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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A06339	A report of the kingdome of Congo, a region of Africa And of the countries that border rounde about the same. 1. Wherein is also shewed, that the two zones torrida & frigida, are not onely habitable, but inhabited, and very temperate, contrary to the opinion of the old philosophers. 2. That the blacke colour which is in the skinnes of the Ethiopians and Negroes &c. proceedeth not from the sunne. 3. And that the Riuer Nilus springeth not out of the mountains of the Moone, as hath been heretofore beleeued: together with the true cause of the rising and increasing thereof. 4. Besides the description of diuers plants, fishes and beastes, that are found in those countries. Drawen out of the writinges and discourses of Odoardo Lopez a Portingall, by Philippo Pigafetta. Translated out of Italian by Abraham Hartwell.; Relatione del reame di Congo. English	Lopes, Duarte.; Pigafetta, Filippo, 1533-1604.; Hartwell, Abraham, b. 1553.; Rogers, William, b. ca. 1545, engraver. aut	1597 (1597)	STC 16805; ESTC S108820	127,173	219

place they encountred other Lordes that for the same purpose were sent by the King to receiue the Christians who were the messengers and bringers of so great a ioy When they were come within three miles neere to the Cittie all the Court came to entertaine and welcome the Portingalles with all manner of pompe and ioyfulnes and with musicke and singing as in those countreyes is vsed vppon their solemnest feast-daies And so great was the multitude of people which abounded in the streets that there was neyther tree nor hillocke higher then the rest but it was loaden with those that were runne forth and assembled to viewe these strangers which brought vnto them this newe law of their saluation The King himselfe attended them at the gate of his pallace in a Throne of estate erected vpon a high scaffold where hee did publikely receiue them in such manner and sorte as the auncient kinges of that Realme accustomed to doe when any Embassadours came vnto him or when his tributes were paied him or when any other such Royall ceremonies were performed And first of all the Embassador declared the Embassage of the King of Portingall which was expounded and interpreted by the foresaid Priest that was the principall authour of the conuersion of those people After the embassage was thus deliuered the King raysed himselfe out of his seate and standinge vpright vppon his feete did both with his countenaunce and speech shew most euident signes of the great ioy that he had conceyued for the comming of the Christians and so sate downe againe And incontinently all the people with shouting and sounding their trumpets singing and other manifest arguments of reioycing did approue the kinges wordes and shewed their exceeding good liking of this Embassage And further in token of obedience they did three times prostrate themselues vpon the grounde and cast vp their feete according to the vse of those kingdomes thereby allowing and commending the action of their king and most affectionately accepting of the Gospell which was brought vnto them from the Lorde God by the handes of those religious persons Then the king tooke view of all the presentes that were sent him by the King of Portingall and the Vestimentes of the Priestes and the Ornamentes of the Altar and the Crosses and the Tables wherein were depainted the Images of Saintes and the Streamers and the Banners and all the rest and with incredible attention caused the meaning of euery one of them to bee declared vnto him one by one And so withdrewe himselfe and lodged the Embassadour in a pallace made ready of purpose for him and all the rest were placed in other houses of seuerall Lordes where they were furnished with all plentie and ease The day following the King caused all the Portingalles to bee assembled together in priuate where they deuised of the course that was to be taken for the christening of the king and for effecting the full conuersion of the people to the christian faith And after sundry discourses it was resolued and concluded that first of all a Church shoulde be builded to the end that the christening and other ceremonies therevnto belonging might be celebrated therein with the more solemnity and in the meane while the king and the Court should be taught and instructed in the Christian Religion The king presently commaunded that with all speed prouision should be made of all manner of stuffe necessary for this building as Timber Stone Lime and Bricke according to the direction and appoiutment of the Worke-maisters and Masons which for that purpose were brought out of Portingall But the Deuill who neuer ceaseth to crosse all good and holy proceedinges raysed new dissentions and conspiracies and lettes against this promoting of the Christian Faith which in deede began to ouerthrowe and destroy the power that hee had long helde in that Realme and in steed thereof to plant the most healthfull tree of the Crosse and the worship of the Gospell And this hee did by procuring a rebellion among certaine people of the Anzichi and of Anzicana which dwell vpon both the bankes of the Riuer Zaire from the foresaid falles vpwardes to the great Lake and are subiect and belonging to the King of Congo Now this monstrous Riuer being restrained and kept backe by these falles doeth swell there mightily and spreadeth it selfe abroade in a very large and deepe channell In the breadth whereof there are many Islandes some small and some great so that in some of them there may be maintayned about thirtie thousande persons In these Islandes and in other places adioyninge to the riuers thereaboutes did the people make an insurrection and renounced their obedience to the king and slew the Gouernours that hee had sent thether to rule And all this was done by the Deuill of purpose to interrupt the propagation of Christianity which was now begunne and to hinder it by the meanes of this rebellion But the King by the inspiration of God prouided a good remedy for this mischiefe and sent thether his eldest sonne called Mani-Sundi within whose Prouince that countrey lyeth And yet afterwardes the trouble and tumult fell out to be so great daungerous that the king must needes go himselfe in person to pacifie these broyles howbeit hee resolued to be baptised before his going and so was enforced to forbeare the building of the Church of Stone and with all speed in steed thereof to erect one of timber which Church hee in his owne person with the aduice of the Portingalles did accomplish in such manner and sort as it ought to be and therein did receiue the Sacrament of holy Baptisme and was named Don Giouanni and his wife Donna Eleonora after the names of the king and Queene of Portingall and the Church it selfe intituled and dedicated to S. Sauiour But here it is to be noted that all these stirs and rebellion of the people aforesaide arose by the cunning sleight instigation of the Deuill not of the poore soules themselues that dwell in those Islandes of the Great Lake as it is written in the first booke of the histories of the Indies lately set forth in latine For the Lake is distant from the confines of the Cittie of Congo about two hundred miles neyther had the inhabitants thereaboutes any knowledge of Congo but onely by hearesay in those dayes and very little they haue of it as yet at this day And besides that the booke is faultie in the name of that people that rebelled for it calleth them Mundiqueti whereas in deede the Portingalles do rightly call them Anziqueti The same day wherein the king was baptised diuers other Lords following his example were baptised likewise hauing first learned certaine principles of the Christian Fayth And when all this was done the kinge went in person to dispearse the turbulent attemptes of his aduersaries against whom he found the Prince his sonne and

their harts and failed in their courage and came and presented themselues before the king saying that hee had not power enough to resist so power-full an enemie and therefore they thought it better for him to growe to some concorde and composition and to abandon the new Religion which hee had lately begun to professe to the ende hee might not fall into the handes of his cruell aduersaries But the king being resolute and full of religious constancie reproued their cowardise and called them dastardes and base people and willed them if they had any mind or desire to forsake him go to the enemie that they should so doe As for himselfe and those few that would follow him hee did not doubt but assuredly trust though not with the possibilitie or strength of man yet with the fauour of God to vanquish and ouercome that innumerable multitude And therefore he would not request them eyther to ioyne with him or to put their liues in hazarde against his aduersaries for his sake but onely they might rest themselues and expect the issue that shoulde followe thereon But they for all this speech became neuer a whit the more couragious but rather waxed more timorous were vtterly determined to forsake the king and to saue themselues Now they were scarse out of the Cittie and on their way homewardes when by great good fortune they met with the good old Lord Mani-Sogno who with some few of his followers had beene abroade to surueigh the enemies Campe and to make prouision for such thinges as were necessary in such an action To him they declared all that they had before declared to the King That they thought it to bee a point of expresse madnesse to put their liues and goods in daunger with so fewe people against an infinite multitude and that without all doubt it were a safer way to compounde with the enemie and so saue themselues The good Lorde with great pietie and Christian valour aunswered them that they should not so quickly fall into dispaire but as the king had tould them before they should looke vpon Iesus Christ the Sauiour of the worlde whose faith and religion they had so lately and with so great zeale gayned and purchased who also most assuredly and vndoubtedly would succour and defend those that were his And so entreated them that they woulde not like rash headed people chaunge their mindes from that holy doctrine which they had with such feruency of late receyued adding moreouer that they had not to fight with a straunge nation nor with a people that came from farre Countries but with their owne kinsmen and countreymen so that they might alwaies haue opportunity if need so require to yeelde themselues and in all frendship and kindnesse to bee embraced Behold I pray you saith Mani-Sogno mine age now arriued to a hundred yeares and yet I beare armes for the zeale and defence of the Religion that I haue entred and for the homage and honour that I owe to my king And you that are in the flower of your yeares do you shew your selues to be so base and feareful and vnfaithfull to your owne narurall king If algates you be not minded to fight your selues yet incourage your vassals and subiects and doo not dismay them Let vs expect the first encounter of the enemie and therevpon we shall not want fit occasion to take some other course and prouide for our safetie With these comfortable wordes the Lords recouered their spirites that were quailed and returned backe with him to seeke the king who was in the Church at his prayers beseeching God to sende him helpe and succour They waited for him vntill he came forth and then kneeled downe vpon their knees before him requesting pardon for their fault and want of dutie which they had shewed vnto him being their Prince in that they would haue forsaken him when he was in this extreame daunger and promising that they would put on a new and constant courage for the defence of him and of the law and religion which they had receyued and that they would fight for the same euen vntill death But the king who perceyued well that this comfort and helpe came from God himselfe first gaue him hartie thanks secretly from the bottome of his hart and vowed that he would sacrifice himselfe for the maintenance of his faith and Gospell And then with a cheerefull countenance he saide I doe beleeue Lord that thy greatnes is infinite and that thou canst doo all thinges and canst make of little much and of much little whensoeuer it pleaseth thee Neyther do I any thing doubt but that thou wilt yeeld aide to this my weakenes and assist the same with thine inuincible force so that through thy gracious fauour with these few and weake persons I shall become the conquerour not onely of this armie but also of a farre greater if it should come against me And I promise thee O my God besides that which I haue already spoken that I will all the dayes of my life promote and exalt thy true faith thy holy name and thy most holesome doctrine In testimony and memory of which his confession he did presently cause a Crosse to bee planted erected in the middest of the market place right against the Church which his father had builded This Crosse was of a wonderful length for it was fourescore span long and the Crosse-barre in proportion aunswerable therevnto Nowe the eternall God who knew the faith from whence this vow of the good king did proceed vouchsafed to comfort him with a celestiall vision which was a very cleere and admirable light At the shining whereof hee cast himselfe vpon his knees and wept and lifted vp his handes and eyes to heauen but spake not a word for that hee was ouercome with teares and sighes and wholly rauished in spirite But that which he himselfe saw was seene of no body els neyther woulde hee euer publish the same to any man All those that were in his company did euen as he did and for a while lost the sight of their eyes and by reason of that miraculous light remayned in a traunce At the last euery man lifted vp his eyes and perceyued that there were imprinted on him fiue Swordes very bright and cleere which for the space almost of an houre continued vnmoueable as it were in a circle but all they could neyther vnderstand nor expounde what was the meaning thereof The fiue Swordes the King tooke for his armes as is to be seene in his Signet Royall which hath beene vsed euer sithence that time yea euen by the Kinge that nowe liueth and raigneth The Crosse also that was thus planted by vowe is to be seene in the same place wherein it was erected at the front of the Church which Church was called Saint Crosses of the Crosse there planted and of the miracle that there appeared This Crosse the last King that

marchants shippe the Negroes goe forth with their boates to fetch them and to take the oyle out of them which being mingled with pitch they vse to trimme their vessels withall Vpon the ridges or backes of these creatures there growe many Shelfishes made like Snailes Cockles and Whelkes whereof Signor Odoardo affirmed that hee had seene great store He was also of opinion that Amber commeth not from these fishes For ouer all the coast of Congo where there is an infinite number of them you shal not finde either Ambregriz or any other Amber blacke or white in any place And yet if it should come from these creatures there must haue beene of necessity great store of it founde vpon these Shores The principall hauen of this Island hath his entrance towardes the North and on that side it is halfe a mile broade and of a very great depth Vpon the firme land directly ouer against the Island is a towne called villa di San Paulo altogether inhabited with Portingalles and their wiues which they brought with them out of Spaine and yet it is not fortified All this channell is very full of fish especially of Sardinaes and of Anchioues whereof there is so great store that in the winter time they will of themselues leape vp to land Other kindes of most excellent fishes there are as Soles and Sturgeons and Barbelles and all manner of dainty fish and great Crabbes in straunge aboundance and all very wholesome so that the greatest parte of the people that dwel about the banks there do liue vpon them Into this channell runneth the Riuer called Bengo which is a very great one nauigable vpwardes xxv miles This Riuer with that other of Coanza whereof I tolde you before doe make the Isle of Loanda because when their waters do meete together they leaue their sande and filth behind them and so increase the Island There runneth also into it another great Riuer called Dande which wil receiue vessels of an hundred tunne then another Riuer called Lemba which neither hath Hauen neyther do any Shippes enter into it Very neere vnto this there is also another Riuer called Ozone which issueth out of the same Lake whence Nilus likewise springeth and it hath a hauen Next to Ozone there is another called Loze without any hauen and then another great one with a hauen called Ambriz which runneth within foure leagues neere to the Royall Citty of Congo Last of all is the Riuer Lelunda which signifieth a Trowtfish and watereth the rootes of that great hil wheron the pallace of Congo standeth called by the Portingalles the Oteiro This Riuer Lelunda springeth out of the same Lake from whence Coanza issueth and taketh into it by the way another Riuer that commeth from the great Lake and when it doth not raine then you may passe ouer Lelunda on foote because it hath so little store of water in it Next vnto this is the Zaire a huge Riuer and a large and in deed the greatest in all the kingdome of Congo The original of this Riuer commeth out of three Lakes one is the great Lake from whence Nilus springeth the second is the little Lake aboue mentioned and the third is the second great Lake which Nilus engendreth And certainely when you will consider the aboundance of water that is in this Riuer you will say that there was no nede to haue any fewer or lesser springes to make so huge a streame as this carrieth For in the very mouth of it which is the onely entraunce into it the Riuer is 28. myles broad and when it is in the height of his increase he runneth fresh water 40. or 50. miles into the sea and sometimes 80. so that the passengers doe refresh themselues withal by the troublesomnes of the water they know the place where they are It is nauigable vpwardes with great barkes about 25. miles vntill you come to a certaine straite betweene the rockes where it falleth with such a horrible noise that it may be hearde almost 8. miles And this place is called by the Portingalles Cachiuera that is to say a Fall or a Cataracte like to the Cataractes of Nilus Betweene the mouth of this Riuer and the fall thereof there are diuers great Islands well inhabited with townes and Lordes obedient to the king of Congo which sometimes for the great enmitie that is among them doo warre one against another in certaine boates hollowed out of a stocke of a tree which is of an vnmesurable bignes these boats they call Lungo The greatest boates that they haue are made of a certaine tree called Licondo which is so great that sixe men cannot compasse it with their armes and is in length of proportion aunswerable to the thicknesse so that one of them will carrie about 200. persons They rowe these boates with their oares which are not tyed to any loopes but they holde them at libertie in their handes and moue the water therewith at pleasure Euery man hath his oare and his bowe and when they fight together they lay downe their oare and take their bowe Neyther do they vse any other Rudders to turne and gouerne their boates but onely their oares The first of these Islandes which is but a little one is called the Isle of Horses because there are bredde and brought vp in it great store of those creatures that the Greekes call Hippopotami that is to say Water-horses In a certaine village within this Islande doe the Portingals dwel hauing withdrawen themselues thether for their better securitie They haue their vesselles to transporte them ouer the water to the firme lande vpon the south banke of the Riuer which lande is called the hauen of Pinda where many shippes doe ryde that arriue therein In this Riuer there are liuing diuerse kinds of creatures and namely mighty great Crocodiles which the Countrey people there call Caiman and Water-horses aboue named And another kind of creature that hath as it were two hands and a taile like a Target which is called Ambize Angulo that is to say a Hogge-fishe because it it as fat as a Porke The flesh of it is very good and thereof they make Larde and so keepe it neyther hath it the sauour or taste of a fish although it bee a fishe It neuer goeth out from the fresh water but feedeth vpon the grasse that groweth on the banks hath a mouth like the mozell of an Oxe There are of these fishes that weigh 500. poundes a peece The fishermen vse to take them in their little boates by marking the places where they feed and then with their hookes and forkes striking and wounding them they drawe them dead forth of the water and when they haue cut them in peeces they carry them to the king For who soeuer doth not so encurreth the penaltie of death and so doe they likewise that

as pleaseth and delighteth their sences well enough Besides all this which is a thing very admirable by this instrument they doo vtter they conceites of their mindes and doo vnderstande one another so plainely that euery thing almost which may be explaned with the tongue they can declare with their hande in touching and striking this instrument To the sounde thereof they do dance in good measure with their feet and follow the iust time of that musicke with clapping the palmes of their handes one against the other They haue also in the Court Flutes and Pipes which they sound very artificially and according to the sounde they daunce and moue their feet as it were in a Moresco with great grauity and sobrietie The common people doe vse little Rattles and Pipes other instrumentes that make a more harsh and rude sound then the Court-instruments do In this kingdome when any are sicke they take nothing but naturall phisicke as Hearbes and Trees and the barkes of Trees and Oyles and Waters and Stones such as Mother Nature hath taught them The Ague is the most common disease that raigneth among them and plagueth them in Winter by reason of the continuall raine that bringeth heat and moysture with it more then in Sommer and besides that the sicknes which here we cal the French disease Chitangas in the Congo tongue is not there so daungerous and so harde to be cured as it is in our Countries They heale the Ague with the poulder of a wood called Sandale or Saunders whereof there is both redde and gray which is the woode of Aguila This poulder being mingled with the oyle of the Palme-Tree and hauing annointed the bodie of the sicke person two or three times withall from the head to the foote the partie recouereth When their head aketh they let bloude in the temples with certaine little boxing hornes first by cutting the skinne a little and then applying the Cornets therevnto which with a sucke of the mouth will be filled with bloud and this manner of letting bloude is vsed also in Aegipt And so in any other parte of a mans body where there is any griefe they drawe bloude in this fashion and heale it Likewise they cure the infirmitie called Chitangas with the same vnction of Saunders whereof there are two sorts one redde as we tolde you and that is called Tauila the other gray and is called Chicongo and this is best esteemed for they will not sticke to giue or sell a slaue for a peece of it They purge themselues with certaine barkes of trees made into powder and taken in some drinke and they will worke mightely and strongly When they take these purgations they make no great account for going abroade into the ayre Their woundes also they commonly cure with the iuyce of certaine hearbs and with the hearbs themselues And the sayde Signor Odoardo hath affirmed vnto me that he sawe a slaue which was stabbed through with seauen mortall woundes of an Arrow and was recouered whole and sound onely with the iuyce of certaine hearbes well knowen vnto them by experience So that this people is not encumbred with a number of Phisicians for Surgery for Drugges for Sirruppes for Electuaries for Playsters and such like Medicines but simply doe heale and cure themselues with such naturall Plantes as grow in their owne Countrey Whereof they haue no great neede neither for liuing as they doo vnder a temperate clymate and not ingorging themselues with much varietie of meates to please their appetites nor surcharging their stomackes with wine they are not greatly troubled with those diseases that commonly are engendred of meates and drinkes that remaine vndigested Chap. 8. Of the Countries that are beyonde the Kingdome of Congo towardes the Cape of Good-Hope and of the Riuer Nilus NOw that we haue seene the Kingdome of Congo and the conditions both of the Countrey and people that dwell therein and also of the nations therevnto adioyning it remayneth that wee discourse a little further and that with all breuitie of the rest of Africa towardes the Cape of Good-Hope all along the Ocean whereby they vse to sayle into India euen as farre as the redde sea and then we will returne backe againe into the Inlande and treate of the Riuer Nilus and of Preti-Gianni and of all his kingdomes to the ende that so farre as our matter will beare we may make a perfecte relation of those Regions which hitherto haue not so well and so rightly been conceaued of euery man Beyond the Kingdome of Congo we haue signified vnto you that there are other countries belonging to the King of Angola and beyond that towardes the Cape of Good-Hope a King called Matama who ruleth ouer diuers Prouinces which are called Quimbebe This Realme as we tolde you from the first Lake and the confines of Angola contayneth all the rest of the countrey Southwardes till you come to the Riuer of Brauagul which springeth out of the mountaines of the Moone aud ioyneth with the Riuer Magnice and that springeth out of the foresaide first Lake These mountaines are diuided by the Tropicke of Capricorne towardes the Pole Antarctike and beyonde this Tropike lyeth all the Countrey and borders of the Cape of Good-Hope which are not ruled and gouerned by any one Kinge but by diuers and sundry seuerall Princes In the middest betweene that Cape and the Tropike are the saide Mountaines of the Moone so famous and so greatly renowned among the auncient writers who do assigne them to be the originall head and spring of the Riuer Nilus which is very false and vntrue as the situation of the countrey doth plainely shewe and as wee a little hereafter will discouer vnto you This Countrey is full of high and rough mountaines it is very coulde and not habitable It is frequented and haunted with a few persons that liue after the manner of the Arabians vnder little cabbins in the open fieldes and apparelled with the skinnes of certaine beastes It is a sauage and a rusticall nation without all faith and credite neyther will they suffer any straungers among them Their furniture is Bowes and Arrowes They feede vpon such fruites as the lande breedeth and also vpon the flesh of beastes Among these Mountains of the Moone there is a Lake called Gale a very little one it is and lyeth somewhat towardes the West Out of this Lake there issueth a Riuer called Camissa and by the Portingalles named The sweete Riuer which at the point of the Cape of Good-Hope voydeth it selfe into the sea in that very place that is termed The False Cape For the shippes of the Indies sayling that way doo first discouer another greater Cape which is called The Cape of the Needles and then afterwardes this lesser Cape Wherevpon they call it The False Cape because it is hidde and couered with the true and great Cape Betweene these two Capes or Promontories there

The Chiefest Prince and being so ioyned together in one worde it appertayneth to the King alone and to no man else He beareth also the surname of Dauid as the Emperours of Rome doo vse the name of Cesars Now it remayneth that we doo discourse of the riuer Nilus which doth not spring in the Countrye of Bel-Gian much lesse out of the mountains of the Moone nor as Ptolomie writeth out of the two Lakes which he setteth down in Parallele from the East to the West with a distaunce of about foure hundred and fiftie miles betweene them For in the altitude of the same Pole wherein the said Authour placeth those two Lakes lyeth also the kingdome of Congo and of Angola towards the West and and on the other side Eastward is the Empire of Monomotapa and the Kingdome of Sofala with a distaunce from sea to sea of twelue hundred miles Now within all this space as Signor Odoardo affirmed vnto me there is but one onely Lake to bee founde which lyeth in the confines of Angola and Monomotapa and contayneth in Diameter an hundred ninetie and fiue miles Of the Westerne side of this Lake the people of Angola do giue sufficient information and of the other side Eastwarde those of Sofala and Monomotapa So that there is a ful and perfect knowledge of this one Lake but of any other thereabouts there is no mention at all made And therefore it may well bee concluded that there are none other to be founde in that altitude of degrees True it is in deede that there are two Lakes but they are situate in places quite contrary to that which Ptolemie writeth For he as it hath beene told you placeth his Paralleles from West to East but these are situate from the South to the North as it were in a direct line with the distance of about foure thousand miles betweene them Some that dwell in those countries do holde an opinion that Nilus after it is issued out of the first Lake hideth it selfe vnder the grounde and afterwardes riseth againe but others doo deny that it is so Signor Odoardo did iustifie it to me that the true history and certainty of this matter is that Nilus doth not hide it selfe vnder the grounde but that it runneth through monstrous and desert valleyes without any setled channell and where no people inhabiteth and so they say it sinketh into the bottome of the earth From this first Lake in deed doth Nilus spring which lyeth in twelue degrees towardes the Pole Antarctike is compassed about like a vault with exceeding high mountaines the greatest whereof are called Cafates vpon the East and the hilles of Sal-Nitrum and the hilles of Siluer on another side and lastly with diuers other Mountaines on the thirde part This Riuer Nilus runneth for the space of 400. miles directly towardes the North and then entreth into another verye great Lake which the inhabitantes doo call a Sea It is much bigger then the first for it contayneth in breadth two hundred and twentie miles and lyeth vnder the line Equinoctiall Of this second Lake the Anzichi who are neere neighbours to Congo doo giue very certaine and perfect information for they trafficke into those partes And they report that in this Lake there is a people that sayleth in great shippes and can write and vseth number and weight and measure which they haue not in the partes of Congo that they builde their houses with stone and lime and that for their fashions and qualities they may bee compared with the Portingalles Wherevpon it may bee well gathered that the Empire of Prete-Gianni cannot bee farre from thence From this second Lake the riuer Nilus runneth forwardes to the Islande of Meroe for the space of seauen hundred miles and receyueth into it sundry other riuers The principall of them all is the riuer Coluez so called because it issueth out of a Lake of the same name and situate in the borders of Melinde After that Nilus is come to Meroe it deuideth it selfe into two braunches and so compasseth about a good high Territory which is called Meroe Vpon the right hand whereof towardes the East there runneth a Riuer named Abagni that springeth out of the Lake Bracina and crosseth ouer the Empire of Prete Gianni till you come to the said Islande and on the other side Westwarde there are diuers other Riuers among which Saraboe is one When Nilus hath thus receiued these riuers into it hath compassed the Islande with both his armes hee waxeth greater then he was before and meeteth againe in one channell and by Aethiopia which is called Aethiopia aboue Aegypt runneth to the Falles as they call them which lie in a very lowe valley that is very narrowe and straite and shutteth the riuer within a very little channell so that it falleth from aloft downewards with a most horrible noyse neere to the Isle of Syene And from thence watring all Aegypt it disgorgeth his streames into the Mediterranean sea which lyeth directly ouer against the Islande of Cyprus by two of his principall braunches the one called at this day the Mouth of Damiata on the East and the other the Mouth of Rossetto on the West And forasmuch as wee are nowe come to the very ende of this discourse concerning Nilus it will be very conuenient that wee touch in briefe the occasion of his encrease As we haue tolde you before the principall cause of the encrease of Nilus is the great quantity of waters that raine from heauen at such time as the spring beginneth here in these countries but there with them in winter which may be to speake generally about the beginning of April This water falleth not as the water falleth in these Regions of Europe but it falleth most aboundantly and commeth downe not in smal drops like our raine but is powred down as it were with pailes and buckets So that because it falleth with so great violence and in so great a quantity the earth cannot sucke it vp nor drink it in for the ground being ragged and somewhat bending downward the water scowreth away with an exceeding furie and running into the riuers causeth them to swell and to rise in a maruellous manner and so ouerflowe the countrey You must herewithall consider especially that they haue these continuall raines for the space of fiue whole Moones together that is to say in Aprill May Iune Iuly and August but principally in May Iune and Iuly for then are the waters in their greatest pride And herevpon it commeth to passe that the Countrey being full of mountaines and very high hilles as hath beene told you and consequently replenished with diuers brookes and rillets and Lakes they all ioyning and meeting together in the channelles of the greater Riuers doo make them so great and so large that they containe and carry more water then all the Riuers of the vniuersall worlde and the Lakes growe