the truth whereof our chief Camelier went to Cuvebeda where the Spies of these Thieves use to reside and at night he brought us word that it was true and that therefore it behov'd us to go back again Whether it was true or onely an Invention of his for some end of his own I cannot affirm but the next day early we return'd to Cuvebeda and lodg'd without the Town at somedistance from the place where we had been before Two dayes after we were perswaded to lodg within the Town for more security from the Thieves and to deceive their Spies by making shew as if we resolv'd not to go further which might divert them from their design The same did the two Capigi that were with 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 Iune 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 Iune 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 Iune 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 Iune 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 moâ—e 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 Iune 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 Iune 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
discourteous I consented to obey him And till the meat came the King commanded some of his Servants to conduct me to sit down by them in the Porch where I might sit after our manner but not in the King's sight Hereupon I with-drew with some of his Men to entertain me and in the mean time the King remain'd talking with the rest of them concerning me commending me much for several 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 re-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 lyablenes 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 usualin 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 asingle 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 especially 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 Caril and divers
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 and contracted Friendship with him whilst I was at Malta in which time he was created General of the Gallies upon the vacancy of the charge by the death of the former General December the twelfth Being S. Lucie's Eve Solemn Vespers were sung in her Church whither the Bishop with the Senate and all the Nobility repair'd At night bone-fires were made and a Cavalcade of many Cavaliers rode about with Torches but cloth'd in their ordinary habits after whom follow'd the Senate likewise on Horse-back December the thirteenth Being the day of S. Lucie the Patroness of Syracuse a solemn Procession was made wherein the Images of the Saint in Silver as big or bigger then the life were carry'd through the chief streets upon a goodly Pedestal of silver all the Clergy and Nobility accompanying the same The Procession set forth from the Cathedral and as the H. Image came out of the Church-Gate a certain man plac'd purposely on the top of the Steeple came flying down as they speak upon a rope and fell in the midst of the Piazza which was throng'd with people assembled to see the Shew The Procession ended at the Church of S. Lucie without the City where a solemn Mass was sung after which in a little Chappel hard by call'd Sant ' Agata I saw under ground the Sepulchre of S. Lucie where She was buried first for now her Body is not here but was translated to some other place long agoe December the fourteenth Many Races were run both by Footmen Mules ordinary Horses and Barb or Ginets as they call them in Syracuse with the usual circumstances of throngs of people Ladies at the windows Gentlemen on Horse-back and in Coaches about the streets December the fifteenth A Mascherade of twelve Cavaliers on Horse-back cloth'd by couples after several fashions went about the City In the Piazza before the Bishops Palace they ran al Saraceno i. e. at a wooden stock made like a Man we call it a Turk and at the Ring making many Caracols or quick Turns at the end Which divertisement continu'd till night when the Maskers were entertain'd with a sumptuous Supper by the Bishop together with the Senate and other Cavaliers December the sixteenth In the Morning I went to view the Fountain Arethusa which I had seen imperfectly many years before at my first being in Sicily 'T is in a Grove within the walls of the City where issuing out of a cavern of a Hill it descends to the Sea-side forming an indifferent Pool before its going out of the walls where the Syracusian Women use to go to wash their Clothes In the afternoon going out of the City to see many courses at the Ring in the field of S. Lucie we went to hear an excellent natural Echo between the Sea and the Walls which returned the sound of a Trumpet once or twice very pleasantly December the eighteenth The General of the Maltese-Gallies set sail for Malta and the next Morning two other Gallies of Malta arriv'd from Messina in the Port of Syracuse This day we went to see the Capuchins Covent without the City in whose Gardens are seen extream deep cavities and precipices for the Soil being all stony was in ancient times dig'd in that manner for stones and one may see where goodly Pillars have been cut out all of a piece as others might still be nevertheless in those dark vallies and cavities there are Gardens and Trees planted which bring forth goodly fruit at which I wonder'd the more because some of them are never seen by the Sun the Soil is so low and closely surrounded with high Rocks These are Lapidicinae or Stone-Quarries where the Athenian Prisoners were put who after the loss of many battels both by Land and Sea at last yielded at Syracuse as Thucydides relates December the twentieth The Bishop made an Ordination according the custom of Four times of the year and this Morning ordain'd above two hundred persons of several Orders for this Diocess is sufficiently populous and many to avoid the numerous grievances impos'd upon the King's people willingly put themselves into the Church December the one twentieth Another Procession like the former was made in the Evening wherein the sacred Image of S. Lucie was carry'd from her own Church where it had been till now to the Cathedral in which it is usually kept in a little Chappel well guarded and lock'd with many keyes When the Image was come thither and the Bishop standing at the Altar first shew'd the Magistrate and then the People the Reliques of the Saint to wit a dark blew Mantle and a Slipper like that of the Pope holding the same to them to kiss and distributing Cotton to them which the said Reliques had touch'd After which the Bishop entertain'd the Senate with a Supper December the two and twentieth The two Maltese-Gallies departed for Malta and the next Evening the General of Malta return'd to Syracuse for more provision the Island of Malta being in great want thereof December the four and twentieth The said General ship'd all the Corn he could possibly as well by stealth as openly because he had not Licence for so much and in the Evening set sail for Malta He inform'd us that the Prior of the Church was coming Ambassador extraordinary to the Pope in order to pacifie his Holiness who was much offended at certain things which they had lately done ill at Malta Whereof I shall give you this brief account A while since two or three Commendams of Malta becoming void by the death of a Commendator who held them all together the Pope joyn'd them into a new Priorate and gave the same to Sig Don Antonio Barberino his Nephew Hereupon the Order took distast that the Pope should give these Commendams to his Nephew in prejudice of the Ancients who pretended to them and making a great stir as if the Pope were not Patron of their goods as well as those of all other Orders they tumultuously resolv'd to send Ambassadors to the Emperor and to the Kings of France and Spain to complain thereof and to intreat the said Princes
according to the times of the Moon it often 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
with abundance of little canes sometimes whitish with salt and sometimes cover'd with thickets of Shrubs Iune 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 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 Iune 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 Iune 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 Iune 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 Iune the nine and twentieth Two or three hours before Noon we rested by a water near the ruines of an ancient great Fabrick perfecty square with thirteen Pillastres 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 adornd 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 Iune 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 God 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 Iapan and India besides many other toyes which I remembâ—r 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 Beduin-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 Mahhmad 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 Iuly 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 Iuly 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 Iuly 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 Iuly the sixth We travell'd this day over Landsfull 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 Iuly 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 Iuly 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
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 Ioppa to Iordan should be able to bear and feed such a numerous people and now the very self same tract ofearth 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 an hundred of such a number From Sidon they got a passage by Sea unto Alexandretta now called Scanderoon in the extreamest bottom of the Mediterranean Sea which is one of the unwholsomest places in the world where I have often heard that no stranger that was born far from it comes to continue there for the space of one moneth but is sure to meet with a sickness which very often proves mortal At this place his English Companion left him and turned his face towards England and he presently took his way towards Aleppo in Syria about seventy miles or more distant from Scanderoon which is as much renowned for wholsomness as the place before-named for being unwholsome and therefore it is called sweet-air'd Aleppo Here he being kindly received by the English Consul stayed a time to gain the company of a Caravan which consists of a great mixt multitude of people from divers parts which get and keep together travelling those parts for fear of the incursions and violences by Thieves and Murtherers which they would undoubtedly meet withall if they travelled single or but few together With these he after set forwards towards and to that City anciently called Niniveh in Assyria which we find in the Prophesie of Ionah was sometimes a great and excellent City of three dayes journey Jonah 3. 3. but now so exceedingly lessen'd and lodg'd in obscurity that passengers cannot say of it This was Niniveh which now hath its old name changed and is called Mozel From hence they journied to Babylon in Chaldea situated upon the River Euphrates once likewise so great that Aristotle called it a Country not a City but now it is very much contracted and 't is called Bagdat From this place they proceeded through both the Armeniaes and either did or else our Traveller was made to believe that he saw the very Mountain Ararat whereon the Ark of Noah rested after the Flood Gen. 8. And from hence they went forward towards the Kingdom of Persia and there to Uzspahan the usual place of Residence for that great King then called Sha Abbas or King Abbas And after they went to Seras anciently called Shushan where the great King Ahasuerus kept his Royal and most Magnificent Court Esth. 1. From hence they journied afterwards to Candahor the first Province North East under the subjection of the Great Moghol and so to Lahore the chiefest City but one belonging to that great Empire a place as I have been often told by Tom Coryat and others of very great trade wealth and delight lying more temperately out of the Parching Sun than any other of his great Cities do And to this City he wanted not Company nor afterwards to Agra the Moghol's Metropolis or chief City And here it is very observable that from Lahore to Agra it is four hundred English miles and that the Country betwixt both these great Cities is rich even pleasant and flat a Campania and the rode-way on both sides all this long distance planted with great Trees which are all the year cloathed with leaves exceeding beneficial unto Travellers for the shade they afford them in those hot Climes This very much extended length of way 'twixt these two places is called by Travellers the Long Walk very full of Villages and Towns for Passengers every where to find Provision At Agra our Traveller made an halt being there lovingly received in the English Factory where he stayd till he had gotten to his Turkish and Morisco or Arabian Languages some good knowledge in the Persian and Indostan Tongues in which study he was alwayes very apt and in little time shewed much proficiency The first of those two the Persian is the more quaint the other the Indian the vulgar Language spoken in East-India In both these he suddenly got such a knowledge and mastery that it did exceedingly afterwards advantage him in his Travels up and down the Mogol's Territory he wearing alwayes the Habit of that Nation and speaking their Language In the first of these the Persian Tongue he made afterwards an Oration to the Great Mogol bringing in that Story of the Queen of Sheba 1 Kings 10. in which parts of that Sacred History the Mahumetans have some knowledge and he told him that as the Queen of Sheba having heard of the Fame of King Solomon came from far to visit him which when she had done she confessed that though she had heard very much of him and many things beyond her belief yet now seeing what she did acknowledged that she had not heard half of that which she now saw concerning the Wisdom and Greatness and Retinue and Riches of Solomon So our Orator told the Mogol that he had heard very much of him before he had the Honour to see him when he was very far off in his own Country but now what he beheld did exceedingly surmount all those former Reports of him which came to his Ears at such a distance from him Then larding his short speech with some other pieces of Flattery which the Mogol liked well concluded And when he had done the Mogol gave him one hundred Roopus which amounts to the value of twelve pounds and ten shillings of our English Money looking upon him as a Derveese Votary or Pilgrim for so he called him and such as bear that name in that Country seem not much to care for money and that was the reason I conceive that he gave him not a more plentiful Reward After this he having got a great mastery likewise in the Indostan or more vulgar Language there was a Woman a Landress belonging to my Lord Embassadors House who had such a freedom and liberty of Speech that she would sometimes scould brawl and rail from the Sun-rising to Sun-set One day he undertook her in her own Language and by eight of the Clock in the Morning so silenced her that she had not one word more to speak I shall have occasion
and small Roots for Salads and in the Southernmost parts Ginger growing almost in every place the large races whereof are there very excellently well preserved as we may know by our tasting them in England And all these things I have last named may be there likewise bought at very low rates And lastly some one kind or other of their very good and choice Fruits may be there had at every time or season of the Year And here I cannot chuse but take notice of a very pleasant and clear liquor called Toddie issuing from a Spongie Tree that grows strait and tall without Boughs to the Top and there spreads out in tender branches very like unto those that grow from the Roots of our rank and rich Artichokes but much bigger and longer This Toddie-tree is not so big but that it may be very easily embraced and the nimble people of that Countrey will climb up as fast to the top thereof the stem of the Tree being rough and crusty as if they had the advantage of Ladders to help them up 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 Iune 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 yast 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
in a close room that the breath of him so chewing it fills it with a very pleasing savour This Empire further affords very excellent good Horse curiously made high metl'd and well managed by the Natives Besides their own they have many of the Persian Tartarian and Arabian breed which have the name to be the choise ones of the World But of these more when I come to speak of the Inhabitants Here are a great number of Camels Dromedaries Mules and Asses imployed for the carriage of burthens or the carrying of the people to which use also they employ many of their Oxen and their Buffeloes likewise which before I spake of The Camels as I oft observed there have one strange quality who cry and make a very piteous noyse at night when they take off their burthens but in the morning when they are laid on the poor Creatures are very still and quiet making no noyse at all The Dromedary is called by the Prophet Ieremy Ier. 2. 23. the swift Dromedary the reason may be because these like the Camels have 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 Iava 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
brought thither the Elephant came to the place where this woman usually sate stopt and seeing a little Child lying there about her herbs took it up gently with his Trunk not doing it the least harm and presently after laid it down upon the stall of an house that was hard by and then proceeded on in his furious course Acosta a Jesuit relates the like of an Elephant in Goa from his own experience The Elephant though he be vast and terrible yea and cruel too when he is set to do mischief or when he is mad yet otherwise is a tame gentle Creature so that the dread of this huge beast most appears to the eyes But notwithstanding his terribleness I once there saw a Creature compared with an Elephant not much bigger than a small Fish compared with a Whale boldly to encounter one of them The occasion by which this so came to pass offers it self thus that year I went for East-India the Merchants here as from the King of England in whose name they sent all their Presents amongst many other things then 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
marble of divers kinds and colours of which I have seen some very good Vaults and Arches well wrought as in their Mosquits or Churches so in some of their high-erected Tombs of which more afterward and so in some other places likewise For their buildings in Cities and Towns there are some of them handsom others fair such as are inhabited by Merchants and none of them very despicable They build their houses low not above two stories and many of their tops flat and thick which keep off the violence of the heat and those flat tops supported with strong Timber and coated over with a plaster like that we call plaster of Paris keep them dry in the time of the Rains Those broad Tarrases or flat Roofs some of them lofty are places where many people may stand and so they often do early in the morning and in the evening late like Camelions to draw and drink in fresh air and they are made after this fashion for prospect as well as pleasure Those houses of two stories have many of them very large upper rooms which have many 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 wake 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. these they who plant the Sugar the Cotten-wool and Indico 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 stoné 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 Ianuary 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
much as to send unto China for Velvet to line a Coach for him in regard that he had been informed that the English King had much better Velvet nearer home for such or any other uses And immediately after the Mogol caused that Coach to be taken all to pieces and to have another 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 Ioseph 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 leáve 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