Religion shall be hereafter mentioned in the Chapter of the Abissines Further I was informed at my return that after the Decease of Gamach the King of Persia that had three Sons and one Daughter who was soon married to one of the chiefest of the Council at Court whereof the Eldest called Alschi was beheaded because he did endeavour to take away his Father's Crown the other two are still in being the youngest of them Balthasar liveth in Parsid a peculiar Province and Town in Persia which lieth on the Borders of the Indies and the middlemost called Ismael was lately after his Father's Decease elected King almost at the same time when the now reigning Turkish Emperour Amurathes came to the Crown This is still young and of a tall and slim Body but very manly and full of Courage and well skill'd in all Warlike Exercises so that he dare before any of his Courtiers ride wild and unbroken Horses by them called Aecaik which are not easily mastered They are brought to him a great way off out of the Eastern Parts they are as I am informed of an Ashen colour only some have white Legs in these and other Exercises he hath shown his Manliness from his Infancy But when he did encrease in Age and in Strength the Anger and Displeasure he bore against the Turks did increase also and to that Degree that he resolved during his Father's Life to be reveng'd of them for the wrong they had done to his Ancestors Wherefore a little while agone he brought together a great many Men in the frontier Places to surprize the Town of Bagdet unawares being one of the Chiefest that formerly had belonged to his Ancestors together with the whole Country wherein the new Kings of Persia when they first come to the Government are used to be crowned When he was thus prepared for the Onset and nothing was wanting some Traytors ran away from his Troops and acquainted the Bashaw of Bagdet with his Design so the Bashaw was forced to arm himself with all Speed as well as he could that he might be able to oppose him in his Designs But when the King's Son would have put his Intention into Execution the Bashaw fell upon him unawares with such a Number and Strength that he could not only attempt nothing but was beaten and he himself taken Prisoner Besides this the Grand Turk would have had him to be beheaded if his Father had not with great earnestness taken his part and given him for his Ransom the Town Orbs in Mesopotamia After this the old King had enough to do to keep his Son in safe Custody that he might not begin new Alarms and Wars against the Turks Before I began my Voyage in March in the Year 74 certain News came to Aleppo that 25000 Turks were killed on the Confines of Persia and Arabia but in what Place this Battel was fought and which way it was done I could not learn for if they suffer any Damage they always keep it very close and secret nor any ways hear Wherefore the Turks at that time were a great deal harder towards the Christians so that many suffered for their Misfortunes Sake But if they had obtained the Victory as well as not they would not have been so silent but would have spread it abroad and have related it to others that did not ask them with high and big Words So great an Opinion have the Turks of themselves that they really believe there is no other Nation that can conquer the World so as they although they are not to be compared with the Persians neither for Strength Manliness nor Shape so therefore they could effect but very little against others if it were not for their great Number wherewith they over-power them And to speak only of the Inhabitants of this Town there are so many sick and lame People in it that you would admire to see so many lame and limping ones in the Streets yet the King of Persia cannot hold out the War at length nor keep a War at a great Distance for his Revenue is not so great as to make sufficient Provision for his Officers and Souldiers c. to pay them as well in time of Peace as of War For his Subjects are freed from all Taxes and Impositions according to their ancient Privileges and Customs They never arm themselves for a Defence but when they are called together by their King to defend and protect their Country House or Land Wife and Children against the Assault of an Enemy When I was thus enquiring from one or other and endeavouring to inform my self and learn whether it were more commodious for us two to go by Water to Ormutz or by Land through Persia into the Indies and we thought of nothing else but to begin our Voyage daily to go further I was call'd on a sudden by a Letter to come away for Aleppo immediately which troubled me very much and that the more when I considered that I was passed the Wilderness and come into the fruitful Eastern Countries which would have been very well worth seeing So after I had considered a while I agreed with my Comerade that he should go on with the Voyage in hand and that I because besides the Letter I had others no smaller Hinderances would go back again So I fitted him out for his Voyage with all Necessaries so that two Days after he went with other Merchants into the Ship for Balsara Not long after I had of him a very mournful Message or Account that the Ship wherein he went from Balsara to Ormutz was perished in a great Storm near the Island Baccharis in the Persian Sea where they find good store of Oriental Pearls and that he and several other Merchants and rich Merchants Sons from Aleppo were drowned At the same time I might have returned back again with a great Caravan to Aleppo but because they took the straightest way through great and sandy Desarts which lasted for Fifty Days Journeys or thereabout where we had but two places to pay Custom in where we could buy Provision as Water and other Necessaries I resolved within my self to go by more Fruitful Places and Famous Towns although I went about where I might see and learn something more so I did stay in the great Camp longer until I met with some Companions In the mean time while I stayed there I made my self acquainted with an eminent Merchant that lived in Aleppo and had been several times in the Indies who told me that the Jesuits had begun to set up a very severe Inquisition in the Indies chiefly in God where they observed diligently those that did not take of their Hats to the Images which were set up in several Streets of the Town that they might put them into Prison which he did very much dislike believing it to be very great Idolatry After he had said this he began to talk further to me concerning Religion and chiefly of the Articles
where in former Years the Potent Caliphi did reside I did hear no more of it in all my Journey until at my return when my Comrade Hans Vlrich Krafft of Vlm then Prisoner in Tripoli did relate it to me so as it was reported to him by Credible Hands who told me that the Trusci are very numerous that they were divided into several Regiments of several colours and that those that live in the middle of the high Mountains were the most numerous of them all that they live in a Country that is very well secured and surrounded so that they need not nor will not be subject either to the Turks or any other Potentate They are Warlike People for the generality good Gunners that make their own Guns and any other sorts of Arms c. they have plenty of Corn Oyl Wine good Meat and good Fruit so that they need not any Assistance of Strangers They chiefly deal in Silk whereof they wind from Silkworms about 100 Rotulas in a Year which is about 450 Hundred weights to send from thence into other Countries These have their white Colours and their Confederates that live on the outward Hill toward the Sea at Baruti near Tripoli have red ones and have also their Colonel which they call Ermin Mackfur which also those that belong unto the white Colours acknowledge to be theirs as well as their own which was lately murdered This because he could not entrench himself as well as the other Trusci on the Hill agreed with the Great Sultan and made Peace upon this account that if he would let him live peaceably and quietly he would help him to Protect the Country and pay unto him yearly the accustomed Tribute but if the Grand Signior would not be pleased with this proferr he would join the rest and assist them The Emperour accepted of this and did not only make this Ermin Mackfur Lord of all Baruti and Seide called Sidon but did also procure him a great and plentifull Yearly Revenue out of these Countries thinking thus to oblige him to help him with his Trusci to subdue the others not doubting but that he might easily overcome these when once the others on the Mountains were killed But they would not get up the Hill but did proferr to the Turks that if their Men and the Moors would go up they would be ready in the Valley about Baruti to cut off all that should fall into their hands This Answer they gave to the Sultan only for Fashion's sake for no Truscus killeth the other When the Sultan saw that they would not bite one another and that he was not like to obtain any great matter from the Colonel he did notwithstanding send up the Bashaw of Damascus with Six other Bashaws and Seventeen Sangiacks about Two Hundred Thousand strong both Foot and Horse well Armed to subdue the before-mentioned Trusci which were about Sixty Thousand strong to burn demolish and destroy their Towns Villages Houses and Plantations After they were come up to the Ascent Two Days Journey from Damascus they found the Roads so steep that no body could pass them on Horseback for there was nothing to be seen but rough and sharp-pointed Rocks So they agreed to dismount and to go up to them on Foot and so they took presently Six or Seven Villages whereof there is said to be Twenty Seven in all but they found nothing in them but some Women and Children and very few Men the rest were got upon the Hills where they had intrenched themselves which were all cut in pieces and the Villages burnt The Turks and Moors thought themselves obliged according to their Emperours Command to go on further so they endeavoured and got up higher but could not do any more harm to the Trusci being hindered by the bad ways But on the contrary the Trusci met them sometimes and poured their Shot upon them from all Sides before they were aware of it so that they were but in an ill Condition Then when the Turks would pursue these Men they were too quick for them as being born and bred in these Mountains so they did only laugh at them and bid them kiss their Breeches So the Turks partly for want of Provision partly being tired by the steep Roads were sometimes forced not without great damage and loss of their Men to retire again to take better Measures Sometimes also the Trusci would stand between the Rocks covered and when they found any of their Enemies appear chiefly those that endeavoured to climb up the Rocks they would all of a sudden shoot among them as among a Flock of Pigeons so that many of them did precipitate themselves and broke their Necks They would also sometimes decoy the Turks into a good Road and after Eight or Ten Thousand of them were passed they would with Six Thousand Trusci fall in the Rear of them to drive them up higher where others soon did appear that came down upon them so they surrounded them sometimes and received them so warmly that but very few of them came back again to tell what was become of the rest After this War had continued for about two Months the Bashaw at last was forced to make a shameful Retreat with the Remainder of his Forces and that so much the sooner because the Winter began to approach so that it was impossible to endure the Frost and Snow which occasioned many to die and the chiefest of them came home sick The Trusci pretend to be Christians and the Posterity of those that some Years ago by Might and Strength recovered the Holy Land so that still to this Day they have a great Affection for Christians which those that travel among them to buy Silks can testifie whom they treat and entertain very civilly with good Meat and good Wine yet refuse to take any Money for it And say That what God hath given them they are bound to distribute among us Christians But they hate Mahometans and Jews and keep very good Intelligence with the Christians of this Country Yet they themselves are neither Christians Turks Moors nor Jews For they do not go to Mass nor any other publick Worship of God They cry out sometimes to Heaven that God would be pleased to protect them They also believe according to the Opinion of Pythagoras that the Souls of the deceased according to their Merits transmigrate from one Body into another That the Soul of a pious Man goeth into a new-born Child and that of an ill Man into the Body of a Dog or other wild Beast chiefly if he hath lived very ill As they believe so they live also Among them they marry to their nearest Relations the Brother to his Sister the Son to his Mother the Father to the Daughter and they lie all together at Night but they will not marry into a strange Family The Father or the Mother says Seeing that God hath given me this Child as a Seed unto me why should I throw
seen at one time together about the number of 3 or 4000 Camels They are strong and hardy Creatures fit to carry heavy Burthens and also to subsist without Drinking in the greatest Heats for Three Days together They stale out between their hind Legs so that those that go in Caravans behind them must have a great Care that they be not hit by them and so become all bedaubed Their Horses are very Noble Neat and fit for business they seldom feed them more than once a Day altho' they ride them very hard all Day long through the Wildernesses They commonly cut off all the Hair from their Mains and Tail so that their Tails remain very naked and look something like the Tail of a Lion They put their Wives on little Asses and also upon high Camels with their Children three or four of them together in Boxes as it is the fashion in these Countries They are of a brown Colour like unto our Gypsies and almost the fourth Part of them black which difference of Colour proceedeth from that in travelling up and down to places where Blacks are They sometimes leave their own there and take Blacks in the room of them The King of Arabia is always encamped in the Fields and never cometh into a place that is shut up or enclosed and this the less now after the Mischance of losing his Son that retired into one happened so he goeth from place to place like unto the Tartars so that often it is not known where he is In the Summer time he goeth further to the North and in the Winter to the South to avoid both the Heat and Cold and to have better Subsistance and Provision for himself his Men and Cattle So it hath happened several times that the Arabians in their march have come too near to the Turks Dominions and the Turks again to his from whence arose between these two great Princes such Differences that they are come to great and bloody Wars And yet for all this as I am credibly informed they have now both made a peculiar League and Contract between them wherein it is agreed that if the Grand Turk should go to a War with his Neighbours then the Arabian King will Assist and Defend him wherefore the Grand Signior writes to him as his Cousin and good Friend and is to pay him the sum of 60000 Ducats yearly as his certain Salary or retaining Fee And besides all this the Sultan sends to the New King of Arabia after the Decease of the Old one a Standard with his Coat of Arms in it which together with other Presents he sends him with usual Ceremonies to congratulate him on his happy coming to the Throne and to renew and confirm their Alliances Their Religion doth contribute not a small matter to this which together with all their Ceremonies and all other Points is the same almost they profess in both Nations And they take as many Wives as the Turks do neither do they extol or magnifie one before the other because they come from better Parents being they buy them all from them And therefore none of them is excused because she cometh from a greater Extraction from doing the Family-business nor hath a poor one more put upon her because she came from mean Extraction So one of the King of Arabia's Wives is a Daughter of a Man that keepeth a Sawing-Mill at Racka which by him although of a mean Extraction is as much respected as any of the rest Her Father and Brothers are very good People they came very often to us and shewed great Compassion for that we were so abused by the Publican His Milk is not drawn by Horses as ours are nor by Water for they know nothing of that but two of them cut the Wood with great hand-labour During our staying there a Young Arabian Gentleman nearly related to the King of Arabia came very often to us to the Water-side who was always accompanied with Twenty Servants with Bows and Darts he had a delicate white Turbant on and a long Violet coloured Caban made of Wooll but his Servants went pretty bare for some of them wore black Caps and long Indigo coloured Shirts with wide Sleeves which they girt up with broad Leathern Girdles wherein stuck bended Daggers or Bagonets as it is their usual Custom It once happened that some of us being upon the High-Town Walls together from whence we had a pleasant Prospect down into the Valley to the great River Euphrates this same Gentleman came to us again and seated himself with his Retinue over against us and presented us with some dried Cicer Pease whereof I have made mention before and some Cibebs mixt together which we thankfully received and to shew our thankfulness we presented him again with some Almonds Figs Nuts and some very good Sweet-meats we had brought with us from Halepo which he also received very kindly So we all began to eat each of us part of his Present and drunk with it some Water of the Euphrates After we had eat them all and we thought the time to be long he beckon'd to one of his Musicians and bid him to divert us with his Instrument which he pulled out presently which about the Neck looked very like unto a Cittern and we expected to hear some rarity but when I looked upon it and saw it had but one String that was as big as a Cord of their Bows he began to play some of their Tunes but with what Art and Dexterity you may easily fansie He did this for almost two Hours and according to his Opinion very harmoniously but we thought the time so long that we were very glad when he had done About the River I found that sort of Acacia that beareth roundish and brown-coloured Pods called Schock and Schamuth by the Arabians Some Thorns called Algul whereon the Manna falleth chiefly in the County of Corascen as Avicen tells us Chamesyces some strange kinds of Mosses which are very much differing in bigness Among the rest I saw the low prickly Herb by some esteemed to be the Tragun of Dioscorides Below close to the River I found the Herba Sacra of Dioscorides which the Learned Carolus Clusius hath accurately described in his Second Book and the 45th Chapter of his History of Out-landish Plants and just by these more strange ones chiefly a delicate one growing plentifully there in the Sand which had from Five to Eight tender Stalks which spread themselves into others that were very full of Joints so that it crept rather on the Ground than grew up by each of them stood three or four roundish Marjoram or Origanum Leaves together and above between them some Star like white Flowers with six pointed Leaves like unto our Ornithogalum each of them on a peculiar Foot-stalk the Seeds thereof I have not seen but the Roots are small and fibrous which together with their small bitterness have a pretty exsiccating quality and so in this
and chuse them for their Servants being in their Business very faithful diligent and careful as I have known many of them These and many more Nations as Turks Moors Armenians Curters Medians c. which every one of them have their peculiar Language are at Bagdet in great Numbers but chiefly the Persians so when I was there there arrived a Caravan of Three Hundred with Camels and Horses c. with an Intention to go to Mecha to give Mahomet a Visit which they think after Hali and Omar who were his Companions and did live in that City to be a very great Man These Persians have a peculiar Language so much differing That neither Turks nor Arabians nor other Oriental Nations can understand them and so they are forced to make them understand their meaning by Signs or an Interpreter as well as I and other Strangers They also have their peculiar Characters They sit well on Horse-back and have on long and wide Drawers which serve them also for Boots and are very well furnished with Scymeters Bows and Darts instead of Spurs they have as it is the Fashion in those Parts pointed Irons which are about an Inch and a half long and are sowed to the hind part of their Shooes They are also called Red Turks which I believe is because they have behind on their Turbants Red Marks as Cotton-Ribbands c. with Red Brims whereby they are sooner discerned from other Nations They may also be distinguished by their grey woollen Coats which have commonly Three Plaits behind and come hardly down to their Knees They are a strong and valiant People of a noble Countenance and Mind very Civil and in their Dealings upright They are very wary in their Undertakings which you may see by this that before they conclude a Bargain they take up more time to consider than others to two or three which I have several times observed Among other Merchandices they have delicate Tapestry of several colours and several sorts of Cotton-Work in which they are great Artists and well skilled but as for others as Gold and Silver working c. they understand little and a great deal less of Gilding wherefore they take any thing that is glossy for Gold They love the Christians that are Artists and Ingenious in these sorts of Works and shew them all Civilities But as for the Turks because great and bloody Wars arise often between them they hate them very much and call them Hereticks 1. Because they will not esteem nor receive Hali and Omar which they denominate Caliphi as the greatest and highest Prophets or Legates of God that have after Mahomet given more certain and better Laws Wherefore they esteem them a great deal higher nay worship them like Gods 2. Because that they as circumcised Men esteem their Women to be unclean and reckon them to be Members that are not to be saved and therefore exclude them out of their Churches so that they may not appear there publickly which by the Persians according to their Laws and Ordinances after they have spoke some Words after them are received as blessed Ones and admitted to come to their Churches From whence arise between these two Nations great Quarrels and Differences sometimes but yet they do not fall upon one another nor make Incursions in time of Peace so violently on the Frontiers as they do in Hungary probably that one may because Negotiation goeth further into Persia and bringeth in great Custom to the Grand Signior trade the safer into these Parts It is cheap and very good travelling through these Countries into the Indies and the Customs and Duties are very easy Further I understood from others that here and there in Persia live several Christians and that most of them are of the perswasion of Prester-John whom they call Amma and which way they are brought to it I am thus informed That formerly about Twelve Years agone it did happen that the King of Persia made a League with Prester-John against the Turks which came then very hard upon him and gave him his hands so full that he was forced to seek for help by Strangers Now when Prester-John thought it very inconvenient for him to make a League with a King that was not of his Religion he sent him a Message again that he could make no League with him except the chiefest of the Articles were that he and his Subjects would receive his Religion then he would not only do him all Friendship that in him lay but also assist him with all his Might and Power which at length was agreed upon Whereupon he did send him one of his Patriarchs and some of his Priests which in process of time had this Effect that now even at this Day there are above twenty Towns in Persia where the most of the Inhabitants are addicted to the Religion of Prester-John They have also as I was told several Books of the Holy Scripture and chiefly among the rest some of the Epistles of St. Thomas which they call Aertisch And besides that their Patriarch hath brought it to that pass that they are no more so zealous in their Superstitions and are of Opinion that Circumcision is not necessary and that so much the rather because their Enemies the Turks and Jews have it And for the same reason they do not abhorr the forbidden Beasts but eat Pork c. nor refuse to drink Wine and that as before said because their Adversaries are forbid it by their Law So that the Christian Faith doth in Persia encrease daily more and more and they begin to be Christened with Fire according to their Fashion and in the Name of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost whom they notwithstanding according to their Opinion rather believe to be a Creature than the Third Person of the Trinity and that he doth only proceed from the Father and not from the Son But that those that are Christians may be discerned they wear a blue Cross on the inside of their left Leg a little above the Knee They also administer the Sacrament of the Holy Supper or Communion and give it as well to the Young as to the Old ones in both kinds but before they go to it they must have their Feet washed wherefore there are little Rivolets led through the Churches where they sit down and some of the chiefest of the Town come to them and wash their Feet and when that is done they give unto one another a Kiss of Love then they read the Words of Christ's Institution and so go to receive it they do not come to Confession before And they endure no Images in their Churches but instead of them they make use of Harps Pipes and other Instruments wherewith they make Musick but chiefly at the King's Court at Samarcand where his best Musicians are which Town as they say was built by Sem the Son of Noah and called after his Name What else is to be said concerning the Points of their
at it and full of Trouble that they should be under his Holiness's Excommunication before they were aware of it wherefore they began to excuse themselves and said That they did not know any thing of it neither had they had any opportunity in their Travels to come to Rome But although this had been omitted before their Arrival yet they would certainly do it as they went back Notwithstanding all this the Guardian seemed to be very earnest and made shew as if he could not absolve them yet at last after he had long enough kept them in this fear he began to declare that he had also received full power from his Holiness and the whole Roman Catholic Church to absolve all those that did not bring any Certificates And so at last absolved us in the Cloisters of his Monastery in Latin with these Words I absolve you of all your Sins in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost And with this he concluded his Speech CHAP. III. A Plain Description of the City of Jerusalem as it was to be seen in our time and of the adjacent Countries THE Glorious and Kingly City of Jerusalem which formerly the Saracens called Kurzitadon but now is named Chutz by the Inhabitants is still situated in the old Place in the middle of Judea on the high Mountains and as the Head is extolled above the rest which may be concluded partly because from thence you may see all the the Country as from a Center partly also because the Springs rise here and so run down as from a higher place every way and to every part thereof as the holy Prophet Ezekiel doth testifie in his Fourteenth Capter where he saith That at that time fresh Streams shall flow from Jerusalem half thereof to the Sea toward the East and the other half towards the furthest Sea There are also many other places of Scripture that testifie the high Situation of Jerusalem as in the Eighth Chapter of the Acts Verse 26. where the Angel of the Lord spake unto Philip saying Arise and go towards the South unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza c. And in the Tenth Chapter of St. Mark and the Thirty second Verse And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem And the Tenth Chapter of St. Luke Verse 30. A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho And Verse 31. And by chance there came down a certain Priest that way c. The Situation of Jericho together with the great Plains thereabout through which the Jordan runs from the North towards the South together with the Dead Sea where formerly Sodom and Gomorrah stood you see from the Town over a barren Hill below so plainly that one would think we might go thither with ease in three Hours and yet it would require a whole Days Journey Beyond the River that separateth Arabia from Judea lie the high Hills Abarim and Nebo over against Jericho whence Moses as is said Deuteronomy the 32d and 34th Chapters had a full Prospect of the Land of Canaan promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob one may see them thence so plainly as also the Mount Seir which toucheth them beyond the Dead Sea in the Land of the Moabites and Ammonites that one would also think they were very near They bring yearly a vast quantity of Sheep to Jerusalem from off the Mountains which feeding upon the fragrant delicate and hearty Herbs that grow there have Meat that tastes very pleasantly the Tails thereof are very fat above half a span thick and one and a half broad and long The Levitical Priest as we read in Leviticus the Ninth Chapter and other places used to burn this together with all the Fat of the Entrails and the two Kidneys for a Sin-Offering There are also Goats with hanging Ears almost Two Foot long And therefore some Arabians called Balduini keep in the Deserts that have no certain Abode but lie continually in the Fields and go from Country to Country in great numbers wheresoever they find good Pasture for their Beasts and Camels I have met with many of them in my Travels and have some time stayed with them all Night in their Tents they are commonly Soldiers armed usually with Bows and Long-Pikes made of Cane as the other Arabians and because of their Nimbleness and Courage they are very much preferred before the rest This holy Land which according to the Promise made to the Patriarchs was for many years in the possession of the Israelites was as you read in Deuteronomy Chap. 8. a most fruitful and rich Country abounding with Corn Fruits Wine and all that is required to the maintenance of Man's Life So the Lord himself saith That he will give them a Land that still floweth with Milk and Honey For it hath rich Valleys Hills Fields and Gardens richly adorned with Fountains and Trees so that it was very well chosen to be the worldly Paradise wherein Adam and Eve did live honor and serve God Now as the Land in its Goodness surpassed other Lands so did Jerusalem excel all other Cities in Building Glory Fortification and Number of Inhabitants Moreover God visited the Israelites from the beginning and had a House built in this City for himself which he chose before all others to sanctifie his Name there And above all this he provided them with High Priests Kings and Prophets until God the Father did send his only Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ in the Flesh to reveal to them his Will with Teaching and Miracles But when they would not acknowledge his merciful Visitation nor receive his Messengers but did rather abuse ridicule and kill them rejected the Lord of Glory himself and adhered to and adored strange Gods and served them God did reject and disperse them among the Heathens burnt and destroyed their City and Temple and reduced their fruitful Country into barren Desarts and a desolate Wilderness and so the Punishment came upon them which the holy Prophet Esaiah did foretel them in the Thirteenth Chapter and 9th Verse saying Behold the day of the Lord cometh cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it And further in the Twenty fifth Chapter and Second Verse Thou hast made of a City a heap of a defenced City a ruine a place of Strangers to be no City it shall never be built And Daniel also maketh mention of this in his Ninth Chapter c. This ought to serve us and all Men as an Example of the fervent Anger of God to be a warning to us for ever For if of the Glorious City of Jerusalem which God had chosen before others and of its vast Buildings that made her famous before her Desolation there is at this Day nothing at all to be seen so that one might very well doubt whether it ever stood there were it not for some holy places and its situation that
the Brothers of St. Jacob are known by the Scallopshells The same is also with their Camels for on the lower part of one of their Forefeet you may see as many small Chains hung as they have been times there in Caravans so that you also may soon discern them And that I may return to my purpose again near to the Turkish Moschèe of the Holy Rock is also an other Church which by the Christians when they were in possession of Jerusalem was called the Virgin Mary's Church which is very well built rather bigger then the Turkish and stands without towards the South on the place of the great Porch of the Israelites which is several times mentioned in the Scriptures Viz. Joh. 10. Math. 21. where it is called the Temple and Porch of Solomon where Christ did Preach and drove out the Buyers and Sellers c. Underneath it is a great Cave so wide that some hundred Horse may with ease be drawn up in Battalia therein This is also in the Possession of the Turks and the Christians dare no more come in here then in the other By this Prohibition Viz. That the Mahumetans shall admit into their Churches or Porches thereof no Strangers which according to their Laws are not Cleansed and Washed you may easily see that the Turks have taken many Ceremonies and Laws from the Jews and according to their depraved understanding and mind Transcribed them into their Alcoran So we see that anciently they have their Circumcision Offerings Washings Fasts at certain times of the year marrying more then one Wife not Eating any thing that is Unclean or Pork or what is suffocated not having Bells not drinking Wine as the Levitical Priest must not do derived from the Jews But this last Law concerning not drinking of Wine is not only not kept for they drink thereof without mixture let it be as strong as it can more than ony other Nation It being then true that they choose the Fatt with Wine presented them by Moses as is before said to their own Ruin and Destruction wherefore I pray that God may fulfil their Prophecy Amen CHAP. VI. Of the Saracens and Turkish Religion Ceremonies and Hypocritical Life with a short hint how long time their Reign shall last after Mahomet 's Decease SEing I have here above made mention amongst the rest of the Places and Churches of Jerusalem of the Turkish Moschèes and also of Mahomet their Prophet I cannot but also Relate something of theit Hypocritical and Superstitious Life and belief as I have observed in my Travels and during my stay among them chiefly something of their outward Ceremonies good Works wherewith they think to fulfil the Laws to cleanse themselves from their manifold Sins and Transgressions and to obtain Gods Mercy and Love Wherefore they strive that they may be found always busie in these good Works whereof they reckon the chiefest to be Alms Pilgrimage Fastings to make Offerings to abstain from certain Food or Drinks frequent Washing Praying upon which two last they look most of all as the true means by which if they keep them diligently they may be freed and absolved from their Sins according to the Promises of their dear Prophet Mahomet Such and the like have also the Jews had in the Old Testament where without doubt their Prophet being by his Mother an Ishmaelite had them also But seeing that he also Attributeth to these Absolution and Satisfaction for our Sins and also consequently Salvation and everlasting Life Therefore all those that follow and believe his Doctrine miss the only Mediator and Saviour Jesus Christ of whom as well as of his Holy Word they else have a good Opinion as appeareth by their Alcoran in whom God the Father Almighty will only be known Invoked and Adored As St. John saith in his 5th Chap. 23. He that Honoureth not the Son Honoureth not the Father that hath sent him And Chap. 14. vers 9. where Jesus saith He that hath seen me hath seen the Father and in the 4th Chapt. of the Acts it is said verse 12. There is no Salvation in any other for there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved wherefore although Mahomet doth greatly Command and Teach that we must Adore the only God yet they do not know the true God that will only be Adored and Honoured in his Beloved Son and besides Mahomet will not allow that God hath a Son and much less That Christ is the true God in whom we shall believe For in his Diabolical and Blasphemous mind and thoughts he hath this precaution that if God should have a Son he might come to be Disobedient unto him as happeneth sometimes chiefly amongst them to worldly Princes which would expose all Creatures in Heaven as well as on Earth unto great Danger So he denieth the Deity of Christ and Esteemeth him to be no more as Arius doth then a great Saint and meer Man So he hath the same Opinion with Macedonius of the Holy Ghost whom and Christ he sometimes maketh but one person And so the Turks know no more by the Instruction of their Cursed Prophet of the true living God that is one in his Essence and three in Persons then when they Adored the Fire water and other Elements nay Heaven and Earth as also the Persians have done before they come over to the Saracens and adhered to the Doctrine of their Mahomet And besides they have no more comfort in our Lord Christ then the Jews because they do not believe that Jesus the Son of the Virgin Mary and Messenger of God was Crucified Dead and Buried but that another that was very like him suffered instead of him because he was Seated in Heaven where into God received him and that he was to return again at the End of the World a great deal higher then that he could be so shamefully killed by the Jews that impious people wherefore the Turks admire it very much that so many Pilgrims of all Nations come to see the Grave of Christ with so great a Devotion which is not his And although the Turks prefer their Mahomet before Christ and also do not believe right neither of his Essence nor of his person so that therefore all their Worship with what Devotion soever performed is null and in vain because it is not in Christ Yet for all that they Praise and Esteem Christ very high and Extol him far beyond any Man as one that was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary and that hath here on Earth carried on his Doctrine and confirmed it with powerful Miracles Wherefore they Esteem the Books of Moses and the other Writings of the Prophets but chiefly the Four Evangelists which they call the Book Jugilis and the Books of Moses Thresit as true and Godly And sometimes they pretend so fairly that an ordinary Man that is not well instructed in the Chief Articles of Christianity although there is so
great a difference might easily be seduced and perswaded Besides the Turks will not allow neither to Jews Moors nor Christians nay not to their own Nation to say any thing ill of Christ nor to Curse him but if any body should presume to do it the soles of his Feet are struck very severely with many blows and he is Fined besides according to his Ability So their Prophet Mahomet commends the Holy Scripture very much and saith that it containeth Truth and Happiness If they would but often look into it as their Alcocan teacheth them in several places to read in it and mend their Lives according to it they might easily be brought to the right way again but he himself doth not stand by his words but falleth off again from them afterwards and speaketh quite otherways of the holy Scripture and that so differing that he quite contradicts himself For as he did commend it before so now he discommendeth it again when he saith That it hath been because it is too difficult to be kept long since quite out of Doors chiefly in those parts where is written That we must do good to our Enemies leave all for his sake love God with all our heart c. and our Neighbor as our own self And that therefore he Mahomet was peculiarly and purposely chosen by God Almighty to bring down with him the Alcoran and communicate it to the World that was then drown'd in Lusts Sin and Vices to reform and bring it to rights again Besides this he knew very well how to disguise his Tricks and how to behave himself in his Life and Conversation devoutly and discreetly towards the People and how to blind them under this pretence that they did believe him and receive him the sooner to be a great Prophet and Messenger from God When he found that he had got a good Party and a great many Adherents that impowered him he Studied daily more and more to order his Laws so that they might be acceptable and pleasing to all the World And thus he got in a great many places such a fame that to our Grief in these times he hath seduced and possessed a great part of the World with his Erroneous and Poisonous Doctrine the Turks closely adhering to this Doctrine therefore their Hearts are so blinded with darkness that they cannot have any true knowledge either of God the Father or the Son or the Holy Ghost and so they miss of the right way that would bring them to the Knowledge and Acknowledgment of their Sins and consequently to the Remission thereof and so make them Children of God and Heirs of Life Everlasting But on the contrary they remain Impenitent and persist in their sinful Life with such a Confidence and Security that they know not when they commit Sins as to take a Mans Property and Goods away by force to destroy his House and Lands to undermine his Life and Livelihood and also to contaminate themselves with Uncleanness Whoredom Sodomy Not to keep an Oath that hath been taken to Revenge themselves from whence Results Envy Hatred Anger Contention Murder c. as we hear what Injustice and Violence the Grand Signior committeth daily upon our Brethren and Sisters that border upon his Dominions which we need not to wonder at because if they fall out amongst themselves they try all Unjust means to Revenge themselves Wherefore they accuse their Adversaries often falsely because they dare not offer any violence before their Judges and so bring them to Damage Trouble and Pains But when they have committed one of these or the like Facts and have a mind to free themselves of it or to be Absolved they go after their own invented Devotion to good Works Alms Prayers Fasting Redeeming of Captives c. to make satisfaction to God for their committed Sins as their Alcoran teacheth them And so they lead a Life of good outward Conversation and are very diligent in their Devotion chiefly in going to their Prayers at the five Customary hours of the Day when they leave their VVork and go to Church And seeing that in these Countries they have neither Clocks not VVatches to tell them the time of the Day and Prayers instead of them they have their Priests called Meitzen by them on the Steeples which are ordered to cry out the Hours with a loud Voice that you may hear them as far almost as the Ringing of a Bell even throughout the whole Town The first Hour of Prayers is an Hour and half before Day-light The second is about Noon The third which the Arabians call Latzera is about Three a Clock in the Afternoon The fourth is at Sun-set and the fifth when after the Sun is down the Twilight or whitishness of the Skies is gone and the Stars appear clearly Sometimes two of these Priests sing together which is common in great Towns and they sing almost as with us they sing a Ballad so that while the one is singing the other may fetch his breath and so they sing by turns until the Song is at an end When I came first into these Countries and hear'd them Sing about that time in the Morning I believed the Turks did it that they might brisk themselves up to go to Work until I heard them do the same at other hours in the day time and understood they were their Priests So they Sing about Five a Clock at Night very well and sometimes something longer because of the Sick that live near which desire it of them to make them cheerful and to have a good heart which we need not to wonder at for their Clergy which are not Wiser or more Learned than the Lay-men know not how to comfort them or to make them joyful much less how to give good and wholsome Instruction out of the Word of God although they believe it to be true how to obtain forgiveness of Sin and Gods Mercy Love or Commiseration but think it to be sufficient if they Admonish them that lye a dying to think of God and to Pray to him that he may have Mercy upon them and afterwards to wash their Body to cleanse them quite from all Sins according to the Law of their Mahomet which they highly esteem and that the rather because they serve not only the Living but also the Dead wherefore the Turks wash themselves daily chiefly at the Hours of their Prayer when they are a going to Church and that very carefully and diligently viz. Their Hands Privy-Members Head Neck Feet nay the whole Body according as they are Contaminated or become Unclean So in consideration of their Sins they have three sorts of washing whereof one is that of the whole Body which these must make use of that are not Married and contaminate themselves with Concubines wherefore the Baths are kept continually in an equal heat and are open to any body both by Day and Night that these that have occasion to wash their whole Body may not
the Germans French and Italians and praise them saying That they are stout and courageous Soldiers they call them all by the same Name Franci because the Divisions of our Country are unknown to most of them In former Ages they had here and there in large and eminent Towns instead of the Pope whom they will not obey nor be subject unto their Patriarch Archbishops and Bishops whereof some are still kept up but after the Turks did take and possess themselves of their Country there is fewer of them in number and they have smaller Revenues Without their Country they have in great trading Cities as Cayro Alepo Antiochia of Syria Venice c. their peculiar Churches and chiefly in some holy places in the Land of Promise As at Jerusalem the Temple of Mount Calvaria the place of Sculls whereon Christ was Crucified and also the beautiful Chancel that is in the middle of the Church wherein is a round hole about a span over in a stone which is as they pretend the middle of the Earth according to the Words of the Kingly Prophet David when he says God who now is my King from the beginning has wrought our selves on the middle of the Earth Besides these they have another called the Holy Cross about an English Mile out of Town which as they pretend is built on the same place where the Tree did grow whereof they made the Cross of Christ Besides this they have a great many more which I reckon unnecessary to mention here Some of their Church-Doors are so low that you must stoop when you will go through them They believe that the Holy Ghost doth proceed only from the Father and not from the Son They keep yearly two great Fasts and they eat Flesh upon the Sabbath or Saturday at pleasure they sing the Mass in their own Language that every Body may understand it In their Churches they suffer no embossed Work nor carved Images but have plain Pictures on Boards or on the Walls They do not believe a Purgatory as the Papists there called Latini nor that our Praying Fasting or Offering for the Dead can do them any good And they are mightily displeased that the Roman Priests do not according to the plain words of St. Paul marry as well as they nor give the Lords Holy Supper in both kinds as our Lord himself did institute it Wherefore they condemn such Errors of the Popish Church and excommunicate the Pope and his Adherents on the holy Friday yearly And because they reckon them to be superstitious they will not permit them to say Mass upon their Altars but if they should do it they accuse them before the Turkish Magistrates So it happened when I first came over that they were very angry with a Papist that had said Mass upon their Altar and so had profaned it wherefore they did immediately consecrate the Altar again and had the Priest before the Cadi and they brought it so far that he was mulcted Five hundred Ducats to pay in a short time When he thought that the Punishmenr was greater than the Trespass or Transgression he did seek for help at Alepo and Tripoli by the French and Italian Consul but did obtain no great matter so that he was still in election to pay the Forfeiture CHAP XII Of the SURIANS that esteem themselves to be Christians AMong the Eastern Christians we also find them that are called Surians whereof there is a great many but chiefly in Syria They have like unto the Jews in several Towns their peculiar Churches In Jerusalem they live in the Church of St. Mark which stands in the place where the House stood formerly at the Door whereof St. Peter the Apostle did knock when the Angel had delivered him out of Prison In their Religion they follow for the greatest part the Greeks they Administer the Sacrament in Leavened Bread and they say their Masses like unto them in the vulgar Arabian Tongue They are a sort of poor naked covetous and helpless People their Gowns reach only to their Knees as those of the Maronites some whereof are wrought of course Goats Hair striped black and white such as the Arabians make use of commonly and almost alike unto their Mescha which they use for Sacks and Tents and they wear nothing underneath them but Shirts without Neck-bands as is usual in all the Eastern Countries they wear High Shoes which serve them for Stockings and Breeches also being tied up with Straps They are subject unto the Turks who make use of them as Labourers both by Water and Land They also mind their Trade more than their Religion wherefore having lived so long among the Turks they have already assumed their Customs and Manners in Temporal and Spiritual Affairs and are thereby become so confident and secure that now adays the Difference between these two Religions are esteemed by them to be small and frivolous If a Christian hath to deal with them and desireth to buy something of them either Opium Scammony or any other the like Drug which they commonly falsifie he must look to himself as if he had to deal with Jews CHAP. XIII Of the GEORGIANS NEar unto the glorious City of Trapozinta situated on the Euxine Sea beginneth the Country of the Georgians and butts toward the South upon Armenia These are very civil and simple People but yet strong and brave Warriors they esteem and honor among other Saints but chiefly for warlike Businesses as their Patron the Knight St. George from whom they take their Denomination Their Merchants come very often in great Caravans to Alepo and are according to all appearance in their shape and posture like unto the Persians only that these are more whitish and the others more tawny and browner they wear also like them short flying Coats and long and wide Drawers c. They have as the rest their Patriarchs and Bishops who altho they are differing and dissenting in some points yet for the most part they follow the Doctrine and Errors of the Grecians and so they have and use the same Writings and Offices Their Priests are as well as those of the Armenians allowed to be married but yet if either of them should happen to die they must not marry again In Jerusalem they are also possessed of their peculiar places wherein they sing and exercise the Offices and chiefly of one in the Church of Mount Calvaria in the place near the Sepulchre of our Lord Christ where he did first appear unto Mary Magdalen in the similitude of a Gardener after his Resurrection CHAP. XIV Of the ARMENIANS and their Religion THE Armenians possess a large Countrey which is chiefly divided into two parts viz. The Lesser Armenia which is now subject to the Turks and the Greater now called Turco-Mannia by some which is partly belonging to the Sophy King of Persia In it arise two great Rivers the Euphrates and the Tigris which run a great way toward the South mix together
that live in Mesopotamia and Judea c. This Sect was rejected and condemned in the Counsil of Ephesus CHAP XVI Of the JACOBITES called Golti IN the Temple of Mount Calvaria also live in the Chapel behind the Sepulchre of Christ another sort that boast to be Christians called Jacobites after Jacob the Heretick who was a Pupil of the Patriarch of Alexandria They pretend to have been first converted to the Christian Religion by the holy Evangelist and Apostle Matthew but they did not adhere to it but fell afterwards into a great many Errors so that in our time they are divided into other Sects and Orders For some have assumed the Order of S. Macharius who with Eutychius did own or believe no more but one Nature in Christ others that of St. Anthony who was an Eremite in the year of our Lord Christ 324 in Egypt Others have their Male Children circumcised but others and the greater part have their Children baptized with Fire and have Crosses made on their Foreheads or Temples according to the words of St. John the Baptist in the 3d. Chapter of St. Matthew V. 11. He that cometh after me shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire They live chiefly in Egypt and in other adjacent places They are generally subject unto the Turkish Sultan they speak the vulgar Arabian Language and agree in most points partly with the Abyssines and partly with the Surians We saw many of their Wives go about in the Temple they wear Hats near a Span high which at top have a broad Brim like unto our Bonnets else they are habited like unto the Surians This Heresie was rejected and condemned in the Chalcedonian Council CHAP. XVII Of the Abyssins Priest John called Lederwick Subject unto the King of the Moors THese live at Jerusalem in the Temple of Mount Calvaria just by the Church Door towards the left and have through their Lodging a peculiar way so that without hinderance according to their pleasure they may go in and out and pretend that their King hath made a peculiar Agreement to let his Subjects have Free-ingress and Re-gress According to all appearance they are a Naked People yet for all that they may be Rich and Able they are of a dark brown colour When we spoke to them by an Interpreter they shew'd themselves very kind and friendly and always did give with a great deal of discretion such Answers to our Questions that one might easily conclude that they were of good Understanding and well Instructed and Grounded in their Religion To their King is given in the beginning of his Reign the Sir-name of David which else are called Lederwick and by the Persians Amma to shew and to make known by it that they are derived from the Kingly Race and Stem of David and Solomon and to prove this they alledge the History of the Queen of Saba called Merquerda who as we Read in Scripture came from Rich Arabia with many Camels Laden with Gold Spices and precious Stones to Jerusalem to see the great Wisdom and Glory of Solomon whereof she had heard much When she had been there a good while and in the mean time was got with Child by Solomon and brought him a Son into the World called Meytich she left him at Jerusalem but she returned into her own Country again Many Years after when the Son was grown up and came to his Understanding his Father seeing he had more Sons was perswaded to send him home to his Mother who had a greater Kingdom than he So he did dispatch him and sent along with him the chiefest of his Courtiers and sent him away with a great Train as did become a King When he was come into his Kingdom he entertained these Lords and Gentlemen very Honorably and promoted them before all others to the highest and best places that they might the willinger stay with him But all this would not prevail with them but they grew daily more tired and unwilling to stay longer in these strange and unaccustomed Countries and this encreased daily more and more and at length to that height that they resolved that if the King would not give them free leave they would endeavor to make their escape Clandestinly against the Kings Will to Jerusalem in Judea When this their design came before the King he was very angry and ordered immediately that a Mark should be burnt on their Foreheads that every body might know them and issued a Proclamation That all his Subjects might watch them and if any or more of them that were a going away should be taken they should detain them and send them to him again Now as at this time the Marks did begin and then those had them that were of a great Race so they are retained by their Posterity to this very day as we still see in these times that their Nobility have them on their Foreheads towards the right yet not all for there are some that wear them rather upon their Shields and Arms c. These marks are not all alike for in some you see a Bear a Dragons-Head c. in others a Lyon a Wolf or three crossed Arrows c. because every one hath that made that they give in their Coats of Arms they colour it with an Oil which they call Aâ—aâ—cinte and is brought to them from Greece Beâ—s this Custom they still keep in many things to the Ancieâ— ones of the Jews for they keep the Sabbath for their peculiar Holiday and also they do not eat all sorts of flesh nor any of them that are forbid as Unclean in the Old Testament They pretend that the Holy Apostle Philip hath when he Travell'd with the Chamberlain of Candaces Queen of the Moors to Gaza and Converted him there allowed them this and other things being Born Jews Circumcision they believe unnecessary and that it can neither profit nor hurt a Christian And again Baptism they believe to be necessary wherefore through all his large Dominions they bring their Children to it on the third day and Baptize them yet with Fire in the Name of God the Father the Son and the holy Ghost whom they believe to proceed only from the Father and not from the Son according to the Words of St. Mathew Chap. 3. Vers 11. He shall Baptize you with the holy Ghost and with Fire They take the Oil of Achalcinte dip a Stick into it and lay Frankincense upon it and set it on Fire and so they let some drops fall down which do not hurt the Children being mix'd with the Oil and at last they make a Cross with it upon the left side of their Forehead near unto the Temple They begin their Lent about Easter as the Armenians wherein the Lay-men Eat nothing else but 〈◊〉 Herbs and Pulse but their Priest generally nothing but Bread and Water and so they do every Wednesday and Friday throughout all the Year They Marry also according to the Words of
of Jerusalem that he is a Nobleman in the fifth Generation both by Father and Mother Thirdly He Sweareth also that hath so good Income that he need not to follow Merchandizing or any other Trade nor to borrow Money or to ask others for help but that he hath so much that he can live upon his Revenues and keep three Horses besides from year to year for the Service of the Church of Rome Nay if necessity should urge and others should rise against the Roman Church to molest it that he will then always be willing and ready besides the three Horses to assist her with all his utmost power He must also promise that he will so long as he shall live diligently attend at Mass and hear four or five every day and also that he will keep the Fasts zealously and Eat neither Flesh nor Butter nor Cheese nor Egs on them and also that he will confess and receive the Sacrament once a month or every six Weeks at furthest and send his Family at least once a year in Lent time to do the same And also that he will not forget to the Honour and Encrease of the said Church to remember her in his last Will that he will protect and provide for the Widows and Fatherless that he will maintain the Friers and Nuns and their Monasteries and if by the Seculars any thing should be taken away from them that he will not conceal it but endeavour to the utmost of his power as if it were his own to recover it again That he will assist those that would willingly turn Roman Catholicks and endeavor to bring them over but that he will keep none in his service nor any ways assist them that do not firmly adhere unto it Then there is also inserted That he will say 49 Pater-Nosters and as many Ave-Maries every day and visit his Holiness the Pope once a Year and come into the seven Church Processions and perform his Office and also assist at the Sacraments and other Ceremonies with due Reverence and also Respect and Honour the Holy Water At length to conclude he is forbid to talk Idly to be Drunk to live Loosely and to commit Sodomy that he being Knighted may not lead a disorderly Life and give to others ill Example When then the Guardian hath read the Oaths that are written upon Parchment out of the Book the Chevallier kneeleth down again and when he bendeth his face down and leaneth with both his Arms on the Book which lieth on the Altar-Stone of the Sepulchre the Guardian bids the Friers or Monks again to Pray then he draweth out the Sword and maketh with the flat side of it three Crosses upon his Head and Shoulders saying At the Command of God and the See of Rome and for the Encrease of the Church of Rome I create you N.N. now a Member of the Roman Church a Knight in the Name of the Father Son and holy Ghost And further he adds That in the room of his Holiness the Pope of Rome he doth Absolve him of all his Sins And that he doth also give him leave and command him by the Oath he hath taken to his Holiness the Pope to wear the usual red Cross as a Sign whereby he may be known publickly in his Coat of Arms and on his Clothes Also if he please to put him in mind as often as he shall look upon it what he hath Sworn and to keep it the firmer When all this is over and they have Prayed again the Guardian wisheth him Joy of his Knighthood and rejoyceth with the whole Convent that he is come to this acknowledgment and is become a true Member of the Roman Catholick Church that he and all his Brethren will always pray for his long Life and that God may keep him in health to the comfort of the See of Rome Immediately approach to him all the Monks while he is still standing in his Ornaments and call him Brother and when they have also wished him Joy one after the other the Guardian beginneth the Te Deum c. and then he taketh all the Ornaments away again from him Afterwards he leadeth him about with the Vicar in Procession to the Holy Places to Invest him also in every one of them when that is done they go to Dinner Although in former years every body was not presently admitted as you may see by what hath been here before said except he were a Nobleman for several Generations yet in our time it is come to that pass that they admit every body to it without any strict Examination that can pay the Money which cometh to eleven or twelve Ducats Nay every Pilgrim that doth intend to take upon him that Knighthood doth pray and perswade his Companions by the way that they would do the same that he may have company which the Pope doth allow of because very few Noblemen come there now a-days that he may in case of Necessity still have some friends to assist him for his Holiness wants Champions because he taketh upon him the Civil Government as well as the Ecclesiastick that when they can defend and prove their Religion no longer by Scripture they may defend and uphold it by Power and Strength of Arms. Now as the Guardian according to Ancient Custom gives Attestates to every Pilgrim concerning their Pilgrimage under his great Seal that they may have it to shew so he giveth also one to the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and bids them to carry the Letter themselves in Person to Rome to shew it to the Pope This is sufficient of the Temple of Mount Calvaria and its Holy Places and the Christians that are dwelling there of their Chapels and of their Errors CHAP. XXI A short Description of some Places Hills Valleys c. that lye near and about Jerusalem Of the Mount of Olives and its Holy Places I Having hitherto briefly described the situation of Jerusalem and also related what Buildings and Holy Places are still in being and to be seen there after it hath sustained so many Wars Assaults and Desolations I cannot but speak of some adjacent places before I conclude And so I begin with the Mount of Olives which lyeth towards the East before the Temple-hill over against the Sheeps-gate on the other side of the Brook of Cedron as the Holy Prophet Zachariah testifieth in his 14th Chapter and 4th Verse when he saith And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the East This Mount is about a quarter of a League on as St. Luke saith A Sabbath-days Journey distant from Jerusalem pretty high rough and stony full of pleasant Olive-Trees from whence it hath its Name and also others as Fig-Trees Lemon and Orange and Citron and Siliqua-Trees by the Inhabitants called Charnubi Turpentine-Trees and Palm-Trees the like I have seen but few c There is also some good Herbs viz. A
Bethlehem there are some Valleys very well tilled with Corn and Wine and among the rest a very pleasant and fruitful one that beginneth immediately by the Church and Fountain and runs down towards Jericho and Jordan This is below pretty wide full of Olive and Fig-trees it also bringeth forth some comfortable Herbs viz. some strange Origanums Tragoriganum Roman Serpillum which the Arabians call Sathar Absintium Santonicum which groweth every where in the holy Land this hath small ash-coloured Leaves very like unto them of ours and many small Stalks full of small yellowish Seeds it is of an unpleasant Smell very bitter with a saltish sharpness wherefore it is reputed to be the Scheha of the Arabians from whence our Worm-seed cometh In this Valley were the Shepherds to whom the Angels of the Lord did appear and declared to them the saving Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ saying Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord c. and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men In that place which is about half a League below Bethlehem is still a Church which also Queen Helena did build as Nicephorus testifieth in the Thirtieth Chapter of his Eighth Book this is for the greatest part fallen in so that nothing more but a small Arch is to be seen of it Hard by it did stand the Tower Ader as St. Jerom writes whereby Israel did erect a Tent as you may read in Genesis and looked after the Sheep with his Twelve Sons This is in our time so demolished that it lieth quite in Ruins Beyond it in another Valley not far from Bethlehem they shew still to this day a large Orchard full of Citron Lemon Orange Pomegranate and Fig-trees and many others which King Solomon did plant in his Days with Ponds Canals and other Water-Works very pleasantly prepared as he saith himself in the Second Chapter of Ecclesiastes Verse 5. I made me gardens and orchards and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits I made me pools of water to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees This is still in our time full of good and fruitful Trees wherefore it is worthy to be seen for their sakes and also for the Ditches sake that are still there Wherefore I really believe it to be that same whereof Josephus maketh mention in his Eighth Book of the Jewish Antiquities and the Seventh Chapter saying And the King rode in a Chariot cloathed in white and it was his Custom to ride early in the morning to a place called Hetten a hundred Furlongs from Jerusalem where he had a Garden with Water-pools and Works very pleasant and rich Thither went the King for his pleasure and did always use great diligence and consideration in all things and took delight to see every thing neat and handsom c. After we had seen the chiefest places within and without near and a far off of Bethlehem we returned to Jerusalem again by another way that was near as far again about and went over the Mountains of Judea which have first as you come from thence very good and fruitful Valleys full of Vines and Corn but the nearer you come to Jerusalem the higher and rougher are the Mountains In this way half a League from Nebeleschol the Friars shewed us a Well very rich of Water just by the Road that goeth down to Gaza this runneth into a small Rivulet wherein the holy Apostle Philip did baptize Candaces Chamberlain to the Queen of Aethiopia by it is nothing else to be seen but a small Church and a Fish-pond From thence we came over high rough and steep Hills into the Deserts where St John the Baptist did lead his life in his young Age there is nothing to be seen but a very ancient Chapel and hard by it a delicate Spring on the top of the Hill where we went up to refresh our selves a little with eating and drinking of what we had taken along with us About the Roads grow many Trees by the Inhabitants called Charnubi the Fruit whereof is called St. John's Bread in our Country and is brought to us in great plenty From thence we had still a very rough and hilly way to the Church and Habitation of Zachary whither the Virgin Mary did come climbing over the Hills to give Elizabeth a Visit c. before it a League distance nearer to the Town at the end of the Valley Raphaim whereof the holy Scripture maketh often mention viz. in the Fifteenth and Eighteenth Chapters of Joshua and in the First of the Chronicles and the 12th Chapter stands in a very pleasant and fruitful place the Church of St. John the Baptist and by it before you come quite to it falleth down the Spring of Nephthaah that is very rich of Water This Church is very ancient but yet pretty well built and hath on the Left Hand as you go in a deep and hidden Cave wherein Elizabeth did hide her self with John her Child that it might not be slain with the Children of Bethlehem by the Servants of Herod whereof you may read more in the Proto-Evangelium of St. Jacob where it is thus written When Elizabeth did hear that among the rest of the Innocents which Herod had commanded to be killed her Son John was also searched for she did climb up the Hills and looked about her where she might hide him but when she saw no place there where she could do him she sighed and cried out with a loud voice saying O ye hills of Gad take both the Mother and the Child for she could not ascend them the Hill did open it self instantly and took them into it c. But how afterwards Herod did search for John and how he did threaten and exhort his Father Zachary to tell him where his Son was and also how his Servants did kill Zachary not being satisfied with his Answer for it in the Porch of the Temple is at length related in the Books of the Martyrs of the Learned and Reverend Ludowich Rabus As you come from the before-mentioned Church nearer to the Town of Jerusalem there is still seen a large Pillar that is of great Antiquity and lieth very high between the Mountains on a high Hill five Furlongs off of Jerusalem wherefore some take it to be Ruines of the Fortification of Betzura but as far as one can understand by the Books of Maccabees that is situated more towards the East behind Mount Olivet Just before it within stands in the Valley that is full of pleasant Olive Trees a very old yet well built Church called the Holy Cross whereof some Greek Friars are possessed they pretend that in that place the Tree did stand that was made use of for the
Cross of Christ this we did soon leave and went over a small height through the Gate of Hebron again into Jerusalem and made our selves ready to return the next day again to Joppe towards our Ship And so we rewarded the Father Guardian their Interpreter and others that had conducted us for their Faithfulness and Services done us according to our Ability to their full content and satisfaction wherefore the Father Guardian did freely give to each of us a Certificate under his usual Seal that we had seen all the holy places which were named in it This done we went away and came the next day to Rama towards Joppe By the way I found some Lentiscus's from whence the Mastich cometh Arbutus Ilex and a strange sort of Willows by the Inhabitants called Sassaf but by Theophrastus Elaeagnus some Olive-Trees Palm-Trees White Mulberry-Trees Sumach-Trees and Styrax from which cometh a fweet smelling Gum called by the same Name that is brought from thence into our Country Spartium Lycium which is a strange Shrub and the Juice thereof retaineth the same Name and is found sometimes in our Apothecaries Shops the King and Prophet David maketh mention thereof under the Hebrew Name Hadhadd by which also the Arabians call it their Speech running much upon the Hebrew Hereabout grow also very many Fruits called Siliquae by the Latines and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Greeks but by the Inhabitants Charnubi whereof many are brought out to us and are very well known by the Name of St. John's Bread These are so common in these Countries that they esteem them less than we do the worst Fruit we have wherefore they give them to the Cattle to eat Wherefore it is probable that the prodigal Son desired to fill his Belly with these Fruits which as it appeareth by the Greek Text the Hogs did eat and yet could not have enough of them to satisfie his Hunger Besides these I found also by the way many Turpentine-Trees by the Inhabitants called Botin and Albotin which are very common in France chiefly about Montpelier they have small green Kernels that are of a reddish Colour and hollow within and are oftentimes basely sold and used by the Apothecaries for the true Carpabalsamum for these and others above-mentioned as we read in the Eighth Chapter of Nehem. the Israelites did take Bows and made themselves Tents of them to live in during their great Feast of Tabernacles I saw also chiefly between Rama and Joppa some white Barbery Trees which I took first for Paliurus the third kind of Rhamnus unto which they are very like except the Fruits whereby I did discern them first and besides they are much higher and their Branches covered with a white Bark Now although they are not to be taken for the same yet they are very like unto the second Paliurus whereof Theoprastus maketh mention in the Fourth Chapter and the Fourth Verse Among the Corn I did find a strange Origanum Serpillum Smilax aspera Triones of Theophrastus whereof I have made mention above After we had made our selves quite ready to sail for Tripolis whither we had about Forty German Miles we went aboard the Ship and set Sail with a fair Wind. But this did not last long for as soon as we were out at Sea there arose one that was so contrary to us that we hardly reached the Confines of Tirus and Sidon the Fourth Day where we arrived in our former Voyage at night as I have said before I saw nothing of any Buildings on the Shoar but some small Houses in the place where formerly the Town Sarepta did stand which as you may read in the Fourth Chapter of St. Luke and in the Third Book of Kings Chap. 17. was situated near unto Sidon or as Josephus writes in his Eighth Book of the Jewish Antiquities Chap. 13. between Tyrus and Sidon in the Country of Phaenicia wherein the holy Prophet Elias during the great scarcity did live a great while with a Widow and did restore her dead Son to life again Departing thence the night befel us before we gat over against Sidon but we went so near the Town that we could see the Houses and some Rocks butting upon them by Moon-light From thence the nearer we came to Tripolis the more the wind was for us so that we arrived there on the First of October in the year 1575 in very good health and condition Wherefore I give eternal Thanks Glory and Praise unto the Almighty God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Amen CHAP. XXIII How I took ship at Tripolis in Syria and sailed back from thence to Venice and travelled home again to my own Relations at Augspurg AT my Arrival at Tripolis when I hoped that something might have been done for the Good of Hans Vlrich Krafft whom I left in Prison behind as is above-mentioned towards his Deliverance that we seeing we came out together might have remained together a while longer and have ended our Journey to our content I found there was not only nothing done to the purpose but his Cause came to be worse and worse so that it was even or odd whether I should not have been cast into Prison also and beaten severely to boot When thus he was detained in Prison I received a Letter and Command as well from his Adversary as from my own Friends desiring me to take the Cause in hand earnestly to bring them both to an Accommodation and that if I would do so I should do him greater service than if I should stay a whole year longer at Tripoli expecting his Deliverance Now although many means were used after my Departure for his Liberty yet they proved all fruitless unsuccessful and vain so that he was forced to spend three intire years miserably in this severe Turkish Imprisonment untill at length he was miraculously delivered Wherefore I got every thing ready for my Departure and went aboard the Ship called the St. Matthew on the Day of St. Leonhard being the Sixth Day of November in the year 75 having first taken my leave of the above-mentioned my dear Friend Hans Vlrich Krafft whom I loved as my own Brother and the next day we put out having a very good wind So our Navigation proceeded in the beginning very successfully and we discovered on the Third Day early the great Island of Cyprus But when we approached unto it a Hurricane arose suddenly and blew so fiercely upon us that it wound our great Sail round about our main Mast so that it was a wonder to me that it did not bring it by the Board or as it would if the Seamen had not struck it down immediately turn the Ship over and sink her These Winds arise from a Wind that is called by the Greeks Typhon and Pliny calleth it Vertex and Vortex but as dangerous as they are as they arise suddenly so quickly they are laid again also The Seamen pretend that one shall
the Christians that came ashore lest they should go up to Mecha and Medina to ransack and burn them Cap. Walter Payton in the year 1613 found great Hospitality and Ingenuity in some Ports of Arabia Felix nearer the Persian Gulf especially at Doffar a very good Road for Ships and a fair City where the Arabians presented his Crew with Bullocks Sheep Hens Goats Sugar-Canes Plantans and Coco's This Cape stands in 16 degrees 38 min. of N. Lat. and is free from the Turkish Yoke Capt. Edward Heyns anchored before Moha or Mocha in Arabia Felix An. Dom. 1618. the Governour sent him as Presents a young Bullock two Goats Mangoes Limes Cucumbers Water Melons Quinces Rack made of Rice c. He went freely ashore and found it a very neat populous and flourishing Town built of Brick and Stone curiously plaister'd over like Paris two Stories high with flat Roofs and Terrasses on the top whereon they build Summer-houses with Canes and Matts wherein they sleep and receive the fresh Breefes in the great heats They excus'd the Cruelty to Sir H. Middleton laying it on the cruel Governor at that time Of the Ways and Roads between Egypt and Ethiopia IN the month of October an Ambassador of Ethiopia came to Caire with several Presents for the Grand Signior and among others an Ass that had a most delicate Skin if it was natural for I will not vouch for that since I did not examine it This Ass had a black List down the Back and the rest of its Body was all begirt with white and tawny streaks a finger broad a piece The Head of it was extraordinarily long striped and partly coloured as the rest of the Body Its Ears like a Buffles were very wide at the end and black yellow and white Its Legs streaked just like the Body not long ways but round the Leg in fashion of a Garter down to the Foot and all in so good proportion and symetry that no Lynx could be more exactly spotted nor any Skin of a Tyger so pretty this may be the Zembra The Ambassador had two more such Asses which dyed by the way but he brought their Skins with him to be presented to the Grand Signior with the live one He had also several little black Slaves of Nubia and other Countries confining on Ethiopia Civet and other costly things for his Present These little Blacks serve to look after the Women in the Seraglio after that they are gelded The Ambassador was an old man and had the end of his Nose part of the upper and under Lip cut off but was otherwise a shapely man and of a very good presence He was cloathed after the Cophtish fashion wearing a Turban like them and spoke very good Italian which gave me the opportunity of conversing with him He told me his name was Michael that he was a Native of Tripoly in Syria and that he had made three or four Voyages into Christendom That eighteen months before he had parted from Gontar the Capital City of Ethiopia and was so long retarded by the way because of the contrary Winds he met with on the Red Sea by which he came That of an hundred Persons whom he had brought with him of his own Servants and the Slaves he was to present to the Grand Signior thirty or forty were dead If he had come by Land he had not been so long by the way for from Gontar to Schouaquen it is about six weeks Journey and from Schouaquen to Caire forty or fifty days by Camels but he could not take that way because of his Train He told me many things relating to the Kingdom of Ethiopia which I shall here give the Reader an account of But first of the ways of passing out of Egypt into Ethiopia The Merchants setting out from Grand Caire are carried up the Nile against the Stream as far as Monfallot and thence travelling in Caravans first come to Siint and so in order to the following Towns Wack three days Journey Meks two days Scheb three Sellim three Moschu five Dungala five accounted the Metropolis of Nubia then they come into the Kingdom of Sennar From Dungala they travel to Kshabi three days Journey Korti three more Trere three Gerry one Helfage one Arbatg three Sennar four From Sennar in fourteen days they arrive at the Confines of Habessinia the Entrance is called Tshelga The passage by Sea is various for the Merchants embark in several Ports on the Red Sea as Suesso Gidda Alcossir and so coast it to Suaquena and Matzua The safest way of travelling into the Kingdom of Prester John is with some Metropolitan or Ambassador Some land at Baylar a Port belonging to the King of Dengala in amity with the Habessins but the Journey thence by Land is tedious and infested by the Gallons 'T is but three months travel by Land from Grand Caire to Gontar the chief City of Ethiopia Of Ethiopia By Michael of Tripoly Ambassador from the Habessine Emperor to the Grand Signior EThiopia or the Country of the Abyssins called in Arabick Abesch from whence comes the word Abyssin is a great Empire being above seven months travel in circuit On the East side it is bordered by the Red Sea and Zanguebar on the South with Zeila Avousa Naria c. On the West by the Country of the Negros and Nubia and on the North with the Country of Nubia and Bugia because to come from Ethiopia into Egypt one must cross Nubia down the Nile About an hundred years ago Greyu Mahomet King of Zeila of which the Inhabitants are all Moors invaded Ethiopia and forced the King to save himself on a Mountain from whence he sent to demand assistance of the King of Portugal who immediately sent it him but hardly was he who commanded these Auxiliaries enter'd the Country when he resolved to return back again finding that they ate raw Flesh there However his Brother Don Christopher had more Courage and would not return without doing some Exploit He marched up into the Country with about Three hundred Musqueteers fought vanquished and killed the Moorish King and then re-established the lawful King of Ethiopia For reward of which Service the King of Ethiopia gave Lands and Estates to all the Portuguese that stayed within his Dominions and their Offspring are still in that Country The Father of this present King was a Catholick but he dying some thirty odd years ago the Queen his Wife who was a great Enemy to the Jesuits and no Catholick and who suffer'd impatiently that they should govern as they pleased the late King her Husband wrought upon her Son that succeeded him to persecute all the Roman Catholicks in such a manner that the Jesuits were obliged to make their escape and he put to death all the Capucins whom he found Since that time three Capucins more were put to death at Schouaken for the King of Ethiopia knowing that they had a mind to come into his Kingdom sent to the