Podlasia Mosovia and Poland and the Latter giving the Country it s generally accepted Name These Provinces are Branched with several Navigable Rivers as Vistua Raben Bog Mimel its Metropolis is Cracow or Craconia where usually the King has his Residence It is an Elective Kingdom and at present the Regal Lot by free choice of the Nobility and Gentry is fallen on the Vallian and Renowned Duke of Saxony who is crowned King of Poland and has received the Homage of the greater part of the Poles Cracow is Scituate on the Banks of the River Vistua Navigable 400 Miles being as it were Encompassed with distant mountains and fortified with strong Walls the Buildings are very fair This Country produces Tar Rosin Pitch Wax Honey Barly Oats Amber Tallow Hides Minerals and other Commodities and therein by Trading are found the Commodities of divers other Nations we stayed not here but passing some other Province Entred Germany by the Way of Hungary Austria c. This Famed Empire is bounded on the North with Denmark and the Danish Seas on the East with Prussia Poland and Hungary on the South with the Alps on the West with Flanders Holland c. The Cities and Towns of this Empire may be properly divided into 3 parts as first the Hans Towns that enjoy large Previledges and Immunities about 70 in Number 2. Those called Imperial Cities by reason of their great Privileges above the rest in Coining Money bargaining acknowledgement of Subjection unless to the Emperour whom they acknowledge their Protector and pay him Annual Tribute so And 3dly those under the Electoral Princes which are commonly called Principalities the chief Rivers are the Danube and Rhine the first runs about 1500 Miles and receives 58 Navigable Rivers to swell its Stream and at last falls into the Black Sea the second passes thro' Germany and Belgia 800 Miles and falls into the German Ocean This large Country produces Silver Mines Copper Lead Tin Iron Corn Wine Allum Quick Silver Linnen Woollen Linnen-Stuffs Silks store of Cattle and many other Commodities and from hence by Land and Water I reached the Low Countries and briefly I so directed my way that I cam to Amsterdam the chief trading City in the Province of Holland It is seated on the River Tay which on the North side of it flows like a large Sea when on the South the River Amster running through 3 Lakes entereth its Streets and falleth into the River Tay and by the Addition of a new City to the old it is become very Commodious and Strongly fortified and in it are to be found the Commodities of almost all Nations tho' the Country produces nothing very considerable of its own but these things come by Navigation for most of the Inhabitants are Merchants who 's Goods are brought by Vessels to their Doors and Warehouses and the People are generally Frugal Industruous and Rich. CHAP. XXI A Voyage from Amsterdam in Holland to Cales in the Spanish Dominion and Thence to America giving an Account of what happened on the Sea and in some Islands touched at c. BEing at Amsterdam I began seriously to consider of my Travels and whilst I Ruminated
bundles of Straw a Foot and an half or two Foot above the surface of the Water smoaking to appearance exceedingly making the same noise as the first A little while after I perceived so many Pipes reaching down from the Clouds upon these Risings and every one of them had a large end joyning to the Cloud widening like the end of a Trumpet and the lower end resembled the Teat or Dug of a Beast stretched perpendicularly down by the force of some weight These Pipes appeared to be of a paleish White which I conjecture was the Water in them for no doubt they were formed before they drew it up and being emptied disappeared for though the Pipes descended small swelled with the Water they grew larger to the thickness of a Man's Arm or more These Spouts are dangerous things for falling on a Ship they entangle the Sails and lift her up then leting her fall again sink her if she be small but if the Ship be too heavy to be lifted they split the Sails and emptying a vast quantity of Water into her with a violent force sink her and thus I believe Ships have been lost Sailing in those and other Seas where Spouts are and so going down in a Minute or two have never been heard of Some that were on Board brought a large black handled Knife to cut the Spouts at a distance which Superstitious Fancy is thus put in practice One of the Ships company kneels down by the Main-Mast and holding in one Hand a Knife with a black handle he Reads the Gospel of St. John and when he comes to these Words viz. The Word was made Flesh and dwells in us he turns to the Spout and cuts the Air a thwart and then they hold the Spout though at a great distance is cut and le ts down all its Water with a great noise But the Master looking on this silly fruitless Fancy as a piece of Conjuration would not let it be put in practice In the Mediterranean they shoot Cross bar shot at them which hitting is more probable of the two to cut however these spent themselves without doing us any harm and at length through infinite Mercy we weathered the Storm which raged furiously all the time and kept on our Course having the main Land of Arabia on our Starboard and on our Larboard that part of Persia called Marsan which bore South-east of us and we made particularly one Hill of Land shaped like a Sugar Loaf and here in November December and January the East Winds commonly Reign and therefore to go from Persia to India in a short time the best Season is March April and the beginning of May for then the Mouson or Trading Wind blows However we held on with the help of the Current which from the end of July to January sets towards Ormus from India and from January till July from Ormus towards India In our Passage another Storm arising we saw 3 new Spouts but they were at too great a distance from us to apprehend much dangar In our way off Bembaceca we overtook 3 Ships bound to Surat as we were but proving slow Sailers the Master would not stay for them but resolved to make the best of his way so contrary to the mind of the Mate we left them to Sail at their leisure CHAP. XVIII The Arrixal at Surat a discription of that Town the manner of the People Travels into the Indian Provinces with Observations of what is Rare and Remarkable in the vast Dominion of the Great Mogul AFter many dangers in Coasting Persia and a great part of Arabia we knew by the Snakes we saw at Sea a kind of spungy Froth floating in great abundance on the Water which pricks and makes the Hands of those that touch it burn that we were not far from the main Land of India we kept Sailing by many small Islands of which those Seas are plenty till we made Daman a Town belonging to the Portugueses who have strengthened it with a considerable Fort It lies in 20 Degrees North Latitude From this Town to Cape Comorin is a range of very high Hills along the Coast yet this Town has no other Harbour but a little Chanel which remains almost dry when the Tide is out Here refreshing our selves we took the advantage of an Easterly Gale and weighing Anchor bore away Northward having no more than five Fathom and an half Water in an Hours Sailing but then coming into deeper Water we Sailed more boldly and came up with the Bar of Surat in 6 Fathom and an half Water Here the Custom-house-Officers came aboard us and narrowly search'd and viewed every thing they had an opportunity to see after that Boats came to fetch off the Passengers and their Goods and we were had to the Custom-house and again searched in a very odd manner The entrance for Vessels of Burthen is very difficult and we were a ground twice before the Tide could carry us in we passed then by the Castle of Surat on our Right Hand and dropped our Anchor before the Custom-House Thus being happily at Land after a two Months troublesome Voyage I and others rested and refreshed our selves The Bar so called by reason of Sands and is 6 French Leagues or more from Surat yet their Ships of great Burthrn must unload before they can come up the River Being impatient to see Surat of which I had heard so much discourse at home I went in a Boat on the River with divers other Passengers but by reason of the Stream being against us we were a considerable time e'er we reached the Town and the Custom-house being open upon the Signal given we came on Shoar without which we might not do it then passing a large Court we entered into a Hall where the Customer waited to have us searched The manner of their searching as I said is odd and very strict they making their search from Head to Foot feeling your Nakedness in every part looking also into your Mouth as if they would tell you your Age by your Teeth and the Waiter demands of every Passenger as his Fee an Abassy which is worth about 18 d. and the Bark has half a Roupe which is about 14 d. a Head for every Passenger If they find one smugling in the least he is fined severely if not Caved All the Baggage is brought into the Custom-house to be searched and when that is done every one is called in his turn to pay and take them away for Money they take two and an half per Cent. for Merchants Goods of Christians four and of the Banians five per Cent. India is a very large Country of which I shall say something before I enter upon particulars It is bounded on the West with the River Indus on the East with China on the North with Tartary on the South with the Ocean and is properly divided into two divisions viz. India intra Gangem and India extra Gangem the first contains nine
or word of Mouth it is enough to endanger their Lives for they look upon it as a disparagement to their Kingdom as being the proudest and most conceited People of all Nations thinking themselves the best in the World and that all others are insignificant to them making in their Maps China very spacious and other Countries like little Rocks in the Sea and they hold a firm opinion that Europe is no more than 2 small Islands they also hold all their Neighbours for Barbarians and paint them in Monstrous and Ridiculous Forms and to make them seem Cowards though they have often experienced them to the contrary they report and paint them as little Pigmies who tie themselves in bundles when they go abroad least the Eagles and Kites should carry them away and when any one argues learnedly to them they start as in a surprize demanding whether they have their Books in their Country and when the Strangers Answer no they reply why then how came you by that Learning They hold their Religion the purest and ancientest of all the Religions in the World However it is to be believed that their Chronicle is the ancientest that is to be found and is so well connected the Reign of one King hanging so well to the other that it cannot reasonably be suspected to have been Written upon trust by Conjecture or Imagination They divide the Heavens into 28 Constellations and China into so many parts allowing each part one and leave none for any other Nation and in brief they give their own most lofty and magnificent Titles but to Foreign Countries most barbarous scornful and degrading Names to exalt their Kingdom by the disparaging others which Pride I am apt to believe proceeds from their Ignorance though some of the Nobles are more moderate and discreet but then it is such as have Travelled abroad though but a few of them are permitted and even these dare not speak much in the praise of other Countries least they should be looked on as undervaluers of their own and consequently as Enemies Some of their Kings have had the vanity to stile themselves Child of the Sun and Emperor of the World They are however a very industrious People as appears by their vast and stately Edifices Manufactures and other curious Matters for there are no idle People in the Kingdom the Lame Blind and Deaf employ themselves in one business or other as they are capacitated and get a living by it insomuch that they have a Proverb which says There is nothing in China cast away and let it be never so vile it may turn to Profit one way or other in the City of Pekim which is the chief of the Kingdom Many thousands of Families live only by making and selling Card-Matches and Wicks for Candles and as many by what they pick up about the Streets They have in every City a Bell and a Drum-Tower on which Watchmen strike to give the Hours and the quarters in the Night-time and both the Drum and Bell are exceeding large being heard many Miles answering one another in a Musical Harmony They burn an Incense made of Sweet Woods and Perfumes in their Chambers and before their Pagods making Candles of the same and other mixtures which in burning cast a fragrant smell and some they make so large to place in their Temples before their Idols that they will continue burning 20 or 30 Days and Nights and burning to certain windings and marks they by that distinguish Hours and Days in burning such and such exact proportions and those that burn them in their Chambers when they would rise at a certain Hour tie a little Brass weight by a String to a mark that specifies the Hour and the string burning the weight falls into a brass Bason set under it and strikes like a Larum-Watch They have many other curious devices as Chariots that will run swiftly without Horses only a Man that sits in it turning a Winch which by certain Springs turns the Wheels round with great Rapidity But passing over things of this Nature for the present I will proceed to describe in some measure the City of Pekim the Metropolis of China where the King has his chief Court This famous City is seated in a Plain forming a vast Square each of its sides being 12 Chinese Furlongs in length it has 9 Gates 3 upon the South side and 2 upon each of the other sides it is now Inhabited by the Tartars and their Troops are divided into the 8 quarters or as they call them Banners But considering under the preceeding Kings the numerous Inhabitants had not a sufficient place to contain them though the Nine Suburbs answering to the Gates were as big as Cities There was a new City built like the old one square in Form having its North side joyning to the side of the old one this has 7 Gates and every one a Suburb answering to it so that taking that in with the Suburbs it is of a vast circumference yet many who have writ of it have made it much larger than it is the one and the other are divided into 5 Jurisdictions or Tribunals of which I shall speak hereafter The principal Streets run to the 4 direct Points or Winds they are long streight and broad so well proportioned as if they had been marked out with a Line The little Streets run all from East to West being very fair and divide the spaces between the great Streets into equal and proportionable Islands having each a particular Name and there is a Catalogue to be sold of them with Notes and Directions that Strangers and those whose business it is to go on Errands may the easier find them for they are very numerous The fairest of these Streets is called Cham gan Kiai or the Street of Perpetual Repose it is about 30 Fathom broad and of a vast length The Houses are low built which they say is done in respect to the King's Pallace that it should appear more magnificent though besides the King 's there are Pallaces belonging to the Nobility very stately yet they are built backward so that nothing but a great Gate appears to the Street The old and new City are crouded with swarms of People as the Shops are with store of rich Commodities so that one would suppose there was a continual Fair held in it The King's Pallace is seated in the midst of the City and Fronts towards the South as almost all others do in this Country it is encompassed with a double enclosure of Walls in form of a long square the outward enclosure is extraordinary high and thick plaistered on both sides with a curious red Plaister and covered with a small Roof of varnished Brick of a Gold Colour the length of it from South to North is 8 Chinese Furlongs it has a Gate in the middle of each side composed of 3 Portals the middlemost never being opened but when the King passes and these have a Guard upon
my Travels lay in this Country which is of vast extent from North to South if you measure from Cola to Astrakan which bendeth somewhat Eastward which is reckoned the length of it is accounted 4260 verst or ruff Miles though one of them makes not above 3 quarters of our Miles though Northward Beyond Cola there is a large Country unto the River Tromschua that runeth 1000 verst Miles but the ridged Winter Frost renders it not much inhabited and little fruitful in Summer As for the Breadth if one goes from that part of the Czar's Teritories that lies farthest West on the Narve side to the utmost parts of Siberia Eastward where are divers Garisons it is 4200 verst Miles But to come near as a Traveller considering how to get the safest and easiest way to Moscow it being in June when the Rivers were open I was perswaded to Embark on the Volga which I did with a Merchant of that City who shewed me a great deal of kindness the Vessel being his own for from Astrakan to Moscow it is accounted 18000 verst Miles We sailed till we came to the Mouth of the River Cama which dischargeth its Waters into the River Volga and so made our way by Water and Land to Cazan which the Muscovites a few Ages since took from the Tartars and is the Metropolis of a Kingdom It is a City of considerable Tade it was formerly walled with Timber and Earth but upon annexing the whole Kingdom to the Crown of Muscovy the great Czar Vasiliwich walled it with Free-stone The Building is not Stately yet very Commodious for the Inhabitants who are a mixed People as they are on all the Borders we lodged and refreshed our selves here and passed in a 11 days through a fine Country well Watered and very Fruitful to a considerable fair Town which we reached in 10 days called Nisnovogrod where Occa falls into the Volga This is the head of a Shire or County of that Name and from hence by Rezan and so passing a tedious Journey through many difficult ways we came to the River Moscow on whose Banks the City of Moscow stands I should have told you I left my Merchant Trading up the River Camaon on whose Banks are several and pretty Towns but he took care to provide me a Guide who accompanied me to Moscow the nearest way over the Land and to help me to Imbark where the Rivers offered to lessen our Journey for I did not think fit to fall directly down the Volga into the Caspian Sea which would little have furthered me Being arrived at the head City of Moscow I entered on the River side and finding some English there I was not long destitute of a Habitation and being Evening when I entered I thought fit to rest that Night and the next day went to take a view of the City which is very large The Form of it is in a manner round with three strong Walls circling the one within the other the Streets lying pretty commodiously within all the Heart or Center inclosed by the inmost Wall is called the Czar's Castle or Pallace very large in Circle the Houses of ordinary Persons are but indifferently built with Timber Loam and Mortar covered with Boards or Bark of Trees but the Houses of the Nobles are pretty Sately The Churches are many and they are Adorned on the tops with Globes of Copper and guilded Spires That of Blaneshina or Blessedness is of curious Architecture after the Fashion of the Greek Churches whose Tenents in Religion the Muscovites devoutly hold the Church of St. Michael is nothing inferiour to it but above all the Cathedral called Our Ladies Church is large and stately in it the Czars are Crowned by the Patriarch The Market is kept in the Castle or within the inward Wall unless the River be Frozen over and then it is partly kept thereon and sometimes alltogether so that upon the Ice bareing all sorts of Carriages there appears to be a kind of a Fair because the People bring vast quantities of Goods from remote places on their Heads The Castle is on a rising Hill well Watered and Fortified and the Princes's Palace very conveniently contrived but his Attendance upon publick Occasions as at the Audience of Ambassadors and the like is more Magnificent they being in great Numbers mostly Arrayed in Cloath of Gold and Silver rich Furs Velvets Pearls and pretious Stones Battle Axes of Gold are carried before the Czar and his Robes exceeding rich of Goldsmiths Work poudered with pretious Stones and Imbroderies of Pearl their Feasts are served up in Dishes of Gold the meanest Vessel being Silver and both kinds very numerous The Diet is choice and well dressed according to the Russian Fashion their Drink is Wine Meath and sometimes strong Aquavitae which among them is â—alled Russ Wine In this City are still to be seen some Ruins of the Walls the several Fires have made for I was told it contained 41500 Houses before the Crim Tartars reduced it to Ashes Anno 1571. and in it destroyed 80000 People and besides the Houses 1500 convent Churches and Chapples The Poles burnt it Anno 1611. and Anno 1676. an Accidential Fire happened Burning 20 days but now Guards are appointed to take care of Fire and have Sallaries allowed them There is one thing Admirable which is a Bell raised in a large Tower this Bell is 24 foot in height and I was told though it has been chipped off some Tuns of Mettle to make it ring better that it weighs 176 Tun and the Clapper 4 Tun which is pulled by a Rope to sound it on particular occasions for it cannot be raised by reason of its vast weight Provisions are very plentiful here as Fish Fowl Venison Hares and other Dainties for the Woods Rivers and Lakes which are very many and large abound with these and divers other useful Creatures and in some parts of Moscovy they draw their Sledges with Rain-deer who do the Office of Horses and run more swiftly In my passing Tartary I observed the like they also used there great Dogs for the same purpose and on the Borders I met several riding on Elks. I saw in this City many Bath-stones and other Stones which in the Winter are used in all places which prevents their being pinched by the ridged Frosts which are extream from October till March accompanied with vast Snows so that in that Season there is little stiring abroad for the Air is so piercing that many have been stifled with it going out of their Houses especially too early and they report in that Season it is frequent to find People frozen to Death in the Streets and many are brought in Dead in Sledges frozen though they have Beds there to lye on and Tilt Coverings of Furskins over them and for this time all the Rivers and Lakes are locked up the Ice usually a Yard thick or more yet they have store of Grain as Wheat Rye Oats Maize c. Plums
they might be permitted but their thirst after the Mines of Gold and Silver they suppose to be in that Country and not yet discovered is the main incitement that makes them push their Swords so violently that way though they often meet with their Match for these naked People are very Warlike and in their flights after a Discharge of their Vollies of Poison Arrows chamber up and run upon the Rocks like Wild Goats their dwellings are for the most part in the Woods where they make Swamps and fortified places of Timber and other Materials rudely piled and fastned one to another and that which incites the Spaniards so eagarly to possess themselves by Conquests of these Northern parts besides the Treasure they find in them is out of Mistrust or Jealousie least the English from Virginia and other Collonies should be industrious in subduing and steping in before them Thus having briefly run over the chief Mexicon Provinces under the Spanish Dominion I now proceed to take a Survey of some others and in the first place of Quivira seated in the most Western part of America over against Tartary from whence not being much distant many suppose that this new World was first inhâ—bited from thence for the Indians in their Manners Likeness and many Customs among them much accord with the Tartars they make their Cattle their chief Riches feeding them in the Plains Valleys and Mountains the Country affording every where store of Pasture and those that look after the Cattle carry Tents with them for shelter and dress their Food in the Fields as the Tartars This and the Southern parts of America appears to be far better Peopled than that towards Europe so that though it is but a conjecture yet it is a very probable one that the first peopling this Country was from Asia either accidentally by Ship-wrack or driven out of their Country by Famine War or such Calamities they were constrained to seek new Habitations and so after much wandering at Sea found out this Country though the Indians have a tradition which is a received Opinion amongst many of them that their God with Blazing Fires lighted and guided them Day and Night over the Northern Rocks and Mountains covered with Ice and Snow feeding and cherishing them by the way with Pulse and other Food when they had been oppressed by Gyant-like Enemies and driven out of their former Habitations The Inhabitants of these parts take a greater pride in Glass Beads and other Trifles than in Gold and Jewels and are easily imposed on for the Exchange of the Hides of their Cattle they make Coverings for their homely Cottages of their Bones they make Bodkins and Needles of their Hair Thread of their Sinue Cordage of their Blood Drink and of their Flesh Meat of their Horns Paunches and Bladders Vessels Some are of Opinion that there is a Traffick on this Coast from China or Cathagina from whence Vasquez de Corovado made a Progress into some parts of it with his Army of Spaniards which he saw from the Rocks and high Mountains on the Sea Coast Ships at Sea not of common Building seeming to be well laden and bearing in their Prows Pillicans which could not be conjectured to come from any Country but one of the two before named In Quivira there are but two Provinces that are well known to the Europeans and those are Cibola and Nova Albion Cibola Lys on the East where a City gives that Name to the Province the next to it is called Tolontua a pleasant place in a very temperate Air Scituated on a River of that Name the third Town that offers is Tinguez inhabited by Spaniards and in it the Jesuits have a stately College and are appointed to Preach to the Indians in those parts Nova Albion lies on the West side towards Tartary this was discovered in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth by the Renowned Englishman Sir Francis Drake who gave it this Name upon the King of the Countries Surrendering his Crown of Network and Feathers curiously wrought and submitting himself and people to the Queen's Protection It is in some parts inhabited by a few Spaniards but not yielding any considerable store of Riches they have not much coveted to People it though it abounds with Fruit pleasant to the Eye and Tast The People are very Curteous and Affable to Strangers but mostly given to their old Idolatry practising Charms and some affirm they dance with the Devil on certain mid-night Feasts and revels offering him human Sacrifice The Bounds between this Quivira and Mexico is Marvir Miglio or Californio The next belonging to Mexico in the Northern Tract is Jucalan the first that Discovered it by Francisco Hernandez de Cordovo Anno 1517. who asking an Indian the name of that Country and he not understanding the Spanish answer Jucatan which in the Indian Language is What do you say and from thence they named it and so it has ever since been called This Country is at least 900 Miles in Circuit and a kind of a Peninsula It is fixed over against the Island of Cuba and divided into three parts Jucatan properly so called which has in it the Cities of Campeche Valadolid Merida Semancus and one which for its Greatness and Beauty they call Caire the chief the Commodities here are Honey Wax Hides and Sugar Cana Fistula Sarsaparila c. As for Food it produces great store of Indian Maize and is well Watered and Wooded in all parts the Timber is so good that the Spaniards Build Tall-Ships there they have store of Turkeys and other Fowl which with other Commodities they pay as Tribute to the Spaniards for their Possessions who keep them low and poor which makes them apt to fall into Mutinies and Rebellions Another part of this Track is called Guatemala where the Cruelty of the Spaniards has destroyed near a Million of the Natives yet this Country is populous and has many flourishing Indian Towns in it The chief Cities are Guatemala Cassuca and Chiapa it is well Watered with Rivers and has some large Lakes full of Fish and at Seasons covered with wild Fowl it abounds in Fruit Corn and Cattle The third part of Jucatan is Acasamil an Island over against Guatemala which the Spaniards usually at this day call Sla Cruz it lies advantageous for a Harbour and the advantage of Trade The fourth Division of the Northern Track under the Government of the Spaniards is Nicaragua standing South East from the City of Mexico about 450 Leagues yet it agrees with it in the Temperature of the Climate the People are of good Stature active and strong and of Complexion indifferent White Before they were brought under subjection they had standing Laws and many politicks in their Government particularly if one robbed an other he was not put to Death but became his slave till his service had made Satisfaction for the Damage done they had no Law for the Murther of a King as concluding none would be
Cape of Metapan and Isle of Cerigo the Ancient Porphyrus and Citherea where formerly stood a Magnificent Temple to Venus the ruins of which as I was told are still to be seen near the Sea and meeting with a storm we were constrained to cast Anchor before the Island of Zia which in Ancient times was called Calle Ceos or Cea it is about 50 Miles in Circuit shaped like a Horse-shoe the Soil produces Wine Corn good Pasture and many other useful things the Harbour is stored with Fish the Inhabitants are very civil to Strangers the Women wear their Coats but to their Knees and their Smocks about a Foot below that with a Veil reaching their Breasts which they turn aside as they think fit when they will or will not Compliment any but lying in War's way between the Turks and Venetians they are much oppressed and impoverished otherways the plenty of the Island would inrich them Sailing from hence we made the Isle of Andra This is the Ancient Andros of the Greeks but now Inhabited by People of several Nations as Albanians Armenians Turks Jews c. and these differ in Customs as well as Languages very rude and unhospitable the Chief Towns are Arni and Amolacos The Greeks have several Churches in this Island but the People are very Superstitious and odd in their Devotions strowing Flowers and rowling in them but the Latins who have likewise Churches there are more Civilized and proceed Regular The Island is very Fruitful and here they make abundance of white wicker Baskets used all over the Archipelago Weighing Anchor we got out to Sea and stood to the Starboard passing between this Island and Negropont and having a South-west Wind Sciro and soon after Ispi Cera and some other places appeared In the Evening when we were pretty clear of Islands the Wind turned East South East and we soon made the Land where Troy stood little of whose Ruins remain for we had passed Tenedos in the Night so passing the Mouths we entered the Channel of the Helespont the place where the Turks passed from Asia into Europe to extend their Empire CHAP. II. Of the Helespont Dardanelles Places about them what is observable in Constantinople and its adjacents Containing all that is Curious and Remarkable in these Parts THE Gate or Entrance as it were to Constantinople being by the Helespont and Dardanelles I think it here convenient to say something of this fam'd Streight before I come a Land It lies in 37 Degrees 42 Minutes North Latitude and of Longitude about 55 not extending above 10 or 12 Leagues in length and at the entrance it is a large League and an half broad it divides the Country of Thrace from Troas a Province of Asia that lies to the East To the North lies the Propontis and to the South the Aegean Sea and the Archipelago and in Sailing here one has a prospect of divers fine Towns Villages c. and a curious Country on either Hand The Turks knowing the important advantage of this Streight have Fortified the Passage with two strong Castles one in Europe and the other in Asia the Castle built in Asia called the New Castle is seated on a tongue of Land pointing out into the Sea on a square Platform comprizing 4 large panes of Walls flanked at the four Corners with Towers those next the Sea square with a sort of Redoubt only on one side those toward the Land are round and defend the Walls but neither in thickness nor largeness comparable to the other the Works washed by the Sea have Port-holes level with the surface of the Water and I could number as I Sailed by about 40 Cannon mounted to prevent any Ships from forcing their way into the Harbour and to the South of this Castle stands a very fair Mosque The Castle on the European side which the Turks call Roumeli-inglu-issar is seated near to Cape Greco and in form is irregular within the compass of the Walls are Houses for the Aga and other Officers with a fair Mosque There is a Platform on which many great Guns are planted lying equal with the surface of the Water Near the Castle lies a small Village noted for its Five stately Pilasters that serve to underprop the Aquaducts bringing Water to the Fortress But notwithstand-these Castles whose Guns reach from Shore to Shore the Venetians and other Maritime Nations have insulted the Harbour for the Castles lie not directly opposite least in firing they should batter each other The Castles are appointed to examine Ships that pass and re-pass and the Governors have Orders to sink such Ships as will not comply Beyond these Castles that are of Modern building are two old Castles one on each shore that on the Asian side the Turks call Natoli-jski-jsiar it is of square Building flanked at the corners with Towers and in the midst of it is a large square Tower on which some Culverin is placed and behind this Castle is a large Village of about 3000 Inhabitants Christians Turks and Jews These by us are called the Castles of the Dardanelles That on the European side is of a Regular Fortification and indeed we may esteem this narrow Passage well guarded by these Castles and Constantinople so advantageously Scituated that no great City in the World can boast of more Advantages as will by and by appear Being examined at the Castles and leave obtained to pass we arrived at Gallipoly about 35 Miles from them This Town was anciently built by one Callias Prince of the Athenians and after his Name called Callipolis but now corruptly Gallipoly it is thinly inhabited by Greeks who mostly sell a Liquor called Raki a kind of Brandy and some Oyl The Doors of their Houses are not above two Foot high and so made to prevent the proud Turks Insults who are hereby prevented riding in on Horseback In this Town there is a square Castle with a Tower joyned to it by the Pummel of a Wall to the Seaward there is an Arsenal where the old Galleys are laid up which the Turks affirm to have been taken from the Venetians when they took the Island of Cyprus but in Truth they are a part of their own shatter'd Fleet that escaped from the Battle of Lepanto and were by main strength carried over the Isthmus of Corinth and put into the Archipelago they not being able to bring them about by Sea because the Christians had possessed all the Passes After having been a-shore and pretty well refreshed in this place we weighed Anchor and with a West South West Wind passed the Isle of Marmora At this place the Sea is wide and this is properly the Propontis though now called mostly Mare de Marmora and here though we had a fair Wind the Current setting strong against us we could not make much way however Sailing on we in a little time came in sight of Constantinople which is about 125 Miles from Gallipoly and entering into the Streight of it we had
never opened and that the Moors conceal them out of Avarice to take out what is precious and raise the price of such Rarities to a higher Rate Being let down in one of these Vaults I saw many parts of Bodies but little entire they being much broken and mangled by such as had out of Curiosity carried away pieces of them This place is full of Piramids but most of them very small unless one that never was finished which if compleated had been near in bigness to the largest I have mentioned proportionable to the Basis there are in it Ascending and Descending Alleys at the end of which are 3 Rooms but it not being finished as the rest as to what it might have been is but Conjecture some hold that this mighty Work ceased when Alexander the Great seized on Aegypt and the Greeks wrested the Kingdom from the Race of the Ancient Aegyptian Kings On the other side of the Nile opposite to this place are to be seen the Ruins of the Ancient Memphis where the Aegyptian Kings held their Court but Time and the spoiling Hand of War has made it as Troy a heap of Ruins It seems to have been exceeding large and extended along the River till you come over-against Old Caire so that although I spent many Hours in viewing these Ruins I could find nothing of Note but pieces of Pillars and Images the low Foundations of what seem to have been Ancient Temples and little else Remarkable Returning towards Caire I came to Maltherea 3 Miles distant from the City where are a great many curious shading Orange-Trees and a delicious Spring of Water which is said to have been the abiding place of the Blessed Virgin when she fled with our Saviour into Aegypt There are likewise Mirtle and Lemon-Trees that render the place very pleasant This Spring and Joseph's Well in Caire are all the Springs of Water I could see or hear of in Aegypt That Well is of a prodigious Depth cut in a solid Rock 106 Foot deep yet so broad and winding are the Steps that two Oxen may go down to the bottom where in a Hole is a very curious Spring and that Water is held precious near it are some remains of Pharaoh's Pallace and a Room called Joseph's Hall adorned with Gold and Azure and many Pillars also his Steward's House remarkable for 12 Columns of Thebaick Marble Near to this there is a dreadful Prison in which it is held that Patriarch was cast upon the false Accusation of his Mistress this consists of several Dungeons cut of the Rock and if Tradition be true his case in that place could not but be lamentable for it appears very Dismal and Loathsome The common received opinion that it Rains not in Aegypt is groundless the Showers fall seldomer and less violently than in other places so that a great part of the Country is dry and barren Sand the chief Fertility is occasioned by the melting of the Snow from the Mountains and the overflowing the River Nile of which famous River I come now to speak more particularly This River has its source near the Mountains of the Moon or Jews Mountains in Aethiopia where it is very small but gathers many Rivers in long running which makes it swell much it runs through the length of Aegypt having its course from South to North discharging it self into the Mediterranean Sea by two Mouths making a Triangular Isle by the Greeks called Delta because it resembles the Greek Δ these Mouths are Navigable for large Vessels for though it has others they are less and can properly be called no other than Rivulets It is broader than the Seine and for the most part glides smoothly unless where its Cataracts make it rage and foam by its falling from a great heighth when it overflows it appears like a little Sea the Water is naturally thick and muddy but they have a way to Clarifie it by running it through Vessels filled with white Earth and then it is very wholesome Most of the Cities Towns and Villages are Scituate on its Banks or very near it for the conveniency of Water which is precious in that Country for there are so many Villages that you have scarce passed one but you come at another This River abounds not much with Fish and there is but one good sort found at Caire called a Variole but there are a vast number of Crocodiles in it who no doubt devour the Fish this is an Amphibeous Creature living at pleasure in the Water or on Land the Head of it is flat above and below and the Eyes or it indifferently big and very darkish they have a long sharp Snout with long sharp Teeth but no Tongue to be perceived the Body large and all of a bigness the Back covered with high Scales like the Heads of large Nails of a greenish colour so hard that they are Proof against a Halbert their Tailes are very long covered over with Scales but the Belly is white and pretty tender it has four short Legs with five Claws on the foremost Feet and but four on the hinder It grows as long as it Lives and some are about 20 Foot from Head to Tail these great ones many times snap young Children at Land and sometimes put up their Noses and pull People out of their Boats in the River so that many go with Spikes to prevent their putting up their Noses and it is dangerous to swim where their haunts are But that they Weep when they have taken their Prey is for what I could find a Fable To take these Creatures they make a great many Pits by the River side and cover them with rotten Sticks so that passing over the Sticks give way and they fall in then Men let down a Rope with a running Nooze to muzzle their Snouts and so they draw them up and kill them for their Skins which they sell to Strangers at good Rates None but the Moors will Eat of their Flesh There is also in the River a Hyppopotamuses or Sea-Horse and is of a tawney Colour the hinder part like a Bouffler though its Legs are short yet very thick it has the muzzle of an Ox and some are about the bigness of a Camel its Head resembles that of a Horse and is very great but the Eyes are small the Ears little the Neck thick the Tail like an Elephant's in the lower Jaw it has four Teeth half a Foot long two of them are crooked and as big as the Horn of an Ox in circumference This famous River mainly fertilises Aegypt and without it it would be desolate nay if it should fail but one Year to overflow there would be a Famine in the Land which some hold it did for seven Years when the mighty Famine happen'd in Joseph's time restrained by an Almighty Power but seeing that Famine extended to others Land this may be but Conjectural when it Ebbs it leaves a fat nitreous Slime that greatly enriches the Land and
from the main Land is the Glory of Islands so termed viz. the famed Ormus at the Mouth of the Persian Gulf it is Southward from the main Land the Gulf reaching from thence to Bassera which is in the bottom of it Ormus lies in 27 degrees North Latitude 180 Leagues from Bassora it has a Fort that was built by the Portuguese but taken from them by the great Schah Abbas King of Persia assisted by the English The Island is no more than 3 Leagues in circumference and mostly Rockey but it has gotten its Fame from the Riches that flowed thither from India and Persia as being a considerable Mart especially when the Portuguese held it As for the Water and Provisions they are mostly brought from the main Land and because there is a deficiency of Springs they keep rain Water in Cisterns and little more now is Inhabited beside the Fort round which the Persians have cut a Trench and let the Sea into it by a Canal for it stands on the point of the Island and is the last Province of Persia this way There are great store of Oysters about it about the bigness of ours but much harder to open A League to the South-west is the Island of Lareca it is bigger then Ormus but very Barren the Ground consisting of a burning Sand it reaches in length from North-west to South-east There is little in it except a Fort which was begun by the Dutch but the Persians fearing they would prove ill Neighbours if they fortified it took it out of their Hands and finished it As for Persia in General it is environed with Mountains and Barren Desarts which are main Bulworks against the attempts of powerful Enemies Their is a scarcity of Money which is one main reason they cannot set a great Army on Foot in so vast a Country and this I think proceeds from the smallness of Trade for the Persians are not very industrious all of them standing much on points of Honour There are few or no Fruit-Trees to be found but in Gardens and in most places the Water is bad and Wood exceeding scarce in almost all the Provinces Their chief Manufacture is Silk and some Stuffs There is abundance of Liquorice growing almost every where but little of it set The Country abounds in Brooks which render the ways very bad to Travel in Winter and some Rivers most of which are in Mazandara whose chief is Eschref and most of these Rivers fall into the Caspian Sea Here is the greatest store of Wood in the whole Country of Persia but there are a vast number of Serpents and Scorpions who dying in multitudes during the hot Season corrupt and infect the Air rendering it unwholesome so that in fine Persia is said to be a large Kervanserai that serves for a Passage for the Money and Goods that go out of Asia Turkey and Europe to the Indies and to the Stuffs and Spices returning of which they have a small Profit Designing now I was thus near to vâ—sit the Indies I found some of my Company willing to embrace the opportunity of leaving Ormus and embarking for Bassora at the bottom of the Gulf and accordingly with all our Baggage we safely Arrived and Landed there CHAP. XVI A Brief Account of Aethiopia as I received from Mounsieur du Pau who resided many Years in that Court BEING now at Bassora preparing for a Voyage to the Indies it will not be amiss to entertain you with a brief Relation of Aethiopia or the Country of Abyssins which I had of a French Gentleman I found here who had Travelled in that vast Country and lived some time in the Court and this I the rather set down because I know not whether I shall ever Travel into that famed Country yet I shall be as Brief as may be He told me it was bounded on the East by the Red Sea and Zanguebar on the South by Avousa Ziela Narca c. on the West with Nubia and the Country of Negros on the North with part of Nubia and Bugia and is about 7 Months Travel in Circuit The King has four Kings Tributary to him viz. The King of Senner who pays him Tribute in Horses and lives in an excessive hot Country the King of Naria who pays him Tribute in dust Gold the Kings of Bugia and Dangala who sends their Tribute in Stuffs and Slaves In this Country are Mines out of which Gold is gotten and sent to the Coasts of Saffala and Guinea and these Mines are shallower than in other Countries They have likewise a great deal of Civet which is scraped from the Testacles or rather from an opening slit between or near the Cods of a Civet Cat this Beast is almost as big as a midling Grey-hound with a sharp Nose and Head like a Fox they have Feet Tail and Whiskers like a Cat. When the People of the Country fall out they go before their Scheiks who do the good Office to make them Friends again They anoint their Heads with a strong Oyl extracted from the Root of an Herb to keep them from swarming with Lice which they are very subject to The Provinces of Aethiopia are Gouyan where the King has a Viceroy Beghandir Amara Dambia all very Mountainous Damoud Tygre and Barnegas also other Provinces depending on it Governed by Princes who are his Vassals The Air is in some places temperate but in Senner very hot In this Kingdom are 24 Tambours or Viceroys The Capital City is Gonthar in the Province of Dambia The King has 100 Wives and yet so little Jealous contrary to the Persians and Turks that he keeps no Eunuchs to look after them it being counted a Sin in that Country to geld a Man He is of easie access so that the poorest have freedom to make their complaints to him or speak to him what they are minded He keeps the numerous Children he has by his many Wives on a Mountain called Ouohhni 2 days journy from Gonthar On the top of the Mountain there is a pleasant Cave where they keep them a Nights and in the Day time when they are big enough their Guardians let them play about the Mountains When the King dies they chuse one of the wittiest and likeliest of them and Crown him not regarding Birth-right then are the Brothers removed a distant place to be kept Prisoners and his Children as he gets them sent to the forementioned Mountain The Burying-place of the Kings is called Ayesus and is a Grot cut out square in a Rock there the Aged are laid on one side and the Younger on the other side and near it stood a very pretty Church built by the Jesuits but they diving into Politicks and State Matters gave such suspition to the King that they intended to undermine his Throne as made him banish them and demolish their Church and Houses puting some to Death that lingred behind as also divers Capuchins setting a bag of dust-Gold on their Heads which made
the Abyssins hunt out and cut off divers of them which they sent to the King and received their promised Reward so that the poor Fathers were forced to pack up and be gone however in the place where the Church stood there is a place erected which contains a curious Library stored with Books of divers kinds of Learning in various Languages This Country produces very good Wheat and Barley and is pretty Fruitful in most places where the Desarts are not for there are very great ones in it of 3 or 4 Days Journey which are Wavey like the Sea when the Wind blows strong from the South or South-west insomuch that Men and Cattle are buried under Mountains of loose Sand if they be in the way where the Desarts lie most exposed to those Hurricanes The King in his Progress always lodges in Tents the Houses of their chief Nobles being very mean in respect of those in Europe and the Walls of those of the meaner sort are of Mud and Slime There are almost Men of all Trades in this Country they have no Camels here but store of Mules Horses Asses and Oxen. The People have an ill custom in eating raw Flesh except the King who has it dressed and drinks Wine of the Grape the rest drink a Liquor made of Millet or Sarasin-Wheat and they have a Spirit made of it as strong as Brandy They have Cloths Stuffs and Velvets Imported by the way of the Red Sea and are Habited like the Franks or Europeans The King has a Guard of Harquibusiers As for their Money it is pieces of Cloth cut out going by weight and little pieces of Salt they cut out on the side of the Red Sea The places where they make it is called Arho There is amongst them the Nation of the Gauls who have no Fire-Arms but use in War Sphears and Targets and often make War with the Aethiopians their Riches consisting in Cattle and as this Gentleman informed me there are a great number of different Languages spoken in this Country and discoursing him about the River Nile which has its rise there he told me he had seen the source of it and that the Spring rises in and issues out of a Well in a large Plain shadowed with many Trees and that well or Spring is called Ovembromma It rises in the Province or Little Country of Ago and is a very pleasant Water there from the Spring it runs Northward through a long tract of Land and having passed several Cataracts or falls which are very high places with a terrible roaring it passes on smoothly till it enters Aegypt and is as I have elsewhere said the main support of that Country for should the Aethiopian King turn the Current Aegypt would be little better than a Desart which the Grand Signior as many have guessed fearing is the cause he molests not the Aethiopians with War and the reason of its over-flowing in Aegypt may be supposed to proceed from the great Rains that fall in Aethiopia about that time for when it is Summer in one place it is Winter in another There are but a Mountains any thing near the Spring of Nile and those are called the Jews Mountains because they once inhabited them but growing powerful were driven out for fear they should Rebel and compelled to live in the Plains These Mountains are exceeding high for in that hot Country they have always Snow on their Tops or Spires There is a Generation of Portuguese among the Aethiopians for anciently the Moorish King of Zeila forcing a King of Aethiopia to fly into the Mountains he implored aid of the Portuguese to restore him to his Throne who with their Fire-Arms slew the Moorish King and so terrified his Army that they left the Country and for this their Traders on the Coast were put into Offices and had rich Possessions bestowed on them when setling and Marrying with the Native Women their progeny encreased The King and all his People are a kind of Christians of the Cophlish Religion and believe but one Nature in Jesus Christ at the end of 8 Days they Circumcise their Males and Baptise them 14 Days after their Patriarch depends on him of Alexandria They say Mass as the Cophites do but their Books are in their own Language When their Patriarch dies they send to Alexandria and that Patriarch sends them a fit Person CHAP. XVII The Author's Voyage from Boassra in the Persian Gulf to East-India and Things remarkable in the dangerous Passage particularly Water-Spouts rising from the Sea and remarks on them STaying at Bassora for a fair Passage to East-India in a little time it happen'd as I could wish I found an Armenian Ship there of 28 Guns and most of the Mariners were Banians of India the rest Armenians except the Master and two more who were European Christians the Master an Itallian and the two Mariners Greeks This Ship was English built and very stench but how it came into their Hands they declined to tell me though I afterward understood they had bought it for 16000 Roupies when it was in a bad condition and repairing it they put up Armenian Colours and had 3 Passports to indemfie them from the Europeans that have Factories in India Our Cargo consisted of such things as could not be vended at Bassora as Indico Cloth Dates Chests of Glass Venetian Looking-Glasses and a good quantity of Money to buy Indian Commodities I hired a Cabin and laid in Provision and Water fearing in so hot a Voyage the latter might grow scarce and it was not without precaution for so it happened Setting Sail and getting clear of the Islands we steered South-west and had Water at 5 and 8 Fathom 2 Men being continually heaving the Lead least we should fall on Shallows or Rocks that are under Water near the Shoar It will be endless to tell you the often shifting of the Wind the Calms we had and the Tackings we made therefore let me say with some difficulty we got to the Island of Carek the first place the Ship designed to Traffick at This Island reaches in length from South-east to North-west is very narrow about 3 or 4 leagues in circumference and 50 Leagues from Bossara it is partly Hills and partly Plains yielding Grapes Barley Wheat Dates and good store of fresh Water which is a precious commodity in those Countries There are Wells dug on the top of Rocks 10 or 12 Fathom deep and have Steps to go down and from the bottom of these Wells the Water passes and runs under ground into the Plains Near to the Wells there is a neat Mosque on the Hill and on the Island is 150 indifferent Houses and near it a Pearl Fishery The King of Persia is Lord of it and great numbers of Boats come to Fish for them in May June July and August Here we unladed part of our Goods but sold little by reason a Dutchman had been there before and forestalled us giving out this
Kingdoms viz. Narsinga Malavar Ballasia Cambaia Mandao Bengala Aristan Comora and Dellia The second seven viz. Macine Aracan Couchin-Chian Baram Siam Pegue Malavar The whole Country seems to take its denomination from the vast River Indus which runs 1000 Miles e'er it falls into the Sea and the Empire of the Great Mogul is the Principle many of the others being petty Kings some of them paying him Tribute and his Territories are usually called the Mogulistan The present Great Mogul is held to descend directly from the line of Tamarlan the Tartar whose Successors setled in the Indies and took to themselves the Name of Moguls to distinguish them from those to whom that Prince left Zagalay Persia Coraffau with other Countries to be Govern'd after him and they concluding this Name would contribute to the Glory of the Family because the People would be the more easily perswaded they are of the Race of the great Ginguiscan the first Emperour of the Ancient Moguls It has been successively maintained for many Generations and is a mighty Empire established in India As for Mogul is was anciently the Name of a mighty People Inhabiting a Country at the extreamity of East-Tartary inclining towards the North which others have called Mongul and Mongal some Mogulistan where Ginguiscan was Born and that Emperour reduced it wholly under his Obedience before he proceeded to the Conquest of the rest of Asia and both himself and Subjects were called Moguls The Great Mogul is said to carry 300000 Horse into the Field with him when he makes War beside a considerable Army of Foot yet the most knowing Indians say though he pays so many there is not above half of them in Arms at once The great Men that Command usually for their own advantage it being the most they have to live on double the Muster-Roll He has in his Dominions 20 Provinces or Governments and those that have made them more have mistaken by making two of one The true bounds of his Empire to the West are Macram or Sinde and Candabar On the East it reaches to the River Ganges on the South it is limitted by the Gulf of Bengala the great Sea and Decan on the North by a part of Tartary It extends from East to West above 400 Leagues and from North to South 500 and this vast space some Mountains and Desarts excepted is very much replenished with Cities Towns Castles Boroughs and pleasant Villages and the Country about them very fruitful in Corn Rice Fruits c. In the Province of Guzerat in this Empire is the Town of Surat of which I have spoke something already It lies in 22 Degrees 7 Minutes North Latitude watered by the River Tapty The Walls were formerly of Earth but they are framing now of Brick 2 Fathom and an half thick and of the same heighth being cautioned so to do for its better defence upon its being plundered by Raja Savegi who made himself Master of great Riches though he took not the Castle nor was able to force the Factories of the Europeans who had Fortified them with Cannon and making a stout defence saved their Goods from the spoil This Raja had his Government in the Mountains and did great mischiefs in India though Aurenzeb the Mogul or Emperor did all he could to prevent it In building the new Wall a great many Houses are left out of the Town especially those built of Cane When the Mousson or Monson a Wind that serves for Trade of Shiping blows the Town is full of People so that 't is difficult to get any Lodging and this is in January February March part of April and sometimes all that Month. It is Inhabited by Indians Persians Arabians Armenians Turks European Christians and some few other Nations though the proper Inhabitants are divided into 3 Orders the first of these include the Indian Moors and others of the Mahometan Religion the second are Gentils or Heathens who adore Idols the third are the Parsis who are likewise called Guares or Artechpirest adorers of Fire professing the Religion of the ancient Persians and these retired into India when Caylif Oman reduced Persia under the Power of the Mahometans The Banians are here the richest Merchants some of them being held to be worth 8 Millions of Crowns The Dutch particularly among other Europeans have driven a great Trade here as did the English and these had Houses assigned them for their Factories called Lodges very neatly built The Castle is built on the side of the River Tapty and is a Fort of moderate bigness and of good strength it stands at the South end of the Town and defends the Entry against those that would attack it It is square and flanked at each corner with large Towers The Ditches on 3 sides are filled with the Sea Water and the 4th which is on the West is washed by the River In this Castle the Mogul's Revenues gathered in the Province are kept and never sent to Court without Order On the West side there is a stately Gate to enter at which is in the Bazar or Meiden and this Castle has a particular Governor and the Town has another The Houses of the Rich are but meanly built of Timber Brick Lime and Tiles and most of these being fetched a great way renders building very dear by reason there is no Stone in this Province They make their Laths of Bambous Cane and they chuse by reason of the excessive heat of the Sun which drys and craks so fast to build when it Rains rather than in dry weather As for the Houses of the ordinary sort they are made of Cane and covered with Palm branches The Streets are large and even but not Paved They spare the Oxen here to Till the Land and carry Burthens feeding on Cow-Beef especially for the most part they have good Mutton and abundance of Poultry and eat with their Meats the Oyl of Cnicus Sylvestris or wild Saffron the best in the Indies also that of Sesamum which is common but not so good They have white and red Grapes there but they make an eager and unpleasant Wine because the heat is so excessive they have not deliberation enough to ripen nor is the strong Waters drunk there much better it is made of Jagre a a kind of course black Sugar dissolved in Water with the bruised Bark of the Baboul-Tree and so Distilled They make strong Water likewise of Tary and draw a Brandy from Rice Sugar and Dates which however is but very sorry stuff and kills many of the Europeans who coming a long Voyage too suddenly fasten on those Liquors and drink intemperately They infuse these ingredients likewise in Water and by setting them in the Sun make Vinegar At Surat are sold all sorts of Stuffs and Cotten Cloth that are made in the Indies likewise a great many European Commodities and those of China as Purceline Cabinets and Coffers adorned with Turquois Agats Cornelian Ivory and all sorts of Embellishments here are
they were forced to raise the Siege and leave their Tents Artillery and Ammunition with 1000 wounded Men in their Camp though the Turks in their Passage had seized Aden by Treachery and strangled the King of that place At Diu is made the Stone Cobra so famous for antedoting the biting or stinging of Serpents it is composed of the Ashes of a burnt Root mingled with a kind of an Earth they get under the Rocks and making these into a Paste they form the Stone of it then they prick the Wound and letting a little Blood out they apply the Stone leaving it till it falls off of it self it has the same effect on Wounds made by Poyson'd Weapons and after that put into Womans or Cows Milk it leaves the Poyson it has sucked in and if it be not so used it will burst There are two other Towns of Note in this Province viz. Nariad and Mamadebad where they make store of Stuffs the latter furnishing this and adjacent Provinces with Cotton Thread The income of this Province to the Mogul's Treasury is accounted Twenty millions and five hundred thousand French Livres yearly Travelling on I entred the Province of Agra which I reckoned the largest in the Mogul's Territories Agra which gives it the Name is the Capital Town in it It is distant from Surat 210 Leagues and is seated on the River Gemna in 28 Degrees and an half North Latitude The River has its source in the Mountains to the North of Dehly and increasing by the way it is here considerable and passing through large Countries empties it self into the great River Ganges at the Town of Halbas Mogul Ecbar made Agra a City it being before but a Borough and establishing the Seat of his Empire there called it Ecbar Abad or the Habitation of Ecbar joyning several Villages by other Buildings to enlarge it He fortified it very well with a Castle and Walls of great heighth and strength and had his Pallace in the Castle containing 3 Courts with Porches adorned with Gilding and Painting nay some pieces plated with Massy Gold There are many stately Sepulchers Baths Pillars and other things of great Antiquity And here Aureng Zebe Imprisoned Cha-Gehan his Father when he mounted to the Throne and in that confinement he died who has a little Sepulcher erected to his Memory There are in Agra a great many Christian Families some reckon 5000 but the computation is not agreed on The Dutch hold a Factory in this Town and for the greater encouragement of Travellers the Foursdar an Officer in the nature of a Sheriff is obliged to make restitution to those that are Robbed and this is punctually observed in all or most of the Provinces Here are Elephants Antelopes Leopards and other Beasts that they use in their Games for fighting I saw here Green Pidgeons and the Indians have a cunning way to catch them in the Water for they go into the Rivers Naked and keep their Bodies under Water their Heads only remaining above which is covered with a Cap of Feathers in the Form of a Water-Fowl so without scaring them draw them under Water by the Legs In the Mountains about 5 days Journey from hence they Hunt and take store of Merovers or wild Cows of which Hunting they make great advantage Their Pictures in Agra are pretty well done but mostly in bandy Postures exceeding Active being purposely drawn to stir up lacivious desires and therefore I shall pass them over The Agrians are the best Workmen I ever met withal in working Gold on Agat Christal and other brittle things which few of our Lapidaries or Goldsmiths can do or if they can fall short in equalling them Passing from Agra I came to Fetipour once the Seat of the Empire but now not much considerable except for its lovely Meidan and Mosque the entry of Ecbar's Pallace and some stately Pillars scattered up and down it was slighted as they say because all the Springs about it were brackish and unwholesome I was informed in this Province there are upwards of 3400 Towns and Villages of which next to what I have named these are the Chief viz. Bernzabad Chitopour Bargant Mirda Hindon Ladono Chalaour Byana Canova and Scanderbade most of these produce Manufactures of Stuffs Silks Tapestry c. and the Revenues of this Province mount very near to that of Guzerat Next we entered the Province of Dehly by difficult ways because the Rains had made the Rivers swell in many places It bounds on Agra to the North and Dehly the Principal Town of the Province is about 45 Lergues from Agra and Mogul Cah Gehan and Aureng Zeb made it the Royal Seat of the Empire the way is all along planted with curious Trees in a Line and each half League is marked with a kind of a Turret and there are conveniencies by the way for Travellers to shelter and rest in There is by the way likewise an ancient Heathen Temple visited by the Gentiles who provide necessaries for a great many Apes that are kept there and they pay a kind of a blind Devotion to them as the Creatures of the Pagods Dehly seems to be composed of certain Villages and there is the Ruins of a Town which the Indians say was the Regal Seat of King Porus famed in History for the Wars he maintained against Alexander the Great There is to be seen a Piramid or Obelisk of Stone with an Inscription in very ancient Characters which they say Alexander erected in Memory of his Victory over Porus but the Character not being Greek renders it doubtful This City lies in an open Champion Country washed by the River Gemna it has a Fortress half a League in circumference with a strong Wall and a round Tower every 10 Battlements being secured by a Ditch wharfed with Stone and a Garden round it In this Fortress the Mogul holds his Pallace and keeps the Ensigns of his Royalty and from hence he beholds the fighting of Elephants and other pastimes at Land as also on the River and towards the Town is a large place where the Rajas in the Mogul's Pay Encamp as his Guard The Market is kept in a fine Square where abundance of Juglers and Fellows pretending to Conjuration shew Tricks All the Mogul's Attendance in the Pâ—llace shew him a profound Reverence standing demure before him with their Hands a cross upon their Breasts none daring speak unless Commanded and at Noon every Day he gives Audience to such as have recourse to him for Justice administring it Impartially without respect of Persons There is a stately Hall wherein he gives Audience to his Ministers about affairs of State and those of his Houshold and in this Pallace is a Throne of Massie Gold set with Flowers of Diamonds Emerald Rubies and other precious Stones and a Peacock made out in all its Colours with Gold Silver and precious Stones insomuch that it resembles the Life and is of vast value They say these were begun by Tamarlan
on carry Burthens draw in Coaches Carts Chariots the white ones are esteemed the best and bear an extraordinary price They make store of Salt-Petre in this Province which is done in this manner They dig a fat black Earth and put it into Pits mingling it there with Water and beating it with great Wooden Beaters so let it stand till the Water has imbibed the saltness then they draw it off in Pots Resine and Boyl it till it Rocks and being dried in the Sun they sell it to the Europeans who carry it home as Ballast and vend it at good Rates This Province is held to pay the Mogul between 30 and 33 Millions a Year by way of Tax and Customs Departing from hence mostly through a Country indifferent Fertil and watered with some small Branches of Rivers I entered the Province of Sinde or Sindy which by some is called Tatta bounded with Azmar to the East and the Mountains that border partly belonging to one Province on the North with Multan on the South with a Desart and the Indian Sea and on the West by Macram and Segestan It reaches from South to North in length on both sides the River Indus and the Orientals call that vast River Sinde or Sindy On the Banks of it was fought a Famous Battle between Ginguiscan first Emperor of the Tartars and the Antient Moguls and Sultan Gelaleddin which alotted the Empire to the former in his gaining a Victory wherein 200000 Men were Slain so that he utterly vanquished the Caezmian Princes who had for a long time been Masters of Persia all Zagatay and the greatest part of the Country of Turquestan This River runs 1000 Miles and receives many other Rivers into it its Banks are thick of Towns but there is no great store of Fish in it by reason of the Allegator or Crocodiles that destroy them The chief Town in this Province is Talta though there are several others of Note and Trade as Died or Diub-sind it lies between 24 and 25 Degrees North Latitude At Talta particularly there is a great Trade where the Indian Merchants come from all parts to buy up the Goods made there the Inhabitants being very ingenious in all kind of Arts. The great River mentioned makes many Islands towards this place which are very Fruitful but little Inhabited yet renders the Town very commodious were it not for the great heat that reigns there in the Summer Season At Lourebender 3 days Journey from this Town upon the Sea there is a fine Road for Shipping being reckoned by many the most commodious in the Indies which causes a great Trade where the Palanquins of Talta are vended being the neatest in Indostan The best and neatest Chariots and Coaches made in India are found here though the Indians Travel in Palanquins which are a kind of Couches with 4 Feet having on each side Ballisters 4 or 5 Inches high and at the Head and Feet a back-stay like a Childe's Cradle This Machin hangs by a long Pole called Pambou by the means of 2 Frames nailed to the Feet of the Couch these Frames have great Rings through which Ropes pass and also the Pole or Pambous and so the Planquin is carried on Mens Shoulders who ply for that end for a small matter These Machins are very richly adorned every one doing it after his own humour as he is able some with Tisue others with Cloth of Gold or rich Embroidery for as the Indians are generally Neat so they are mostly Proud taking a delight to show their finery to Strangers The other Provinces of the Mogul's Empire are Multan Candahar Caboul or Caboulistan Cachmir or Kichmir Lahors Ayoud or Haoud Varad or Varal Becar Halabas Oulesser or Bengala Malva Candich Balagate Doltabud Telenga and Baglana but these and some others in India not under the Jurisdiction of the Great Mogul for want of an opportunity and an indisposition I had by reason of the intemperateness of the Air upon often changing Climates not giving me leave to take a strict survey of them I hope the Reader will pardon some Omissions and be pleased to guess at them by what I have said of many in particular since as to Trade People Building Manners Customs c. they little vary only I shall say something of the Famous River Ganges and then conclude my Travels in this Torrid Country with General but very Material Observations The Ganges as well as Indus is a vast River full of pleasant Islands covered with lovely Indian Trees which delight the Passengers for 5 or 6 days Sailing The Heathens or Gentils Indians esteem the Water They have Temples and Pagods near it and here have a freedom of Worship the chief Pagods are that of Jaganat which is at one Mouth of the Ganges and that of the Town of Bonarous upon the River these are superstitiously decked with Gold and Jewels Millions of People repair thither and Festivals are kept for many days together when they carry their Idols in Triumph The Great Mogul drinks commonly of the Water of the Ganges though many affirm that if it be not boiled it causes a Flux This River having received a vast number of Brooks and Rivers from the North-east and West discharges it self by several Mouths into the vast Gulf of Bengala at the heighth of about 23 Degrees and this Gulf begins in 8 Degrees North Latitude and is reckoned 800 Leagues over On the sides of it to the East is many Towns belonging to divers petty Princes who are Sovereigns with whose Subjects as well as the Moguls the Europeans Trade for rich Commodities On the banks of the Ganges are Herds of Deer grazing but the Crocodiles destroy many of them by pulling them into the River when they come to Drink and then devour them I saw a Negro Boy pulled under by one of them as he was Swiming but saw him no more The Ships that Moar in the River where these most haunt keep Guard by Night to prevent their clambering on the Decks and surprizing the Men a sleep CHAP. XIX Of the Marriages Apparrels Superstitious Customs the keeping the Mogul 's Birth-Day and other Things observed by the Indians as the Funerals of their Dead c. HAving described many Things worthy of Note in India I now proceed to others which I purposely omitted that for Brevity sake I might have the conveniency of collecting and placing them together The Marriages of the Mahometan Indians especially those of Note are celebrated with Pompous shows and much Magnificency they are Married by a Moula or Mahometan Priest and then the Bride in rich Ornaments is carried to the Bridegroom's Apartments on an Elephant The Females Marry very young as at 8 9 and 10 years of Age and some sooner but those that Marry early leave of Child bearing at 30 and are very much wrinkled The Wedding Ceremonies of the Gentil Indians is this the Bramen or Priest after having said some Prayers over the Couple puts a Cloth between
Privy or Supream Council of the Learned Mandarins in his Pallace who are called his Council of State which is the most Honourable Dignity in the Kingdom these consult and transact all the weighty Affairs and these have several Magnificent Halls in the Pallace wherein they meet to consult according to their Degrees and when he advances any one to this Dignity he adds to his Name the Name of one of these Halls Besides these there are 11 other Tribunals of Mandarins 6 for Ecclesiastical and Civil and 5 for Military Affairs The first of these are called Lo-pu and the last V-fu and these are of ancient Institution the Chineses dating it 2000 Years before the Birth of Christ and to these Tribunals People repair for the determining their Affairs and for Redress besides they dispose of Offices and Trusts and confirm Honour and Dignities Their Power is great for they have a jurisdiction almost over all that belongs to the Court and it is absolute over all the Provinces so that they are much feared and dreaded because they can place and displace at pleasure and examine into all Frauds and Abuses to the Crown and into Ecclesiastical matters They are fearful of doing any injustice by reason there is a Mandarin in the nature of a Controller or Overseer to every Tribunal who examins publickly or privately all that is done and if he finds any injustice or disorder he is bound to make the King acquainted with it he is called Coli so that seldom any Corruptness or Partiality is found amongst them and if it be the Offender is severely punished There are some other dependent Tribunals in Pekim and to every one of the Provinces there belongs a Supream Tribunal which has the oversight of inferiour Courts so that business is managed and dispatched with little difficulty They have made prodigeous Works in this Country to secure the Rivers within their bounds yet notwithstanding sometimes encreased by the violent Rains they break out to the destruction of vast numbers of People Cattle and Houses as it happened in the Year 1668 after violent Rains which almost destroyed the new City of Pekim and they had much ado to secure the Flood from overturning the Walls of the old City and in this Deluge which was accompanied by an Earthquake for it had a long time before been a very dry Season near a Million of People perished and though many got upon Trees Hills and Out Houses they were there starved for the most part for want of Boats to fetch them off and the rapid Flood tumbling Rocks along with it broke down two Arches of the Famous Bridge which is about a Furlong over This Bridge is the most beautiful in China but not the largest the River overflowing is called Hoen Ho or the Muddy River because the rapidness of its Stream carries with it a great quantity of Earth tore from the Banks and Windings which renders it muddy all the Year but it is little Navigable by reason of the many Cataracts or Falls in it yet for bringing vast Stores to Pekim from the Southern Provinces a Canal is opened 3500 Chinese Furlongs through several Provinces accommodated with 72 Sluces every one having large Folding-Gates and these are only open in the day time some of them being very difficult to pass with Barks of great Burthen because the Falls are great but they are drawn up against the Stream by the strength of 4 or 500 Men and let down in the like manner with many Ropes fastned to them to prevent setting on the Piles or plunging and they are guided by long Poles with Iron Heads at the end The Chanel begins at Tum Cheu about 2 Leagues and an half from Pekim where there is a River with the Currant of which Vessels drive till near the Sea and then it falls into another through which Vessels Sail till they come to the Chanel and Sailing about 25 Leagues a Temple presents it self called Fuen Hui Miao or The Temple of the Spirit that divides the Water hither they Row against the Stream but when they come at the Temple they Row with the Stream for on the East-side about half a days Journey is a large Lake between high Mountains this Water swells a great River that bent its course towards the Sea on the East but they stopped up the out-let and with prodigious labour cutting through the Mountain opened a Canal by which they brought the Water to the Temple in that part they hollowed 2 other Canals one towards the South and another towards the North with so true a proportion and regular Line that the Waters coming to the middle before the Temple take leave of each other one running to the North and the other to the South in one and the same Canal which is very admirable and discharges it self into a large rapid River called the Yellow River the Water being so coloured by the yellow Earth on the Banks and Gold coloured Sand and Slime at the bottom upon this River they Sail 2 Days and then entering another Pass to another Canal running towards the City of Hoaingan and running by and through many Cities comes to Yamcheu The vast Wall of China that excludes the Tartars is no less to be looked on as a work of Wonder it runs from East to West and in length 405 Portuguese Leagues making 33 Degrees 10 Minutes reaching from the City of Cai yean Seated in the extreamity of the Country called Leao Tum to that of Canso or Can cheu Seated on the borders of the Province of Xensi in a streight Line for should the turnings and windings in the Mountains be reckon'd it would make much more it is guarded by 1327 Towers and Fortresses the Wall is 2 Fathom thick and 4 in heighth built mostly of Stone though in some places Brick appears where it is supposed to be mended or altered so that were it vigilently guarded and no Treachery which too often happens by the Captains of the Watches being bribed with part of the Plunder the Tartars would be too feeble to surmount it for upon this Wall and Frontier only there are 90254 Men kept in Arms and Pay and those that keep the Watch-Towers give the Signal of the Enemies approach by a Flag in the day time and in the Night by Fire These are but part of the King's Forces for the Auxiliaries that lie ready to march to their assistance are in a manner innumerable for the Horse only amount to 989167 and the Foot are many more their Pay yearly amounting to 5034714 Livres though they in some sort maintain themselves by their Industry and no doubt as great if not a greater number guard on the other Borders so that there are several Millions in Pay for in the Kingdom there are 2357 Fortified Places beside a great many that are Garrisoned upon almost inaccessible Mountains and Rocks that being strong by nature have no Walls In the 15 Provinces there are 332 Famous Bridges 2096
Chairs Couches c. To mention the several sorts of Fruits and Provisions would be almost endless they have allmost all we meet with in Europe and a large addition of what we have not in variety of Fruit especially of delicious tast During 3 Months of Winter they have vast store of Game and on the Rivers they pitch Nets 200 Yards long and set dead Wild fowl on their feet as if they were alive for stakes to decoy the living as Ducks Phesants Wild Geess c. of which and other Fowl so many are taken that they are sold for little or nothing They have 3 sorts of Bears which they Hunt one called the Man bear the other the Dog bear and a third the Pig bear because their Snouts and Faces a little resemble these Their Paws boiled and well ordered are a great dainty among the Chineses and the Tartars much admire their Fat which they eat These are scarce but for Deer wild Boars Ellands Hares Conies and the like they are in vast plenty in most of the Provinces After all this the Weather is piercing cold in the Winter Season and very hot in the Summer so that in the former they keep Fires in Stoves and in the latter retire the better sort into cool Vaults and Cellers Their Firing is a kind of a Stone-coal dug in the Mountains and sometimes in the Plains except in Woody Countries and they are at great charge in Carriage It gives as violent a heat as Charcoal and the heat is very lasting They sleep on Mats or Carpets and in the Day-time sit together in clusters on them the better to preserve the Heat for the Colds are sometimes very Excessive the richer sort have Beds and the Stoves are under the floors of their Rooms which sometimes by reason of the excessive Heat take Fire burning the House and surprizing in the suddain Flames all that are sleeping in it The Chineses that they may be Magnified by Strangers take a pride to be very civil to them and give them the upperhand at their Feasts seating themselves according to their Degrees yet the Eldest give place to those who come from the remotest parts When any Ambassador arrives from the Day his Embassy is allowed till his departure he is furnished with all manner of Provisions Horses Letters Barks and lodged in the Royal Palace where every two days the King sends him a sumptuous Entertainment of all sorts of Varieties They take great care and a kind of pride in their Apparel the poor among them going very Neat and Decent The learned Men affect a grave Gesture and count it a sin to appear in any thing contrary to the Rules of decent Behaviour and Urbanity The Women affect Modesty Chastity and Honesty keeping themselves covered so that when they present any thing to their nearest Relations they lay it down their Hands being covered with their Sleaves and retire with Silence They rarely stir abroad and are exceeding Submissive and Obedient towards their Husbands there being nothing they command them though never so difficult but they willingly Enterprize Upon their Festival Days they have a great number of Illuminations and Fire-works representing divers Creatures and Figures in the Air so that on a Hill at a distance one would think all the Cities were on Fire The Lanthorns in the Pallace and Royal Halls are vastly Big viz. 20 Cubits and sometimes more in Diameter holding 100 Lamps or Tapers so that they cast a glorious Light and Figers turning in them by the force of the Smoak represent in swift motions many curious Actions as Fights Dances Hunting Hawking and the like CHAP. XIX Travels through Tartary to Muscovy and what is observable on the way in those vast desert Countries the Nature of the People their manner of living with a particular Discription of Astrakan and the Sturgeon fighting in the River Volga HAving visited China and learned what I thought convenient for it is not good to be too Inquisitive for fear of being taken as a Spy I began to be weary of the Fatigue and of so long an absence from my Native Country wherefore I resolved to take the first opportunity to return home and it was not long e're Fortune befriended me to pass by Land for the way by the Caspian Sea is very dangerous for that little Sea or rather great Lake is full of Flats and Shallows very tempesteous in most Seasons and has a great number of Rocks in it with dangerous Eddies or Whirl-pools by reason about 100 large Rivers discharge themselves violently into it for there was a Caravan going from Pekim to Bokara and in it I entered my self with all Necessaries for my Journey and in 15 days the Weather being very fair and our Stages large we reached Soezi the last Town of China without the great Wall and here I stored my self with abundance of good Ruburb that grows in their Gardens which stood me in much stead when I came into the cold Countries and from hence we journeyed mostly North-west and the principal Towns in our way was Baretola Kechemire Kiboal Samark and some others which by reason of my Indisposition on the Road I shall not undertake to describe Let it suffice then that the Tartars inhabit mostly this vast Track of Land in some places very Mountainous in others vast Deserts and Forrest the ground Sandy and Stony for the most part and all along I could see Snow On the tops of the high Mountains though in the beginning of Summer the People are Rude and Simple most of them living by feeding Cattle which they drive from one place to another carrying their Wives Children and all they have along with them pitching Tents in their Encampments especially where they find pleasant Springs and stay there till the Grass is Eat up and then they remove The Tartars are a very numerous People and spread a vast track of Land in Asia and Europe and Principally they are thus divided viz. The Precopenses Asialica Antiqua and Cathur from their Principal Provinces which may be termed though there are other numerous little Divisions too many here to mention and though they are a cruel kind of People our Caravan met with no on-set by the way though we see numerous Hoards of them on either hand As we see their Houses are mean and inconsiderable and their Diet mostly raw Flesh in many places and above all they are great lovers of the Fat of Bears yet they give not their Minds so much to Robberies as the Arabs or other untractable Nations because few of them know the use of it or at least have no great esteem for Money some are Idolars and some Mahometans This Track abounds in Furs and there are some Mines of Gold and Silver found in many parts but they little regard Diging it and so barbarous are they that many of them dress their Children at great Feasts to entertain their Guess as the choicest of Dainties nor do they refrain from
Feastings on their Dead There are a great many strong Stags and Harts I saw in my Passage which they use to Ride carry Burthens and draw their Waggons or Sledges Mulbury-Trees grow in some places along the Roads especially bordering on China which are laden in their proper Seasons with Silk-worms that produce much Silk but they little regard it it being mostly gathered by the Banians who live scattered among them who send it to Persia and other Countries and have rich Merchandize in return for here the coldness of the Country obliges them mostly to habit themselves in Furs and thick course Cloathings They trade much in White and Black Fox Sables Hart and Fawn Skins they have vast Forrests of Black Wood wherein many huge Bears lurk to surprize Travellers which made us keep close together when we passed such places and have our Eyes about us as well as our Fire-arms in readiness and so keeping the Road though not without many turnings and ruged ways when we had passed Samark and it brought us to Bockar where I staid some time to refresh me for I had been ill of a Flux by the way which still held me so that I took no great pleasure to make any curious remarks here and had I done it as I was informed there is nothing worthy of Note in the Town the Houses being plain and low Built the Streets crooked and no Antiquities memorable Here the Moscovites and Yousbecs Tartar are driving a considerable Trade together in Furs and other Commodities Having here pretty well recovered by the assistance of a German Physician I found in this place I thought a convenient opportunity to pass to Astrakan which in a few days I had passing part of the way in Sledges drawn by Harts that run with them very swiftly and an other part by taking Horse there being a kind of a little Caravan made up by the meeting of divers Travellers The Muscovites use Sledges that in the Winter they slide swiftly over the Snow and Frozen Rivers having Beds in them and covered over with Tilts like Waggons so that they are a warm Convenience notwithstanding in Winter Travellers have been Frozen to Death in them Astrakan is Seated on the Great and Famous River Volga which at 70 Mouths or Channels discharges its Water into the Caspian Sea and so forcibly that it keeps it stream unmixed with the Salt-water for many Leagues In this River the Muscovites have a great Fishery for Sturgeon which they catch in abundance very large so that the Eggs sometimes found in one of them may weigh 100 Weight As for the Flesh they pickle up and send it into divers parts of Europe some they press to make Oyl and the Eggs they salt to make Ragous to serve them instead of Butter which in Lent is denied them and this is the Cavere so much used in many Countries In the Summer there are so many Muskela's or Sting Gnats about this River that Passengers are miserably Stung and Blistered by them though they wrap themselves up and defend them all they can We were forced to stay before this City till we obtained leave of the Governor for admittance which after a little attendance was granted It is Seated in 48 Degrees North Latitude in an Island of the Volga 13 Leagues from the Mouth of the River and appartains to the Great Czar of Muscovy It is encompassed with a double Wall without any other Fortification except some few Towers half Musket Shot one from an other The Great Guns planted there are fine pieces and about 80 in number it stands low on gravelly Ground so that the heat is excessive in Summer and the People are constrained to Bath themselves in cool Water in Troffs placed in Vaults yet the Soil produces good Fruit of sundry kinds they have store of excellent Mellions especially the Karpous or Water Mellions their Rhinds Green but of a Rosey Red within of a pleasant tast cooling and delicate to quench Thirst There are divers sorts of Grapes of which they make a kind of pleasant Wine but it soon Sowers All this while no private Person dares touch a Grape till the Governour has made choice of them and other Fruits for the Czar's Table There are divers Nations inhabiting here drawn by the Convenieney of Trade and the sweetness of the Air. The Armenians entirely possess one Suburb and the Nogais Tartars an other which resemble a City being Fortified with Wooden Ramports and the Deputy Governour Commands there within the Enclosure stands a pretty convenient Mosque but the Houses for the most part are made of Bull-rushes of which there are about 2000. They keep a Market in the Morning in their Quarter and the Mascovites keep theirs in the Evening in the middle of their City yet this City is often insulted by the Calmuc Tartars which constrains the Inhabitants for their better Repose to send them Presents which the Tartars call a Tribute of Bread Fish Flesh and other Provisions and they drive a Trade with them for Furs and Horses of which they bring great plenty besides the Muscovites are many times obliged to them for their assisting them with Men in the time of their Wars CHAP. XX. Travels in Muscovy and Observations of what is worthy of Note as to the Towns Rivers Mountains Commodities Heats and Colds Laws Religion Manners and Customs of the People c. and from thence through Poland and Germany into Holland HAving a desire to see Muscovy and particularly Moscow the chief City I made it my business to find an opportunity to leave Astrakan and pass thither As for this vast Country it is bounded on the West with Lithuania and Livonia on the East with Tartary on the North with the Frozen Ocean on the South with the Caspian Sea the Ottoman Empire and Paulus Maeotis It is branched with many large Navigable Rivers as the Tanais Borhistenes Volga c. It is divided into 9 Provinces viz. Novog Radia Valademira Plescovia Rhesen Servia Parmia Condoria Petrosa and Muscovy though from this last the whole Track takes its Denomination Towards the Southern parts it is pretty plentiful of many things of Value yielding Corn Cattle Furs Flax Hemp Wax Honey c. but the Northern parts lye very cold the Earth being so long covered with Snow that the Ground is chilled and produces not its Fruits kindly yet Furs are gotten off of White Black and Red Foxes Grey and Red Squrrils Minever Ermins Wolverin or wild Dogs The Woods which are generally Fur and Birch abound in Ravenous Creatures particularly Wolves and Bears which in the extremity of Weather pinched by Cold and Hunger comes in great Clusters to the Villages near the Forrest and puts the Inhabitants to flight many times killing and devouring them and their Cattle so that at such times by way of prevention they are forced to be on their Guard But as to these and other matters of the like nature I shall take them in course as
Pears Cherries black and red Hurtle Berries Apples Rasps Strawberries and other delicate Fruits for so the Almighty Wisdom has ordained it that when the time of Thaw comes which is usually the end of March the Snow being cleared off the Ground after that becoming dry in 14 days Flowers and all other products of the Earth sprout out and flourish incredibly the Woods show a pleasing Green and the Birds every where warble Mellodiously especially Nightingals who Sing more distinct and clear than any where else The Storks busy themselves in Building in ruined Edifices Hawks of all kinds in the Rocks and Sea-shoar-cliffs Eagles in the rockey Mountains more Northernly the Hare in Winter is White sheds her Coat and becomes the colour of ours The Lakes and Rivers are stocked with Swans and variety of other Water Fowl so that the face of things seem admirably changed and the Country is so pleasant that those who should see it in Winter how Dismal and in a manner Desolate it appears and knows no more would conclude it impossible or take it for quite an other Climate Therefore I took my opportunity of Travelling here whilst it was seasonable for the dreadful Stories I heard of Winter made me sometimes allmost fancy I had an Ague in my Bones at the Relation of them but the Muscovites are hardy answerable in a good degree to the Climate and are more patient of Cold and Hunger than others by which means they have the advantage of their Enemies in firing them out by Winter Camps and other Fateigues For a Russ Soldier told me he had often made his Bed in the Snow without any Tent only hanging up his Mantle against that part from whence the Weather drove and turning his back to the Wind his Drink being the cold Stream with a little Oat-meal dusted into it and the Forage for his Horse consisted in that Season of Twigs and Bark of Trees and yet performed well the service undertaken others to harden and inure themselves to the Cold the better go abroad Hunting the Beasts that bare the Furs have come sweating out of their Bath Stoves in the ridged Season and leaped Naked into a River where the Ice has been broken and it is a remedy among them against the Numbness of their Limbs occasioned by cutting Winds to rowl themselves in Snow yet for all this there are many tender among them that cannot endure these hardships The Women are much confined at Home and very Obliging and Obedient to their Husbands yet so much Heat as they endure being closed up in Winter tending their Fires makes them but of a bad Complexion yet they mend their Faces by their Husbands allowance with a Red and White Paint but easily discernable yet being the Fashion is not minded and especially among the Vulgar If a Man sometimes beats not his Wife she will be Sullen and fancy he loves her not and they have a Custom when they first pretend Courtship among other Presents to send a Whip to show the Woman what she has to trust to if she prove Disobedient and this they take more kindly than the rest but I find these matters though proper to be known yet some digression from Travels have drawn me to launch too far this way therefore now I come something more home to the purpose The next chief City of Moscovy is Novogrod pleasantly Seated and a place of considerable Trade the Building mostly of Wood as generally the Building is in all this Country the Streets in many places not paved but planked with Furr jointed and laid in so that it shoots the Water off commodiously it is the head of a Province or Shire where the Court of Justice do determine matters is held by a Duke and Dyack the Latter acting in the nature of a Secretary and these Courts are held in all chief Cities but an Appeal lays from them to the Office of the four Chetfrids at Moscow who are chief Judges of the four Quarters or Divisions of the whole Country of Muscovy each holding an Office for his District or Quarter and all the Shires or Provinces apply themselves to the Office of that Lord of the Chetfrid they are under then the matter is laid before the Czar's Council and what they Determine is sent back to be put in Execution Vologda is an other principal City seated on a River of that Name where is a great Trade for Furs Hides Tallow Corn and other Merchandize bringing in a considerable Revenue in Customs and other Taxes to the Prince who has a part in this an other places for almost every thing that is sold so that his Incoms are very great accounted no less than 13 Millions of Rubbles a Year and a Rubble is reckoned according to Exchange a Mark English Voldomir is an other City of considerable Trade and gives name to a Province it is built very regular and pretty well Fortified and is watered by a considerable Stream at leastways very near it But besides Moscow the Towns or Cities of chief strength are Vobsko and Smolensko Cazan and Astrakan lying on the Borders and defending the Country against the Inroads or Incursions of the Tartars Jaruslave an other fair City for its commodious Scituation on a high Bank of the Volga is in great Esteem The Country about it is exceeding Fruitful in Corn-pasture Fruit-trees and has a great Fishery on the River In this City they say dwelt the Russ Prince Vlademia Sir-named Jaruslave who at the Mediation of Sneno the Dane married the Daughter of our King Harold Perislave is a considerable City commodiously built on the Banks of a great Lake yielding in it abundance of Fish and enriching it by Trade from such Towns as border on that Lake or the Rivers that fall into it Rostove may be numbered among the rest for here is a great Trade for Furs and other Commodities bought up to disperse into other parts of Europe and Merchants come hither as far as Persia some say from China beyond the great Wall built to exclude the roving Tartars of which I have already spoke of There are a great number of other Towns the Country being mostly to the Southern parts full of them but not so considerable as these I have named for the Houses are of Wood most without any Lime or Stone built very close and warm with Fur-trees plained and piled over one another fastned together with Notches or Dents at every Corner and between the Timber for warmness they stuff in Moss and the Houses have Stairs leading out of the Yard into the Chamber and this manner of Building seems more agreeable to the Country than any other as being far warmer than Stone or Brick in the extremity of Winter and in Summer the Moss being pulled out of the Chinks le ts in the cool breathing Air to refresh them and of this Timber they have such plenty that for a small matter a House may be Built with many Appendages or Conveniences
for Shops Merchants Ware-houses or private Families for 20 or 30 Rubbles or little more and when the Houses fall to decay they store them considerably with Fireing and other Necessaries as Perma Weclinda Totam Kentisma Solovetsky Ocona Bombasey and None-nosks are famous for their Salt-pits where great quantities are made and out of which the Czar has a considerable Revenue as 3 Russ on every hundred Weight The Rivers that water this Country besides what I have named are Wichida a long and large River which rises out of the Country of Permia and falleth into the Volga Duna that empties it self into the Baltick Sea by the Town of Riga Onega that falleth into the Bay of Solovetsko ninety Verst from St. Nicholas This River below the Town of Cargo Polia meeteth with Volock that falls into the Finland Sea by the Town of Yama so that from the Port of St. Nicholas into the Finland Sea one may go by Water to Suchana This River floweth into Duyna and so into the North Sea there are abundance of Fish in it and in the open Season it is in a manner covered with Water-fowl Duyna is many hundred Miles long which falleth Northward into the Bay of St. Nicholas a Bay so Named by one Chancelour an English Man who first found a North-East passage to Russia in 1553. and called the Bay St. Nichola's Bay from an Abby Dedicated to that Saint standing near it and upon notice of his arrival was sent for with great Joy by the Czar to Moscow whether he went on Sledges 1500 Miles and was received in great Joy and highly Feasted with great State and Magnificence the Court appearing in all its Splendor overjoyed now in hopes of an open Trade by Sea for before they were obliged to carry their Merchandize through the Hastill Territories of Poland Sweeden and other Countries to ship them for these parts and hereupon Ambassadors were sent to England and a free Trade granted with large Priviledges whereupon a Company now called the Muscovy Company settled Factories at Arch-Angel and other Towns adjacent having Lands allowed them and an Agent or Consul permitted to reside at Moscow though since the Dutch and other Nations have found the way and interloped upon them This Bay lies in 64 Degrees North Latitude yet the Country about it is very pleasant in the open Season and in the River stands an Island called Rose Island where are Roses Damask Red Violets and abundance of pleasant Flowers and Fruits There is a Monastery near it of 700 Monks who live after the Greek manner and have large In-coms for they receive rent for the Lands lying many Miles round them However there is in this Country many desarts and wast places especially to the Northward with rockey Shoars and craggy Mountains but on the latter they breed Goats and a kind of wild Horse Volverins or wild Dogs but the latter mostly in the Woods near the Rocks they find a Fish called Morso a Sea Monster who by the help of his Teeth clambers up to get his prey of Eggs that the Wild-fowl lay in the Pits and hollow places his Teeth are about two foot long and better for use than Ivory of which they make Knives and Sword halfs c. They fancy that in pursuing these on the Ice and the Flakes breaking away some of their People were driven by the Currants and Winds on the coast of America and stocked in a great length of time that large fourth part of the World because there is some resemblance between them but I fancy this opinion Groundless They Hunt likewise the Seals on the Ice and kill them by striking them on their Noses with Clubs and make good Merchandize of their Skins and the Oyl they get from them As for the Nobility of Muscovy they are four-fold The First are called Vâ—â—â—nâ—y Knazey and these are of chief Authority as being the Ancient Nobility that is exempt or priviledged Dukes The second are the Bojazens such as the Czar honoureth besides their Nobility with the Title of Counsellors The third are the Vayavodey or such as have been Generals of Armies or done some great Exploits for their Country The Fourth and lowest degree are such as have the Title of Knazey or Dukes but descend from younger Brothers of the chief Houses all of these have priviledges suitable to their Degrees and make a considerable Figure The Parliament is held at Moscow composed of the Clergy and Nobility summoned by the Czar who sits in his Throne in that Assembly and others according to their Degree Then the Dyack or Secretary reads what is purposed by the Prince to be propounded to them the Patriarch with his Bishops and other Clergy are hereupon required to give their Opinions first in order who generally consent to what is propounded and the Nobles agree with them as thinking such Holy Men cannot Err then is it drawn up and sent to be proclaimed as standing Law in the principle Cities and head Towns of the Empire The Moscovites as to their Religion are Christians of the Greek Church very superstitious in their Worship for they often in their Devotion beat their Fore-heads against the floors of their Churches till they are Swelled and sometimes Bloody they pay a Veneration to Saints and particularly to St. Nicholas whom they stile their Patron they Reverence the Virgin Mary St. Peter and others They have the Cross and Holy Water in high esteem among them and their Bishops go in Procession to hollow the Rivers once a Year at which time the People strive for the Water many leap into it and dip their Infants though the weather be extream cold This Water so Hollowed is likewise given to the Sick with a fancy it will restore them or by cleansing make them fit for an other World They keep four Lents and then they abstain from strongs Liquors and all gross sort of Food as Flesh c. they observe certain Vigils watching in their Churches by Night repeating Arisons and bowing their Fore-heads to the floor a certain number of times Their Marriages are celebrated as ours but with some odd different Ceremonies viz. The Bride stoops down and knocks her Head against the Bridegrooms Shew in token of her Submission and Obedience and the Friends of the Bride bow to him then they break Bread and Eat it among them intimating that by this Marriage the Friends on either side are united as the crumbs of Bread were in the Loaf and that they are to account themselves as one Man and one Family c. The Funerals of their Dead are very solemnly performed they Wash and Apparel the Body very neatly then are their Mourners appointed for some days to Howl over it and often to demand what was the occcasion it died seeing it wanted nothing of Wordly Goods as Meat Drink Riches c. naming the sorts and kinds and then set up a hideous Lamentation much like the wild Irish If it be in the open