A NEW GEOGRAPHY WITH MAPS to each COUNTRY AND TABLES OF Longitude Latitude LONDON Printed for Robert Scott at the Princes Arms in Little-Britain 1681. Advertisement to the Reader THE following Geographick Treatise with some other Parts of this Book had the ill fortune to be left uncompleat by our Renowned Author who was snatcht from us whilst he was with greatest application hastning the Edition thereof This deplorable accident hath been the occasion that it hath been so long detained from publick view and that now it is come abroad with much less lustre than ought to be expected from the Judicious and Learned Pen of Sir Jonas Moore As far as could be Collected from the Maps he had caused to be engraven in his Life-time and the several Tables of the Latitudes and Longitudes of the Cities of Europe written with his own hand we have endeavoured to prosecute this Design he had laid and have given you a brief and succinct Description of the several Regions of the whole Earth and have been more or less particular therein according as our knowledg of the Countries we describe is more or less perfect The Maps are taken from the newest Geographers extant and therefore 't is probable the most exact time still producing corrections and amendments in the Works of them that went before and our first Meridian is that of the Isle of Ferro the most Westerly of the Canaries which at present all the French Geographers are obliged to observe The Tables are deduced from the Maps and serve to find out any place in them without long search This Reader is what was thought necessary to advertise thee of in this place and if any mistake have escaped unseen you are desired candidly to excuse it or at least not to attribute it to our deceased Author Vale Fruere THE WORLD IN PLANISPHERE GEOGRAPHY Or a Brief DESCRIPTION Of the whole EARTH THE Earths Surface whose Description is properly termed Geography is by many and sufficient Arguments made appear to be of no other than a Sphaerical Figure and the Circumference thereof hath in this our Age been more curiously than heretofore inquired into and found by the Concordant Observations of the Gentlemen of the Royal Academy of Paris and of our worthy Countryman Mr. Norwood to be very near 25000 English Statute Miles and consequently its Diameter 7958 Miles The greater part of this vast Globe is covered with Water which we call the Sea out of which the Land rises with very slow Ascents the hight of the highest Mountains and Prominences thereof scarce amounting to the two thousandth part of its Radius and only serving to cause the Rivers to run with slow and easie Chanels The Air on all sides encompasses it and renders it habitable and the principle of Gravitation whereby all Bodies descend towards its Center is that which defends it from dissolution by not permitting the least part thereof to be separated far from it into the reason whereof Philosophers have hitherto inquired in vain This Globe by its two-fold motion enjoys the grateful Vicissitudes of Day and Night Winter and Summer the former by turning round upon one of its Diameters in the space of 24 hours and shewing all its sides successively to the Sun This Diameter is called the Axis and its extremities the Poles of the World which by the experience of many Ages are found unalterable and fixt in the Earth and the direction of this Axis by some unknown Magnetical Principle of Nature is always carried parallel to it self during the time of the revolution of the other motion whereby the Earth is carried round the Sun in the space of a year and the Axis being inclined to the plain in which the annual motion is performed causes the one Hemisphere to have more of the Suns light for the one half year and the other Hemisphere for the other These affections though necessary to be premised here you will find explicated and demonstrated more at large in the Astronomical part We come now to the Explanation of the terms which have been thought proper in the illustration of Geography We must observe that there are greater and lesser Circles and that the former divide the World into two equal parts and the latter into two parts also but unequal All these Circles severally are divided into three hundred and threescore parts which are called Degrees There are four greater Circles to wit the Equinoctial the Zodiack the Horizon and the Meridian and as many lesser to wit the Tropicks of Cancer and Capricorn and the two Polar Circles the Artick and Antartick The Equinoctial Circle is so called because when the Sun enters it the days and nights are of an equal length it is also called the Equator because it divides the World into two equal parts Seamen call it only the Line For the right understanding of this Circle we must know that the Heavens seem to move upon two points called Poles the one bearing the name of Artick and the other of Antartick in a middle distance from which Poles this Circle is imagined to be the use of it in Geography is to divide the Earth into two parts the one Northern towards the Pole Artick and the other Southern towards the other opposite Pole The Latitude of places is reckoned from the Equinoctial where it begins towards the Poles wherein it ends and this space contains ninety Degrees Latitude is either Northern towards the Pole Artick or Southern towards the Antartick The Zodiack is the Suns High way and this Circle cuts the Equinoctial into two equal parts from which its greatest distance is but twenty three Degrees and an half it only shews what places of the Earth may have the Sun perpendicular and more properly belongs to the Heavens than the Earth Horizon is as much as to say boundary because that Circle limits our sight and divides the Heavens and the Earth into two parts which are called Hemispheres the one whereof we see but cannot the other There is a right Horizon a Polar or Parallel one and an oblique one those places that lye under the Equator have a right Horizon and are in the right Sphere those that are under either of the Poles have the Parallel Sphere and all other places have an oblique Horizon and are in an oblique Sphere This Circle shews the Rising and Setting of the Stars and the four principal Quarters of the World which are East West South and North the East is on the side of the Rising Sun the West is where the Sun Sets the North is towards the Pole Artick and the South towards the Antartick These four Quarters are very necessary for distinguishing the limits of Regions as will appear throughout this whole Treatise From thence come the four principal winds all which the Horizon sheweth but it is not marked on Maps but only on the outside of Globes and Spheres Meridian signifies Mid-day Circle because when the Sun is come
to it it is Noon in that place whereof it is the Meridian for over every part of the Earth there is a Meridian so that the number of these Circles is almost infinite However out of all those there is one pitched upon which is called the great or first Meridian or the Geographers Meridian The Ancients chose the Meridian of the Canaries which they knew by the name of the fortunate Islands and some Moderns make use of it still in their Maps Others have pitched upon the Meridian of the Isles Azores or Western Islands which lie to the West of Europe From this first Meridian the Longitude of places is reckoned from West to East through the three hundred and sixty Degrees of the Equinoctial which is the circuit of the whole Earth whereas Latitude is only reckoned to ninety Degrees which make but a fourth part thereof The Tropicks are so called from a Greek Word Tropos which signifies turning because when the Sun is come to one of these Circles he returns again towards the Equinoctial The Tropick of Cancer is towards the Pole Artick and that of Capricorn towards the Antartick and both carry the names of the Signs of the Zodiack through which they pass each of them is distant from the Equinoctial three and twenty Degrees and a half which is the greatest distance of the Sun from that Circle The Polar Circles go round the Poles from which they borrow their names and are distant each from his Pole twenty three Degrees and a half Of the Zones THE four lesser Circles whereof we have been speaking divide the World into five parts called Zones that is to say Belts or Girdles because they begird the whole Globe One of them is Torrid two are temperate and two cold The Torrid Zone is comprehended between the two Tropicks and the people that inhabit it are called Amphiscians that is such as have their shadows both ways To all places of this Zone the Sun comes perpendicular twice in a year and therefore some of the Ancients believed this Zone inhabitable by reason of too much heat but we know it to be otherways now a days The Northern temperate Zone is between the Tropick of Cancer and the Artick Polar Circle The Southern temperate Zone is between the Tropick of Capricorn and the Antartick Polar Circle The Inhabitants of these Zones are termed Heteroscians that is such as have their shadow but one way The Frigid Zones are within the Polar Circles the Northern within the Artick and the Southern within the Antartick the people of those two Zones are called Periscians signifying that they have shadows round them on all sides To all places in these Zones the Sun in Summer never sets for some days and in the Winter he never rises for as long time The Inhabitants of the World are distinguished after another manner according to the different Scituation they have to one another as into Antipodes Antoecians and Perioecians The first are wholly opposite and when it it is Noon with us with our Antipodes it is midnight and they have Winter when we have Summer Our Antoecians have Noon and Mid-night when we have them but Winter for our Summer And our Perioecians have the same seasons that we have but the hours quite contrary for when we have Noon it is Mid-night with them Of Climates A Climate is a space of the Earth contained between two Circles Betwixt the beginning and end of a Climate in the length of the longest day of Summer there is half an hours difference For the clearer understanding of this it is to be observed that Countries under the Equinoctial have all the year round twelve hours day and twelve hours night but as places recede and are distant from the Equator they become more and more unequal and the days in Summer are longer than the nights This inequallity is marked by the Climats so that when on either side of the Equinoctial we find a place where the longest day of Summer is of twelve hours and a half that is the first Climate and so successively till we come to the Polar Circle where the longest day of Summer extends to twenty four hours For beyond that Circle the days encrease by whole days and months until ye come to the Pole under which the whole year makes but one day and one night six months long a piece Climats take their names from the famous places through which they pass Now to know in what Climate one is we must from the number of hours of the longest Day in Summer subtract twelve and double the Remainder that is reduce them into half hours and that will shew the Climate wherein we live CHAP. I. Of some proper terms of Geography HAVING explained the Circles that are useful to this Science we are now to consider some terms and words which are peculiar to it Continent is a vast space of Earth such as that which comprehends Europe Asia and Affrica it is likewise called the main Land Island is a piece of Land surrounded with the Sea or other Water and so divided from the Continent Peninsula that is to say almost Island is a part of the Earth encompassed by the Sea on all hands except on that part which joyns it to the Continent the Greeks call it Chersonesus a term sometimes made use of in Geography Isthmus is that Neck or Piece of Land that joyns a Peninsula to the Continent Promontory is a high Land running out into the Sea The Moderns call it a Cape Mountain is a part of the Earth higher than the rest that is about it Ocean is that vast body of Water which environs the Continents and is likewise called the Sea Gulph is an Arm of that Ocean running in between Lands The Latins call it Sinus and sometimes it has the name of Sea Bay is likewise an Arm of the Ocean but whose entrance is much wider than that of a Gulf. Port is a small part of Sea so hemb'd in by the Land that Ships may there lie in safety Harbour is the same thing almost Streight or Frith is commonly taken for a Channel that joyns one Sea to another or a Gulf to the Ocean there is also a Streight or Neck of Land which as we have said is called an Isthmus Banck is a heap of Sand in the Sea which puts Vessels in danger A Shelf is much the same on which and on hidden Rocks near the Surface of the Water Ships may split and be cast away Archipelago is a part of the Sea where many Islands are River is a running Water that loses its streams in the Sea CHAP. II. The Division of the Earth and Sea THE most common Division of the Earth is into four parts which are Europe Asia Africa and America the three first are comprehended in one Continent and is our old World and the other makes an Island of it self called the new World because it hath not been discovered but since the Year
one thousand four hundred and ninety two it is likewise called the West-Indies in distinction from the East-Indies which are in Asia Some Geographers divide the Earth into six parts adding to the four which we have named the Artick towards the Pole that gives it its name and the Antartick towards the South Pole this is called Terra Australis incognita or the Southern Land undiscovered and is thought to make a Continent as big as Europe Asia and Africa Of these two last we shall speak at the end of this Treatise Europe has Asia on the East separated from it by these limits the Egean Sea or Archipelago the Streights of the Dardanelli the Sea of Marmara the Streights of Constantinople the Black Sea the Streights of Caffa the Sea della Zabache the River Tanais and a Line drawn from its most Eastern Bank to the North Sea it hath the same Ocean on the North the Atlantick Sea on the West and the Streights of Gibraltar and Mediterranean Sea that divides it from Africa on the South From West to East that is from Cape St. Vincent in Spain to Constantinople it contains seven hundred seventy five French Leagues and from South to North that is from Cape Malee in Morea to the Northern Cape of the Laplanders eight hundred and twenty five Leagues Asia has to the West the same bounds that divide it from Europe and the Red Sea with the Streights of Suez that divide it from Africa on the South the Indian Ocean the Ocean of China on the East and on the North the Sea of Tartary called Mare Glaciale From East to West it contains seven hundred and fifty Leagues from the Archipelago to the Ocean of China and from South to North a thousand five hundred and fifty reckoning from Malacca to the Sea of Tartary Africa has on the North the Mediterranean Sea on the East the Red Sea with the Isthmus of Suez that divide it from Asia and the Indian Ocean On the South the Ethiopian Sea which with the Atlantick Ocean is likewise to the West of it From West to East that is from Cape Blank to the Cape of Guardafuy it contains a thousand six hundred and fifty Leagues and from South to North that is from the Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterranean Sea a thousand six hundred and seventy It is on all sides encompassed with the Sea except that narrow track of Land between the Red Sea and Mediterranean which is not above thirty Leagues in Length so that it is a perfect Peninsula America hath the North Sea to the East the South Sea to the West to the South the Streights of Magellan which divide it from the Terra del fuego and to the North unknown Lands or Seas It is divided into two great Peninsulaes by the narrow Ibstmus of Panama which is but eighteen Leagues over From South to North that is from the Streights of Magellan to the Northern Ocean it contains three thousand and fifty Leagues and from West to East towards Mexico two thousand nine hundred The Terra Australis and that of the North are so little known to us that their limits and extent cannot as yet be designed Having taken a view of the Earth let us now cast our eyes on the Sea which takes divers names according to the parts of the World where it is or the Countries it washeth That which encompasses Continents is called the Ocean and this likewise hath different appellations as on the West of Europe and part of Africa it is called the Western or Atlantick Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope the Ethiopick Ocean to the East of Africa the Indian Sea to the East of Asia the Eastern Ocean or Sea of China to the North of Asia the Sea of Tartary and on the same side and towards Europe Mare Glaciale or the Frozen Ocean to the East of America the North Sea and to the West the South These are the general denominations of the Sea but it hath also particular names from the Countreys that lie near to it The chief Gulfs or Bays of the Ocean are the Mediterranean Sea which lies betwixt Europe Africa and Asia the Red Sea betwixt Africa and Asia the Gulf of Persia and that of Bengala in the East-Indies the Baltick Sea encompassed by Germany Sweden and Denmark the Gulf of Mexico and that of St. Laurence in America These Gulfs are joyned to the Ocean by Streights the Mediterranean Sea by the Streights of Gibraltar the Red Sea by that of Babel-mandel the Persian Sea by the Streights of Bassora otherwise of Ormus The Gulfs or rather Bays of Bengala Mexico and St. Laurence have no Streights because their mouth or entry is very large The Baltick Sea has the famous Streight of the Sound The Mediterranean Sea hath some noted Bays that well deserve to be mentioned Betwixt Italy and Dalmatia is the Gulf of Venice called in antient times the Adriatick Sea In Greece is the Gulf of Lepanto heretofore of Corinth And in Macedonia that of Salonica formerly of Thessalonica Between the Egean Sea now called the Archipelago and the Propontis or Sea of Marmora there is a Streight heretofore called the Hellespont and at present the Streights of Gallipoli or the Dardanelli and St. Georges Channel between the Sea of Marmora and the black Sea formerly called the Euxin Sea is the Bosphorus of Thrace which is now a days called the Channel of the Black Sea or Streights of Constantinople because that famous City is seated there betwixt the Black Sea and the Palus Meotides at present called the Sea delle Zabache is the Streights of Caffa heretofore named the Cimmerian Bosphorus Betwixt the Island of Euboea at present Negropont and Greece there is a narrow passage of Sea by the Ancients called Euripus who have affirmed that it ebbed and flowed seven times a day There are some other famous Streights which joyn several parts of the Ocean together or to say better the Ocean to the Ocean it self Towards the Northern Ocean is the Streights of Waigatz between Tartary and nova Zembla between Cathay and the Land of Jesso is the Streights of Jesso between Japan and the Land of Jesso is the Streights of Sengar between the same Land and Califurnia is that of Anian between Estotiland and Greenland is that of Davis between Greenland and the Island of Elizabeth is that of Forbisher Towards Canada is that of Hudson which according to the new Maps is properly a Gulf. Towards the Terra Australis is the famous Streights of Magellan discovered by him who gave it the name in the year one thousand five hundred and twenty between America and the Terra del fuego Betwixt this Land and that of the States is the Streights of Le Maire discovered in the year one thousand six hundred and sixteen And between that Land of the States and the Terra Australis is the Streights of Brouvers discovered in the year one thousand six hundred and forty
which remain still The Spaniards have built many there the most considerable of which is Lima on the Sea side with a Port. This is the Residence of a Vicroy and Archbishop The other chief Towns are Arica Arcquipa St. Miguel on the Sea and in the Inland Potosi near the famous Mountain of the same Name wherein are inexhaustible Mines of Gold and Silver La Plata so called for its Silver Mines San Juan del Oro and some others The Original Natives of this Kingdom have for the most part been extirpated by their Conquerors and those that were not were converted to the Catholick Faith so that there are several of them Suffragant Bishops to the Archbishop of Lima. The Countrey of Cinnamon lies betwixt Peru and Guiana it was so called by reason that there were Trees found there whose Bark had a great affinity to the true Cinnamon There are no Towns nor Villages observed there Tucuman is between Chili and the Region De la Plata and hath St. Jago del Estero for its chief Town We must now see what are the Mountains Capes Rivers and Streights of this New World It s chief Mountains are the Andes or Las Cordilleras which lie to the East of Peru. The Ingas caused ways to be cut out in them which surpassed all that the Roman Grandure ever could do They filled up deep Valleys and cut through high Rocks the remains of which prodigious Works are still to be seen In Mexico the Mount Popochampeche continually casts out Flames The most famous Capes are Cape Breton Cape Florida the North Cape and that of St. Augustin It s greatest Rivers are that of St. Lawrence in Canada of the Holy Ghost in Florida Oranoka Maragnon the River of Amazones and Rio de la Plata in South America all which run into the North Sea no considerable Rivers fall into the South Sea The most noted Streights are towards the North those of Davies and Hudson towards the South the Streights of Magellan Le Maire and Brouvers of which we shall speak after that we have considered the Islands that lie about this Continent CHAP. IV. The Isles of AMERICA WE shall in the first place view the Isles of the North Sea which are the most considerable for there are but very few in the South Sea and we shall proceed from North to South New-Foundland is an Island near the Bay of St. Lawrence and Land of Canada upon the Banks of which there is a great Cod-fishing The Isles of Assumption is in the Bay of St. Lawrence and the Sandy Island to the South of New-foundland The Bermudas are in the middle of the Ocean and the Bahaman Islands to the East of Florida Cuba lies to the South of them and upon the Mouth of the Bay of Mexico it is above Two hundred Leagues in length and about Threescore in breadth St. Jago is its chief City and an Episcopal Seat Next to that is the Havana where the Spanish Flota Rendevouze and meets on their return homeward from America it lies on the West of the Island and almost opposite to Cape Florida Hispaniola called likewise St. Domingo and by the Natives Haity is about Three hundred Leagues in circumference and lies Eastward from Cuba The Capital City which gives it the Name is St. Domingo the Residence of a Viceroy and Seat of an Archbishop The object of Avarice is found there I mean Gold and Silver Mines The Spaniards have dispeopled these two Islands and banished the Natives as they did from most of the others Jamaica lies South from Cuba and belongs to England the Two chief Towns of it are St. Jago de la Vega otherway called the Spanish Town by whom it was built and Port Royal or the Point built by the English and an excellent Harbour the Governour of the Island resides in the former It is rich and in a flourishing condition St. John de Portorico is to the East of Hispaniola its chief Town which is that of St. John has an excellent Harbour This Island was formerly called Boriquen The Caribbe Islands are to the East of the former and as it were at the Mouth of the Gulph of Mexico which they seem to shut they lie ranked in form of a Crescent and reach from North to South The most remarkable of them are Barbadoes St. Christophers Guadaloupe Dominico Martinico Antego Grenada and the Trinity The English Dutch and French possess most part of them Margareta lies somewhat more Westerly and the Fishing of Pearls which gave it its name renders it famous The Natives of these Islands as in many places of the main Land were Man Eaters or Canibals but at present the greatest part of them are destroyed or forced to seek some other way of living The Isle of Cayenne is near the main Land upon the Coast of Guiana an Island made by the Mouth of a River called also Cayenne The French had settled there and printed Relations of it but in the late Wars the Hollanders dispossessed them and have planted a Colony of their own The Isle of Maranhaon is also at the Mouth of a River that likewise carries the same name The South Sea has very few Islands near to America these are only found there Mocha on the Coast of Chily is an Island of some consideration Califurnia hath been long taken for a Continent but it is at length found to be an Island supposed to be divided from the Land of Jesso by the Straits of Anien and from New Granada by a pretty large Channel which is called the Vermilian Sea The Isles of St. Thomas Nublada and Rocapartida are to the South of Califurnia The Isles of Salomon are in the middle of the South Sea towards the Coasts of New Guinea And now you have Reader what we thought fit to speak of this New World When it was discovered the Inhabitants were either plunged in Idolatry or void of all Religion Of this kind were the People of Brasile Those of Mexico worshiped Idols and Sacrificed Men unto them they plucked out the Hearts of those wretched Victims and threw them at the Feet of their Gods made of Gold and Silver The People of Peru were more moderate in their Worship their Sacrifices were not so cruel they chose for their God the most Glorious of all the Lights of Heaven but they believed him not the Almighty for they assigned a Father and Soveraign to him as well as to all other created Beings and called him as we have already said Pachacamac But it is strange that in all this vast Continent there was no trace of Christianity to be found all of them were ignorant of that yea and of a matter of far less importance though of great use I mean of writing They could not conceive how a piece of Paper could convey the words and thoughts of People at a great distance to one another We may affirm that these Countreys are every way far distant from ours The Beasts Plants Flowers and Fruits are quite different from what are amongst us and the People of Europe imparted theirs to them with the Religion that they profess CHAP. V. The TERRA AUSTRALIS NORTH POLE Betwixt the 30 and 40 degrees of South Latitude and the 210 and 220 of Longitude some late Maps mark a Countrey which they call New Zealand discovered in the year One thousand six hundred and fifty four Under the same Latitude but between the 160 and 170 degrees of Longitude they mark another Land discovered in the year One thousand six hundred and fourty two called Antony van Diemanland Under the same Longitude and the Tropick of Caprioorn they place a Countrey called New-Holland discovered in the year One thousand six hundred and forty four New Guinea is near the Molucca's but it is believed to be an Island and it is not certain whether the Lands we have just now named be Isles or parts of the Continent To the South of the Cape of Good Hope it is supposed that there is Land and some have called it the Land of Parrets They talk of some Kingdoms there but all the knowledge we have of those Countreys is very uncertain for no progress has been made into them some small Touches of the Coast have only been discovered Time and Industry may possibly afford us greater Discoveries CHAP. VI. The Land near the ARCTICK or NORTH POLE. ABout this Pole are Greenland Nova Zembla and Spitzberge with some other Countreys of which we know very little It is certain that some have sailed within Eight degrees of the Pole and it is affirmed that the Hollanders have been under the very Pole but with what truth I shall not adventure to say It is thought by some That about that place America is joyned to the Continent either on the side of Asia or of that of Europe but nothing of it is yet certain It is to be observed that America reaches North to the 70 degree or farther and South to the 52 or 53 degree of Latitude so that it lies partly in the Torrid Zone partly in the North and South temperate Zones and partly in the Northern Frozen Zone Thus Reader I have given you a short and as exact Description of the Earth as I could and have said nothing but what I thought true The little knowledge that we have of the Inland parts of these quarters of the World together with the uncertainty of the Relations of different Travellers made me unwilling to impose upon you for truth those things that I was not well satisfied in my self which has rendred this Treatise possibly more short than the Vast tract of Land it pretends to describe may seem to require FINIS
Converted many of them to Christianity and are very Active in making Proselytes in those Parts CHAP. VII TARTARY THE greater Tartary is one of the vastest Regions of the whole Earth It hath to the West the States of Muscovy the Ocean to the North to the East the Streights of Anian or Jesso according to some Maps and to the South Persia India and China Several Princes have Dominions in that great space of Land and among others the Prince of Niuche on the East-side who Invaded and Conquered China But the most considerable of all is the Great Cham. One of his chief Provinces in Cathay which some take for China and its City of Cambalu for that of Pequin so uncertain Men are in the knowledge of those distant Countries It is nevertheless sure that there are Vagabond Tartars divided into Societies called Hordes They Inhabit that place which is called Tartary Desert near which is the Kingdom of Astracan with a Town on the same Name on the Volga In these Countreys as 't is reported grows the Boranetz which is a Plant Animal that is half a Plant and half an Animal It is in Shape like a Lamb and fastned to a stalk about which it Nibbles and Eats the Grass which once failing it withers and dies The other parts of Tartary are Turquestan and Zagathy the chief City whereof is Samarkand the Imperial Seat of the Victorious Tamerlan Most part of the Tartars are Mahumetans there are many Idolaters some Jews and very few Christians among them CHAP. VIII The Isles of ASIA in the Ocean IN treating of the Tetritories of the Turk we spake of the Isles of Asia that are in the Mediterranean We must now mention those in the Ocean which belong to that part of the World but seeing they are so numerous that a large Volume would be too little to describe them all in we shall only touch at those which are the most considerable and of greatest Note amongst them The Maldives lie towards the Cape of Comorin to the South and West thereof there are many of them and they reach to the Line being divided into certain Parcels which are called Attollons and contain many small Islands separated by verry narrow Channels they are full of Coco-trees the Inhabitants are Mahumetans and subject to a King Zeilan or Zeilon is near Cape Comorin being Two hundred and forty Leagues in Circumference The Indians call it Tenasirim that is a Paradice of Delights there grows the Tree whereof Cinnamon is but the Bark and that in such plenty that there are whole Forrests of them Fair Emeralds and fairer Elephants are likewise to be had there Some would have it to be the Taprobane of the Ancients which others think to be Sumatra One of its chief Towns is Sitavaca the Residence of a Prince who takes the Title of Emperor of Zeilan to whom the other Kings are Tributary It is divided into several Kingdoms of which Candy that is in the middle of the rest is one of the chief The Portuguese had formerly some places there of which Columbo was the most Important But at present the Hollanders are possessed of that and much more than ever the Portuguese had The Natives are either Mahumetans or Idolaters Sumatra is divided by the Streights of Sincapura from the Peninsula of Malaccra Most part of the Modern Geographers take it for Taprobane the Equinoctial cuts it almost in the middle it is very large and some assign to it Thirty Kingdoms It s chief Towns are Achein Pedar and Batham The Inhabitants profess Mahumetanism and many of them are still Idolaters Great Java is near to Sumatra and is seperated from it but by an Arm of the Sea called the Streights of Sonda This Island is about Two Hundred Leagues in Length but not above Forty in Breadth It is Subject to several Princes who are Tributaries to another by them called Mataram that is to say Emperour It hath considerable Towns such as Bantam Palambuam Japara and Batavia called so by the Hollanders being formerly called Jacatra They took it in the Year One thousand six hundred and seventeen and have strongly fortified it and made it the Residence of their General and Principal Seat of their great East-India Trade The Inhabitans of the Island are for the most part Mahumetans Little Java is now called Cumbava and but little known some of its Inhabitans are Idolators Borneo lies to East of Malacca and Sumatra and to the North of Java This is one of the greatest Islands in the Ocean it is almost round and hath above 200 Leagues in Diameter It s Principle Town carries its Name Most part of the Inhabitans profess Mahumetanisme and the rest are plunged in Idolatry Celebes is to the East of Borneo and is much less than it the chief Towns thereof are one that goes by the same Name and Durate Gilolo is to the East of the former and is not so great it hath a Town of its own Name and another called Tolo The Molucca's so Famous for the Cloves Nutmegs and Mace which they disperse through the whole World lie under the Equinoctial betwixt Celebes and Gilolo The chief are Ternate Tidor Motir Machian and Bachian The Portuguese have had some places there which have been disputed by the English and Dutch and finally carried by the latter who have Engrossed the Trade of those Rich Spices Banda is to the South of Gilolo and furnishes also Nutmegs The Hollanders have the Possession thereof The Philippine Islands called so by the Spaniards in Honour of their King Philip the Second are so many in number that some Authors reckon above Ten thousand of them They lie Northward from the Mollucca's and Eastward from Cochinchina The greatest and most considerable of them is Luconia where the Town of Manilha is The other that are remarkable are those of Mindanao which hath a Town of its Name the Isles of St. Juan of Cebu Matan and Tandayo Betwixt this last and the Isle of Lucon is the Streights of Manilha Famous amongst Navigators Amacao or Macao is a small Island on the Coast of China where the Portguese have a Town of the same Name The Isle Formosa the Lucaios and some others are to the East of China The Empire of Jappan is composed of several great Islands on the the East of China the chief of which is called Niphon and its Capital Town Meaco though this present Emperour hath his Court at Jedo in the East part of the Island Many Jesuites have here lost their lives for Preaching Christ to that Idolatrous People To the North of this Countrey the Land of Jesso hath been lately discovered divided from it by the Streights of Sangar The chief Mountains of Asia are Taurus Libanus Caucasus and Imaus It s chief Capes are that of Comorin in the Indies Liampo in China Fartach Razalgate and Monzandaon in Arabia the happy and the Promontory of Tabin in Tartary It s principal Rivers are the Volga Araxez
Empire of the Sophy of Persia and is bounded on the West by the Turkish Empire on the East by that of the great Mogol on the North by the Tartars from whom it is divided by the River Oxus now Abiamus and on the South by the Gulf of Persia and the Indian Sea In a word it Reaches from Tygris to Indus and from the Caspian to the Persian Sea containing several Provinces Persia Sustana Parthia Media Affyria Hircania Paropamisa Margiana Carmania and Gedrosia all which have lost both their Names and Limits The Metropolis of these States is Hispahan or Isfaham a great and fair City containing many stately Palaces where the Sophy keeps his Court and usually resides It lies in Parthia now a days called Hierak The other Towns of that Province are Cassan Argistan Jex Saba and Targazin In the Province of Persia now called Farsy is the Town of Siras which is taken for the Ancient Persepolis burnt by Alexander Susiana which is called Cusistan hath for its Chief City Sus formerly Susa the Imperial Seat of Ahassuerus Media now a days Servan hath the City of Tauris which is the Ecbatana of the Ancients Assyria whereof the Turk possesses part hath Mosul for its Capital which is the Ancient Ninive the Metropolis of the Assyrians Hircania is called Diargument its principal Towns are Mazandaron and Strava Paropamisal at present Sablestan hath Candahar for its chief Town which gives also a name to all the Province Margiana or Elsabar hath Mexed for its principle Town where the Kings of Persia are Interred Carmania hath Chirman from which it takes its modern name Gedrosia or Circan hath the Town of Calamate The most Remarkable Isles of Persia are in the Gulf of that Name that of Ormus is near the Sreights and hath a Town of the same name Ruined at present The Isle of Baharem is famous by reason that about it they fish for and take the lovliest Oriental Pearls The Sophy of Persia is Mahumetan but follows the Doctrine of Aly Mahcmets Son in Law whom the Turks reckon a Heretick The Persians are of their Prince his Sect and civilized and polished and much of the humour of the French The Christian Religion is suffered there and in Hispahan it self there are Convents of several Orders as bare-footed Carmelites Capuchins Minims and many others CHAP. IV. The Empire of the great MOGOL GUINEA NIGRITA RVM REGIO EAST INDIA PORTUGALL THE Ancients divided the East-Indies into India on this side and India on t'other side of Ganges In the first called now Indostan which lies between that and another River named Indus is the Empire of the great Mogol It hath to the North Turquestan to the West the States of Persia to the South the Territories of several Princes which we shall hereafter mention and to the East the Kingdom of Bengala It is divided into several Kingdoms which carry generally the Names of their Capital Cities as Agra Lahor Delli Kabul Caximir but the Kingdom of Sinda hath Tatah for Metropolis The usual place of Residence of that Monarch is Lahor his Palace is Magnificent and he is the Richest Prince in the World in precious Stones He is Mahumetan and most of his Subjects follow the same Religion but there are many Christians and Idolaters amongst them and a Sect of Pythagoreans who hold it a deadly Sin to eat any thing that ever had life who are there called Bannians CHAP. V. The other States of the EAST-INDIES and what the PORTUGUESE and other Nations Possess there BEfore we proceed further we must take a view of the other Kingdoms of the East-Indies and of what the King of Portugal Possesses there that we may not be obliged to come back to the same parts again These Indies have two Peninsules which are divided by the Bay of Bengala That which is on the West side contains the Kingdoms of Decan Onar Barcelor Canara and some others with the Coast of Malabar in which are the Kingdoms of Calicut Cochin Coulan and others all bearing the Names of their Capital Towns They are Scituated on the Western part of this Peninsule Towards the Eastern is the Coast of Coromandel where are Negapatan Maliapor or St. Thomas and the Kingdom of Bisnagar Narsingue Golconde and Orixa which bear the Names of their chief Cities The two Coasts of this Peninsule are divided by Mount Gate which ends at Cape Comorin The Countrey scituated on this Mountain is called Balagate At the Entry of the other Peninsule which is to the East we meet with the Kingdoms and Cities of Pegu Siam Camboia and Tunquin and in the Penninsule is the Kingdom of Malacca with its City of the same Name which is the Southermost Extremity thereof In the Entry of the other Peninsule which is to the West is the Kingdom of Cambaya with a City of the same Name and another called Surrat which is very large and a place of great Trade and the Residence of our English President of India Thu Kingdam of Bengala is near the mouth of Ganges between the States of the Mogol and Pegu. The King of Portugal possesses the Isle of Diu near the Kingdom of Cambaya which has a Town of the same Name near the Kingdome of Decan the City of Goa one of the greatest Towns of the Indies and the Residence of the Archbishop and Vice-Roy some places on the Coast of Malabar and on the other side he had heretofore Maliapur a considerable Town where it is beleeved the Body of St. Thomas is In the other Peninsule formerly he held Malacca which the Dutch have since taken from him Besides these he hath several Islands and some places in others which belong not wholly to himself CHAP. VI. The Kingdom of CHINA SOme Authors make this Kingdom as big as all Europe so vast is its Extent It hath the Ocean to the East Cochinchina to the South and to the West the Indies and part of Tartary which it hath likewise in the North and from which it is seperated by that Famous Wall of Four hundred Leagues in Length It is divided into Fifteen Provinces the Names of which it is not very material to know There are above Two thousand Cities reckoned to be in this great Kingdom and of them Peking is the Chief and the Imperial Seat of their Kings That Throne was overturned by the Tartars who ruined this Empire and possest the greatest part thereof but the Natives have lately recovered their Liberty again and expulsed the Conquerers Nanquin Xanton and Amus are the most considerable CHINA TARTARIA Cities and the least is as big if not bigger than London There are in this Kingdom many Fair Navigable Rivers the chief of which are the Yellow and the Blew called in the Chinese Language Caramoran and Jansuguiam and Chincheo that passes by the Stately City of Amus The Chineses are Idolaters and Worship the Heavens and Stars with many Idols that they place in their Temples The Jesuites have