us for besides the former whose Name was Scervanli Ibrahim Aga there came another with him call'd Mahhmad Aga who had been sent by the preceding Serdar to Bassora Lahhsa and divers other adjacent places and had not dispatch'd his business in order to his return before now June the thirteenth After a long contest with our chief Camelier about hiring certain Arabian Guides which he pretended necessary to get money of us and I refus'd as superfluous since we knew the way without them and they could do us no good against the Thieves At length the business resting half undecided being I said if he would not go without those Guides I would return back to Bassora which he was loth to hear of because of restoring my money without speaking a word more about it he determin'd to proceed from Cavebeda and travelling all night we pass'd by the Pits of Ganeniat June the fourteenth Three hours before noon having travell'd till then we rested a while near certain Pits and setting forwards again in the Evening travell'd till mid-night and then we rested The next day rising early we travell'd till about noon till coming to a little bitter water we stay'd there to repose Here the great wind which blows continually in the Desart allaying the great heat of the Season having before much shatter'd our little Pavilions now broke them all in pieces so that we could no more make use of them Which indeed was a great inconvenience but for the future we had no other remedy but when we rested to ward off the Sun-beams with little sheds made of our Cloths fastned upon three Chairs wherein the Women and I were carry'd though they scarce suffic'd to cover three or four persons Yet in the night when there was no need of shadow we slept more pleasantly and coolely under the fair Canopy of the Starry Heaven After noon we proceeded further till an hour before night and then took up our lodging near another water June the sixteenth Having travell'd from break of day till noon and then rested two hours we proceeded again till night lodging in a place where the multitude of Gnats suffer'd us to sleep but little The next Morning early we pass'd by a great dry Lake which yet seem'd to have water in it at some time of the year and an hour before noon rested in a place full of Hornets very troublesome both to Men and beasts At the usual hour we set forwards again and journey'd till night June the eighteenth Rising before day-break we pass'd by at a distance leaving it on the right hand a place inhabited by Arabians which they call Argia govern'd by one Hhasan Aga Curdo a Fugitive from his own Country and by Alliance with the Arabians become great amongst them The Capigi Ibrahim Aga had a Robe to present to him from the Serdar but being we could not go to Argia by reason all the Passages were then overflown with water and the Cameliers had no mind to it in regard of a Gabel which would be requir'd there of us we repos'd our selves about noon in the place where we were Having pass'd Argia a good way the Capigi got one to swim over the waters and to advertise Hhasan Aga of the Serdar's Present which he had for him and would have deliver'd himself had the way been passable he also desir'd some Arquebusiers to accompany us over the Desart In expectation of an Answer we stay'd in this place all day where I saw upon the ground abundance of Sea-shels shining within like Mother-of-Pearl some whole and some broken I wonder'd how they came there so far from Sea I saw also many pieces of Bitumen scatter'd up and down which is produc'd in that brackish soil by the overflowing of the water at some time of the year I have a piece of it by me to shew Being suspicious of some Arabian Maedi's that is Vagrants or Vagabonds so call'd because they abide with Droves of Buffles sometimes in the Desarts and sometimes in Cities and are different from the Bedavi or Beduvi that is Deserticolae who are the noblest amongst them never residing in walled places but wandring about the Fields with black Tents as also from the Hhadesi who live in Cities and Stable-houses and are therefore accounted by them the ignoblest and meanest but indeed are of a middle condition between both the other sorts for more security we remov'd a mile further and took up our station under a little Hill near some ruins of building which we discover'd afar off and I walkt on foot to behold near hand In the revolutions of Baghdad the above-said Hhasan Aga Lord of Argia was visited by the Persians the Sciah sending a Tag to him as he uses to do to great Persons whom he intends to invite to be or declare themselves of his Party and he carri'd himself in such sort that his fidelity became something suspected to the Turks insomuch that a Basha had an intention to kill him but did not do it perhaps because he knew not how to effect his purpose wherefore to keep him still faithful as I believe since it was not possible to punish him the Serdar sent him by this Capigi the above-mention'd Present June the nineteenth Our removal hence being still deferr'd in expectation of the answer of Hhasan Aga I went in the forenoon to take a more diligent view of the ruins of the above-said ancient building What it had been I could not understand but I found it to have been built with very good Bricks most of which were stampt in the midst with certain unknown letters which appear'd very ancient I observ'd that they had been cemented together in the Fabrick not with lime but with bitumen or pitch which as I said is generated in these Desarts whence the Hill upon which these ruins are is call'd by the Arabians Muqeijer that is Pitchy In the evening two men came from Hhasan Aga to the Capigi with Letters and an Answer that he would send him some provisions but they departed discontented because the Capigi gave them nothing June the twenty first We set forth by day-light and journied till Noon and after two hours rest continued our way till night over Lands sometimes moorish with abundance of little canes sometimes whitish with salt and sometimes cover'd with thickets of Shrubs June the twenty second We travell'd again till Noon and as we were reposing in these Plains which were all cover'd with small dry grass a little sparkle falling from some of the Cameliers who according to their custom stood sucking the smoke of Tobacco set this grass on fire and the flame increas'd so suddenly that we had much ado to save our Goods from burning but at length we extinguish't it by casting cloths and thick coverings upon it for water the place afforded none and we had only enough for drink Departing thence two or three hours before night we quarter'd in another place call'd Ehathuer where two or three
things but above all for a good presence for speaking truly and discreetly like a Gentleman and for my civil deportment But before I proceed further I will here present you with a rough and unmeasur'd draught of the King's House and the place wherein he was so far as may suffice for the better understanding of what is already spoken and is to follow after 1. At the foot of this design is the Gate of the Palace 2. The Walk leading to it and included within the House 3. A great plain and sown field 4. The turning of the Walk before the House where the short lines intersecting the outward line towards the field represent the Trees planted at equal distances and in order 5. Seven or eight wooden Stairs leading up to the Porch 6. The Porch of the House in which the little squares near the outer lines are the wooden pillars which support it and the ambient lines the walls 7. The King's Servants standing on either side without the little Porch of the Chamber 8. I Pietro Della Valle when I first talk'd with that King standing 9. The Room wherein the King was 10. The King sitting on the ground upon a little coarse Cloth 11. The King's Nephew sitting on the ground upon a little matt 12. The King's Servants standing 13. I Pietro Della Valle sitting in the said room on the ground upon a little low Table whilst I eat and discours'd with the King a very long time together the place mark'd with the number 13 being that where they set the meat before me 14. A small open Court 15. A small mount or bank in the said Court leading from the more inward Chambers to that where the King was 16. Inner Chambers and Lodgings which what they were I saw not but they were of very bad earthen buildings low and coverd with thatch-like Cottages that is with Palm-leavs which are always to be understood when I speak of Cottages or Houses cover'd with thatch in India 17. I Pietro Della Valle sitting between two of the King's Servants upon the side of the Porch after having spoken the first time with the King entertaining me while the meat was preparing The meat was not long in preparing and being now in order the King call'd for me again to enter into the room where it stood ready and one of the Brachmans who spoke Portugal and was wont to accompany me ask'd me Whether it would not be more convenient for me to ungird my Sword and put off my Cassack I answer'd that my Cassack gave me no trouble nor was there occasion to lay it off but my Sword might be laid aside and therewith ungirding it I gave it him to hold which I did the rather because all Princes being commonly suspicious I imagin'd the King would not like my entring in with Arms and he that goes into another's House to visit him and do him honour is not to disgust but to comply with him in all points So I enter'd without a Sword but yet with shoes and stockins on though with them it be unusual for none should enter into that place but bare-foot and the King himself is so there according to their custum Nor did I scruple their taxing me of uncleanliness as undoubtedly they would have done in Turkie and Persia if I had enter'd into their rooms with shoes or slippers on because there all the rooms are cover'd with Carpets but there was not any in these of the King onely the pavement was gloss'd with Cow-dung Wherefore as to have put off my shoes besides that they are not so easily slip'd off as Pantofles nor does it shew well would have been an exorbitant and unnecessary humility so to enter with them on was to me convenient and decorous without any lyableness to be accus'd of uncleanliness being the floore was not cover'd if it had been so with Carpets or the like as 't is usual in Turkie and Persia then to avoid seeming slovenly by soiling the place with my dirty shoes and my self by sitting upon them which indeed is not handsome I should have caus'd my shoes to be pull'd off for which purpose I had accordingly caus'd a pair of slippers of our fashion to be brought along with me in case there should have been need of them our kind of shoes being not so easie to be put off by shaking the foot alone without the help of the hand as those which for this end are us'd by all the Eastern people Entring in this manner and saluting the King as I pass'd I went to sit down at the upper end of the Chamber as t is above describ'd where they had prepar'd a little square board of the bigness of an ordinary stool which might serve for a single person but rais'd no more then four fingers above the ground upon this I sat down crossing my Legs one over the other and that little elevation help'd me to keep them out from under me with such decency as I desir'd Right before the seat upon the bare floor the Indians not using any Tables they had spread instead of a dish as their custom is especiaâ—ly to us Christians with whom they will not defile their own vessels it not being lawful for them ever to eat again in those wherein we have eaten a great Leaf of that Tree which the Arabians and Persians call Mouz the Portugals in India Fichi d' India Indian Fig-trees and upon the said leaf they had lay'd a good quantity of Rice boyl'd after their manner onely with water and salt but for sauce to it there stood on one side a little vessel made of Palm-leavs full of very good butter melted There lay also upon another Leaf one of those Indian Figgs clean and par'd and hard by it a quantity of a certain red herb commonly eaten in India and call'd by the Portugals Brèdo which yet is the general appellation of all sort of herbs In another place lay several fruits us'd by them and amongst the rest seven of the Bambù or great Indian Cane all of them preserv'd in no bad manner which they call Acciaò besides one sort pickled with Vinegar as our Olives are Bread there was none because they use none but the Rice is instead of it which was no great defect to me because I am now accustom'd to want it and eat very little The King very earnestly pray'd me to eat excusing himself often that he gave me so small an entertainment on the sudden for if he had known my coming before-hand he would have prepar'd many Carìl and divers other more pleasing meats Carìl is a name which in India they give to certain Broths made with Butter the Pulp of Indian Nuts instead of which in our Countries Almond Milk may be us'd being equally good and of the same virtue and all sorts of Spices particularly Cardamoms and Ginger which we use but little besides herbs fruits and a thousand other condiments The Christians who eat every thing add
perhaps as he said not in this world for 't was four years since he had heard any News of me he receiv'd me with extream kindness and gladness After we had given one another account of many things and I had been complemented by Sig Paolo his Nephew and others that were with him I told him that I had in the Galley Batoni Mariam Tinatin my spiritual Daughter and should be glad that before we departed as I thought to do with the same Gallies for Messina that she saw the Church and something of Syracuse The Bishop presently sent Signora Maria his Brother's Wife and Mother of Sig Paolo with two of her Daughters to fetch my Women from the Galley in a Coach and Sig Paolo the Receiver of Malta and my self went in another Coach to fetch them on Land After these Gentlewomen had receiv'd them with many Complements we all went together to the Nunns Church of S. Lucie where we stay'd till evening the Nunns being much delighted to behold the strange habits of my Women and to discourse with them by Interpreters In the mean time many people flock'd into the Church to see them and several Cavaliers came to complement me and make themselves known to me It being late we were accompani'd by many Gentry and people to the Palace where my Women were receiv'd by the Bishop with much Courtesie And being the Galleys were to depart for Messina this very night I desir'd leave of the Bishop to return aboard again but he would by no means grant it saying that since I was come to see him it was not fit that I should embitter his joy with so sudden a departure much less when S. Lucy's day was so near at hand for which those that are remote use to go to Syracuse and that I was the more oblig'd to stay because I had once promis'd him by a Letter as indeed I had to come to Syracuse and spend a S. Lucy's day with him so that since chance had brought it thus to pass I must needs make my word good I answer'd many things and did all I could to get away but to no purpose for the Bishop sen the Receiver to get all my goods out of the Galley for which end was necessary for the gate of the City to be kept open a good part of the night contrary to custom and besides having caus'd a very noble Apartment to be got ready for me in the new building of his Palace he would by all means have us all lodge there Wherefore seeing his pleasure was such I thought fit to obey him and accept the favour The Gentlemen and Gentlewomen after some discourse departed and we were conducted to our apartment where because the Bishop eats not at night he left us to sup and rest The two Galleys which brought us depart this night for Messina and with them F. Orisno my late Fellow-traveller who will deliver you this Letter which I conclude this Evening not omitting to acquaint you with my tarrying here for some days to the end you may understand my deliverance and the good issue of my health and so praying God for the like to you I very heartily kiss your hands LETTER XV. From Messina January 24. 1626. IN continuation of my last to you concerning the favours I receiv'd from my Lord the Bishop of Syracuse I must tell you in the first place that on the fifth of December we were conducted by a great company of Gentry of both Sexes out of the City to several reliques of ancient Syracuse We saw the Artificial Echo reported to have been made by Dionysius in a Prison where he kept many slaves to hear what they talkt within and if I mistake not Archimedes seems to have been the contriver of the Fabrick 'T is indeed one of the goodliest pieces of Art that I ever saw in the world and perhaps was ever invented imitating nature so exactly that the Echo returns words sentences sounds and songs most intire and perfect as was prov'd in our presence with sundry Instruments If a man strike a thick extended cloth with a wand it renders a sound like the shot of Artillery which to be done so well in a Grotto form'd not by Nature but by Art is indeed a strange thing and shews a prodigious wit in the Contriver I must not omit that the roof of this grotto is hollow'd in the form of a man's ear from which probably the Artificer borrow'd the Invention since just as the voice striking the ears which are so shap'd renders the sound audible so 't is seen by experience that this great artificial Ear cut by hand in hard stone being struck in like manner produces the same effect of augmenting a sound although we know not but other Natural Echoes in Caves are fram'd after the same manner Near the place of the Echo we saw the subterranean Cavities wherein the slaves were imprison'd and over them the place of Dionysius's Palace in a very goodly situation with a Prospect extending far both on Land and Sea And near the Palace we beheld many remainders of his great Theater which was not built up like other Structures but cut and hollow'd out of the hard stone all of a piece very large and of excellent Architecture As we return'd home we saw contiguous to the City on one side the Port which they call'd Marmoreo or the Marble Port from its being built all of Stone and differing from the other great one which lies under the City on the other side for at this day the City stands wholly in the Peninsula Ortygia which is almost surrounded by the Sea saving where it joyns to the Land by a narrow Euripus December 8th I accompani'd the B p to the Church of S. Francis whither because it was the Feast of the Conception he went to hear Mass being attended by the Senate and all the Nobility of the City After which I went with divers Gentlemen my Friends to see the Church of S. Lucy without the City in the place where she was martyr'd which Church though sometimes it belong'd to Priests yet is now possess'd by reform'd Franciscan Fryers Under the Church we saw certain grottoes extending to a great distance every way under ground and made I know not whether for Sepulchres of the Ancients or for places of Refuge in times of danger December 9th Two Galleys of Malta which came from Messina with Provisions for the Iland enter'd the Port in one of which was their present General Sig Don Francesco Caraffa Prior della Roccella and Son of the Prince della Roccella who had lately founded this Priorate della Roccella at his own charge always to remain in his own Family though after his death if I am rightly inform'd it shall be no longer a Priorate or Grand Cross but only a Commendum December the tenth Accompani'd by Sig. Paolo Faraone I visited the said Prior della Roccella in his own Galley having seen him several times
carries away people and sometimes with such violence that an Elephant cannot bear up against it but is swept away by the Water Therefore they wait certain fit hours to pass this foard namely when the Sea is at the lowest Ebb which if I mistake not in all other places of the World is wont to be when the Moon is either rising or setting in the Horizon as on the contrary when the Moon is in the middle of Heaven the Tide uses to be at the highest But in the Gulph of Cambaia I know not upon what reason perhaps because 't is much within the Land and far from the great mass of the Ocean it happens at another different hour yet well known to the Country-people The more cautious wait also the most fitting days in the moneth because at the New Moon and Full Moon the Waters are always greater and higher and without comparison highest and most impetuous of all about the Aequinoxes and Solstices In the quarters of the Moon the Tides are moderate and in other intermediate days lower then the rest So that we being come to this place a few days before the New Moon were come in a good time and likewise in a seasonable hour the Cafila or Caravan having set forth from the City in such a moment as was exactly convenient for ordering matters right for the owners of the Coaches and the others imploy'd in this journey are well instructed of every thing and know what they have to do So being united in a great troop the better to break the stream we pass'd over all that space of five Cos which was moist yet firm ground saving that in four places where we foarded the running-water of the River which nevertheless is salt there the great strength of the Sea overcoming that of the River Of the four streams which we waded the first was inconsiderable the other three came higher then the belly of the Oxen which drew the Coaches into which nevertheless the Water enter'd not because their floar and especially the wheels are very high and you sit according to the manner of the East as upon plain ground without hanging the Legs downwards but keeping them bow'd under you For greater security they hir'd sundry men on foot who held the Coaches on either side stedfast with their hands that so in regard of their lightness they might not float and be carry'd away and also to carry our bundles high on their heads that so the same might not be wetted if the Water should come into the body of the Coaches The men who go on foot in this passage either strip themselves naked covering onely their privities with a little cloth or pulling up their coat which as I said is of plain white linnen and serves both for garment and shirt and also tucking up their breeches made of the same they care not for wetting themselves 'T is certainly an odd thing to behold in this passage which is very much frequented abundance of people go every day in this manner some in Coaches and Charriots others on Horseback and a foot men and also women naked without being shie who sees them a spectacle no doubt sufficiently extravagant This wet passage being over there remain two other Cos but of firm and higher ground which is not overflow'd although it be plain and the Sea-shore to arrive at the City of Cambaia whither we came before dinner-time having travell'd that day in all twelve Cos. And here likewise we went to lodge in the House which belongs to the Dutch Merchants by whom we were receiv'd with great kindness and treated continually with exquisite chear for such was the order of the Commendator concerning us in all places Cambaia is a City indifferently large though most of its greatness consists in Suburbs without the walls which are sufficiently spacious 'T is seated on the Sea-shore in a plain almost in the utmost recess of that great Gulph whereunto it gives name The City that is the inner part without the Suburbs is incompass'd with walls built with plain cortines and round battlements The Houses within are brickt with coverings of Tiles and Cisterns which is the custom in India for provision of Water which falls in such plenty during those three moneths of the great Summer rains In our Countries they would be ordinary Houses but in these parts they are counted good and perhaps the best of the whole Province and they are made shady and cool as the heat of the place requires The City hath no form'd Port because it stands in a low Plain but 't is call'd a Port by reason of the great concourse of Vessels thither from several parts which nevertheless for the most part are Frigots Galeots and other small ones of that make which go either by oar or sail because great ones cannot come near the Land by a great way The people of Cambaia are most part Gentiles and here more then elsewhere their vain superstitions are observed with rigor Wherefore we who came particularly to see these things the same day of our arrival after we had din'd and rested a while caus'd our selves to be conducted to see a famous Hospital of Birds of all sorts which for being sick lame depriv'd of their mates or otherwise needing food and cure are kept and tended there with diligence as also the men who take care of them are maintain'd by the publick alms the Indian Gentiles who with Pythagoras and the ancient Aegyptians the first Authors of this opinion according to Herodotus believe the Transmigration of Souls not onely from Man to Man but also from Man to brute beast conceiving it no less a work of Charity to do good to beasts then to Men. The House of this Hospital is small a little room sufficing for many Birds Yet I saw it full of Birds of all sorts which need tendance as Cocks Hens Pigeons Peacocks Ducks and small Birds which during their being lame or sick or mateless are kept here but being recover'd and in good plight if they be wild they are let go at liberty if domestick they are given to some pious person who keeps them in his House The most curious thing I saw in this place were certain little Mice who being found Orphans without Sire or Dam to tend them were put into this Hospital and a venerable Old Man with a white Beard keeping them in a box amongst Cotton very diligently tended them with his spectacles on his nose giving them milk to eat with a Bird's feather because they were so little that as yet they could eat nothing else and as he told us he intended when they were grown up to let them go free whither they pleas'd From this place we went out of the City to the Sea-side to see a Garden sometimes belonging to the Kings of Guzarat 'T is small adorn'd with the same Trees as that which I saw in Surà t with some also of ours as the Figtrees and Coleworts of Europe which
men whom we met with their laden Camels inform'd us that the great Cafila which went so many days before us from Bassora had incounter'd many difficulties and was stopt by Emir Nasir who besides taking a great sum of money from them also constrain'd many of the people to go to Mesched Hhussein to fight with the Qizilbasci with whom he was now at enmity in which conflict which prov'd little successful to the Arabians the chief Leader of the Cafila was slain his Son succeeding him in his Charge with other like news which made me doubt of the good estate of our Francks who went along with that Cafila June the twenty third the twenty fourth and the twenty fifth We travelled and rested at our usual hours during which dayes we had the Iland Geuazir of the Chaldean Lake on our right hand and on the last of them we reposed at a place wherein grew certain low and thin plants which to me seemed to be Juniper June the twenty sixth We travelled from day-break till two hours before Noon and then rested near certain Pits where we had on the right hand afar off Mesched-Ali the place where anciently stood the City of Kufa and where Ali the Son-in-law of Mahhammed was slain the name Mesched-Ali signifying the place of the Martyrdom of Ali whom they hold a Martyr And though the City of Kufa is no longer in being yet upon account of the said Sepulchre venerated by Mahometans and adorned with a noble Fabrick the place is frequented and inhabited when we passed by it was in the power of the Qizilbasci whereas it used to be in that of the Turks whilst they were Masters of Baghdad From hence we continued our Journey till two hours within night June the twenty seventh We set forth by day-light and at Noon rested near a water which rising out of the ground runs under a thicket of Canes where we stayed all day The next day setting forth and resting at our accustomed hours we passed over many dry Lakes which seem'd to have had water in them at some time of the year June the nine and twentieth Two or three hours before Noon we rested by a water near the ruines of an ancient great Fabrick perfectly square with thirteen Pillasters or round Columns on each side without and other compartiments of Arches within which were many Chambers with a Court of no great bigness and uncover'd The Arabians call this Fabrick Casr Chaider I could not conjecture whether it had been a Pallace or Temple or Castle but I incline to believe it a Palace rather then any thing else In this place we had within half a dayes journey on the Right Hand Mesched-Hhussein which signifies the place of the Martyrdom of Hhussein and where Hhussan the Son of Ali and Muhhammed's Daughter was slain and buried by his Emulators which place in the Country call'd Kierbela being inhabited and adorn'd with the said Sepulchre which the Moors visit as Holy a very sumptuous Fabrick after their mode was now in the Hands of the Qizilbasci into which it fell with the other Territories of Baghdad which is but a little distant from thence Here we stay'd to pay a Gabel to Emir Nasirben-Mahhanna Lord of these Desarts or rather to Sceich Abitaleb his Son for Sceich Nasir being now old and devoted to a Spiritual Life as he that had been in pilgrimage at Meka had resign'd the Government to his Son and both of them were now remaining in Tents about a League from the place where we rested towards the North-East June the thirtieth In the Morning the two Capigi's that were in our company went separately to carry their Letters and Presents from the Serdar to the Sceich namely Ibrahim Aga to the present and Mahhmud Aga to the preceding Serdar who as they said was poyson'd either by others or by himself for fear of worse because he had not been diligent enough in the war of Baghdad yet this his Capigi having been sent to several other places could not come hither sooner to the Sceich After dinner in the absence of the Capigi the Sceich's Men came to demand a Gabel and after I had pay'd them as much as they requir'd to wit twelve Piastres for onely two Chests and two or three more Piastres of free-gift nevertheless they open'd all my Trunks breaking some for haste turning all things topsie-turvy and taking away for the Sceich and themselves some things of value which they lik'd a rich Persian Turbant of Silk and Gold a piece of fine checker'd Silk to make Cassocks withall after the Persian Mode many dishes of rare Porcellane beautifi'd with Gold and colours an Harquebuse belonging to my Servant much curious Paper of Japan and India besides many other toyes which I remember not telling me that they would buy them notwithstanding that I told them that they were not things to be sold but onely such as I carry'd for my own use and service Moreover they made me by force that is refusing to hear any of my Reasons to the contrary but saying that the Sceich commanded so though in truth I ought not pay twenty Piastres to my chief Camelier their Friend alledging that the same were for the Guide which he would have hired at Cuvebeda which Guide I neither hir'd nor made use of and if I had I ought to have pay'd onely half at most the said Camelier having other Carriages besides mine and all of Merchandize But they were resolv'd to do a kindness to the Camelier who was an Arabian and a Thief like themselves and gave not this money to any Guide but kept it for his own use Hereby the Readers may observe how we Christians are us'd by these Barbarians in their own jurisdictions At length they would have taken for the Sceich a Sword and Changiar or Arabian Ponyard the hilts and garniture whereof were Silver-gilt and which belong'd sometimes to Sitti Maani my Wife Whereupon being no longer able to suffer so many insolencies I resolv'd to go to the Sceich my self and present him a Letter from the Basha of Bassora which he had writ to him in commendation of me Accordingly leaping upon a Mule of Aga's who was already return'd and highly angry with the proceeding of the Arabians both towards me the rest and himself I rid in haste with the Notary of the Sceich and our cheating Camelier who was partly the cause of this bad usage although I dissembled my resentment thereof to him By the way I found many black Tents of his Arabians dispers'd in several places and an hour within night I came to the Tent of Sceich Abitaleb a little distant from that of his Father Sceich Nasir which Tents differ'd from the rest neither in colour nor stuff being all of coarse black Goats-hair but onely in bigness which shew'd them to be the principal We enter'd not into the Tent because we saw many of his chief Arabians sitting in a round on one side thereof upon certain
colour'd and coarse woollen clothes spread on the ground and the Sceich was not there Yet he came presently after and we all rising up at his coming he went and sat down in the midst of the circle and so also did we in our places round about him Then a Candle-stick with a light being plac'd before him he perform'd his Orisons according to their manner after which sitting down again he began to read and subscribe certain Letters giving dispatch to several businesses and amongst others to the Capigi Mahhmud Aga who was there and waited for Licence to return These things being over I arose and presented him the Basha's Letter He ask'd whether I was the Frank or Christian of the Cafila Whereupon the Camelier answer'd that I was and declar'd to him the cause of my coming whereunto I added in Arabick what I thought fit He desir'd to see my Hat nearer Hand and caus'd it to be brought before him and being inform'd that I understood the Beâ—â—in-Language he told me that I must excuse what his Officers had done for he had great need of Arquebuzes for war that the Turbant and piece of Silk much pleas'd him but he would pay for them whereto I answer'd that I did not value his payment but would give him both the one and the other Then he call'd for the Turbant and having view'd and highly commended it though I told him it had been us'd as indeed I had worn it several times in Persia he enter'd into the Tent with it where his Women were and from whence was heard a great noise of Hand-mils where-with to make Meal for Bread it being the custom amongst the Arabians for even the noblest Women to do such services By and by he came out again with the Turbant upon his Head whereupon his people congratulated him for his new bravery saying to him Mubarek that is Blessed to the same purpose with our Ad multos Annos Then they set before him a brass dish full of Grapes and we being all call'd about him he began to eat and give us some of the said Grapes which were very sweet and good and the first that I had eaten this year This ended we retir'd to our places and after a short stay I took leave and departed with Mahhmâ—d Aga to the Cafila one of his servants and the Camelier remaining behind by the Sceich's Order who said he would send a dispatch for his own and my business the next day by them July the first The Camelier return'd with an Answer that the Sceich would not take the Sword and the Changier or Ponyard from me and for the Turbant and piece of Silk he sent me 29 Piastres whereof the Camelier said he had expended five to wit two to the Officer that pay'd him and three to I know not who else so that he brought me but 24 which were not a third part of what the things were worth However I took them because the barbarous dealing of the Sceich deserv'd not that I should correspond with him with better courtesie I have related this Adventure that thereby the dealings of these uncivil Barbarians may be known July the second We departed from this Station early in the Morning continuing our journey but were detain'd near two hours by certain Arabian Officers of a Brother of Sceich Nasir who also would needs extort some payment upon each Camel We arriv'd late to bait near a water where we found many Arabian Tents from which and a neighbouring Village we had plenty both of sweet and sower Milk and also of Grapes Here we stay'd all day and upon a hasty quarrel between Batoni Mariam and Eugenia my Indian Maid at night the said Maid ran away from us in these desarts yet was so honest as to leave even all her own things and ornaments behind so that it was rather despair than infidelity that occasion'd her flight I had much adoe to recover her again and was in great danger of losing her in case she had fallen into the hands of any Arabian who undoubtedly would have hid her and perhaps carry'd her afar off and made her a slave for ever I mention this to the end Masters may learn not to drive their Servants into despair by too much rigor which may redound to the prejudice of themselves as well as of them July the third Setting sorth early we baited before noon near a Lake of Water streaming there amongst certain Reeds and verdant Fields about which flew many Assuetae ripis Volucres some of which we took and eat F. Gregorio Orsino who was with me bathing himself here as he was wont often to do for the heat and being unskilful of swimming was in great danger of being drowned hapning unawares to go into a much deeper place of the Lake then he imagin'd We travell'd no further this day but onely at night went to joyn with the Capigi's who had pitch'd a Tent a little further from the Water to avoid the Gnats there which were very troublesome both to Men and Beasts The two next dayes we travell'd but little because of some difference between the Arabians and the chief Camelier who went back to the Sceich about it July the sixth We travell'd this day over Lands full of a white and shining Mineral which was either Talk or Salt-petre or some such thing I brought a good quantity of it away with me July the seventh We travell'd from day-break till noon passing over a clayie and slippery ground where the Camels went with much difficulty We rested at a place full of prickly shrubs the leavs whereof are less then a Man's naile and of the shape of a heart the fruit was round and red like small coral-beads of taste sweet mixt with a little sharpness having little stones in them it was very pleasant to the taste and afforded no small refreshment to us in these Desarts The Mahometans celebrated their Bairam the Fast of Ramadhan being now ended July the eighth We came to several places of stagnant waters and baited at one two or three hours before noon but the water was sulphureous and ill-tasted as most of the rest were also in regard of the many Minerals where-with the Earth of the Desart abounds We departed not from this place at night because we were to pay a Gabel to Emir Mudleg Aburisc whose Territory here-abouts begins Emir Aburisc is the greatest Prince of the Arabians in Arabia Deserta and this Prince whose proper name is Mudleg succeeded his deceased Uncle Feiad who was living and reign'd when I went from Aleppo to Baghdad nine years before having usurp'd the Government from Mudleg who was very young at the time of his Father's decease At night we were visited by some pilfring Arabians who finding us prepar'd with our Arms betook themselves to their heels and escap'd unhurt from us though we pursu'd them a while July the ninth The Morning was spent in paying Gabels I pay'd for my part for a load and half
's sow'n with Corn. And O jam periere Ruinae the very Ruins of that place are almost all gone to Ruine The most observable thing there yet remaining is part of an exceeding great House which is continued by Tradition to have been sometimes a part of the famous Palace of great King Priamus From Smyrna he found a Passage to Alexandria in Aegypt Aegypt that is called by some in regard of the Plenty it produceth the Granary or Store-house of the World And in Egypt near Gran-Cairo antiently called Memphis he observed what remains of the once fam'd Pyramids Returning thence back to Alexandria with one Englishman more they found a pass by Sea to Jatta antiently called Joppa and there they met some others going to Jerusalem which is about twenty English miles distant from Joppa whence they departed together towards Jerusalem and found it a very solitary rocky uncomfortable way full of danger by reason of the wild Arabes who keep about those Passages to make poor Travellers their prey and spoyl But they came safe to Jerusalem now inhabited by Turks and that place called by them Cutts where he told me that himself and his Companion were courteously received by the Father Guardian of the Convent of Franciscan Friars that keep their residence in Jerusalem and by some of them were met at the Gate of the City where they were compelled by the Turkish Souldiers who keep those Gates as all others that bear the name of Christians are at their first coming thither to redeem their heads by paying each of them the value of five shillings before they could have admittance into that place which they had no sooner entred but they were presently carried by those Franciscans which met them to their Convent and then the first thing they did to or for them they washed their feet then set some comfortable refection before them and after went in Procession about a little Cloyster they had praising God that he had brought in safety those two Votaries as they called them to visit that Holy Place A day or two after they accompanied them to Bethlehem the place of our Blessed Saviour's Birth about five English miles distant from Jerusalem and in the way betwixt those two places shewed them a Rock on which as they said the Blessed Virgin sate down as she went on a time betwixt Jerusalem and Bethlehem to give her Babe suck and that the Rock might not feel hard under her it yielded as they told them to her body like a Cushion and that impression made by her so sitting remaineth unto this day and is most devoutly kissed by Votaries as they pass up and down After this they returning back shewed them all that was to be seen in and about Jerusalem Many particulars they told them stories which are there kept by Tradition concerning our Blessed Saviour and his Mother Then they had a sight of as much of Mount Calvary where our Blessed Saviour suffered as could be shewed them that Hill being now enclos'd within the walls of Jerusalem They undertook to shew them afterwards the place wherein our blessed Saviour was buried and after that upon Mount Olivet the very place whence he after Ascended where upon a Rock there was an impression of the former part of two feet such as is seen in soft earth when a man lifts up his body to leap thence and these Franciscans confidently affirmed and seemed undoubtedly to believe that it was so as they shewed and told them Many other things they affirmed which being but Circumstantials though appertaining to the best of all Stories were enough for these Pilgrims to believe and enough to make doubt of At Jerusalem this our Traveller had made upon the Wrists of his left Arm the Arms of Jerusalem a Cross Crossed or Crosslets and on the Wrist of his right a single Cross made like that of our Blessed Saviour suffered on and on the sides the Stem or Tree of that Cross these words written Via Veritas Vita some of the Letters being put on the one side of that Stem or Tree and some of them on the other and at the foot of that Cross three Nails to signifie those which fasted our Saviour unto it All these impressions were made by sharp Needles bound together that pierced onely the skin and then a black Powder put into the Places so pierced which became presently indelible Characters to continue with him so long as his flesh should be covered with skin And they were done upon his Arms so artificially as if they had been drawn by some accurate Pencil upon Parchment This poor man would pride himself very much in the beholding of those Characters and seeing them would often speak those words of Saint Paul written to the Galatians Gal. 6.17 though far besides the Apostles meaning I bear in my Body the marks of the Lord Jesus Now after that himself and Camrade had seen what they desired in and about Jerusalem they took their leave of those Franciscans leaving with them money to recompence the courtesie they had received from them the Fryers being very poor and consequently unable to entertain them freely without requitals From hence they took their way to take a view of the Dead Sea so called either because the water therein is still and moves not or because no living Creature is in it and nothing thrives on the banks thereof the place where Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim once stood those Cities which Almighty God overthrew in anger and repented not Jer. 20.16 Hence they went to have a sight of the River Jordan which dischargeth it self into that most uncomfortable lake and from hence they journeyed North-East through those ten tribes which for the sin of Solomon were rent from his Son Rehoboam till they came to Mount Libanus Thence back to Sidon which retaineth that Name still And here he told me as his last observation made in that Land of Canaan sometimes like the Garden of the Lord flowing with milk and honey being then enriched with a very great variety and abundance of Gods good Creatures and in the dayes of David so populous that there were numbred in it at one time thirteen hundred thousand fighting men 2 Sam. 24.9 besides Women and Children and others unfit to draw swords which was a most wonderful thing to consider that such a spot of ground in comparison not above one hundred and sixty miles in length from Dan to Bersheba and not above sixty miles in breadth from Joppa to Jordan should be able to bear and feed such a numerous people and now the very self same tract of earth either for want of manuring or which is rather to be conceived for the want of the blessing of Almighty God which once shined upon it but is now long since with-drawn from it For a fruitful Land the Lord makes barren for the wickedness of them that dwell therein Psal. 107.34 is now become unable to sustain one in
In the top-tender branches of those Trees they make incisions which they open and stop again as they please under which they hang Pots made of large and light Gourds to preserve the influence which issues out of them in a large quantity in the night-season they stopping up those vents in the heat of the day That which thus distils forth in the night if it be taken very early in the morning is as pleasing to the taste as any new White-wine and much clearer than it It is a very piercing and medicinable and inoffensive Drink if taken betimes in the day only it is a little windy but if it be kept till the heat of the day the Sun alters it so as if it made it another kind of liquor for it becomes then very heady not so well relished and unwholsom and when it is so not a few of our drunken Sea-men chuse to drink it and I think they so do because it will then presently turn their brains for there are too too many of the common sort of those men who use the Sea who love those brutish distempers too much which turn a man out of himself and leave a Beast in the skin of a man But for that drink if it be taken in its best and most proper season I conceive it to be of it self very wholsom because it provokes urine exceedingly the further benefit whereof some there have found by happy experience thereby eased from their torture inflicted by that shame of Physicians and Tyrant of all Maladies the Stone And so cheap too is this most pleasing Wine that a man may there have more than enough for a very little money At Surat and so to Agra and beyond it seldom or never rains but one season of the year but yet there is a refreshing Dew during all that times the Heavens there are thus shut up which every night falls and cools and comforts and refresheth the face of the earth Those general rains begin near the time that the Sun comes to the Northern Tropick and so continue till his return back to the Line These showers at their beginning most extremely violent are usher'd in and usually take their leave with most fearful Tempests of Thunder Lightning more terrible than I can express yet seldom do harm the reason in Nature may be the subtilty of the Air in those parts wherein there are fewer Thunder-stones made than in such Climates where the Air is thick gross and cloudy During those three months it rains usually every day more or less sometimes one whole quarter of the Moon together scarce without any intermission which abundance of moisture with the heat of the Sun doth so enrich their Land which they never force if I observed right by Soyling of it as that like Aegypt by the inundation of Nilus it makes it fruitful all the year after When the time of this Rain is passed over the face of the Sky there is presently so serene and clear as that scarcely one Cloud appears in their Hemisphere the nine months after And here a strong Argument that may further and most infallibly shew the goodness of their Soil shall not escape my Pen most apparent in this That when the Ground there hath been destitute of Rain nine months together and looks all of it like the barren Sands in the Desarts of Arabia where there is not one spire of green Grass to be found within a few days after those fat enriching showers begin to fall the face of the Earth there as it were by a new Resurrection is so revived and throughout so renewed as that it is presently covered all over with a pure green Mantle And moreover to confirm that which before I observed concerning the goodness of that Soil amongst many hundred Acres of Corn of divers kinds I have there beheld I never saw any but what was very rich and good standing as thick on the Ground as the Land could well bear it They till their Ground with Oxen and Foot-Ploughs their Seed-time is May and the beginning of June they taking their time to dispatch all that work before that long Rainy season comes and though the Ground then hath been all the time we named before without any sufficient moysture by showers or otherwise to supple and make it more fit for Tillage yet the Soil there is such a brittle fat mould which they sow year after year as that they can very easily till it Their Harvest is in November and December the most temperate months of all that year Their Ground is not enclosed unless some small quantity near Towns and Villages which stand scattered up and down this vast Empire very thick though for want of the true names not inserted in the Map They mow not their Grass as we to make Hay but cut it off the ground either green or withered as they have occasion to use it They sow Tobacco in abundance and they take it too very much but after a strange way much different from us for first they have little Earthen Pots shaped like our small Flower-pots having a narrow neck and an open round top out of the belly of which comes a small spout to the lower part of which spout they fill the Pot with water then putting their Tobacco loose in the top and a burning coal upon it they having first fastned a very small strait hollow Cane or Reed not bigger than a small Arrow within that spout a yard or ell long the Pot standing on the ground draw that smoak into their mouths which first falls upon the Superficies of the water and much discolours it And this way of taking their Tobacco they believe makes it much more cool and wholsom The Tobacco which grows there is doubtless in the Plant as good as in any other place of the world but they know not how to cure and order it like those in the West-Indies to make it so rich and strong The Countrey is beautified with many Woods and Groves of Trees in which those winged Choristers make sweet Musick In those Woods some excellent Hawks make their nests and there are very often to be seen great flocks of Parakeetoes or little Parrats who have their breeding and lodging amongst those Melancholy Shades And in the number of many other Creatures covered with Feathers there are some very little Birds less than our Wrens who are exceeding pretty for their neat shape and their covering with most curious parti-colour'd Feathers full of variety of little spots I have seen there many of those rare Creatures kept together in large Cages who please the Eye with their curious Colours and the Ear with their variety of pleasant Notes The Woods and Groves in the Southermost parts of Indostan have great store of wild Apes and Monkeys and Baboons in them some of which I have seen as high as our tallest Greyhounds which live among the Trees and climb them at pleasure Those Apes c. are very
very long legs and consequently make long steps and so travelling rid ground apace or because at a pinch or time of need they will carry a man exceeding far without rest and but with a very little food They have some Rhinocerots but they are not common which are very large square Beasts bigger than the largest Oxen England affords their skins without hair lye in great wrinkles upon their necks breasts and backs which doth not make them seem lovely unto the beholders They have very strong but short Horns growing upon very firm bones that lye over their Nostrils they grow upwards towards the top of their head every one of these Creatures being fortified with one of them and that enough to make them so terrible that they are shunn'd by other though very large Creatures With these Horns from which those Creatures have their Names are made very excellent Cups which as is conceived give some virtue unto the liquor put into them if it stand any whit long in those Cups And now to conclude with the largest and the most intelligent as we shall hereafter shew of all the sensible Creatures the Earth produceth the Elephant of which this vast Monarchy hath abundance and of them the Mogol is Master of many thousands and his Nobles and all men of quality besides in those large Territories have more or less of them But of these much shall be spoken in my sixt Section I observed before that the Inhabitants of this Empire did carry most of their burthens upon the backs of their Beasts and in a special manner this people employ their Camels and Dromedaries for this use to carry their Merchandizes from place to place and therefore I shall let my Reader see SECTION III. What the chief Merchandizes and most Staple and other Commodities are which are brought into this Empire THe most Staple Commodities of this Empire are Indico and Cotton Wool of that Wool they make divers sorts of Callico which had that name as I suppose from Callicut not far from Goa where that kind of Cloth was first bought by the Portugals For the Spices brought hither by the East-India Fleet they are had more Southerly from the Islands of Sumatra from Java major and minor from the Moluccoes and from other places thereabouts In which as in the Molucco Islands and those other parts too from whence the richest Spices come the Low-Country Merchants have got such footing and such a particular interest that our English Factors there for the present buy those Commodities as we sometimes do buy Provisions and Commodities here at home out of the engrossing Hucksters hands So that our English in those parts have a free Trade for no kind of Spice but for that which is one of the lowest prized namely Pepper which they fetch from Bantam Which more general Trade of the Dutch they have formerly gained at a very vast expence by fortifying themselves there in the places where-ever they settle and then standing upon their Guard put a kind of force upon the Natives to sell them their Commodities What the carriage of that people hath formerly been in those parts towards our English where their Swords hath been longest is sufficiently made known by other Pens This I may conclude from their example and I would they were singular and alone in it that when a people will not be ordered by that Royal Law which commands us Matth. 7.12 To do nothing but what we would be content to suffer as to do nothing unto others but what we would be well content to suffer from others But on the contrary when they measure things not by the strait and even Rule of Equity but by the crooked and oblique Line of Power arming their Injustice to do what they please because they can do what they will This causeth many to make very bold with God in cases that seem to give advantage unto their high thoughts and Commodities For what evil cannot Ambition and Covetousness do when they are backt with an Arbitrary and unlimitted Power here below if they be not checkt by a stronger Arm from above Whence we see it often come to pass that when the Laws of Nature and Nations yea of God himself lye in the way of their profit or earthly advantages what-ever their sufferings or loss be afterward they either spurn them thence or else tread and trample upon them at pleasure to compass their ends for the present This I can say of the Dutch something from my own knowledge but more from the report of others that when I lived in those parts and we English there were more for number than they and consequently could receive no hurt from them we there used them as Neighbours and Brethren but in other places where they had the like advantage of us they dealt with us neither like Christians nor Men. But I will not here any longer digress but return to speak further of the Commodities to be had in East-India The Indico we bring thence is a good and a rich Commodity It is there made of little leaves not bigger than those on our Goos-berry bushes and the shrubs that bear those leaves are about their bigness These leaves they slip off from the small branches of those bushes which grow with round and full heads without pricks The leaves thus stripp'd off are laid in great heaps together certain dayes till they have been in a hot sweat then are they removed and put into very great and deep Vessels fill'd with a sufficient quantity of water to steep them in where they leave their blew tincture with their substance this done the water is drain'd out into other exceeding broad but very shallow Vessels or Vats made of Plaister like to that we call Plaister of Paris which will keep in all the Liquor till the hot Sun in short time extracts the moisture from it and then what mains in the bottome is a Cream about one quarter of an inch thick which suddenly becomes hard and dry and that is our Indico the best sort whereof comes from Biana near unto Agra and a coarser sort is made at Cirkeese not far from Amadamaz about which two places are a very great number of those shrubs planted which bear those leaves For their Cotton-wooll they sow seed and very large quantities of Ground in East-India are thus seeded It grows up like small Rose-bushes and then puts forth many yellow blossoms those afterward falling off there remain little Cods about the bigness of a Man's Thumb in which the substance at first is moist and yellow but as they ripen they swell bigger till they break their Covering and after in short time that within them becomes Wool as white as Snow and then they gather it Amongst that Wool they find seeds to sow again as they have occasion but those shrubs bear that Wool three or four years e're they supplant them Of this Cotton-wool they make divers sorts of white Cloth as before I
sent the Mogol some great English Mastives and some large Irish Greyhounds in all to the number of eight dispersed in our several Ships one of those high spirited Mastives in our Voyage thither upon a day seeing a great Shoal or company of Porpisces before described mounting up above the waves and coming toward that Ship wherein he was suddenly lept over-board to encounter with them before any did take notice of that fierce creature to prevent that engagement wherein he was irrecoverably lost the Ship then having such a fresh gale of wind that she could not suddenly slack her course whereby that poor creature might have been preserved Another one of the Irish Greyhounds had his head shot off in our fight The Mange was the destruction of four more of them only two of the Mastives came alive to East-India and they were carried up each of them drawn in a little Coach when I went up to the Embassador that he might present them to the Mogol The fiercest of these two in our way thither upon a time breaking loose fell upon a very large Elephant that was hard by us fastning his teeth in the Elephants Trunk and kept his hold there a good while which made that huge beast extremely to roar and though the Elephant did swing the Mastive up and down above ground many times as not feeling his weight that he might throw him off yet he could not suddenly do it but at last freeing himself from the dog by throwing him a good space from him there came a Mungril Curr of that Countrey towards our Mastive who then lost this his most unequal match fell upon that dog and kill'd him by which means we recovered our Mastive again into our custody he having not received any apparent hurts by which we may see how much Courage and Mettle there is in those right fierce Mastives This story pleased the Mogol very much when the dogs were presented to him and he allowed each of them four attendants of those Natives to wait upon them who by turns two and two together carried them up and down with him in Palankees after described to which they were tied and the other two went by them fanning the Flies from off them and the King caused a pair of silver tongs to be made on purpose that with them when he pleased he might feed those dogs with his own hand But this story by the way The Mogol hath many of his great Elephants train'd up for the war who carry each of them one iron Gun about five foot long lying upon a strong frame of wood made square that is fitted to a thick broad Pannel fastned about him with very strong and broad Girses or Girts The Gun like an Harquebuss hath a piece of iron like a Musket-rest fastned on the sides thereof made loose to play up and down The bottom of that Iron Rest so fixed is long to be let through that frame of wood on the foreside and so to be keyed in at the bottom At the four corners of this frame are small flags of silk with sundry devices painted on them put upon little neat coloured staves upon the neck of the Elephant sits a man to guide him and within the frame a Gunner to make his shot as he finds occasion The Piece thus mounted carries a bullet about the bigness of a Tennis Ball. Some Elephants the King keeps for the execution of Malefactors the manner how follows in Sestion 23. And some he keeps to carry himself and women and some Elephants are kept for State of which more when I shall come to speak more particularly of the great Mogol Other Elephants are there imployed for the carrying of burdens their strength being so great as that they will bear a marvellous weight The Elephants are all governed with a small rod of steel about half a yard long made sharp on the lower end and towards that end there is an hook returned like a Fish-hook that is very sharp likewise by which their Riders sitting on their necks pull them back or prick them forward at their pleasure These vast Creatures though the Countrey be exceeding fruitful and all provisions in it cheap yet by reason of their huge bulk if they well be kept and fed are very chargeable in keeping they are kept usually under the shade of great Trees where by a strong chain of iron upon one of their hind-legs they fasten them And as they stand the abundance of Flies vex them and therefore with their fore-feet they make dust the ground usually being very dry and with their Trunk cast the dust about their bodies to drive away those Flies from them The King allows every one of those great male-Elephants four femals which in their language they call their wives These brutes as they say will not endure any to behold them when they are coupling together which may condemn many who call themselves men and women but have so lost all modesty that they are not ashamed when they commit any act of filthiness no they are not ashamed neither can they blush The Female Elephants as they further say carry their young one whole year ere they bring them forth Thirty years expire ere they come to their full growth and they fulfill the accustomed age of men ere they die And lastly notwithstanding the great Number there of those vast Creatures and the excessive charge in keeping them well they value them at exceeding high rates For this people when as they journey from place to place the men of the inferiour sort go all on foot their women that cannot so travel ride on little Oxen inured to carry burdens or on Asses which carry their little children with them the women like the men astride Others that are of better quality ride on Horses Mules Camels Dromedaries or else in slight Coaches with two wheels covered on the top and back-end but the fore-part and sides open unless they carry women Those Coaches will carry four persons beside the driver but two may lie at ease and at length in them upon quilts that lie in the body of them upheld by girt-web with which they are bottom'd which makes them by far more easie These Coaches are covered for men of quality with some thing that is costly much of our English broad cloth that is died red is there bought from us and imployed for that use At the back-end of this Coach they have a long round bolster that reacheth both sides stuffed with Cotten-wool and covered with Velvet or Sattin or with some other thing that is rich These Coaches are drawn by Oxen one yoke to a Coach some of which Oxen have their short horns neatly tipped with silver plate and some others with brass and they have each of them a fine Collar of large round bells some of them made of Silver They are pared and suted as our Coach-horses for stature and colour most of them thus imployed are white and some pide or
double doors in the sides of them like those in our Balconies to open and let in fresh air which is likewise conveyed in unto them by many lesser lights made in the walls of those rooms which are always free and open The use of glass windows or any other shuttings being not known there nor in any other very hot Countreys Neither have they any Chimneys in their buildings because they never make any use of fire but to dress their food which fire they make against firm wall or without their Tents against some bank of Earth as remote as may be from the places where they use to keep that they may receive no annoyance from the heat thereof It is their manner in many places to plant about and amongst their buildings trees which grow high and broad the shadow whereof keeps their houses by far more cool this I observ'd in a special manner when we were ready to enter Amadavar for it appeared to us as if we had been entring a Wood rather than a City That Amadavar is very large and populous City entred by many fair Gates girt about with an high and thick Wall of Brick which mounts above the tops of their houses without which wall there are no suburbs Most of the houses within the City are of Brick and very many of them ridged and covered with Tiles But for their houses in their Aldeas or Villages which stand very thick in that Country they are generally very poor and base All those Countrey-dwellings are set up close together for I never observed any house there to stand single and alone Some of their houses in those villages are made with earthenwalls mingled with straw set up immediatly after their Rains and having a long season after to dry them throughly stand firm and so continue they are built low and many of them flat but for the generality of those Country-Villages the Cottages in them are miserably poor little and base so that as they are built with a very little charge set up with sticks rather than Timber if they chance to fire as many times they do for a very little they may be re-edified Those who inhabit the Countrey-Villages are called Coolees These till the ground and breed up Cattel and other things for provision as Hens c. â—hese they who plant the Sugar the Cotten-wool and Indiâ—o c. for their Trades and Manufactures they are kept in Cities and Towns about which are their choicest fruits planted In their Cities and Towns without their dwellings but fix't to them are pend-houses where they shew and sell their provisions as bread and flower-cakes made up with Sugar and fruits and other things and there they shew their manufactures and other Commodities some of which they carry twice every day to sell in the Bazar or Market I saw two houses of the Mogol's one at Mandoa the other at Amadaver which appeared large stately built of excellent stone well squared and put together each of them taking up a large compass of ground but we could never see how they were contrived within because there are none admitted strangers or others to have a sight of those houses while the King's wives and women are there which must not be seen by any but by himself and his servants the Eunuchs The Mogol's Palace Royal is at Agra his Metropolis of which more afterward but for the present I shall take a little notice of a very curious Grot I saw belonging to his house at Mandoa which stood a small distance from it for the building of which there was a way made into a firm Rock which shewed it self on the side of an Hill Canopied over with part of that Rock It was a place that had much beauty in it by reason of the curious workmanship bestowed on it and much pleasure by reason of its coolness That City Mandoa I speak of is situated upon a very high mountain the top whereof is flat and plain and spacious From all parts that lie about it but one the ascent is very high and steep and the way to us seemed exceeding long for we were two whole days climbing up the Hill with our Cariages which we got up with very much difficulty not far from the bottom of which Hill we lodged at a great town called Achabar-pore where we ferried over a broad River as we did in other places for I observed no bridges made there over any of their Rivers where their high-ways lie That Hill on which Mandoa stands is stuck round as it were with fair trees that keep their distance so one from and below the other that there is much delight in beholding them either from the bottom or top of that Hill In those vast and far extended Woods there are Lions Tygres and other beasts of Prey and many wild Elephants We lay one night in that wood with our Carriages and those Lions came about us discovering themselves by their Roaring but we keeping a very good fire all night they came not neer enough to hurt either our selves or cattel Those cruel Beasts are night-walkers for in the day they appear not After when through Gods most gracious assistance we had overcome those difficulties and dangers we came into a plain and even Countrey in which travelling a few dayes more we first met with my Lord Ambassador marching towards Mandoa with that great King with whom I then setled and continued with him till he was returned home We were in our journey to the Court from the beginning of January till the end of March we resting a while at Brampore which is a very spacious and populous City where we had a Factory And after that we were violently detained in our journy by Sultan Caroon the Prince whom we met in his march towards Brampore a very marvelous great retinue with him The reason why he interrupted us in our course was that he might see the Presents we had for his Father the King but we having command from the Ambassador to tell him that we durst not open them till we came to the King we most humbly craved his pardon to spare us in that so presenting him with a pair of Rich Gloves though they be things they wear not in those hot Countries and a rich embroidered bag for perfume which amongst many other things of the like kind were brought from England to be given away for Presents after that he had carried us back three days journy he let us go taking further order for our safe convoy And now Reader thou maist suppose us almost setled in Mandoa the place then of the Mogol's residence not much inhabited before we came thither having more ruins by far about it than standing houses But amongst the Piles of building that had held up their heads above Ruin there were not a few unfrequented Mosquits or Mahometan Churches yet I observed that though the people who attended the King there were marvellously streightned for room
made by it for as before they are a people that will make any new thing by a pattern and when his new Coach was made according to the pattern his work-men first putting the English Coach together did so with that they had new made then pulling out all the China Velvet which was in the English Coach there was in the room thereof put a very rich Stuff the ground Silver wrought all over in spaces with variety of flowers of silk excellently well suited for their colours and cut short like a Plush and in stead of the brass-nails that were first in it there were nails of silver put in their places And the Coach which his own Work-men made was lined and seated likewise with a richer stuff than the former the ground of it gold mingled like the other with silk flowers and the nails silver and double gilt and after having Horses and Harness fitted for both his Coaches He rode sometimes in them and contracted with the English-coach-man to serve him whom he made very fine by rich vests he gave him allowing him a very great Pension besides he never carried him in any of those Coaches but he gave him the reward of ten pounds at the least which had raised the Coach-man unto a very great Estate had not death prevented it and that immediately after he was setled in that great service The East-India Company sent other Presents for that King as excellent Pictures which pleased the Mogol very much especially if there were fair and beautiful Women portrayed in them They sent likewise Swords Rapiers excellently well hatcht and pieces of rich Imbroidery to make sweet bags and rich Gloves and handsome Looking-glasses and other things to give away that they might have always some things in readiness to present both to the King and also to his Governours where our Factories were setled for all these were like those Rulers of Israel mentioned Hosea 4.18 who would love to say with shame give ye They looked to be presented with something when our Factors had any especial occasion to repair unto them and if the particular thing they then presented did not like them well they would desire to have it exchanged for something else haply they having never heard of our good and modest proverb That a man must not look into the mouth of a given Horse And it is a very poor thing indeed which is freely given and is not worth the taking The Mogol sometimes by his Firmauns or Letters Patents will grant some particular things unto single or divers persons and presently after will contradict those Grants by other Letters excusing himself thus That he is a great and an absolute King and therefore must not be tied unto any thing which if he were he said that he was a slave and not a free-man Yet what he promised was usually enjoyed although he would not be tied to a certain performance of his promise Therefore there can be no dealing with this King upon very sure terms who will say and unsay promise and deny Yet we Englishmen did not at all suffer by that inconstancy of his but there found a free Trade a peaceable residence and a very good esteem with that King and People and much the better as I conceive by reason of the prudence of my Lord Embassadour who was there in some sense like Joseph in the Court of Pharaoh for whose sake all his Nation there seemed to fare the better And we had a very easie way upon any grievance to repair to that King as will appear now in my next Section which speaks SECTION XXIV Of the Mogol shewing himself three times publickly unto his people every day and in what state and glory he doth oftentimes appear FIrst early in the morning at that very time the Sun begins to appear above the Horizon He appears unto his people in a place very like unto one of our Balconies made in his Houses or Pavilions for his morning appearance directly opposite to the East about seven or eight foot high from the ground against which time a very great number of his people especially of the greater sort who desire as often as they can to appear in his eye assemble there together to give him the Salam or good morning crying all out as soon as they see their King with a loud voice Padsha Salamet which signifies Live O great King or O great King Health and life At Noon he shews himself in another place like the former on the South-side and a little before Sun-set in a like place on the West-side of his House or Tent but as soon as the Sun forsakes the Hemisphear he leaves his people ushered in and out with Drums and Wind-instruments and the peoples acclamations At both which times likewise very great numbers of his people assemble together to present themselves before him And at any of these three times he that hath a suit to the King or desires Justice at his hands be he Poor or Rich if he hold up a Petition to be seen shall be heard and answered And between seven and nine of the Clock at night he sits within House or Tent more privately in a spacious place called his Goozalcan or bathing-house made bright like day by abundance of lights and here the King sits mounted upon a stately Throne where his Nobles and such as are favoured by him stand about him others find admittance to but by special leave from his Guard who cause every one that enters that place to breathe upon them and if they imagine that any have drunk wine they keep him out At this time my Lord Embassadour made his usual addresses to him and I often waited on him thither and it was a good time to do business with that King who then was for the most part very pleasant and full of talk unto those which were round about him and so continued till he fell a sleep oft times by drinking and then all assembled immediately quitted the place except those which were his trusted servants who by turns watched his person The Mogol hath a most stately rich and spacious house at Agra his Metropolis or chief City which is called his Palace Royal wherein there are two Towers or Turrets about ten foot square covered with massie Gold as ours are usually with Lead this I had from Tom Coryat as from other English Merchants who keep in a Factory at that place And further they told me that he hath a most glorious Throne within that his Palace ascended by divers steps which are covered with plate of silver upon the top of which ascent stand four Lions upon pedestals of curiously coloured Marble which Lions are all made of Massie silver some part of them guilded with gold and beset with precious stones Those Lions support a Canopy of pure gold under which the Mogol sits when as he appears in his greatest state and glory For the beauty of that Court it consists not in