in the Tartarian Tongue A Kingdom full of Mountains and Desarts contains Tartary Scythia and the Countreys of Gog and Magog Now Cathay is divided into the greater and the less Great Cathay spreads through an unfrequented Tract of Land namely from the Mountain Caucasus between that side of the Icy Sea and the Mountains of China to the Indian Sea whereas some will have it joyn at the out-lying Point of America But Little Cathay is that Countrey which borders on North-China commonly call'd Thebes In all this far spreading Countrey of Cathay one may see that this supposed most mighty Emperor Prester-John had the Dominion over seventy two Kingdoms partly Christians and partly Heathens though by the great numbers of Kingdoms he hath gotten many Names to the great distraction both of Historians and Geographers For some make him to be one and the same with the great Cham others call him Ashid some with the Abyssines call him Juchanes Belul that is Precious John Some as Godignus with no improbable Reasons will have it that by his Subjects for their high esteem of the Prophet Jonas he is call'd Joanne a Name common to all those that ever did possess this Kingdom though in these Western Parts he is commonly call'd by the Latin Churches Joannes with the additional surname of Prester not that he ever was a Priest but because according to the Custom of the Arch-bishop in the time of Peace had a Cross carried before him at his going out but ontring upon the Wars two Cross-bearers went before him the one with a Cross of Gold and the other with a Cross beset with Precious Stones for a token of his defending the Worship of God for which reason Scaliger derives his Name from the Persian Word Prestigiani which signifieth Apostolick which the Europeans understanding amiss call'd him in stead of Prestigiani Prester-John Many years did this Kingdom of Prester-John flourish in Asia till it fell to one David who by one of his supreme Commanders call'd Cinge chosen Emperor by the Army and the Scythians who in stead of Prester styl'd him Uncam In the Year Eleven hundred seventy eight it was overcome in Battel whereby the glory of this Empire and the Name of Prester-John came in effect to an end to the great loss and prejudice of Christendom But by what mistake the Name of Prester-John came to the Emperor of Abyssine we will in brief declare When the Portuguese with their Fleets were busie in discovering strange Countreys there was a great noyse through all Europe of Prester-John and his Excellency reported a most powerful Emperor Lord of many Kings and of the Christian Religion but unknown in what place he had his abode For which cause when Pike Kovillan sent by John the second King of Portugal first over the Mediterranean Sea and afterwards by Land to seek out this Prince coming into India and hearing that in Abyssine or that Ethiopia which lieth below Egypt was a great and powerful Prince who professed the Christian Religion he went thither and finding many things in him which was reported of the true Prester-John he took him for the same Person and was the first that call'd him by that Name which others that went the ensuing year into Abyssine follow'd and so easily brought the mistake into Europe the Emperor of Abyssine being ever since call'd Prester-John Yet Damianus a Goez in his Book of the Nature and Customs of the Abyssines positively denies that the King of Abyssine was ever call'd Prester-John so that in truth that Name properly belongs to the foremention'd Prince of Asia But seeing that Custom hath almost made it a Law and the Kingdom of Prester-John in Asia already overwhelm'd the Name of Prester-John may conveniently be applied and fixed upon the Abyssine King of Africa professing the Christian Religion Every Substitute Kingdom as Tigre Gambea Goiame Amara Narea hath a Deputy to Rule it in the Name of the Emperor and the like hath every Territory Besides the Vice-Roy of Tigre bears the Title Tigra Mahon and must always be of the Royal Stock Him of the Countrey next to the Red Sea they stile Barnagas that is King of the Sea not that he properly Commands over the Countreys by the Sea for they are under the Turks but because the Countrey over which he Commands lieth nearer to Sea than any other part of Tigre He hath his abode most in the City Barva or Debaroa and winneth great Respect as well among his own People as Strangers The Government of the Kingdom is administred with Discretion and Justice which hath advanced the honor of the King both at home and abroad The Judges shew great severity in punishing Offenders according to the several qualities of their Crimes viz. such as shrink from the right and true Faith and change their Opinion the People stone to death but those which totally Apostatize or blaspeme God and the Ghost are publickly burn'd alive Murderers they deliver to the nearest Relations of the Murthered to revenge themselves on him according to their pleasure Thieves have their Eyes put out and afterwards by Judgment are appointed for Slaves of the Empire and given to the Guides with whom they may go all the Countrey over to earn their Living by Singing and Playing on Instruments but with this Proviso not to stay above one day in a place upon penalty of losing their lives Other small Offences they punish with Whipping In the Succession of the Crown the eldest takes place after the Father but for want of Issue-male the most worthy Person of the next in Blood is chosen Others affirm that Seniority creates no Claim but that the Crown falls to him whom the Father makes choice of on his Death-bed but that seems improbable because the intended Successor lives at large in the Courts whereas the rest are kept on the Mountain Amara and if he die another whom the greatest at the Court do judge fittest for the Crown is sent for out The great and famous Island Meroe lies divided between three Kings which oftentimes War with one another the first is a Mahumetan Moor the second an Idolater descended from the Blood of the right Ethiopians the third a Christian Abyssine and acknowledges that King for his Lord. The first King of Ethiopia or Abyssinie The Order or List of the Kings of Abyssine whereof we have certain knowledge by the information of holy Scripture was Chus the Son of Cham who took possession thereof immediately after the Flood six other Kings following him whose Names and the time of their Reign remains unknown But when the Royal Seat was planted in the City Axum where it remained till the coming in of Christ they began to keep a Chronological Register but was afterwards transplanted to Sceva or Saba The Kings that Reigned in Axum and Saba are set down to the number of a hundred fifty eight by the following order  Years Arue Reigned 400 Agabo his Father a Murtherer
among the Christians so long as Heathenism continued and until the time of the Abbot Dionysius The Names of the Twelve Moneths into which the Year was divided by the Copticks are Thoth September Paopi October Athor November Choiak December Tobi January Mechir February Famenoth March Farmy April Paskoes May Paoni June Epip July Messori August The Moneth Thoth the first of their Year beginneth on the nine and twentieth of August Paopi the eight and twentieth of September Athor upon the same day of the following Moneth October Choiak upon the twenty seventh of November Tobi upon the same day of December Mechir the Six and twentieth of January Famenoth upon the six and twentieth of February Farmy the twenty seventh of March Paskoes the twenty sixth of April Paoni upon the same day of the following Moneth of May Epip the twenty fifth of June Messori upon the same day of the following Moneth of July all which Account is set down according to the Old Stile which with ten Days added to every such day of the Moneth easily may be agreeable with the New Stile In the common Years they add to the last Moneth Messori or July five days which the Greeks call Epagomenes that is additional but the Copticks Nisi and in the Leap-year six which they intercalate between the eight and nine and twentieth of our August according to the Old Stile or according to the New between the sevententh and eighteenth of September The Egyptian Moneths By the Arabians call'd By the Syrians call'd Thoth Muharam Illul Paopi Safar Thisrin 1. Athor Rabi 1. Thisrin 2. Choiak Rabi 2. Kanum Tobi Giamadi 1. Kanon Mechir Giamadi 2. Scebat Famenoth Rageb Adar Farmy Scaban Nisan Paskoes Rhamadan Ijur Paoni Scevel Haziram Epip Dulkaida Thamuz Messori Dalhagieb Ab ¶ EGypt at the beginning had Native Kings The Antient Egyptian Dynasties who governed their Subjects with a free and unlimited Authority and according to the Prescription of their Priests lead a Moral and Vertuous Life and till the Government of Psammenitus son of Amasis who Rul'd in the Year of the World Three thousand four hundred and five and forty were all call'd by one general Sirname or Title of Paraoh Wherefore in Jeremiah in his six and thirtieth Chapter we read Pharaoh * Jer. 46.2 Necho and Pharaoh †44.30 Pharaoh-Hophra Kofra as much as to say King Necho King Kophra Pharaoh being barely a name of Dignity as with us the name of Emperor or King is In which Year for he reign'd but six Moneths Cambyses the son of Darius with a strong Army invaded and conquer'd Egypt and took Psammenitus captive putting to death banishing and destroying all before him and reducing the Countrey to a Province in which Subjection of the Persians it remained above a hundred and fifty Years till the Reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus In whose time the Egyptians set up one Inarus son of Psammitichus before King of Lybia who in the beginning Govern'd happily till Artaxerxes with a great Fleet and Army came upon them out of Phaenicia unawares and soon reduced them again to his Obedience from which time it was subject to the Persian Kings until the Reign of Darius Nothus when they were expell'd by Amirteus born in the City Sais or a Sebanite Six years reign'd Amirteus succeeded for about Ninety one years Mendesian Princes so call'd from Mendes which also was Horus one of their Gods from whom they descended or from the City Mendes by four Mendesian Princes Neferitis Achoris Psammites and Neferitis the Second after that by three Sebennites viz. Nectabanos Techos or Meos and Nectabanos the Second which last Artaxerxes Ochus bereav'd of his Kingdom and drove to Ethiopia and so Egypt fell again to the Persians to whom it continued subject till the destruction of Darius Codomannus by Alexander the Great who brought it to the Grecian or Macedonian Kings that reign'd five years over it Anno Mundi 3600. After Alexander's Death this Countrey fell to Ptolomeus surnam'd Lagus whence all the Kings his Successors in that Kingdom were call'd Ptolomeys subjoyning thereto some other Name as Philadelphus Epiphanes and the like This Dynasty held the Scepter Two hundred ninety and eight years At first after the Death of Alexander the Great his Brother Arideus after much debate was chosen King who over the conquered Territories made the chiefest Captains Lieutenants and Governors In which Distribution of great Offices Egypt as we said fell to the share of Ptolomy which in Greek signifies Warlike or Couragious but his Companion Perdicas picking a Quarrel quickly routed him and was himself as soon vanquished by Antigonus who was so puff'd up with his Victory that nothing but Soveraignty would content him whereupon he took the Title of King which Ptolomy now recruited Egypt was a Kingdom under the Ptolomeys imitating and not willing to be inferior to his Companion assum'd the Royal Dignity and Title joyning to Egypt Syria and Arabia rifling Jerusalem from whence he brought away many Jews captive whom at first he grievously persecuted The Ptolomeys in Egypt which bore the Title of King were Ten in Number and these that follow Ptolomy the Son of Lagus Reign'd 40 Years Ptolomy Philadelphus Reign'd 28 Years Ptolomy Evergetes Reign'd 26 Years Ptolomy Ceraunus Philopator Reign'd 17 Years Ptolomy Epiphanes Reign'd 35 Years Ptolomy Philometor Reign'd 24 Years Ptolomy Evergetes Reign'd 29 Years Ptolomy Phiscon otherwise Soter that is Protector Reign'd 17 Years Ptolomy Alexander Reign'd 18 Years Ptolomy Auletes Reign'd 30 Years Cleopatra Reign'd 24 Years The Reign and Race of the Ptolomeys over Egypt ended with Cleopatra the Daughter of Ptolomy Auletes courted at first by Julius Caesar then by Mark Anthony through whose favors She kept her Soveraignty but Augustus at the Battel of Actium ruining Anthony's Fortunes with the death of Cleopatra who poyson'd her self made it a Roman Province and it continued under that Empire till the Reign of Heraclius who held his Royal Court and Seat of Empire at Constantinople After the dividing of the Roman Empire into East and West Egypt fell to the Greek or Western share but the remisness of their Government and Extortion of their Officers made the Egyptians submit themselves to the Arabian Califs about the year Seven hundred and four to whom they stood faithful till conquered by the Mahumetans The first Arabian Calif was called Omar who to that end sent a strong Army under the Conduct of his Lieutenant Ambre son of Albas to Cairo over which at that time in the Greek Emperors Name presided as his Deputy or Vice-Roy Makaubare who compounded with Ambre upon these Terms That every Inhabitant should pay a Gold Esku That the Arabians should be entertained three days in all places where they pass through and that the Citizens should pay to the Calif a yearly Revenue of twenty hundred thousand Eskues The year following Ambre won Alexandria and so brought all Egypt under the Command of
in the Company and Converse of Strangers adorning themselves with Neck-laces and curious Armelets of Pearls and precious Stones Most of the Men in this Territory are Tanners with great Art and Curiosity dressing Kid-Skins which the French Merchants call Maroquins and are transported in great abundance to most Countreys of Europe TEDLE THe Territory of Tedle hath on the East the Kingdom of Morocco Limits of the Territory of Tedle on the West the River Quadelhabid and on the North the Conflux of the same River with that of Ommirabih and on the South Mount Atlas So that it is in effect Triangular For those Rivers springing from Atlas make one Angle Atlas a second and Morocco the third Tefze the Chief City erected by the Arabians on the edge of Atlas stands encircled in a Wall of Marble curiously cut which Work in Arabick they call Tefza the Wall so giving name to the City being large and well peopl'd having many Temples and adjoyning to it the pleasant Plains of Fixtele wherein is a Village of the same name a mile from Tefze on a Hillock containing about seven hundred Houses Cithiteb on a very high Mountain three Miles Easterly from Tefza Ehithiat or Aitiat four Miles from Cithiteb having about four hundred Houses but no Walls other than the Mountain and steep Cliffs ¶ THe Mountains are Segeme or Seggheme lieth in the South Mountains of Tedle joyning to Teseven Magran a little more to the West reaching from the last mention'd Segeme to Dedes one Point of whose Basis Westward rises at Magran and so running to Adesan on the South makes a Bulwark or Wall to the Plains of Tolge ¶ THis Countrey is full of Mountains The Condition of this Territory whose tops are cover'd with Snow the greatest part of the year yet the Plains yield all sorts of Corn in great abundance Vines Pistachio's or Nut-Trees Figs and other Fruit-Trees in vaste numbers Neither are Cattel wanting here though much infested and often devour'd by the wilde Beasts harbouring in the adjacent Mountains such as Lions Tygers and Wolves And the pleasure of the Valleys is also much abated by the almost infinite numbers of Mesketo's a kinde of Wasp that by their too frequent stinging make their lives a trouble to them ¶ THe People of Tebre go well habited but those of Dedes almost naked Custom of the Inhabitants they pilfer and steal naturally and are as deceitful and delight in broaching of quarrels so that who ever comes among them had need have more Eyes and Hands than single Pairs therefore not onely Strangers but their Neighbours refuse to trade or deal with them in any kinde so that they spend their whole time in laziness and thievish inventions without any desire to improve themselves by learning Arts or using Commerce As an evidence of which Whosoever by chance travels through their Countrey without Convoy they make no scruple to rob of all and though they have the safe Conduct and Protection of their Governors they extort from them above one fourth of whatever they carry with them besides what is otherwise useful to them Mahumetanism overspreads the whole The Religion of Tedle yet admits a few Jews to reside in several places among them for the benefit of Trade and fewer Christians But all the Mountaineers know nothing of Religion nor trouble themselves with Churches or Priests but make their Gods the wilde Dictates of their bruitish Inclinations Yet this nothing is also so catching that some neighbouring Christians wheedled by those specious form of Libertinism renouncing their Saviour embrace their Atheistical Tenets GUZULA or GEZULE THis Province seems to Marmol to have been a part of the Antient Getulia Guzula is a part of Getulia whereof the Name retains yet some small remembrance and that which makes this Conjecture yet more probable is that the Antient Getulians were placed near Libia beneath Mount Atlas towards the South where at this day Guzula lies It hath in the West the Mountain Ilde Its Borders on the South Atlas by which also parted from Morocco and on the East the Dominion of Hea. Here are no wall'd Cities and but few good Towns but many Villages among which some contain a thousand Houses ¶ THe Inhabitants are bruitish and sordid The Condition and Custom of the Inhabitants commonly wearing Woollen Jackets without Sleeves hanging down to their Knees and Hats made of Date-leaves They have Mines of Copper and Iron that bring in great profit but no Silver and are exceedingly stockt with Cattel Iron and Copper they exchange with Foreign Merchants and barter it for Cloth Spices Horses and other things which they have occasion for But that which above all brings greatest advantage to this place is a Fair or Market kept there once a year for two moneths time during which they entertain and feast all Strangers repairing thither And that they may the more peaceably reside among them they make a general Cessation of Arms among themselves each party unanimously chusing a Captain with a hundred men for the Guard and good ordering of the Fair which Captains continually go the Rounds into every Quarter and if they finde any offending according to their Crimes so do they immediately inflict a suitable Punishment As for example Thieves they execute immediately by running through every Limb with their Launces leaving their dead Bodies to be devour'd by Dogs This Fair is kept on a Plain where for the Merchants are erected in Rows like Streets Tents and Booths plaister'd with Reeds and limber Twigs wherein every Trade is plac'd in distinct order so that each hath his particular Station Onely the Grasiers that sell Cattel stand in the open Fields This Fair begins on Mahomets Birth-day being the Twelfth of the Moneth of Rabih or Rabik ¶ THeir wearing Arms are Simiters Their Arms. and short and broad Daggers with very sharp points which they hang on both sides They say this Countrey can bring sixty two thousand men into the Field so that they need not stand in fear of the Arabs They live in Freedom and are their own Masters without acknowledging any King or Lord though they do properly belong to the King of Morocco They formerly paid to the Portuguese twelve thousand Ducats yearly as a Tribute but it continued not long Some think that they wave Law and Religion as well as Kings but keeping their Fair on Mahomets Birth-day leaves it questionable that they may be of some Belief FEZ THe Kingdom of Fez The Territory of Fez the most Easterly Part of the Antient Mauritania Tingitana now by the Moors call'd El-garbe bounded on the West with the Kingdom of Morocco and the River Meline on the North by the Midland-Sea on the South with part of the Great Mount Atlas In this Kingdom as before in Morocco are seven Territories viz. Fez it self giving the Denomination to the whole but the most Westerly Part is Temesen or Temesne the others are
about ten miles distance from the Niger It compriseth a great number of Villages and Hamlets the chiefest of which wherein formerly the King kept his Court contains about six thousand Houses and hath imparted its Name to the whole Kingdom This Countrey lies Annually under the overflowing of the Niger which causes a great Return by plentiful Harvests of Barley Rice and Mille Their Goats and Cattel though numerous are but small These Inhabitants are Reclaim'd being of a Civil Behaviour expert in Handicrafts weaving and making good Cotton-Cloth sufficient Tanners but exquisite Shoemakers their Ware supplying the Markets of Tombut and Gago whither they are sent in great parcels THE KINGDOM OF AGADEZ THe Kingdom of Agadez being more Easterly than that of Gualata The Kingdom of Agadez stretches its Limits to the North. The Metropolitan thereof also call'd Agadez stands upon the Confines of Lybia the nearest place to the White People except Gualata of all Negro-Land This Countrey abounds with much Meadow-Land having store of Springs and Grass it also yields much Manna which is not onely their common and best Food but makes them a most excellent and cordial Drink which together keeps them in good condition always strong and healthy Yet they want no store of Cattel nor Goats The Agazons for the most part are Strangers settling there their Staples of Merchandise trading to Forreign Countreys The Natives are Artificers or Souldiers but the Southern People follow Pasturage breeding Cattel and Goats their Receptacles are sleight Arbours of implicated Boughs like the Arabs or Mats with which they rove up and down Those of the Lybick Desarts insult over the Kings of Agadez and though they are Tributary to the people of Tombut where they might complain yet they carry so high a hand over them that they supplant and plant the Royal Throne deposing and establishing whom they please being commonly in such Removals one of their Favorites or nearest Relations THE KINGDOM OF KANO THe Kingdom of Kano The Borders of the Kingdom of Kano a great Realm is about a hundred twenty five miles Eastward from the River Niger and ninety from the Kingdom of Agadez The Head City also call'd Kano stands in the middle of the Countrey in thirty and a half Longitude and seventeen Degrees Northern Latitude and invested with a woodden and chalkey Wall as also their Houses are made of the same materials This Countrey in many places is full of Springs especially in the Mountains which are overgrown with many Orange and Lemmon-Trees which bear Fruit of an excellent Relish it also abounds in Wheat Rice and Cotton-Trees of which they make Cloth They have also many Beeves and Goats The Countrey Inhabitants follow both Grasing and Tillage The City People are Merchants and Artificers This King of Kano was formerly so powerful that he made the Kings of Zegzeg and Kassene Tributaries to him THE KINGDOM OF KASSENE THe Kingdom of Kassene to the Eastward of Kano The Kingdom of Kassene possesseth nothing but sleight Huts in the manner of Villages standing one by another The Countrey is mountainous and barren yet fruitful in Barley and Tares The Natives are Cole-Black and have Camisie Noses and thick Lips The Air of their Face much differing from their Neighbors their Noses and Lips so broad and thick that they leave them scarce Cheeks or Chin. The former Government was absolute under a Prince but the last of the Line being made away by Ischia King of Tombut under pretence of assisting him joyn'd it as a Province to his own Kingdom THE KINGDOM OF ZEGZEG THis Kingdom of Zegzeg borders in the East on the Kingdom of Kano The Kingdom of Zegzeg about thirty miles from Kassene The Villages and Houses are of the same form as in the Kingdom of Kassene The chiefest City being also Zegzeg lies in six and thirty Degrees and forty Minutes Longitude and in fourteen Degrees and forty Minutes North Latitude The Countrey in some places Flat and in others Mountainous is subjected to various Weather the Valleys exceeding hot and the Mountains excessive cold insomuch that they make great Fires in the middle of their Halls spreading the red hot Cinders under their Bedsteads which being high from the Ground secures them from the Fire but warms them exceedingly They are rich and drive a great Trade with other People The Valleys are so well watered that they are made luxuriously fruitful abounding in Corn and all other Products of the Soyl. This was also under a King but trapann'd both of Life and Crown by Izchia King of Tombut who annexed it to his Empire THE KINGDOM OF ZANFARA Or GANFARA THe Kingdom of Zanfara The Kingdom of Zanfara a fruitful Countrey abounding in Corn Rice Barley and Cotton borders in the East on Zegzeg The Inhabitants The Inhabitants exceeding Black and of large Stature broad-Faced Camosca-Noses thick-Lipt are savage and of wild disposition and also Subjects to the King of Tombut THE KINGDOM OF GUANGARA or GANGARA THis Kingdom confines on the South with that of Zanfara The Kingdom of Guangara and hath in the South-East some Countreys stored with Gold The inhabited places are onely Villages built with Huts except the chiefest which in greatness and fairness exceeds all the other lies in four and forty Degrees and a half Longitude and in fourteen North Latitude The Natives are surly and clownish dull of apprehension they traffick much abroad the Slaves carrying their Packs or Fardels of Goods on their Shoulders and some on their Heads in large dri'd Calf-skins so carrying them to barter to the Southern and Gold-Countreys for the Wayes are not passable being so ruffled with Woods Briers and Thorns that to all Beasts of burthen they are inaccessible The King if occasion require can raise seven thousand Foot many of them good Archers and five hundred Horse he governs by an Arbitrary Power his Will is his Law his Subjects no better than Slaves yet his greatest Revenue he raises out of his yearly Customs of Exported and Imported Goods THE KINGDOM OF BORNO THe wide-spreading Kingdom of Borno also call'd Burney The Borders of the Kingdom of Borno formerly a Dwelling-place as appears by the Customs thereof of the antient People of Atlas or as Cluverius will have it Garamantes hath on the West for Borders the Kingdom of Guangara with a vast Desart above a hundred and twenty five miles Eastward and lieth near the Head-Fountain of Niger in the Wild of Seu in the South of Seth in the North the Desarts which reach to that side of Barka Urreta sets down for Borders in the East Gaoga and Nubia in the South Histor de La. Ethiop l. 1. c. 32 the Kingdom of Kiofara and Ethiopia or Abyssine in the West the Inward Lybia or Sarra and in the North Berdoa It lieth according to Urreta from the sixteenth to the twentieth Degree Northern Elevation and as Marmol above eighty miles to the East There are
split Quill at the end which being blowed yields a low sound Conney and Badger-Islands NOrthward of the Great Cape lie three Islands in the Sea viz. Conneys Badgers and Fransh Island The Conneys Island so called from the many Rabbits breeding in the Cliffs and on the Shore lieth before the Mouth of Table-Bay a League or thereabouts from the Land five Miles Southward from Badger-Isle It contains a Mile and a half in compass but more over-grown with Bushes than the Badger which receiv'd its name from the abundance of Rock-Badgers there found Neither of these have any fresh Water Spilber Voyage 1601. and although the Ground be sandy and full of Bushes yet they bear many good Herbs and Flowers and abound with Cattel The Conneys were first brought thither by the Dutch in the year One thousand six hundred and one The Sheep carried thither first by the English grow extraordinary fat and increase exceedingly so that some have been found whose Tails were five and twenty Inches thick and nineteen pound in weight with four and thirty pound of Swet about the Kidneys besides the Fat that came from their Flesh but the Meat gives no satisfaction in the eating by reason of the exceeding fatness There are many Pinguins and thousands of Meuwen and yet for all this plenty they both lie desolate and not inhabited A little Northerly lies the Fransh-Island equal in all things to the aforemention'd and as them without Inhabitants THE EMPIRE OF MONOMOTAPA THis Empire The Empire of Monomotapa by Joseph Barras call'd Benomotapa and by Sanutus Benomotaxa lies up within the Countrey before the Kingdom of Sofale near the Sea inclosed between Rio de Spirito Sancto or Magnice and the great River Quama both which by some are taken for two Branches of Zambere It spreads Southerly towards the Cape de Bona Esperanza Borders having in the North for Borders the Kingdom of Monimuge or Nimeamae and the River Quama in the East the Sea-coast of Sofala in the West and South the River Magnice and the neighboring Mountains Others Cluverius conterminates it in the East South and West with the great Ocean in the North with Congo the Abyssines and Zanguibar It s Length The bigness between the Lake Ro and the Ethiopick Sea together with the Mountains of the Moon Cluverius reckons to be four hundred Dutch Miles and the Breadth between the Head-Fountains of Nilus and the Cape of Good Hope three hundred Dutch Miles For all the little Kingdoms from the River Magnice to the Cape of Good Hope are said to acknowledge the Prince of Monomotapa for their Supreme Lord. But the whole Compass of this Countrey is accounted by many but seven hundred and thirty five French Miles The Imperial and Royal Court being the Chief City is call'd Banamatapa Chief City although by Vincent le Blank Madrogam lying six days Journey from a great House call'd Simbaoe or Zimbaoch and five Miles from Safale towards the West The Houses have almost sharp Roofs very large built of Wood or Earth Houses very finely and whited without and within The Palace of the Emperor carries a vast extent The Kings Palace having four Eminent Gates and very many large Chambers and other convenient Apartments guarded round about with Watch-Towers and within hung with Cotton Hangings of divers Colours wrought with Gold and richly Embossed as also overlaid with Tin gilt or as others say cover'd over with Plates of Gold and adorn'd with Ivory Candlesticks fastned with Silver Chains The Chairs gilt and painted with several Colours The four chiefest Gates of the Court richly Embossed and well defended by the Life-Guards of the Emperor whom they call Sequender The Emperor keeps a great Train of Servants who all attend in good order bowing of the Knee when they speak to him His Meat is serv'd up to his Table in Pourcelane round beset with Gold Branches Other Principal Cities are Zimbas a Mile and half from Sofale Tete where the Portuguese Jesuits have their Residence Sena c. Certain War-like Women like the ancient Amazons The Residence of the Amazones do possess a peculiar Territory appointed for them by the King although Sanutus appropriates to them a particular Kingdom upon the Borders of Damout and Gorage more towards the South Not far from Monomotapa is the Province of Chitambo The Kingdom of Chitambo wherein stands the City Tamburo This Kingdom hath the benefit of a temperate Air Air. and enrich'd with luxurious Valleys which though not Inhabited in all Places affords Provision of Cattel and Fruits sufficient to store both themselves and Neighbours nor is it destitute of pleasant Woods stor'd with variety of Fruit-Trees Plants and in some places abundance of Sugar-Canes that grow without Planting to the increase whereof the Rivers and Brooks that besprinkle the Countrey do not a little help The greatest Wealth of the Countrey consists in Oxen and Cowes Beasts with them more highly esteem'd than Gold or Silver They have no Horses nor other Beasts for Carriage besides Elephants which flock together by whole Herds in the Woods They shew a Beast call'd Alsinge resembling a Stag or Hart and Ostriches as big as Oxen. There grows upon Trees call'd Koskoma a Fruit of a Violet Colour and sweet in taste of which whoever eats plentifully it purges them so violently that a Bloody-Flux and at length Death follows upon it Here are found several Gold Mines in the Bowels of the Earth Gold Mines and also in some of their Rivers for which the Inhabitants dive in the Stream and take it up with the bottom from the Mud and so pick it out which Gold-diving they also practice in divers great Lakes spread far and near in this Kingdom for which cause the King of Monomotapa is not without reason call'd by the Portuguese The Golden King All the Inhabitants have short and black curl'd Hair The Constitution of the Inhabitants and as Linschot saith are of a middle Stature though Pigafet makes them a kind of Giants They are well set of a sound Body of Complexion black very apprehensive and quick of Understanding much addicted to War and apt to make Insurrections upon any trivial cause Their usual Food is salt Beef Milk and a little Verjuyce and Oyl of Sesamos Their Bread made of Rice Mille or of the Root Ignamees which they boyl in Basons The Drink of the Common People Milk but of the King and the Grandees Wine of Honey or Meath which they preserve in Ox-horns or Wine of Palm made delicious with Manna Amber and Musk. The King bestows every day in Perfumes two pound of Gold which certain Merchants furnish him with For the Torches and Lights which he uses are mix'd with sweet Odours which he causes to be born before him in the night being set in a richly Embroider'd Pavilion carry'd by four Noble-men follow'd by a great Train and cover'd over with a Canopy in
ENGLISH ATLAS Tome the First AFRICA BEING AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS OF Aegypt Barbary Lybia and Billedulgerid The LAND of Negroes Guinee Aethiopia and the Abyssines With all the Adjacent Islands either in the Mediterranean Atlantick Southern or Oriental Sea belonging thereunto With the several Denominations of their Coasts Harbors Creeks Rivers Lakes Cities Towns Castles and Villages THEIR Customs Modes and Manners Languages Religions and Inexhaustible Treasure With their Governments and Policy variety of Trade and Barter And also of their Wonderful Plants Beasts Birds and Serpents Collected and Translated from most Authentick Authors And Augmented with later Observations Illustrated with Notes and Adorn'd with peculiar Maps and proper Sculptures By JOHN OGILBY Esq Master of His Majesties REVELS in the Kingdom of IRELAND LONDON Printed by Tho. Johnson for the Author and are to be had at his House in White Fryers M.DC.LXX CHARLES R. CHARLES by the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. To all Our loving Subjects of what Degree Condition or Quality soever within Our Kingdoms and Dominions Greeting Whereas upon the Humble Request of Our Trusty and Well-beloved Servant John Ogilby Esq We were graciously pleased by Our Warrant of the 25th of May in the Seventeenth Year of Our Reign to grant him the Sole Priviledge and Immunity of Printing in Fair Volumns adorn'd with Sculptures Virgil Translated Homers Iliads Aesop Paraphras'd and Our Entertainment in Passing through Our City of London and Coronation together with Homers Odysses and his fore-mention'd Aesop with his Additions and Annotations in Folio with a Prohibition That none should Print or Re-print the same in any Volumns without the Consent and Approbation of him the said John Ogilby his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns within the Term of Fifteen Years next ensuing the Date of Our said Warrant And whereas by one other Warrant of the 20th of March in the Nineteenth Year of Our Reign We were in like manner graciously pleas'd to grant him the said John Ogilby the sole Priviledge of Printing Homers Works in the Original adorn'd with Sculptures a Second Collection of Aesops Fables Paraphras'd and adorn'd with Sculptures The Embassy of the Netherland East-India-Company to the Emperor of China with Sculptures and an Octavo Virgil in English without Sculptures heretofore by him Printed with like Prohibition That none should Print or Re-print the same in any Volumns without the Consent and Approbation of him the said John Ogilby his Heirs Executors and Assigns within the Term of Fifteen Years next ensuing the Date of Our said Warrant And whereas the said John Ogilby hath humbly besought Vs to grant him further License and Authority to have the sole Priviledge of Printing a Description of the whole VVorld viz. Africa America Asia and Europe in several Volumns adorn'd with Sculptures VVe taking it into Our Princely Consideration and for his farther Encouragement have thought fit to grant and we do hereby give and grant him the sole Priviledge of Printing the said Books last-mentioned And VVe do by these Presents straitly charge prohibit and forbid all our Loving Subjects to Print or Re-print the said Books in any Volumns or any of them or to Copy or Counterfeit any the Sculptures or Ingravements therein within the Term of Fifteen Years next ensuing the Date of these Presents without the Consent and Approbation of the said John Ogilby his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns as they and every of them so offending will answer the contrary at their utmost Peril VVhereof the VVardens and Company of Stationers of Our City of London are to take particular notice that due Obedience be given to this Our Royal Command Given under Our Signet and Sign-Manual at Our Court at VVhitehall the first day of November 1669. in the One and twentieth Year of Our Reign By His Majesties Command J. TREVOR To the High and Mighty MONARCH CHARLES II. Of England Scotland France and Ireland KING Defender of the Faith c. SIR SInce it pleased Divine Providence by Your Majesties sole Conduct and Direction to Compose all Foreign Differences setling at last Your weary People Harrased with Fire and Pestilence under a Necessary and Honourable Peace The Effects of which soon Chearing up Your Loyal Subjects they laying Arms aside straight betook themselves to the several Improvements of Arts and Sciences each striving to outvie the other in what seemed most Conducible to the Restauration of the former Wealth Splendor and Reputation of these Your Majesties Kingdoms Renown'd and Famous through the World But amongst these Busie Preparations no Work appears more Perspicuous than that Stupendious Miracle the Raising from a Confused Heap of Ruines sooner than some believ'd they could remove the Rubbish Your Imperial City already looking down though Private Houses upon former Publick Structures hereafter to be the Business of Foreign Nations to See and Wonder at I also Dread Soveraign feeling a Spring of Youthful Vigour warming my Veins with fresh Hopes of better Times have undertaken according to my Mean Abilities no small Business a Work of Time requiring some Years to Publish being May it please Your Majesty a New Model of the Vniverse an English Atlas or the setting forth in our Native Dress and Modern Language an Accurate Description of all the Kingdoms and Dominions in the Four Regions thereof Since such and so great an Off-spring cannot be Born in a day nor see the light of Publication at once being several and distinct Volumns this my first Issue Most Gracious Sir being Africa Compleat in the Name of the Rest yet Vnfinish'd I humbly Dedicate and Tender to Your most Serene Majesty as an Earnest and Representative of the whole Work In which Dread Sir You may behold amidst a Gallaxy of Southern Constellations or the numerous Flourishing Cities and Seats of that famous Region Your own Bright Star none of the smallest Magnitude Your Metropolis Your Royal City Tangier which Seated on the Skirts of the Atlantick keeps the Keys both of the Ocean and In-Land Sea whose unparallell'd Scituation Temperature of Air and Fertility of Soil may well make the Story True if Romance that an antient Emperor resolv'd to fix there his Imperial Seat to be his Terrestrial Paradice Invironing with Walls of Brass a Gold and Silver City Thus Prostrating at Your Sacred Feet that which if Your Majesty be pleased to receive with a Smile Your Subjects through Your Brittish Monarchy not onely Ambitious in obeying Your Commands but ready to follow in what they may Your Royal Example will give the Work also a Civil Reception Whilest I Dread Soveraign to clear all difficulties am busie exploding Old Tales Fictions and Hear-says of the Antients Collecting and Translating better and more Modern Authority especially Eye-witnesses our late Sea Voyagers that I might not weary Your Sacred Ears with any thing if possible but undoubted Truth May Your Majesty though Your Claim be Just and Your Sword
beholden to Bosio Megisaer Hieronymo Alexandrinus de Naberat besides one a great Observer that long Inhabited there AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA The Induction THE Terraqueous Globe whereof Africa shares no narrow Limits seems but an Imaginary Point to the vast Expansions of the Universe though in it self of a Great Magnitude for its Girdle or Equinoctial Circle contains in length 21600 English Miles or rather such as 60 make * Concerning this see Mr. Norwoods Experiment or Sea-mans Practice As likewise Mr. Oughtred's Treatise of Navigation at the end of his Circles of Proportion a Degree And the Diameter or Axis of the Earth according to the same measure amounts to 6875 Miles The Semidiameter 3438. But the Superficies of this Mighty Ball if by a General Survey set forth in square Miles reckons up 148510584 of the like Miles which is the product of the Circumference multiplied by the Diameter not omitting its Fractional part The Earth is divided into three Parts or rather Islands remoted from each other by Circum-ambient Sea though their Largeness nominates them Continents The first contains Europe Asia and Africa the second America and the third Isle Magellanica The first being the then onely known World The Old World Antiquity confers on the three Sorts of Noah to Sem * Who some say though the eldest shared the least part being contented with his Patrimonial Improvements whilest his younger brothers roamed through settling their several Plantations in the un-inhabited world Asia to Ham Africa and gave Japhet Europe yet later Ceographers make of this onely two parts casting Africk into Europe supposing the †Gades or Hercules Pillars Mountains Calpe and Abyle now the Jaws of Gibraltar were opened by an Earthquake receiving then also an Inundation from the Atlantick which now makes the Mediterranean Sea being before all continued Land Others divide by the Mid-land Sea from the Straights of Gibraltar unto Tanais placing Europe on the North and spreading Asia on the other side over the utmost Extent of Africa Some double this again making four Divisions of this our first Part of the World viz. Europe Asia Africa and Egypt Others later have once more reduced them to three joyning Egypt to Asia yet very improperly making the Nile bound Asia and Africa so that Egypt striding the River extends her Limits into both But the most modern Geographers make the Arabian Gulf the Meer betwixt Asia and Africa casting Egypt into the last Concerning the several Divisions of this our old World much hath been said both by Greek and Latine Writers not pertinent in this place to be taken notice of The second Island of the Globe The New World call'd America from Americus Vesputius a Florentine who by a lucky hit * Or the gingle of his Name Americk with Africk though signifying no more in English than Harry Wasp obtained the Denomination of this New World from the first Discoverer Christopher Columbus a Genöese employed by Ferdinand and Isabel King and Queen of Castile and Arragon in the Year 1492. The Southern Parts Peru that vast Empire was after penetrated by Pizarro Anno 1525. Magellanica The Unknown World the Unknown World or third Island was so called from her first Discoverer Ferdinand Magellanus being found by him in 1520. Sir Francis Drake our Famous Navigator forty five years after made a farther Inspection and in 1557. Sir Thomas Candish next Oliver van Noord a Hollander but the latest and last who made a far deeper incision than all the rest was Ferdinando de Quier a Spaniard Thus much in brief concerning the Division and Dimension of the Universal Globe which we are hereafter to treat of henceforth we shall onely speak of Africa the chosen Argument of this our First Volume of which ere we particularize thus in general Africa in general AFRICA Names of Africa so called from the Grecians according to Festus and the most Eminent Geographers signifies wanting or devoid of Cold though by some the whole was taken for Lybia which is now but a single Province Also they call'd it Olympia Oceania Coryphe Hesperia Ortygia Ammonis Aethiopia Cyrene Ofiusa Cefenia and Eria but the Romans call'd it onely Lybia and Africa Lybia from Lybia Daughter of Epaphus son of Jupiter and Africa from Afer the son of Hercules The Moores if you consult Thebets Geography call it Alkebulan and the Indians Bezecath the Arabians who formerly over-ran the major part knew their Conquests by the Name of Ifriquia derived from the word Faruch which signifies Separation because it is visibly more separated not onely from theirs but from all other Countreys than any other part of the whole World for the Mid-land Sea parts it from Europe the Arabian Gulf from Asia and the Atlantick Ocean from our later Discoveries Some Arabians as Marmoll tells us call it Ifiriquia The West-Indies in honor of Melek Ifiriqui an ancient King of Arabia Felix who driven from his own planted here a New Kingdom which after grew great and populous The Turks as some write call it * The West Countrey as to the Arabians who penetrated that way Magribon from Magrip though this Name properly belongs onely to the Western Sea AFRICAE ACCURATA TABULA ex officina IACOBUM MEURSIUM As Claudian Tot mihi pro meritis Libyam Nilumque dedêre Ut dominam plebem bellatoremque Senatum Classibus aestivis alerent geminoque vicissim Littore diversi complerent horrea venti Stabat certa salus Memphis si forte negasset Pensabam Pharium Getulis messibus annum Frugiferas certare rates lateque videbam Punica Niliacis concurrere carbasa velis They gave me Libya De Laud. Stil Lib. 2. and th' Aegyptian Shore For my deserts that they might with their Store The People and the Warlike Senate feed And with contrary Winds supply their need Famine farewel if Memphis should deny Getulian Harvests will our Wants supply Freighted with Corn I saw the Punick Fleet And Ships from Nilus in our Harbours meet And Prudentius Respice num Libyci desistat ruris arator Frumentis onerare rates ad Ostia Tibris Mittere triticeos in pastum plebis acervos See if the Libyan Swain neglects to load In Symmach Our Ships with Corn and to the Ostian Road Sends Wheaten Mountains for the Peoples Food And Horace Illum si proprio condidit horreo Quicquid de Libycis veritur areis Gaudentem patrios findere sarculo Agros Attalicis conditionibus Nunquam dimoveas ut trabe Cypria Myrtoum pavidus nauta secet mare Perswasions him shall never charm Hor. Ode 1. Grown proud of his Paternal Farm Where Lybick Harvests thwack his Grange Not for King Attalus Wealth to change His plenteous state to furrow Brine And cross rough Seas in brittle Pine But next to those who derive the Name from the Hebrew word Epher or Aphar Festus seems to have hit the Etymology of the word Africa ¶ JUdea and the
so effeminate that they Spin and Weave yet live very poorly in Mountainous Holes and Caves Tributary to the Arabians Others are War-like and laborious enjoying liberty and not acknowledging any Superior They claim as their chief Seat the Provinces of Temesne and Fez But those who inhabit that part of the Kingdom of Tunis adjacent to the Date-Countrey are the most mighty and stout having dared to engage in a War with the King of Tunis Anno 1509. and gave Battel unto Mules Nacer Son of Mahomet King thereof endeavoring to subject them who at this day bear Rule over the Kingdoms of Cauco and Labez The Zenegans or Zanagans the Guanesers Tergers Lempters and Berdoans all very poor and despicable living without Order or Laws in Tents and rove about with their Horses like the Arabs through the Lybian Wildernesses Some of the Arabians in Africa are more Savage wandring over the Mountains and through the Woods Others dwell in Cities and are called Hadares that is Courtiers being indeed Merchants for the most part the rest apply themselves to Study or follow Princes Courts and are counted less noble because they mix their blood with others Those which inhabit Fez are intituled Garbes that is West-countrey-men such as dwell Eastward Xarquies that is Diego de Torres Easterlings which made Diego de Torres divide the Countrey into Xarquia and Garbia The Lybian Arabs are Savages but stout and war-like Trading with Merchandize upon Camels to the Negroes Countrey and keeping many Barbary Horses oft-times recreating themselves with hunting of Wilde Asses Ostriches and other Beasts The Numidians are great friends of the Muses The Numidians are Poets and highly pleas'd with Poetry Poets naturally being much addicted thereunto having so rich fancy that on all occasions they set forth their Passions and Love-fits in a smooth and elegant stile They are also jealous especially in bestowing their favours lest they discover their wealth and abilities The Men go apparelled as the Numidians but the Women differ Those between Mount Atlas and the Mid-land Sea are much wealthier than these of Numidia both in sumptuousness of Apparel richness of Tents and abundance of Horse which are handsomer and more full and brawny than the former but want much of their speed Tillage and Cattel are their chief livelyhood the later of which are so numerous that they are often compell'd to remove and seek new Pastures They are Savage like those of the Wilderness some living as Subjects to the King of Fez but others in Marocco and Ducale formerly free from Tolls and Taxes till the King of Portugal began to conquer Asafi Aza and Azamor when after a civil War and the miseries of its common Attendant Famine they freely submitted to the Portugueses They of the Wilderness about Telesin and Tunis are rich and stately their Rulers drawing great Sums of Money yearly from the Neighbour Kings which is equally distributed among the people who pride themselves in comely habits being ingenious in making Tents and Breaking or Riding Horses In Summer they come to the very borders of Tunis to gather Contributions and in Harvest furnish themselves from other mens labours with all Necessaries as Victuals Clothing and Arms wherewith fully supplyed they return to their old Winter Quarters but the Spring they spend in Hunting Their Tents abound with greater plenty of Cloth Copper Iron and other Mettals than the richest Ware-houses of some Cities and no marvel for under the pretext of courtesie and civility Good Poets rewardes they steal all they can lay hold on They are also ingenious Poets and the best of them get not only praise but according to their excellency have rich rewards and high honours from their Governours The Women according to the custom of the Countrey The Women wear black Gowns with wide Sleeves cover'd somtimes with a mantle of the same colour or blew fastned about their Necks with Silver Clasps their Ears Fingers Legs and Ancles are adorn'd with Silver Rings If any man except their Kindred and intimate Acquaintance meet them abroad they cover their Faces with Vizard Masks and pass by in silence In all their Journeyings which are frequent the Women ride on Tin Saddles fastned to the Camels backs big enough only for one yea and going to war their Wives accompany them the more to encourage them to fight for them and their Children The Maids Paint their Faces Breasts Arms and Hands but the more noble Women content themselves with their own natural Colours and Complexions only somtimes out of Hens Dung and Saffron they mix a Colour wherewith they make a little round Beauty-spot in the Center of their Cheeks a Triangle between their Brows and an Olive-leaf or long Oval upon their knees Their Poets and Amours so highly commend the painting of the Eye-brows that it is not used above two or three dayes together in which time none but her Husband and Children may see her because they account this painting a great incitation to Venus as thereby supposing themselves much more beautiful and handsom ¶ LEo writes that the Arabians of Barka between Barbary and Egypt Lib. 6. Hist Afr. live very miserably and poorly which happens by reason of their want of Corn Want of Corn in Barka for there is not in all that Countrey a place fit for Tillage or that produces ought save Dates and those too but in a few Villages wherefore though sometimes they Barter Camels and Cattel for Corn yet cannot they purchase sufficient for so many people whereupon the Parents are constrained to leave their Children to the Scicilian Merchants for a pawn or security of payment And if according to the agreement they break their day the Sellers keep their Children for Slaves whom if the fathers will redeem they must render treble of the former debt This misery makes them such barbarous and inhumane Robbers and Murtherers that no Merchants dare approach their Coasts but rather choose to travel some hundreds of Miles about ¶ PEter Dan in his Journey to Barbary in the year 1633. Lib. 2. Hist Barb. hath very exactly described the manners and life of these Arabians Arabian Manners They utterly saith he abhor labour glorying in a supine carelessness and esteem no other people so happy though themselves be the most despicable and wretched in the whole world so priding in their poverty that they will scarce change their Hutts and Rags for the Palaces and Robes of the greatest Monarchs They have no secure or setled place of abode but rove up and down where they stay for any short time they pitch their Tents or rather Huts close together but divided into several quarters and this great Troop or Company they call Dovar each single Tent they stile Barraque Here they lye upon the ground intermixed with their Cattel the Barraques seem like Pavilions underprop'd with two great Poles the Door made of branches of Trees and a place in the middle like a
the African speech very much different from the other and mixt with many Arabian words Africanus says the five white People of Africa use this Speech which he calls Aquel Marik that is a noble Speech This last is divided into three several Dialects the Tamazegtans using one the Xilhans another and the Zenetans a third each varying from other onely in some words and holding affinity with the Arabick The Gumerians and Haoranians who live on the lesser Atlas and all the Inhabitants of the Cities on the Coast of Barbary between the greater Atlas and the Midland-Sea use the Morisk Tongue But in the City of Marocco and all its Provinces the Numidians Getulians and Western part of Africa speak the antient African known by the two old names of Xilha and Tamazegt Others residing Eastward bordering Tunis and extending beyond Tripoly to the Desarts of Barka speak a broken Arabick Such as live in Dovars or in houses mingle the Zenetan Tongue with corrupt Arabick so that few people in Africa speak pure and true Arabick Sealig ad Cansabon lib. 1. Epist 72. but use generally in their writings the Abimalik Tongue some have observed that in the Cities on the Coasts of Barbary the Citizens speak Arabick but base and corrupt The Peasants use the African Tongue But the common Edicts Commands Lawes and Contracts yea and their very Proverbs are written in pure Arabick The Azengians and other Mahumetans mingle their speech with Arabick and Barbary words The mixture of the African Speeches or Dialects the speech of Gelofe Geneba Tombuto Meli Gago and Galata they call Zungay that of Guber Cano Queseve Perzegreg and Guangray Guber which the people of Borno and Gouga imitate whereas in the Kingdom of Nubia they have a Dialect different from all the former these Countreys lye upon the River Niger In the more Southern the Languages are as various and differing the principal are Zinch and Habex which last the Abyssines use In some of these parts the people are so sullen and brutishly inclined that they will neither speak be sociable nor appear to any and in case one of them be taken he will rather starve to death than open his mouth and speak Eminent Arabian Historiographers affirm that when the Government of Barbary the choicest part of Africk became subject to the Mahumetans the African and Roman Letters were the same and were used commonly in Writing so that all their * The Arrian Hereticks that fled out of Italy from the Gothes and setled here Arrian Histories are Translated out of Latine and abridged with the Names of Princes and Commanders according to the Reigns of the Persian Assyrian Chaldean Israelitish and Roman Kings But the Schismatical Caliphs who conquered Africa raging with malice destroyed all those Books of Histories and Sciences permitting no other to be read than those of their own Sect. And the beforementioned Writer Ibnu Alraquiq sets forth that the Romans after their Conquest destroy'd all the ancient Records and African Books The Romans utterly obliterated all Punick Records Books and Histories introducing in place thereof their own name which in small time so prevail'd with a shining lustre that their honour and glory alone remain'd and the African Letters so totally blotted out that without any glimmering thereof they now write all in Arabick ¶ JOhn Leo saith Africans skill'd in Astronomy c. that the Africans are well skill'd in Astronomy and other Sciences and that they have some skill in Architecture and Husbandry which knowledge they first learn't out of Latine-writers as appears not onely in that they order their Moneths by Ides and Calends as the Latines but that they have likewise a great Book in three Volumes Entituled The Treasury of Husbandry which in the time of Mansor Lord of Granado was translated out of Latine into Arabick wherein are contained the rules of Tillage and Husbandry the alteration of the Seasons manner of Sowing with many the like singularities Insomuch that in former times these parts produced divers ingenious and great Wits Hath produced many famous and Learned men such as the Comedian Terence and some Fathers and Doctors of the Christian Church And others whose valour was not inferiour to the greatest who by an incredible courage maintain'd their liberty against the most magnanimous of the Romans although the present Inhabitants by a sad change are so degenerated from that glory of their Ancestors that they are esteemed the absurdest and most despicable Clowns in the Universe The African and Arabian Mahumetans reckon by the Moon allowing to the year but three hundred fifty four days every year shorter by eleven days than our European Account giving six moneths thirty days and to the other six twenty nine ¶ AS Africa is thus blest with the extraordinary production of Cattel and Corn Mines of Gold and Silver so the infertility of the Desarts is in many places recompenc'd by rich Mines of Gold and Silver Guinee Sofale Gago Nubia and divers other contain such Mines of Gold as Angola Monomotapa and other Kingdoms produce excellent Silver not without some Gold the Kingdom of Neguz is rich in many sorts of Merchandise the Coasts of Barbary inhabited by the Turks yields Corral which they dive for growing upon Rocks under water and Tombuto affords the finest Gold and other precious Rarities so that Africa is not to be esteemed the least or meanest part of the World If the Valor of the Inhabitants did but equal their number Their Valour the united Forces of the rest of the World could little prejudice them so numerous are the Armies alone of the King of Marocco and Fez besides those of the Arabians the bands of the Turks in the Kingdoms of Tunis Algiers Tripoly and Egypt the usual Army of the King of Neguz and the incredible numbers of the King of Angola seeming sufficient to make Africa invincible if they were hardy and couragious and trained up to the use of Arms. It remains then that we touch thereupon and their manner of making war The Arabians of Marocco and Fez use Lances or Sagayes Shields Their manner of War-fare Brest-plates and Helmets Their Swords generally they have from Europe and are much esteemed by them for the hardness of their Steel and excellent temper They are according to their manner of Riding most expert Horsemen casting their Javelins whereof some carry six or seven very swiftly one after another and aiming exactly at great distance All manner of Fire-Arms whether for Horse or Foot or Field-Carriages Cannon great or small wanting experience hitherto they are not skilful in They ride with tuck'd up Stirrops that their heels almost kiss the Skirts of their Saddles and in Fight cast off suddenly their loose upper Garment or Mandilion to ease their Horses and make themselves free and loose for the Battel Those that inhabit Westward near Tremesen and the Wildernesses of Barka carry sharp long-pointed iron Javelins which
to Dissolve I am the first Inventor of Fruits I am in the Constellation of the Devouring Dog the City Bubastis was Erected to my Honour O Egypt Egypt Rejoyce that thou hast Foster'd Me. Memorials of Osiris MY Father is Saturn the Youngest of all the Gods I am King Osiris who have travell'd through the whole World even to the uninhabited Borders and Bounds of India and other Parts of the Kingdoms of the Earth to the utmost Ocean I am the Eldest Son of Saturn a Branch of a Noble and Excellent Father There is no Place in the World which I have not Visited teaching every where those rarities which I have found out They say at last That Isis besides the Inventing the sowing of Wheat Barley and other Grain instituted Laws also wherefore she was call'd by the Antients Plutarch The Law-giver which confirms the words of the former produced Inscription She was also by the Greeks call'd Tithenes that is Nurse and Pandeches that is as we said already Receiver General and held to be the same with Proserpine and Ceres and so the Mother of the Gods because she bears the Titles attributed to all We have heretofore spoken of the Egyptians ridiculous Superstition and Idolatry we will now add something of their Apis and so come to their present Perswasion The Egyptians worshipped with great Zeal and Devotion Apis or Epaphus a Calf or Ox which they call'd Apis and the Greeks Epaphus for every Ox was not fit for it but it must be Black all over the Body having a square White Spot or Star on the Fore-head the shape of an Eagle upon the Back a Py'd Tail and upon the Tongue a Horse-flye or Hornet When such an Ox dy'd the People fell into sorrow upon it and sumptuously Bury'd it never ceasing their grief till the Priests found out another like the former in which Quest proving successful the Priests brought the Calf first into the City Nilus where they fed it Forty days afterwards in a Ship under a Golden Pavilion to Memphis where they plac'd it in the Temple of Vulcan The cause hereof says Diodorus was because they believ'd the soul of Osiris first of all transmigrated into it Nor did this Apian Worship terminate it self in Egypt but also spread into the East-Indies where even to this day in the Kingdom of the Great Mogol in Bengala Sumatra upon the Maldiver Islands and other Countreys lying on the Sea-Coast are to be seen such Apises or Oxen nay they are come to such a height of Sottishness that they believe none that die shall be sav'd unless at their Departure they lay their Hand upon the Tail of any Ox or Cow ¶ AS to the present Religion in Egypt it is Mahumetan The present Worship in Egypt And Bellonius in his Observations says The Egyptians and Arabs do keep their Law much more stricter than the Turks and although that have prevailed most yet in Cairo it self are many Christians of several Nations and Sects viz. English Dutch French Italians Copticks Nestorians Maronites Georgians Jacobites Armenians Syrians and others amounting to the Number of 100000. All which though in some Points differing among themselves yet in many of their Church-Ceremonies they agree with the Roman though in others they have remarkable Differences They inhabit several Cities Villages Hamlets and Cloisters beside Cairo as at Alexandria Sai Tmui Asna Festadada Coptus Asman Asioch Elesmunin Monphaluth Caus and in the Cloisters of St. Macharius St. Peter St. Hermes and St. Pachomius adjacent to the Red-Sea All these Christians and the Abyssines themselves are under one Patriarch who keeps his Residence in Alexandria and in the Arabick is call'd Papa or Abuma Patriarch that is Our Father Patriarch In former times under the Persecution of the Emperor Dioclesian the Copticks did lead an Honest and Sincere Life adhering to the Church of Rome but afterwards rent from it by the embracing the destructive Heresies of Dioscorus and Eutiches and at present own no other Head of the Church than the Alexandrian Patriarch The Jacobites hold that in Christ by the Hypostatical Union Kircher suppl Copt c. 2. is one only Personal Nature consisting of two Natures not Personal without Mixture growing together They make Saints of Dioscorus Severus Petrus Macharius all Hereticks and condemn Pope Leo. They hold also that themselves together with the Armenians and Abyssines are the Universal or Catholick Church and exclude all others and withal that before the General Judgment no man goes into Paradise or into Hell Those that follow the Heresie of Dioscorus from Arrius and Origen Kircher deny Christ's Humanity affirming his Body coequal with the Deity others deny that he received a Soul and from these words of St. John And the Word became Flesh that he took Flesh of the Virgin Mary and that meerly the Word became Flesh Those lastly that follow Nestorius a Constantinopolitan Bishop Kircher distinguish two Substances or Beings in Christ giving him two Persons and by Consequence two Sons of God and two Christs one which is God and the other generated of his Mother Mary They say that the Virgin Mary is not to be call'd Gods Mother but Christs Mother In their Divine Service the Copticks use the Liturgies of St. Peter Mark Basil Gregory Cyril translated into the Coptick they also Celebrate it in Arabick which there every one understands but the Epistles and Gospels are read twice once in the Coptick and once in the Arabick In the same manner as in a Solemn Service at Rome they are read both in Greek and Latine At the time of the Service they all leaning against the Pillars thereby to shew that they are Travellers or Pilgrims and expect the blessed coming of the Glory of the Great God They sing aloud altogether their Liturgies in a Tone call'd in Arabick Hink sometimes raising their Notes to the Alts then using deep Cadences so well ordered that no unpleasing Discord jarr from their Harmony Now although most of the Alexandrian Patriarchs or Pastors together with their Flocks have formerly thus departed from the Church of Rome yet all the Countreys of Egypt and the whole Abyssine Church have and still do acknowledg the Romish Doctrine to be the right and the Pope to be Christs Vicar as appears by several Letters from Gabriel the Patriarch of Alexandria sent by two Messengers to Pope Clement the Eighth in the Year Fifteen hundred ninety and three wherein he calleth himself GABRIEL The humble Minister by Gods Grace of St. Mark in the City of Alexandria and in all other bordering Southerly on the Sea-coast and among the Abyssines In one of these his Messages he made Confession of his Belief before the Pope in these words I believe and confess that the holy Apostolick Seat and the Roman Pope is the supream Head in the whole Church and the Successor of the blessed Apostle St. Peter Prince of the Apostles and Christs Vicar and Father and
of Red or other Colour with Caps of Linnen or Silk and on their Feet a kind of Slippers or single-soal'd Shooes which they call Reyas The Women pride themselves in much Linnen The Habit of the Women their wide Smocks being several Ells in the hem with large Linnen Drawers or Calsoons which come down to the Calf of the Leg. In Summer they have Bonnets of Silk in Winter of Linnen in stead of a Mantle they cast over them long pieces of Cloth call'd by the Inhabitants Likares trim'd with Embroidery or Fringes which they clasp together with a Buckle either of Gold or Silver Brass or Iron according as the Wearers ability will extend which it seems was antient there by Virgils Description of Dido Virgil. In their Ears they wear Jewels rich Neck-laces and Bracelets of Pearl which they call Gagales ¶ SEveral Languages are here spoken viz. the Morisk Arabick and Gemmick Tongues The Morisk is the antient African or rather a mixture of several Tongues with a dash of Arabick for they speak it not pure because of their converse with Forreign People whereby are introduced many strange words the Gemmick is half Spanish and half Portugues There is another Speech call'd Tamacete used by the People which dwell between Morocco and Tarudant Northerly of Mount Atlas and boast themselves to come of a Christian Parentage ¶ Every Mahumentan may by the Alcoran lawfully have four Wives The Marriage-condition from any of which he may divorce at his pleasure and take other When any man intends to Wed they have a Caziz Notary and Witnesses the Notary makes a seal'd Agreement of all that the Man promises to give his intended Bride for a Marriage-Portion which they call Codaka which he must give if at any time he part from her If a Woman will part from her Husband she loseth her Marriage-Goods Besides their Wives they may keep as many Concubines as they are able to maintain out of which the King may choose one to bestow upon his Favorites They count it no Crime to obstuprate their Slaves White or Black The King hath commonly four Wives besides a multitude of Concubines with whom he companies according to the dictates of his wandring Fancy On the day of Marriage The Solemnity of Marriage they set the Bride on a Mule sumptuously adorn'd and set forth begirt with a round Canopy in form of a Tower cover'd with Tapistry after the Turkish Manner so carrying her in State through the whole City follow'd by many Muletts laden with the Goods given her by her intended Husband and attended with Men and Women in great Multitudes After this Calvalcade they go to Feasting which done they remove to a spacious and open Place where all the Kindred and Friends assemble and such as are skil'd in Horsmanship for the space of two hours exercise themselves with Lances before the Bride But Diego de Torres says Cap. 76. the Woman is carried upon a well-furnish'd Camel in a small Castle or Tower call'd by them Gayola and curiously adorn'd and cover'd with thin and single Taffaty that she may easily see through it with a great Train of Followers so is she first brought to her Fathers House and from thence to her Husband where is great Feasting and Mirth If the Husband find she was devirginated before Maquet lib. 3. he immediately sends her away with all he gave her but if he be satisfied of her Chastity her praises are sung through the City and the tokens of his satisfaction publickly shewn which also be carried through the City in token of her being a Maid this was customary among the Jews Into their Church-yards the Women go every Friday and Holy-days to bewail their dead with Blew Mourning Garments on in stead of Black Mourning for the Dead as is the fashion in this Countrey The Revenue of this Kingdom yearly brought into the Kings Chamber or Exchequer is very great and rais'd thus Diego de Torret Botero Relat. univers p. 2. lib. 2. Every Male or Female of twelve Years or according to Botero of five Years old pays four fifths of a Ducat Hearth-Money and the like of every Hearth which by them is call'd Garama For every Bushel of Beans the King receives the second for every Beast the tenth but for every sack of Wheat half a Real Besides these there are other Customs paid upon exported Goods which sometimes they raise high pretending thereby to ease their Subjects However the Christian Merchants for all Commodities either imported or exported pay great Tolls besides a large Sum of Money for License to Trade freely there Lastly The King hath full power over all the Goods of his Subjects What makes the Kings mighty and rich of whom none can claim what he possesses for his own for when the Alkayde that is the Governour of the Countrey and other Officers that take Salary die the King seizes all they left giving to his Son if fit for the Wars his Fathers Imployments but if they be little he maintains them till they can handle a Weapon and the Daughters till they are married Another Device the King uses to possess himself of the Peoples Wealth When he hath intelligence of any rich Person he sends for him and under colour of Favour confers on him some Office that receives a Salary from the Crown in which continuing to his Death makes the King a Title to his Estate which is the cause that every one as well at Morocco as Fez to prevent this inconvenience endeavour to conceal their Wealth and keep as far from Court and the Kings knowledge as possible The King also takes one Beast in twenty and two when the Number riseth to a hundred His Collectors also gather the tenth of all Fruits growing in the Mountains which the People pay as a Rent for their Land ¶ THe English Hollanders and French drive here a notable Trade The Merchandise of several People in this Kingdom carrying thither several Commodities as Cloth c. bringing thence again Turky-Leather Wood Sugar Oyl Gold Wax and other Merchandise having their Consuls resident in the Cities of Sale Zaffi and other Places ¶ THe Inhabitants of Morocco in some things differ among themselves as to Religion most of them follow the Doctrine of the Xerif Hamet The strictness of the Moroccoians in observing Mahomets Doctrine who at first was a Monk but left his Cloister in the Year Fifteen hundred and fourteen and began to set abroach the Enthusiasm of one Elfurkan declaring that the Doctrine of Ali Omar and other Expounders of the Alcoran were only humane Traditions and that men were to observe the pure and single writings of Elfurkan who was a faithful Expositor of the same And as the Turks prohibit any to come into their Mosques that is not of their Religion upon pain of Death So this new Prophet admitted all Nations as well Christians as Jews to hear
his Preaching For this difference in Religion the Turks and Moroccoians bear a peculiar hatred one against another the Moroccoians treating the Turkish Slaves as cruelly as the Christian They observe all Solemn Feasts with the Turks and other Mahumetans Festivals especially the Feast of the Passeover The Passeover of the Moroccoians for the King rides sumptuously the Day of the Passeover attended with the Bashaw and other great Lords both Horse and Foot and men sounding Trumpets playing upon Flutes and beating Drums and Kettle-Drums When he is come to an appointed place without the City two Rams are brought to him Homer Il. 3. lib. which after several Ceremonies he sticks in the Throat and if they die quickly that is held by them for a good Presage but if they linger any while they believe the following Year many Sicknesses and Troubles will ensue ¶ The King of Morocco bears the Title of Emperor of Africa The King of Morroco's Title and also Emperor of Morocco King of Fez Sus and Gago Lord of Dara and Guinee great Xerif of Mahomet He hath as we said so absolute a Dominion that all the People are his Slaves not daring without leave go out of the Kingdom upon pain of Corporal Punishment In this Kingdom many wilde Arabs frequent Arabians in Morocco by some call'd Larbussen which live by the Wars and Plunder being general Enemies to all and all Foes to them yet when the time of their Harvest is come they make a Cessation of Arms for it is not a Peace because as soon as the Corn is threshed and laid up in their Pits made in the middle of the Fields for that purpose and cover'd over with Planks and Earth they-fall to their old Trade of robbing and spoyling again whatever Corn is hoarded in those Pits none see or meddle with unless when they fetch some for private use to Sow or to Sell. They dig also deep Pits to find Water to which they come with their Camels from Places far distant leading them home laden therewith in Leathern Borachio's These Arabians in regard of their so much using the Wars are Commanders over the Almahallen that is little Armies to conduct the Caphiles or Caravans by order of the King MOROCCO THE Province of Morocco The Territory of Morocco and Borders of it Grammay Afric 9. Marmol p. 1. lib. 3. taking Name from the Metropolis is almost all Champaign beginning on the West at the Mountain Nefise and stretching Eastward to the Mount Hannimey and so running Northward to the Tenzift where it meets with that of Eciffelmel so that on the North Ducala conterminates it on the West Hea and a part of Sus on the South another part of Sus Darha and Gezula and the East the Territory of Eskure or Haskora Morocco Morocco the Head City the Principal City of the whole Kingdom call'd by the Inhabitants Marroc and by the Spaniards Marruecos is by the unanimous consent of most Geographers held to be the Boccanum Hemerum of Ptolomy Be it one or other such as make narrow inquiry into Antiquity say That it was first built by Joseph Aben Texijien and his Son Ali out of the Ruines of Boccanum or rather in the same place where Ptolomy had set that It is situate between the Rivers Neftis and Agmet in thirty Degrees and thirty Minutes Northern Latitude incompassed with a Plain sprinkled with little Hills among which on the North-side Atlas thrusts his Basis within six Miles of the City Het KONINKLYK HOE meteen geâ—elte der Stadt MAROKKO The Citizens number saith Gramay five and thirty Streets besides a multitude of Lanes and other narrow Passages but addes withall that one third part is destitute of Inhabitants by reason of many Ruines between which it is planted with Groves of Dates Vineyards and other Trees Here were in former times many Stately Temples Guilds Baths It was formerly very rich in Buildings and Inns but the Civil War in the Countrey hath laid waste and levell'd most of them with the Earth Memorable Monuments remaining are two Temples of a wonderful Greatness One built by Ali the other by Abdul Mumen neighbour to which King Almansor erected a third encompassed with a Wall of fifty Cubits high and beautifi'd with Columns or Pillars which he brought out of Spain Under it he made a Cistern of like bigness with the Temple to receive all water from the Roofs The Royal Palace call'd by the Inhabitants Alkakave or Michouart may compare with an ordinary City surrounded with strong and high Walls In the middle of a Basse Court stands a stately Mesquiet with a Tower on whose Top in stead of a Fane stand four golden Apples together as they say Four Golden Apples of the top of the Tower weighing seven hundred Pound and given to the King of Morocco by the King of Gago with his Daughter in Marriage And to confirm this Opinion they alleadge that the King of Morocco in right of that Marriage still remains Inheritor of that Kingdom and fetches from thence much Gold But Marmol tells us That when King Mansor had builded this stately Temple out of a desire to leave behind him some Memorial of his Wealth bestowed a great part of the Jewels he had in Marriage with the Queen for the making those Apples The Inhabitants firmly believe they were so signatur'd by such Configurations of the Heavens that they were as Telesman's never to be remov'd which Magick seems to be as antient as the Building of Troy and whose Palladium we may suppose to be such whereof hear Virgil. Aen. l. 2. Omnis spes Danaum coepti fiducia belli Palladis auxiliis semper stetit impius ex quo Tydides sed enim scelerumque inventor Ulysses Fatale aggressi sacrato avellere templo Palladium caesis summae custodibus arcis Corripuêre sacram effigiem manibusque cruentis Virgineas ausi divae contingere vittas Ex illo fluere ac retro sublapsa referri Spes Danaum fractae vires aversa deae mens Our chiefest hopes and confidence were laid Since first the War began in Pallas Aid Till impious Diomed with Ulysses went The best that ever mischief did invent And boldly from her sacred Fane convey'd Fatal * That was the Effigies of the Goddess and Telesmon made of Pelopts bones by Arius the Philosopher and presented to Trous to preserve his City where founded and therefore Diomede and Vlysses stole it from thence that they might conquer the City though Synon feigns thus Palladium and dire Slaughter made These the blest Image pulling down distain'd With bloudy hands and Virgin Wreaths prophan'd The Grecian hopes from that time backward went Our Strength decay'd the Goddess discontent Cidrenus saith this Image of Pallas was consecrated by Diabolical Rites out of a vain presumption that the Town was impregnable while that remained in it This is confirm'd by Joannes Antiochenus who saith such Images were Telesmatically
made under a good Horoscope and enabled by Art to preserve Cities wherein they are kept or set up in a victorious and impregnable condition And the Architect employ'd to place those Apples not onely used the like Arts but had by Magick set several Spirits for the constant keeping of them Many Kings have endeavour'd to take them down but still some mishap hath followed to prevent them The King of Morocco himself Anno 1500. boasted he would take and bestow them upon the Portugals as a Reward for their Service in the Defence of his State but the Commons withstood it alleadging they were the greatest Ornament of Morocco and next to the Kingdom they were fit to be preserv'd In this Palace are thirty Chambers and a Hall on all sides within and without furnish'd richly with all sorts of Imagery and appointed for places of Contemplation and Study In the midst of the whole stands a very goodly Fountain canopi'd and turrited with white Marble artificially Carved and Polished ¶ ABout half an hours Journey from the City The Garden or Montserat lieth a very stately and pleasant Orchard or Garden of the Kings call'd Montserat planted with above fifteen thousand common Trees the like number of Oranges and Dates and about thirty six thousand Olive-Trees besides many other sorts of Plants Flowers and wholesome Herbs A Rivulet cometh out of the Mountain and runs quite through it watering not onely the Plants but feeding many sorts of Fish In the midst of this lieth a four-square place wherein stands a Leopard of white Marble speckel'd with black Spots to the life at every corner and round about encompast with Marble Pillars upon each of which is a Lyon spouting clear water out of his mouth To this Garden adjoyns a Park A Park of Beasts wherein are inclosed a great number of Wilde Beasts as Elephants Lyons Deer and the like In the first Court of the Palace Moquet says appear three very stately Buildings after the Morish Fashion and adorned with Fountains The second Court hath Piazzaed Walks supported with white Marble Columns so artificially built that the best Architect may admire their Workmanship And on the ground stand many Marble Vessels with clear water where the Moors wash themselves before they go to their Sala Next this are the Habitations of the Jews The Jews Dwelling-place like a second City girt with strong Walls but having one onely Gate guarded by the Moors Many Agents or Embassadours from several Princes and States of Europe use to be here resident The ordinary Houses are low Their Houses small and slight raised up onely of Loam and Chalk but the Houses of great Persons are magnificent built with Stone and flat at the top to walk upon for coolness Most of the Mosques or Churches Churches which there are very numerous are entire Marble and cover'd with Lead The River Tenzift runs through the City whose Water the Citizens use on all occasions and serves also to drive Mills for grinding Corn. ¶ THis Province abounds with Flax The Fruitfulness of the Soil about Morocco Hemp Wheat and all sorts of Grain which it vents abroad into other parts in great quantities nor yields it a less store of Dates Figs Raisins Apples Pears Olives Nuts and the like Fruits besides Cattel which afford plenty of Milk Butter and Cheese But the tops of the Mountains lye many times covered with Snow being for the most part barren and cold and at best producing nothing but Barley Eight Leagues from Morocco Agmet upon the top of a Mountain stands Agmet in former times rich and populous containing about six thousand Families but at present decay'd and affording Wolves Foxes and other wilde Beasts and Fowl a burrow and resting place Elgiumuhe or Elgiemahe by the River Xeuxaue or Sochaiu Elgiumuhe about two Miles from Mount Atlas formerly a place well inhabited but now lieth almost waste and desolate Emigiagen or Umegiagen a City and Fort eight miles Southerly of Elgiemake Emigiagen surrounded with a stony Rock in stead of a Wall Tazarat or Tesrat or Terrasast lieth upon the Banks of Eciffelmel Tazarat five miles Westerly of Morocco and seven from Mount Atlas Teneze at the foot of Atlas call'd Guidimyve or Gedmeve Teneze three miles from the River Eciffelmel Gemaagidid call'd by some Delgumuhe Gemaagidit a fair City lying upon the high Mountain Sicsive five and twenty mile from Morocco containeth about a thousand or twelve hundred Houses The City Temelet call'd by some Temelle and Mehedie Temelet lying on a Mountain Imizimiz or Imismizi on the hanging of the Hill Guidimive Imizimiz hath below it a Road which runs cross Mount Atlas and is call'd Bureix which signifies Feathers because the Flakes of Snow oftentimes flye over this City like Doun Tamdegost or Tumeglast about five mile from Atlas Tamdegost Animmey a small City on the side of a Plain Animmey about three miles from Morocco Eastward ¶ HEre also are divers great Hills such are Nefuse or Nefise Derenders Hills of Morocco Nefuse Aden and Atron lying in the West and dividing it from Hea. Very barbarous people inhabit it who live hardly The Semmede begins at the foot of Nefuse Semmede and spreads Eastward seven miles in Length The Xauxave to the Southward of Semmede Xauxave gives name to a River rising there The Mountain Sicsive is very high Sicsive and the Hill Temelet boasts of a stately City call'd Temelet The Guidimive or Gedmeve begins at the Westerly Foot of Semmede Guidimive extending East about eight miles The Hantete is so high Hantete that at a distance it sheweth continually cover'd with the Clouds touching to the West on Guidimive and reaching Eastward about six miles to Animmey which also lifts it self up to a great heighth extending from hence Eastward to the River Tecouhin ¶ THe Constitution and Nature of the Inhabitants we will now give you a touch of as in the several places wherein they are seated The Constitution of the Inhabitants and begin with them of Morocco who are well featur'd and very white The Men delight much in Hunting and Hawking and therefore keep excellent Horses which according to their Custom they manage with good judgement They take great pleasure in keeping all sorts of Fowl which are brought to them from Mount Atlas They of Elgiumuhe are diligent in Husbandry but often plunder'd by the Arabs Those of Delgumube are extraordinary neat in their Habit proud bold-spirited but very jealous The Mountaineers are ill natur'd rough and deceitful coveting from Strangers what ever they have They go meanly Habited live as beasts and feed on Barley with a little Oyl of Olives Some few of them have Converse with Jews from whom they learn some Mechanick Arts wearing onely under their Feet artificial Soals to defend them from sharp Stones and Thorns And their best Habit is meerly a
with Horses and Asses intermixt and contrary to most in these parts their Women go with their Faces bare SUS THE Territory of Sus or Sous Its Borders formerly a Kingdom took name from the River Sus which bounds on the West as far as the Great Bay of * That is of great Cattel Juments or de la Yeguas Northward it reaches to Mount Atlas where touching on the Side of Hea on the South lyes the sandy Desart of Biledulgerid on the East bordering upon Guzula In this Territory on the Sea-shore lye three small Cities all known by one common name Messe being indeed rather one City divided into three parts each separated and surrounded with a Wall This was heretofore call'd Temest being seated on the shore of the great Ocean at the foot of Atlas or Aidvacal as they call it The River Sus running through the Messe A strange Temple at a place call'd Guertesen falleth into the Sea on whose shore a Temple appears whose sparrs rafters and beams are said to be the bones of the Whale which swallowed the Prophet Jonas who was thrown up again in this place The learned among them stick not to affirm That this our Minor Prophet shall appear in this Temple being so declared by their great Prophet Mahomet for which Reason they all highly reverence and preserve it with extraordinary care Hereabout are many large Whales often begrounded which the common People fancy happeneth by an occult quality of that Temple which kills all those Monsters coming that way and endeavouring to swim by it Teceut Teceut an antient City a Mile from Messe Triangular and contains four thousand Families In the middle of it stands a fair Temple through which runs an Arm of the River Sus. The Countrey hereabout is full of Hamlets and Villages but more Southerly is not inhabited but over-run by the wilde and wandring Arabs One Mile from Teceut lyeth Gared Gared founded by the Cerif Abdala about the Year Fifteen hundred on a Plain by a great Spring call'd Ayn Cequie Here is a sort of excellent * Moroquines Kids-Leather which in such great quantities is transported into Europe that the Custom of it yearly to this City produceth Thirty thousand Ducats The Principal City of all is Tarudant by the Moors call'd Tourant Tarudant twelve Miles East from Teceut and two Miles South from Atlas in a pleasant Valley eighteen or twenty Miles long This City water'd by the River Agur was formerly the Metropolis of the whole Kingdom and the Royal Seat and Chamber of the Kings of Sus. Half a Mile from Tarudant stands Faraixa built by Mahomet Cherif Taraixa before he was King of Morocco Tedsi twelve Miles Eastward of Tarudant twenty from the Ocean Tedsi and seven to the South of great Atlas was in former times very rich containing above four thousand Families but is now by their Civil Wars almost ruined Togoast the greatest City of this Territory twenty Miles from the Atlantick Togoast eighteen from Atlas and three from the Sus contain'd in former times six thousand Houses which at present are reduced to a far smaller Number Volateranus says this was the Birth-place of the antient and famous Doctor St. Augustine On the Westerly shore of the River Sus lyeth Cape Aguar Cape of Aguar taken by Ptolomy for the Cape Usagium This place in former times belong'd to the Portugues who erected there a very strong Castle by them call'd Santa Cruce and by the Moors Darumnie that is Christian-House Afterward the Portugals founded a strong City in the same Place which they possess'd a long time but at last were driven out of it by the Cherif in the Year Fifteen hundred thirty and six On a cutting Skirt of Atlas by the great Ocean Gantguessen at the Mouth of the River Sus stands Gantguessen a very strong place and more Southerly on the Sea-Coast these places Aguilon Alganzib Samotinat with the Capes of Guilon and Non or Nun in twenty seven Degrees Northern Latitude ¶ THe Mountains of Sus are Henquise The Mountains reaching from West to East twelve Miles in length Ilalem or Laalem Guzula beginning at the end of Henquise and stretching Eastward to Guzula South to the Plains of Sus Ilde the Western boundary between Guzula and Sus. All the Inhabitants of Messe maintain themselves by Husbandry The Nature of the ground of the Territory Sus. encouraged thereto for that in April and September the River Sus rises and overflows its Banks which causes a plentiful Harvest whereas if it fail in one of the aforemention'd Moneths then generally follows a Scarcity or dear Year On the shore by Messe is found very good Amber in great plenty All about the City of Teceut the Grounds abound with Wheat Barley and many other sorts of Grain as also Sugar-canes besides Dates Figs and Peaches Mount Henquise is cold and continually cover'd with Snow Mount Laalem abounds with Horses and holds in her bosom a rich Vein of Silver From Tarudant is brought Ostridge Feathers and Amber and so transported into Europe The People of Tedsi live orderly and behave themselves with great Trust and Civility The like do the Inhabitants of Tagoast whose Women for the most part are white and Handsom nevertheless there are Blacks and Tauny-Moors among them They of Messe are Husbandmen but those of Teceut ill natured proud and pervicacious Those of Henquise and Ilalem are Valiant and Generous but maintain old Feuds about their Silver Mines Lastly The Mahumetans themselves living in this Territory shew great Honor to the Body of St. Augustine which they report lyeth Buried near the City of Tagoast DUCALA THE Territory of Ducala hath for Borders Limits of the Territory of Ducala on the East the River Umarabea or Omniâ—abih and the Country of Temesne on the East the Tenzift and Cape of Cantin with part of Hea on the North the great Ocean and on the South the Province of Morocco and the River Habid The greatest length from West to East is Thirty It s Bigness and the breadth according to Marmol Twenty four Miles The Cities and Places of Note in it are First Azamor Azamor a City lying at the Mouth of the River Umarabea three Miles from Mazagan In the Year Fifteen hundred and thirteen Emmanuel King of Portugal to revenge himself of the Injury which Zeyam the Governor of this City had done him Was won by the Pertuguese in disappointing of his Marriage sent a Fleet of two hundred Ships with great Forces who coming to this City begirt it with a strong Siege and compell'd the Inhabitants to surrender The Portuguese who entred Ruin'd and Plunder'd it and not so contented proceeded further and took and wasted divers other Places The Town before this War contain'd above Five thousand Houses and is still large and populous being subject to the Moors who keep a strong Garrison in
of Morocco's Concubines to the number of eight hundred under the Guard of Eunuchs but now the Residence and Seat of the Governours Without the City lie several Sconces and Redoubts made of Loam and cast up when the Castle was Besieg'd in the Year Sixteen hundred and sixty Within these Cities are several Mosques with inclosed Yards round about and without divers Mesquites The Houses especially in Old Sale are very small and slightly built Their Houses though here and there some are richly set out with Carv'd Work and Marble Pillars Generally they are but one Story high without any Windows to the Street or other opening than the Door all their Light descends from a Loover in the midst about which the Chambers are placed the whole Edifice flat-rooft for conveniency of Walking Morning and Evening for the benefit of the cool refreshing Air. The Haven is very spacious The Haven but shallow having at low Tyde not above a Foot or a Foot and a half Water though at full Sea eleven or twelve Before the Haven lyeth a Barr passable at High Water with loaden Barks and Ships either out or in whereas when the Tyde is out they must remain at the Rivers mouth and unload their Goods into small Boats out of which Landed they carry them through the Gate Sidimusa Ducala upon Asses and Camels into the City This shallowness of the Haven compels the Corsaires or Pyrates of this Place to use light Vessels that draw little Water which proves better for the Chace and more advantageous in their Pyracies and also in escaping Ships of greater Burden whereas they of Algiers Tunis and Tripolis from the convenience of their Haven put to Sea in greater Vessels The Revenue consists in Tributes and Customs of Exported and Imported Merchandise The Revenue all which pays ten in the Hundred The Countrey People under its Jurisdiction pay the tenth of all their Land-Fruits for a Tribute And the Pyrates by their Robberies against the Christians bring no small Advantage These Cities are now Govern'd by an Alcaide The Government who with his chosen Councel manage all Affairs either Martial or Civil In the Election of a new Governour or Deputy they proceed with no regularity the Commons or Plebeians sometimes setting up one from among themselves or if it were possible below themselves as they did some few Years since when without the consent of the King or Nobles running together upon the Governours death without any the least appearance of Reason they set up in this mad fit an Ass-driver and by their own Authority impowered him but he soon after his Advancement using the same severity rough handling and menaces to his new Subjects as towards his old Slave the Ass they no longer pleased with his so rigorous Government kickt him out of the Saddle and left him to conduct by those stern Rules his old Servant Other great Alterations often happen in the chusing of Governours insomuch that sometimes it hath been known that there have been three new Governours in a Moneth so often turned out either out of the Peoples hatred to them or for their own Misgovernment and yet their whole Jurisdiction reaches no farther than over a few little Cities and some wandring Advars that is Arabs This City hath from the first Foundation been subject to Commotions and Alterations but more especially since the coming of the Andaluzian Moors that were driven out of Spain as will presently appear During the continuance of the Moors in Spain which was from the Year Seven hundred and twelve for then they made their Conquests for Six or seven hundred Years they kept possession all which time the Kings of Spain made it their Master-piece to drive them out especially Ferdinando the Fifteenth for he taking into serious Consideration the great mischief by them done to the Christians and the continual Wars wherewith they infested them in the Year Fourteen hundred ninety two set fiercely upon them who seeing themselves in a straight and even brought under the power and obedience of Ferdinando seem'd to embrace Christianity though scarce in outward appearance they were such however it gain'd them a breathing while and gave them opportunities of endeavour at least to distract that State so that in the Year Sixteen hundred and ten Philip the Third King of Spain by an Edict published the Sixteenth of January banisht them out of his Kingdom The Andaluzian Moors driven out of Spain and for fear of incurring the penalties thereof above a Million of Men Women and Children of all Sexes departed within the time limited the greatest part of whom taking Ship passed into Barbary But others spread themselves into the East about Constantinople some came into France with the consent of the King who allotted them a place to dwell in conditionally they observ'd the Roman Catholick Religion wherein by performance of their Articles they so fixed themselves that at this Day some Families of them are to be found in Provence and Languedoc Such of them as pitched at Salee were admitted with freedom by the King of Fez and Morocco believing they might be useful to instruct his People in many Trades and Handicrafts Here a while they lived Peaceably yielding equal Obedience with the other Subjects but they soon started aside and with the Money which in great quantities they brought from Spain bought Arms and some Ships wherewith they apply'd themselves to Roving and Pyracy at Sea pretending at first to take from none but the Spaniards in revenge of their inflicted Banishment though indeed and in truth their malice raged upon all the Christians 'T is true at the beginning they play'd fast and loose under pretence of Trading and Merchandise setting up Spanish Flags and Colours in their Masts and Sterns and acting all in the name of Spaniards The Andaluzjans beginning to take from the Christians as they were by Birth and Language by which they did great Robberies but at last this Trick growing stale they pull'd their Vizards off and declared themselves openly Pyrates and Enemies to all Christians Whatsoever Prizes they took they pay'd to the King of Morocco as a Tribute seven or ten in the Hundred as well of Prisoners as of Merchandise Thus for a time they continued their Subjection to the King of Morocco but still waiting an opportunity to throw off the yoak and indeed they wanted not a specious pretence for under the colour of furnishing their Ships they got into their hands the best Arms in Salee of which possessed and instigated by the natural Ambition of the Countrey they were bred in they brought to pass those Designs they had been so long secretly contriving For first they made themselves Masters of the Alkassave They rise up against the King of Morocco or Castle of Salee and by that means of the City which done they disarm'd the Moors banish'd the Natives and expell'd all the King of Morocco's Officers and for their Assistance
to Salee the fourth of September The sixteenth of June in the Year Sixteen hundred sixty and six Gailand Lord of Alkazir drew into the Field against Muly Resis King of Tafilet Brother to the King of Fez but three Days after came back again to Alkazir About two Days after he drew into the Field again was met by the King of Tafilet routed and put to Flight with the loss of many and revolt of more Soldiers to the Kings side Gailand himself wounded with a Semiter escaping to Alkazir but not daring to trust himself there within an hour fled to Arzile The King without any opposition took in Alkazir whereupon Tituan and Old and New Salee fell to him so that now the City and Castle was once more reduced under the Power of the King of Fez. Once before the Portugues took it but were not able to hold it long ere it returned to the right Owner When Sydan the third Son of Hamet after the Death of his Father and Brothers had possest himself of the Kingdom of Fez though afterwards stripped both of that and Morocco for a time by the several opposite Factions in those Kingdoms commanded by Hamet Ben Abdela a Religious but hypocritical Heremite who hoping to get all for himself was opposed by Sid Hean that took part with Sydan by which assistance the Tumults at last were pacified in some measure yet nevertheless a rabble of Pyrates invested themselves in this chief Port of Fez inabling themselves thereby to do him infinite mischief both by Sea and Land and not to him only but all others whose business of Trade drew them into those infested Seas Many fruitless Attempts he made upon them so that considering his own weakness at Sea for want of Shipping he sent an Embassador unto King Charles the First of England to desire his Assistance Nor did that Pious Prince need much Importuning to put his hand to so good a Work for he soon dispatched thither the requested Aids by whose Assistance Sydan became Master of the Town unroosted and punished the Pyrates and sent Three hundred Christian-Slaves freed for a Present to his Majesty Nor staid he there but raising his thoughts to a higher Pitch of General Good he sent another Embassador with a Letter to His Majesty to give him the like Assistance against Algiers who Roved with as much Cruelty through the Mediterrane as the Salee-Men before had done over the Atlantick The which Letter savouring of more than Mahumetan Piety and much conducing to the King of Great Britains Honour we will Insert for Satisfaction THE King of Moroccos Letter TO KING CHARLES The FIRST of ENGLAND WHEN these our Letters shall be so happy as to come to Your Majesties Sight I wish the Spirit of the Righteous God may so direct your Mind that you may joyfully embrace the Message I send The Regal Power allotted to Us makes Us common Servants to our Creator then of those People whom we Govern So that observing the Duties We owe to God We deliver Blessings to the World in providing for the publick good of Our Estates We magnifie the Honour of God like the Celestial Bodies which though they have much Veneration yet serve only to the Benefit of the World It is the excellency of Our Office to be Instruments whereby Happiness is delivered unto the Nations Pardon me Sir This is not to Instruct for I know I speak to one of a more clear and quick sight than my self but I speak this because God hath pleased to grant Me a happy Victory over some part of those Rebellious Pyrates that so long have molested the peaceable Trade of Europe and hath presented further occasion to root out the Generation of those who have been so pernitious to the good of Our Nations I mean since it hath pleased God to be so cuspicious to Our beginnings in the Conquest of Sale that We might joyn and proceed in hope of like Success in the War of Tunis Algiers and other Places Dens and Receptacles for the inhumane Villanies of those who abhor Rule and Government Herein whilst We interrupt the corruption of Malignant spirits of the World We shall glorifie the great God and perform a Duty that will shine as glorious as the Sun and Moon which all the Earth may see and reverence a Work that shall ascend as sweet as the Perfume of the most precious Odours in the Nostrils of the Lord a Work grateful and happy to Men a Work whose Memory shall be reverenced so long as there shall be any remaining amongst Men that love and honour the Piety and Vertue of Noble Minds This Action I here willingly present to You whose Piety and Vertues equal the Greatness of Your Power that We who are Vicegerents to the Great and Mighty God may hand in hand triumph in the Glory which the Action presents unto us Now because the Islands which You Govern have been ever Famous for the unconquered Strength of their Shipping I have sent this my trusty Servant and Ambassador to know whether in Your Princely Wisdom You shall think fit to assist Me with such Forces by Sea as shall be answerable to those I provide by Land which if You please to grant I doubt not but The Lord of Hosts will protect and assist those that Fight in so glorious a Cause Nor ought You to think this strange that I who so much reverence the Peace and Accord of Nations should exhort to a War Your Great Prophet CHRIST JESUS was the Lion of the Tribe of JUDAH as well as the Lord and Giver of Peace which may signifie unto You That he which is a Lover and Maintainer of Peace must always appear with the Terror of his Sword and wading through Seas of Blood must arrive to Tranquility This made JAMES Your Father of glorious Memory so happily Renowned among all Nations It was the Noble Fame of Your Princely Vertues which resounds to the utmost corners of the Earth that perswaded me to invite You to partake of that Blessing wherein I boast my self most Happy I wish God may heap the Riches of his Blessings on You increase Your Happiness with Your Days and hereafter perpetuate the Greatness of Your Name in all Ages But now to return to the Course of our History Two large Miles from Salee Tefensare there lyeth another antient City call'd Tefensare or according to Sanutus Fansare and by Marmol suppos'd to be Ptolomy's Banasse In the same Place Mahmore at the Mouth of the River Subu stood formerly the City Maamore or Mahmore destroyed in the Moorish Civil Wars Emmanuel King of Portugal sailing into that Countrey pleased with the situation erected a Fort there Anno Fifteen hundred and fifteen which e're made well defensive the King of Fez his Brother came with an Army of Fifteen thousand strong with which defeating the Portugues he utterly raised King Emmanuels new erected Work But the King of Spain in the Year Sixteen
little less in Winter The Soyl is so rich that they plough it not but only sprinkle it in May with Watering-pots with which small cost and pains it produces infinite variety of Fruits very delightful in taste onely the Peaches are waterish and not very well relishing Besides this Fertility of the Land the Rivers are wonderously stor'd with Fish of divers kinds especially that by the Spaniards call'd Sabalos The Land about Salee produceth multitudes of Box-Trees and other Wood whereof the Inhabitants make Combs Much Cotton also but little Grain by reason of the Sandiness of the Soyl. The Countrey about Mahmore is on one side shadow'd with stately Oaks but the other affords excellent Pasture for Cattel abundance of Oranges but Dates beyond imagination There are also very large Oxen and besides Goats Hens Partridges Pigeons and other tame and useful Creatures The Woods breed the strongest and fiercest Lions in all Africa to the great annoyance of the People Nor do they want good Honey and Sugar-Canes in the use whereof they were ignorant till the Moors banisht out of Spain taught them how to extract it The Moors Countrey produceth many excellent Fruits especially great Quinces Granates White and Damask Plumbs large Figs Grapes which they eat fresh gather'd Peaches and abundance of Olives and Flax. Upon Mount Zalagh grow Vines yielding singular sweet and delicious Raisins Mount Zarhonne is cover'd with Olive-Trees that afar off it seems to be a Wood. Tefelfelt stands among Woods wherein many fierce Lions frequent In the Plains of Aseis or Adhasen the Lions are so timerous that a man nay a very woman will either by chiding or blows make them flie The Diet of the Inhabitants of Fez Their Food agrees with that of all other Mahumetan People of Barbary making three Meals a day For Breakfast they eat a little Fruit and Bread with thin Pap made of Meal but in Winter Sops made in the Broth of Salt Flesh such as we in England usually call Brewis At Dinner they have in Summer Flesh with Sallets of Lettice or Cabbadge Cheese Olives and Melon-Broth At Supper nothing but Bread with Melons or Raisins or Milk but in the Winter boyl'd Flesh with Couscous but seldom Roast-meat This is the ordinary Fare of common Citizens but Persons of State or Quality have many additional Delicacies The Tables are low without Table-Clothes or Knives pulling their Meat in pieces with their Fingers They put Flesh and Pottage in the same Dish out of which every one may take what he pleases They never drink till they have done eating and then conclude their Meal with it The Men of Fez that have any Estate wear a Habit in the Winter The Habit of the Men of Fez. made of Foreign Cloth over that a Cassock or Tunick with short Sleeves and over all another large Cloak clasped before upon the Breast and on their Heads they put Caps like Night-coifs The poorer sort wear a loose Jacket with a Mantle over it and slight Quoives on their Heads The Women also go fashionably clad The Habit of the Women wearing in Summer a Shift onely but in Winter a Coat with wide Sleeves When they go abroad they put on long Drawers that reach to their Knees then throw over their Heads a Cloth that covers them all over and a Mask The better sort wear Gold Ear-Rings with precious Stones and Jewels but the meaner content themselves with Silver ones without Jewels On their Arms and Legs they wear Chains also and a peculiar sort of Slippers fasten'd on with Silk Bands The Arabs living thereabouts The Habit of the Arabians commonly wear a Garment which they call Baraguan wrapt about their body and a red Bonnet All the rest go naked onely one Clout girt about their Waste and hanging down almost to the Knees ¶ THe Government of Fez is Monarchical Their Government heretofore call'd Cheriffs but now Kings who are very potent But neither they nor any other Mahumetan Kings use either Scepter Crown or Throne but onely a low Seat cover'd over with Cloth of Gold and a Cushion set with Pearls and precious Stones When the King perceiveth The chusing of their Kings or feeleth that his Death approaches he calleth all his Lords and Noblemen about him and ties them by Oath to chuse his Son or Brother or some one he hath a favour to for his Successor which they all take but little regard it after the Kings Decease chusing another not to fulfill his will but their own pleasure In Fez People of several Countreys in Fez. People of all Countreys reside as English French Hollanders Tartars Persians and Eastern Greeks each of them having a Consul there to mannage the business of Merchandise But the common Inhabitants are Moors the Offspring of those formerly banisht out of Spain as we declar'd before ¶ THe Nobility here are threefold The Nobility of Fez threefold each distinguisht from other by peculiar Marks The first are noble in Bloud as descended from Honorable Ancestors others become Noble by Offices and Employment the third are so esteem'd for their great Wealth and Riches but all enjoy the same and equal Priviledges They are very proud and disdainful both in their Speech and Behaviour towards Strangers but according to their Obligations without any reluctancy attend the King in his Wars In this one City they say there are above three thousand Noble Families ¶ THe Jews are numerous not onely in Fez Their Religion but spread through the whole Kingdom where it is suppos'd they amount to eight hundred thousand Among them are many Goldsmiths for the Moors must not meddle in that Trade being prohibited by the Alcoran These have also a Consul by whom the Stamps for Money are kept which they onely Licence to be Coyn'd in the New City The Inhabitants are either Mahumetans The Inhabitants of Fez are of three sorts Jews or Christians But the Mahumetans being far the greater number have the chief Command in all things though there be as many Sects of them in Fez alone as in all the Turkish Empire there being some principal Teachers or Heads of every Faction seated here which as Marabouts or Saints give Rules to their Followers TEMESNE or TEMECENE THis Jurisdiction the most Westerly part of the Kingdom of Fez The Borders of the Territory of Temesus hath for bound on the East the River Buragrag on the West the River Ommirabih on the North the Great Ocean and on the South Atlas The length from East to West is accounted Seventeen Miles and the breadth Thirty This was formerly so flourishing a Countrey that it contained Forty or Joan Leo. as Gramay says a Hundred and twenty great Cities Three hundred good Towns and exceeding many Villages some whereof as good as Walled Cities most of which are so totally ruined in their Civil Wars that scarce any remainders of them can be found The most eminent Places now in being
The chief Places thereof lying on the Coast of the Mediterranean-Sea Comere are Comere lying close by three little Islands the first of which some hold to be Penon and the two other the Cliffs Tarfonelle and Nettegalle The City Terga by Marmol call'd Targa and built as Sanutus says by the Goths about twenty miles from the Straits of Gibraltar contains near five hundred Buildings Yelles Yelles a little Sea-Town two miles from Bedis hath a safe though small Haven Bedis Bedis by many call'd Bellis as cohering with the Spanish Name Velez is by the Inhabitants nam'd Deirath Bedis and by the Learned thought to be the Akrath of Ptolomy It stands between two high Mountains containing six hundred Houses an ill fortifi'd Castle and a small Dock on the Shore where commonly Galleys and other small Vessels or Boats are built About a thousand Paces from thence Penon de Velez upon a Rock in the heighth of twenty four Degrees and twenty Minutes Northern Latitude stands Penon de la Velez that is The Rock of Velez sever'd from the firm Land by a small Channel that affords a safe Harbour for ten or twelve Gallies It is a very strong place guarded with several Forts the chiefest of which is built upon the heighth of the Rock accessible by one onely cut way some stand in the middle and others at the foot so that it seems almost impregnable Gebba Gebba a small decay'd Town eight French Miles from Velez Near Point Oleaster Mezemme mention'd by Ptolomy Marmol places Mezemme or Megeime by some held to be the Teniolonga of Ptolomy seated on the side of a Hill on a great Plain nine French Miles long and three broad through which the River Nakor passing divides Errif and Garet But now so waste that the wilde Arabs desert it Towns more to the Inland are Tegasse a little Place two miles from the Mediterranean-Sea call'd by Marmol Tagaza and thought to be the Thalude of Ptolomy Seusaon Guazaval Then Seusaon and Guazaval remarkable for nothing but their inconsiderable meanness ¶ THe Mountains here have few Habitations The Mountains of Errif but poor Huts cover'd with Straw or Barks of Trees Such as they be take as followeth First Bentgarir or Beni Oriegan close by Targa three miles long and two broad Beni Mansor three miles long Bucchuia or Botoia in Length four and in Breadth three miles Benichelid or Beni Quilib in the Road between Bedis and Fez. Beni Jus four miles long and three broad Benizarval and Benirazin fronting the Mediterrane Seusacen or Xexuen reported to be the fairest Mountain of Africa The Beni Gebara high and craggy Beni Yerso and Hagustan well inhabited Benigualed and Beni Iedes high and almost unpassable Alkas twelve miles from Fez. Beniguazeual ten miles long and five broad shewing one City and an hundred and twenty Villages Guarga Beni Achmed or Beni Hamet four miles long and the like in Breadth Beni Egenefen or Beni Zanten Beni Mesgilda Beni Guamud all bordering on Fez from which divided by a River ¶ THis Province bears good The Condition and Quality of the Territory tall and streight Timber but little Grain of any sort Of Grapes Figs Olives Quinces and Almonds there is pretty plenty but no Cattel besides Goats Asses and Apes with a sort of Beeves no bigger than yearling Calves The Water abounds every where but in many places so muddy that it is scarce potable by reason whereof the People fetch their water to drink from Pits and Ponds without the City ¶ MOst of the Inhabitants of these Places have great Swellings under their Chins like the People in the Mountains of Savoy and Dauphine The Customs of the Inhabitants but the reason unknown except it proceed from the drinking that Water however it much deforms them They are blockish stupid and given to Jealousie and all other kinds of Beastiality These are not so curious of their Wives but in other parts of the same Jurisdiction they are as careless it being customary That when a Woman dislikes her Husband she will go presently to a Neighboring Mountain leave her Children and take another And this is the cause of continual Wars between them And if by chance at any time they make peace the Man who hath the others Wife is bound to give all the Expences to the first Husband during the time of their Cohabitation They fare very hardly living of Barley or Oat-Bread salt Sprats and Eggs accounting Goats Milk Bean-Broth and boil'd Mosch a great Dainty GARET GAret the sixth Province of Fez butting East on the River Mulaye West The Borders of Garet on the River Nakor on the North on the Midland-Sea and South on the River Mullulo and the Mountains close by Numidia is divided into three Parts The first compriseth the Cities and Plains the second It s Partition the Mountains and the third the Wildernesses The first containing the Cities is accompted sixteen miles in Length and forty in Breadth On the Mediterrane stand the Cities Tarforagello Fetis and Tarfoquirato with the Mountain Alkudie so call'd by the Arabians but Marmol takes it to be Abyle Alkudie one of Hercules Pillars at whose foot lies Cape Trident or The Point of three Forkes by Castaldus call'd Cabo de tres Forcas and by Oliverius Cabo de tres Orcas supposed to be the Metagonitis of Ptolomy the Metagonium of Strabo and Sestiana of the Antients It shoots far into the Sea with a Point from which Eastward lie three small Islands in form of a Triangle besides one great one nam'd Abusam in the heighth of thirty Degrees and twenty Minutes Melille formerly Ryssadirum or Ruisar Melille by the Inhabitants call'd Deirath Milila having a convenient Haven in the Midland-Sea was heretofore the Head-City of this Territory In the time of the Goths strongly wall'd and so flourishing under the Mahumetans that it contained above two thousand Houses But in the Year Fourteen hundred and ninety seven the Duke of Medina Sidonia won it and at this day it is one of the Spaniards Principal Strengths in Africa excellently Fortifi'd and commanded by a Castle well provided of all Habiliments necessary either for Offence or Defence About six miles from Melilla near Cape Trident or Metagonites lieth Casasa Casasa by the Portuguese call'd Cabo de Casasa where formerly because of the Conveniency and Safety of the Haven the Venetians drove a great Trade of Merchandise with the Inhabitants of Fez But by the Diligence of Ferdinand King of Aragon and Castile the Moors driven out he annexed it to the Kingdom of Spain Places further from the Sea Tezzote are Tezzote mounted on a Rock ascendible onely by Winding-Stairs Meggeo And Meggeo a small Town two miles Southward of the Midland-Sea and about four to the West from Tezzote ¶ BEsides Alkudie The Mountains of Garet and the Point of three Forks here are several
that it touches upon Biledulgerid formerly held in Compass two small miles as still some of the Ruines do declare but in the Year Nine hundred fifty nine destroy'd by the Kalifs of Cairavan but afterwards by a great Marabout restor'd and Peopl'd So that at present it contains above thirteen hundred Families The Inhabitants are most of them Weavers and Turners who though Skilful in their Trades yet seldom arrive thereby to any more than one degree above the meanest poverty KOUKO THe Kingdom of Kouko by the Marsiâ—â—n Merchants call'd Kouque or Kouke by the Italians and Spaniards Kuko suppos'd to be the Cinnaba of Ptolomy now subject to the Turks and paying Tribute to Algier The Mountain Kouko On the Borders of the Fields of Metiia towards the South and East appear many Mountains among which is Mount Kuko giving Name to the whole Kingdom Gramay says it is a very high and craggy Mountain eleven or twelve Dutch miles from Algier nine Westward of Bugia and three from Mount Labes But Peter Dan in his History of Barbary averres that Kouko is a place lying thirty French miles from Algier environ'd with almost inaccessible Mountains possessed by Arabians and Moors ¶ THe City of this Name contains more than sixteen hundred Houses The City strong in Scituation as being surrounded with high and steep Rocks Here the King of Kouko hath his chiefest Palaces And not far-distant in former times was the Haven Tamagus belonging to the same King but now in Possession of the Algerians This Countrey hath many Springs and Gardens Planted with all sorts of Fruits The Haven of Tamagus especially Olives The plain Grounds yield plenty of Figs Raisins Honey and Flax of which is made excellent Linnen Salt-Peter is there digged The Inhabitants are warlike necessitated thereto by their Neighboring Enemies yet their Fields stockt with Cattel their Woods with Monkeys and the whole Region with Horses fit for Service in the Wars ¶ THe yearly Revenue of the King The Revenue is reckon'd to seven hundred thousand Crowns which he raises by the Barter of Native Commodities nor can he easily be deprived thereof the Mountain serving as a Bulwark to keep out whom they are not willing to admit there being but onely one way to ascend them and that so narrow and uneasie that a small number with stones may keep back a strong Army ¶ THe Inhabitants are all Mahumetans Their Religions here and there mingled with Christian Merchants But such is their enmity to Jews that they will on no terms have any Converse with them ¶ GRamaye and Peter Davity Government give the Title of King to the Lord of these Countreys but Ananie ascribes to him onely the Name of Xeque though we may believe him mistaken because within this hundred years or thereabout one Benel Kadi of the Stock of Celmi Beni Tumi King of Algier by Aruch Barberossa murther'd relying upon the strength of his People call'd himself King of Kouko for whose Death all the people became deadly Enemies to the Turks which continued till Hassen or Asan Bassa Son of Hayredin Barberoussa inter-married the Daughter of this King by which means he gain'd the Assistance of his Armies against the King of Labez The King keeps no Court nor State but onely a Guard for Safeguard of his Person The continual Enmity of those of Algier against Kauke Nor makes Ostentation of his Strength for his Countrey lying inclosed with the Provinces of Algier they have always had an evil eye upon him endeavoring utterly to extirpate the King and bring the State under their absolute Obedience This being not unknown to him makes him Side with the Spaniard as he did openly in the Year Fifteen hundred forty and two when he sent the Emperour Charles the Fifth lying before Algier two thousand Moors for his assistance Which upon the News of the miscarriage of his Fleet he withdrew but this was so highly resented that shortly after in revenge came Asan Bassa King of Algier with an Army of three thousand Turks and Moors upon him and he durst not strike one stroke against him but made a Peace upon a promise of a yearly Tribute and gave his Son Sid-Amet Benalkadi for a Hostage This begun a tie of Friendship between Kouko and Algier which yet were more strongly united in a League in the Year Fifteen hundred sixty one by the Marriage of Asan Bassa with Kouko's Daughter whereby his People got liberty to buy Arms and other Necessaries at Algier But this brought no small suspicion into the Janizaries whose Aga having in October publish'd a Prohibition upon pain of Death that no Arms should be sold to the Koukians within two hours drew the Janizaries out of the City seized upon Asan Bassa together with his Sisters Son Ochali the General of the Army whom he sent bound in six Galleys to Constantinople This raised new fears in Couko and encreased their hatred to Algier so that in Sixteen hundred and nine they sold the Haven of Tamagut to the Spaniards but before delivery the Algerians took it by force Afterwards in Sixteen hundred and eighteen after the death of Hamaert the Kings Brother who usurped the Kingdom the old League of Friendship was renewed with Spain and Hostages given for performance this made the hatred between them and Algier break out afresh but his death the year after quite altered the Case for his Nephew Murtherer and Successor made Peace with Algier and sent thither Hostages who in a short time there ended their lives Of this Enmity between the King of Kouko and Algier the Spaniards made great advantage contriving thereby to get Algier into their hands and according to their Design in the Year Sixteen hundred and three thus attempted it There was a Franciscan Monck named Matthias well skill'd in the Language of the Countrey by his long Slavery there when he was ready to return for Spain he held secret intelligence with the King of Kouko between whom 't was agreed that Matthias should furnish him with some Spanish Souldiers for whose reception and safeguard the Koukian was to deliver up a small Fort lying in the Entrance of the Mountain and so with Joynt-Forces fall upon Algier The Enterprise thus concluded a day was appointed to effect it but the Council and Souldiery of Algier having privately some intelligence thereof at the very hour sent a great number of Janizaries to the place which at first approach summoned was by Abdala Nephew to the King of Kouko yielded together with a discovery of the whole design to the Bashaw of Algier Solyman of Katagne a Venetian Renegado who promised him for every Head of a Spaniard concerned in the Plot and by him either taken or kill'd fifty Sultanies and for the Head of Matthias two hundred A fruitless Enterprise of the Spaniards to take Algier At last four Spanish Galleys appeared under the Vice-Roy of Majorca on the appointed day close by the
Royal Seat of their new Government under their Prince King Abni These in the Year Seven hundred sixty and two were driven out by the Saracens and about a hundred years after that Joseph the first King of Morocco gave the Kingdom and Castle of Bugie then subdu'd by him to one Hucha-Urmeni though a Saracen without paying or doing Homage And though his Successor was disturb'd by the Arabians yet afterwards they held a fair Correspondence with Tunis But two hundred and sixty years since the Sovereign Power falling it became Tributary to the King of Telensin under which it continu'd till the Reign of Abuferiz King of Tunis who subdu'd Bugie giving it to one of his Sons call'd Habdidi Haziz with the Title of King whose Race Govern'd by Succession till Don Pedro de Navarre by Command of King Ferdinand in the Year Fifteen hundred and ten with a strong Army Conquer'd it for the Spaniard who slighted the old Castle and cast up two other new Forts on the Shore by the Haven This City and Forts Barbarossa supposing to stand in his way as opposing the Designs he had upon several parts of Barbary and at the invitation of the expell'd King came in the Year Fifteen hundred and twelve with twelve Galleys well man'd and an Assistance of three thousand Moors drawn by their King from the Mountains and pitched before the City yet after so fair a shew of his great Power eight days continually battering the Castle being discourag'd by a small Shot receiv'd in his left Arm he faintly withdrew and broke up the Siege returning to Tunis and the King to the Mountain This much troubling Barbarossa that he had so dishonourably forsaken such an Enterprise having recover'd his Wound in the Year Fifteen hundred and fourteen he renew'd the former Siege in which plying the Castle so hot and shaking it with his great Cannon it fell but the Garrison'd Souldiers retir'd into the City Then instantly he apply'd himself to the Storming of the other Castle and without doubt would have carried it though in the first Assault there remain'd an hundred Turks and as many Moors dead upon the Spot had not Martin de Reuteria with five Ships and a competent number of Souldiers came opportunely to their Assistance into the Haven whereupon Barbarossa was once more compell'd to depart to Gigeri Charles the Fifth Emperour seeing of what great consequence it was to keep this place for the more easie Conquest of Algier for the better Security thereof built a Fort upon the Hill which commanded the Castle At length those of Algier after many fruitless Attempts became Masters thereof in the Year Fifteen hundred fifty and five by the Conduct of the Bassa Sala who with three thousand Turks and thirty thousand Moors beleaguer'd in two places both the Castles as well by Land as Water First he gain'd the Castle lying on the Sea cutting off most of the Defendants then slighting it and pursuing his Success fell upon the other Fort with such fury that the Lieutenant Alonso de Peralta was forc'd to desert it and seek Refuge in the City but considering the weakness of the Town as not able to endure an Attaque surrendred the City Shipping thence according to Articles for Spain four hundred old Souldiers for which Service he was rewarded by cutting off his Head and ever since Bugie hath been under the Government of Algier GIGERI Or GIGEL THis Countrey bordering with the Sea Marmol so calls from a Village of that Name In the way between Algier and Bugie being fifteen miles from the later consisting of about five hundred mean Houses near which stands an old Castle upon a Hill almost inaccessible This Territory reacheth Southward to the Borders of the Numidian Desart containing Mount Haran being about twenty miles from Bugie and fifteen from Constantine and running Northward to the pleasant Valleys of Mesile Stefe Nekaus and Constantine ¶ THe Soil is generally barren and fit onely for Lime and Hemp which there groweth in great abundance Mount Auraz hath many Springs which so water the Plains that they are Plains that they are all Morass but dried up in the Season of the Year by the Heat of the Sun All this high Land is inhabited by Arabs a fierce and jealous people not permitting any Intercourse or the least Commerce with the Low-Landers lest they should dispossess them of their Habitations The Village Gigeri is very rich especially by the Trade they had in former times with the French who us'd to put in there for Hides and Wax The Inhabitants Traffick in small Vessels laden with Nuts and Figs to Tunis giving to the Bashaw of Algier the Tenth of all their Cargo's ¶ IN the Year Fifteen hundred and fourteen Barbarossa subdu'd this Territory The French are driven out of Gigeri and gave himself the Title of King of Gigeri And by that means when Cheridin Barbarossa his Brother and Successor in his Conquest submitted to the Grand Seignior this with the rest became subject to the Turks who disturb'd by the French that had won something upon it there were still Endeavors by the one to keep what they had got and by the others to regain what they had lost So the French in November 1664. designing to Fortifie themselves had an Assistance sent to them under the French Admiral Duke de Beaufort who arriving with a Naval Army sent a Spy to finde out the Strength of the Moors and to prevent his Discovery attir'd him in Turkish Habit promising him for a Reward of his Fidelity and care fifteen Pistols determining upon his return to fall upon the Moors with eight hundred men fifty of which he intended for an Ambuscade The Citÿ GEGERY DE STADT GIGERI◠CONSTANTINE COnstantine a Maritime Province so call'd from its Metropolis includes Its Borders according to Marmol that space of Land which the Antients named Nero Numidia containing formerly Constantine Mele Tefas Urbs Ham Samit and Beldelhuneb the Rivers Magier and Guadilbarbar dividing it from Tunis The Head City Constantine formerly according to Strabo and Mela The Head City call'd Constantine did bear the Name of Cirta Numidia and Cirta Julia having for the Founder Micipsa King of Numidia but Gramay thinks it a Roman Work by the stateliness and form of the Buildings Marmol averrs that this City was of old call'd Kulkua a Plantation of Numidia and that the Moors still entitle it Kucuntina It lieth on the South side of a very high Mountain surrounded with steep Cliffs from among which the River Sugefmart floweth so that the Cliffs on both sides serve in stead of a Rampart on the other side strengthened with high Walls of black Stone exquisitely hewen through which are but two ways into the City the one on the East the other on the West It containeth about ten thousand Houses many well Paved Streets furnished with all kind of Tradesmens Shops On the North side stands a Castle and without the
the Summer to eat in the Winter There grow also Figs Apples Pears and very much other Fruit but above all yielding great store of good Cattel as Oxen Calves and Sheep call'd by the Arabians Nedez sufficient to give Supplies of Butter and Milk not onely to the City Bona but also to Tunis and the Island Zerbes ¶ THe Mountains for the most part lie destitute of People yet full of pleasant Springs having Water enough to give a Current to several Rivers which afterwards take their course through the Plains between the Hills and the Midland Sea The Coast hereabouts yields much Coral both white red and black being a kind of Plant or Shrub growing in the Water between the Rocks ¶ THis City and Province were-Governed by Xeques and peculiar Lords of their own It s Government till the King of Tunis having subdued them built a strong Castle on the East side of the City to keep it in awe but afterwards Aruch Barbarossa in the Year Fifteen hundred and twenty coming with two and twenty Galleys and Ships into the Haven forced the Citizens to acknowledge him by which means they became Subjects to the Kings of Algier and so have ever since continued excepting for a short space that the Emperor Charles the Fifth in the Year Fifteen hundred thirty five made himself Master of it THE FORT OF FRANCE SIx Miles to the East of Bona between the Kingdoms of Algier and Tunis Peter Davity Estat Ture on Affique and between the Black and Rosie Cape you may see a Fort Commanded by the French and call'd Bastion de France that is French-Fort Formerly near this Cape of Roses stood another Building erected in the Year Fifteen hundred sixty one by two Merchants of Marseiles with the Grand Seignior's consent call'd a Fort but indeed was onely a Flat-rooft Ware-house for a residence of the French who come thither and employ the Natives Diving for Coral and under that pretence Exported all sorts of Merchandise as Grain Hides Wax and Horses which they bought there with more liberty and for less Price than in the Island Tabarka because no Turks lay there to hinder them But many years since this Structure whose Ruines yet appear was beaten down by the Algerines oppressed with a great scarcity of Provisions which the Moors reported was occasioned by the French Exporting their Corn. Afterwards in the Year Sixteen hundred twenty eight by order of Lewis the Thirteenth French King Mounsieur d'Argen Lieutenant of Narbone and chief Engineer of France was sent thither to re-build the razed Fort who took with him all Materials necessary for the Work from Marseiles and with great speed and diligence erected this Bastion But the Work was scarce begun when the Moors and Arabians came down Armed in great numbers and forced the Mounsieur to a Retreat and at present to Fortifie himself in a Half-Moon newly cast up from whence with the first opportunity he took Shipping At length the same King employed one Samson to re-attempt the same design who brought it to some perfection and was Governour of it Since which another was formed upon the Island Tabarka in the Year Sixteen hundred thirty and three This Bastion de France hath two great Courts the one to the North where the Store-Houses for Corn and other Merchandise are with many convenient Ground-Rooms for the Officers and Chief Commanders The other being more large and spacious than the former stands on a Sandy Beach where the Ships usually come to trade for Corall as we mention'd before To this adjoyns a fair and great Vaulted Chappel call'd St. Catharina in which they Celebrate their Mass and Preach having convenient Lodgings above for the Chaplains and Priests Before it there is a Church-yard and a little on one side a Garden-house set apart and us'd onely for sick and wounded Souldiers Between these two Courts towards the South standeth a great Quadrangle built all of Stone which is the Fort or Strength with a flat Roof wherein stand mounted two Mortar-Pieces and three other Brass-Pieces supply'd with a sufficient Garrison TUNIS THe Kingdom of Tunis The antient Borders at this day subject to the Great Turk compris'd formerly the Countreys of Constantine Bugie Tunis Tripolis in Barbary and Essab and by consequence the greater part of Africa the Less together with Carthage Old Numidia and other Countreys extending above a hundred and twenty miles along the Sea-Coast But now the greatest part of Bugie Constantine and Essab are wrested from it by Arms and annexed to Algier The Kingdom of Tunis then It s present Borders taken within these narrow Borders begins at the River Guadelbarbar formerly call'd Tuska dividing it on the West from Constantine as on the East the River of Caps or Capes by the Lake of Melaetses separates it from Tripolis and on the Southern Limit is the Modern Numidia Peter Dan in his Description of Barbary joyns it on the West to Algier to Barka Bona and Tripolis on the East So that by his account the Southern Part of Tunis lies Westward of Negro-Land containing but few places of note ¶ THe Rivers which run thorow and water this Countrey Its Rivers are chiefly four Guadelbarbar Magrida Megerada and Caps or Capes Guadelbarbar Guadelbarbar which Sanutus and Marmol call Hued d' Ylbarbar takes its Original out of a Hill lying a quarter of a mile from the City Urbs or Jorbus being serviceable onely to the Citizens in driving their Mills for the Current runs in so many crooked Meanders that such as travel from Tunis to Bona are necessitated with great trouble there being no Boats nor Bridges to help them to wade over five and twenty times Lastly it disembogues into the Sea by the forsaken Haven Tabarka seven miles from Bugie Magrida Magrida formerly call'd Catadt seems to be a Branch of the former flowing thorow Choros and then entring the Mediterrane near to a place call'd Marsa Megerada Megerada or rather Maggiordekka formerly Bagradag on whose Shore Pliny Gellius and Strabo say that when Attilius Zegulus was Consul for the Romans in these parts during the Punick Wars was found a Serpent of a hundred and twenty Foot long kill'd by Attilius and his Army with Arrows It rises according to Sanutus out of a Mountain bordering on the Countrey of Seb call'd by others Ursala whence giving a friendly Visit to the City Tebesse it runs Northward till discharging its Water into the Mediterrane-Sea about ten miles from Tunis This River swells up an unusual heighth when any great Rains fall so that the Travellers sometimes are compell'd to stay three days till that the Water abates that they may wade over for there are neither Bridges nor Boats for Ferry Tâ—UNIS ¶ MOuntains in this Kingdom are Zogoan Guislet Benitefren The Mountains and Nefuse besides some others on the South Zogoan lies six miles Southward of Tunis upon whose Side and Foot may be seen the
a short Narrative Not many years since the Janizaries and other Souldiers in Pay to the number of six or seven thousand partly Turks and partly Renegado's intermixt with Moors combined together to bereave the Bashaw of his Command and leave him nothing but the Honour and the Office to pay the Janizaries in prosecution of which Design they set up a Divan or Council of State like that of Algier which undertook the Management of all matters of War This continued till the Year fifteen hundred twenty four when Kara Osman a Native Turk and Janizary and formerly a Shoemaker by Trade but very subtle and ambitious so won the hearts of the Janizaries by Artifices and Presents that they declared him their Chief giving him the Title of Dey so that thence-forward neither the Divan nor Bashaw himself durst conclude any thing but with the consent of the Dey and his Participants With the like absolute Authority have all Successive Deys governed although the Grand Seignior hath a Titular Bashaw there who is onely concern'd in the Revenue as we mention'd before Neither at present do these Deyes undertake or conclude any matter of Concernment till first communicated to the Divan The Divan or Council which is a select Councel of Officers chosen out of the Janizaries consisting of an Aga a Chya or Lieutenant twelve Odabaschi's four and twenty Bouloukbassen two Secretaries and six Chiauses These determine all Matters both Civil and Military but not till they have first heard the Opinion of the Dey whose single Vote though contrary to all their Judgements is conclusive and binding Subservient to these superior Ministers of State are many Cadies who judge of lesser Causes to the great ease both of the Dey and his Council After the Decease of one Dey another is chosen by the Divan The Janizaries here transact all Affairs as those in Algier being distinguisht neither by Commanders or Justice Out of whom are yearly chosen two Field-Commanders to gather in the Custom and Tributes of the Arabians and for the increase of their Strength some few Moors by the name of Zovaners are admitted into Pay ¶ ANd here we shall succinctly render an Account of the several Revolutions that have happen'd in the Government of this Kingdom After that the Arabians by the Name of Mahumetane Saracens had brought a great part of Africa and all Barbary under their Command and made Cairo in Egypt the Head-Seat of their Empire they sent hither Abelchit an African by Birth who being a man of an ambitious and daring spirit and having withall a Strength answerable thereto resolv'd to take upon him Sovereign Rule and accordingly settled his Court at Cairavan about thirty miles from Old Carthage Kaim then Caliph of Egypt having intelligence of this Revolt sent thither a strong Army whose timely Arrival smother'd the Enterprize in the birth though he had promis'd himself a more happy Fortune yet was he not discourag'd or disabled Tunis is a Kingdom but that he transmitted to Hibraim one of his Sons the perfecting his Design in part for he soon after laid the Foundation of a new Kingdom in Tunis there settling his Court and making it the Metropolis of his Dominion This Kingdom Hibraim and his Successors held a long time with much Felicity and Honor till Joseph King of Morocco made an Invasion upon it whose Successors tracing the steps of his begun Attempt never ceas'd till they got all for Habdul Mumen having gain'd Mahadia from the Christians in process of time wore out the Race of Abelchit and got the total Possession thereof governing it by Vice-Roys or Lieutenants It cometh under the Kings of Morocco without any notable molestation during his own Reign and his Son Joseph's and his Successors Jacob and Mansor But after the Death of Mahumeth Ennasir Son of Mansor and his Brother Joseph The Mutiny of the Arabians who was overthrown in Battel by the King of Telensin the Abelchittin Arabians took advantage to resettle themselves in the Command of Tunis laying a close Siege and often storming it so that the Lieutenant sent to the King of Morocco for Assistance protesting that without timely help the City must of necessity fall into their hands Hereupon the King sent a Fleet of twenty Ships for their Relief under the Command of his approv'd General Abdulhedi a Native of Sevil which so politickly plaid his Game that instead of fighting his Mutineers he overcame them by Gifts and Rewards bestow'd among them by his Masters consent They are stilled for which great and good piece of Service the King made him Vice-Roy and after his Death continu'd the same Honor to his Son Abu Zacharias a man of no less prudence and Conduct than his Father whose Son Abraham or Abu Ferez took it upon him as by Right of Succession and being very ambitious and proud would not acknowledge the King of Morocco for his Supream Lord Abu Ferez sets himself up to be King of Tunis but made himself an absolute and independent Prince and soon after having conquer'd Telensin and put the Inhabitants to pay Tribute he call'd himself King and Lord of Tunis or as others will have it of all Africa Which came to pass in the Year 1210. After him followed his Son Nutman Nutman his Son cometh in his place who was more unhappy than his Father receiving many great damages and affronts from the King of Fez. But Hakmen his Son call'd by Gramay Autmen and by others Hutmen restor'd again tose decays leaving for his Successor the unfortunate Abu Bark for he was scarce warm in his Royal Seat ere he was treacherously murder'd by one of his near Kinsmen named Yahaia who boasted himself the Son of Omar third Kaliff of the Saracens in Asia But Gramay contradicts this Story averring that Aben Ferez before his death divided his State between his three Sons giving to one Bugie to Hamar Numidia and to this Hutmen which he call'd Autmen or Hakmen Tunis who barbarously put out his brother Hamar's Eyes and deprived him of his Dominion which he annexed to his own however he held the Scepter forty years which he left as we said before Emmoiâ—n to his unfortunate Son Abu Bark murder'd by Yahaia whose Nephew Abdul Mumen meeting in a Pitch'd Field overcame and depos'd him holding the Throne many years yet at last basely slain however his Son Zacharias the Second took the Soveraignty but in a short time dyed of the Pestilence without any Issue Then succeeded Mahomet and lastly Muly Assez But Marmol saith that after the death of Hutmen the First the Benemerins Kings of Fez waged many Wars against Hutmen's Successors and that Abu Heman of Fez having beaten Bulabez of Tunis made him fly to Constantine but pursued thither was taken Prisoner and brought to Fez but afterwards set at liberty by Abu Celem and made a League with him by which those Kingdoms afterwards continued an Amity and Correspondence
till Abu Bark Son of Hutmen the Second which was brought to an untimely end by his Nephew Yahaia as before is declared who was succeeded by Abdul Mumen as he by Zacharias who dyed in a short time Issueless so that the Tunissians chose for King Abukamen Nephew of Zacharias Abukamen King whose Tyranny caused many Rents and Divisions in his State and hazarded almost the whole yet partly by Policy partly by Force he so brought it to pass that Muly Mahomet his Son enjoy'd the Kingdom of Tunis after his death Muley Mahomet And his Son Muley Assez or Assan the last of this Stock after him till thereof by Barberossa bereav'd yet was he not so absolutely lost but that afterwards by the assistance of the Emperor Charles the Fifth again restored The manner this Muley Mahomet Father of Muley Assez had by several Wives many Sons among which this Muley Assez though the youngest was the most intirely beloved as being a most prudent and generous spirited person the eldest call'd Manon he absolutely disinherited and kept in Prison under strong Guard because of his unnatural disobedience Muley Assez declared King as having by Treachery endeavour'd to depose his Father and declared his Brother Muley Assez to be his Heir and Successor to the great satisfaction of most of his Subjects who greatly affected Muley Assez for his Endowments and shortly after Muley Mahomet died much lamented By this means Muley Assez became sole Master of this State to secure himself wherein and taking into consideration the former pretences of his imprison'd Brother Manon he caused him privately to be put to death Araxar his other Brother being inform'd thereof Araxar flyeth out of Tunis for fear of the like mischief fled to Numidia to Abdalor a mighty Xeque or Prince of Bixkara whose Daughter he there married and got a promise of Assistance for regaining the Crown to which he thought he had the best pretensions as being elder than his Brother Muley The News of Araxars withdrawing so inrag'd Muley Assez that he apprehended all that were of the Royal Blood The Rage of Muley Assez putting out all the Mens Eyes and keeping the Women in a strict and close Imprisonment This Savage Cruelty added wings to Araxar Araxar intends to besiege Tunis who by this time had taken the Field with an Army rais'd and furnisht by his Father-in-law and now marched forward with intent to besiege Tunis Muley Assez came out with a mighty Army against him but was soon defeated and necessitated in all haste to retreat to Tunis for Recruits so that Araxar fearing his own Strength not sufficient to subject the Countrey A subtle Invention of Barbaroussa to play the Knave with Araxar requested Assistance from the famous Pyrate Cheredin Barbarossa who at that time govern'd Algier in the Name of the Grand Seignior which was promis'd but yet with this Caution that it would be necessary the more happily to bring his Enterprize to pass to make a Journey to Constantinople wherein he the said Barbarossa would accompany him with assurance to procure from Sultan Soliman great Favour and Assistance Araxar deluded by these Flatteries went to Constantinople and was there very friendly receiv'd in outward appearance but Barbarossa now minding nothing less than what he had said and written underhand told Soliman that in regard Prince Araxar was young he had now a fit opportunity to annex the Crown of Tunis to his Empire Marvellous pleasing was this Advice to Soliman's ears who instantly prepar'd a Fleet which being ready to set Sail he puts Araxar under Guard telling him when Barbarossa had subdu'd Tunis and forc'd them to receive and acknowledge him for their lawful Prince he should be sent thither with an honorable Retinue and put in Possession In the interim he sent Barbaroussa without him upon his intended Design Upon the Approach of Barbarossa Muley Assez who knew himself too weak to stand a Siege against such a Force and believing Araxar to be in the Fleet added more Cruelty to his former so that hated by his Subjects he left the City and betook himself to his Uncle Dorat a man of great Power among the Arabians of Uled Aixa The Citizens thus forsaken by their Prince The Turk becometh Master of Tunis submitted to Barbarossa who forthwith proclaim'd Sultan Soliman their Prince Muley Assez on the other side to turn the Scales sent to the Emperor Charles the Fifth then in Spain and requir'd his Aid which the Emperor willingly hearkned to and the rather because it was confidently rumor'd that Barbarossa intended to harrase with a strong Fleet not onely the Coast of Italy as he had done the foregoing year but also against the next Summer would Ship over to Sicily an Army of Turks and Moors to invade the Kingdom of Naples Fired with this News and also instigated by Muley Assez he put to Sea with a strong Fleet Mann'd with Spaniards and Germans in the Year Fifteen hundred thirty seven on the Five and twentieth of June being St. James's Day with which coming under Tunis he took at the first Assault the Castle and strong Fort Goletta and not long after the City it self and with it the whole Kingdom Barbarossa foreseeing this Storm had withdrawn himself and committed the Defence of the City to Mustapha a courageous Souldier who yielded himself up into the hands of the Emperor Thus the Emperor Re-instated Muley Assez in his Kingdom Muley Asseâ— is Restored telling him that for all his Cost he would onely keep the Castle and Goletta in his own possession with a Garrison and that he Muley Assez should send yearly to him the Emperor and his Successors two Faulcons and two Numidian Race-Horses Other Articles were made between the said Princes to this effect That if Muley Assez did make a failer of this Agreement he should pay for a Forfeiture for the first Default five thousand Crowns for the second twice as much and for the third fall into Contempt and height of Displeasure That he should always hold a strict Alliance with the Emperor and be an Enemy to the Turks and a Friend to the Christians to whom he was to afford liberty of Religion That he should pay every year a thousand or twelve hundred Spanish Souldiers which the Emperor would keep in the Fort of Goletta And lastly That neither the Emperor nor his Successors should send any more Forces nor take into his hands any Places of the Kingdom of Tunis belonging to the aforementioned Muley Assez Goletta onely accepted And this Agreement was sworn to by both Princes with great Solemnity This Expedition thus happily performed the Emperor upon his return to keep up in memory so great an Action and to encourage the Valour of such as followed him therein instituted the Order of Knights of the Cross of Burgundie But Muley Assez did not long possess his Kingdom in Peace after his
hundred Families but in the adjacent Fields scatter'd about are at least twelve thousand ¶ THis Territory is full of Sandy Plains except in one Spot near the City in which grow many Dates Barley and Tares which the Inhabitants use for Food There are also a few Camels Horses and small Cattel ¶ THe Inhabitants are hard-favor'd very brown and much tann'd The Constitution of the Inhabitants but the Women are of clearer Complexions They drive a great Trade in Negro-Land and Guzule so that for the most part they reside out of their own Countrey They plow their Ground with a single Camel and one Horse which manner of Tillage is us'd through all Numidia They are a Rustick People and know nothing of Letters onely Women educate their Children yet as soon as they are of any Growth they turn them to Plough and so farewell all their Female Scholarship Some learn to read others Spin and Card and the rest spend their time altogether in Idleness Most of the Inhabitants are of mean Estates the Richest of them possess onely a few Cattel They are under the Contribution of the Arabians call'd Udaya or Uled Vodey which reside in the Lybian Wilderness Ifran or Ufaran THe Countrey of Ifran or Ufaran Ifran hath in the most Southerly part of it the Wide-spreading Sus four Fortifi'd Towns distant from each other half a mile near a small River which in Summer dries up This Province abounds with Dates and hath some Copper-Mines The People are Mahumetans yet Civil and commonly well Habited They Trade much with the Portuguese in the Haven Guarlguessen The Trade of the Inhabitants with the Portuguese where they Barter their In-land Wares for Cloth Woollen and Linnen which they carry to Tombut and Gualata They keep Weekly Markets in all their Towns where Corn is always very dear They have amongst them a Judge or Civil Magistrate Their Government who hears and decides all Causes inflicting no more punishment on the greatest Criminals than Drubbings on their Feet Aka THe Land of Aka hath three strong Villages Aka lying one by another on the Desart of Numidia in the Borders of Lybia they were formerly very populous but afterwards by the Civil Wars within the Countrey were left desolate yet in process of time by the Mahumetan Priests composing dome stick Broils and seeking Peace they were re-peopled again and so restored to their former Condition This Countrey yields nothing but Dates and their onely business is to gather them THE KINGDOM OF DARA THe Kingdom or Territory of Dara The Territory of Dara or Darha so call'd from the famous River Dara which runs cross through the Countrey contains part of the antient Caesarian or Imperial Mauritania or as Cluverius will have it the whole Caesarian Mauritania and is one of the most excellent and noble Parts of Numidia ¶ ITs Northern Border is Mount Atlas Borders the West the Territory Gezule and Sus the East that of Sugulmesse in Numidia and the South the Desart of Lybia where the Zanaga's inhabit The extent in length Length from Mount Atlas to Zanaga is about six and fifty miles but in its breadth very narrow It hath many strong Towns Villages and Cities Forts and Castles which stand in order pleasantly seated along the Banks of the River but most of them built of Datewood which is weak and yielding Their most eminent City is Banisbick or Mukabah Banisbick Not far from thence Quiteva defended by a Fortification The next Sizerie commanding and commanded by a Castle Tagumadert Next Tagumadert or Tigumedes famous for the Birth of the first Xeriff Tenzeda that succeeded the Kings of Morocco and Fez. Tenzeda and Tragadel the greatest of these reckons four thousand Houses and above four hundred Jewish Families Tenzulin and is well fortifi'd with a strong Castle Tenzulin also a great Town six miles from Taraglet is strengthened on the North-West side with a Fort. Tameguerut Tameguerut with a Fort and likewise Temerguit another special City on the Confines of Gezule well fortifi'd and peopled with above two thousand Families besides a Suburb of two hundred Houses Near Lybia is a good Fortress call'd Tabernast and next that Assa The Castle Tabernast both built there by the Xerifs All these standing in order now flourish on the pleasant Banks of Dara There also you may see the Ruines of Tefut which hath been the Residence of their Princes now desolate ¶ THey have not much Land for Tillage The Nature of the Soyl. yet it yields them a plentiful Harvest if the Dara which we may call their Nile overflows their Ground in April which failing they expect no Harvest and though a good and seasonable Year produceth a rich Crop of Wheat and Barley yet it serves not the Inhabitants but they are forc'd to be supply'd by bartering their Dates from Fez and other Countreys The Daran Countrey also yields store of Indigo the Banks of the River for many miles are shaded with excellent Date-Trees but as these excell they have also a meaner sort which they give their Horses and Camels and also with the Stones well pounded or ground they feed their Goats which fattens them much and suddenly and yet makes them better replenish the Milk-Pale Their Horses are few and their Camels many The Countrey breeds peculiar Ostriches ¶ THe People are of a very dusky Complexion Their Complexion and few Whites amongst them which happen by their commixing so much with Blacks so that we may well call them Demi-Negroes The Women are comely modest and well-body'd Their Women and inclining to be fat which seems to them a Beauty those of best Quality are well attended by Negro-Slaves ¶ THeir common Dish which they account very wholesome Their Food and they much use is a mixture of grinded Dates and Barley which made up and boil'd in a body like a Pudding or Dumpling is to them very savory Pure Bread they seldom or never taste but at Festivals and Weddings They also eat Camels Flesh and Horses when they grow unfit for Service and the Ostrich serves them for Pullin and Wilde-Fowl ¶ THey are Subjects to the King of Morocco Their Government to whom they pay Annual Tribute and are govern'd by several Lieutenants or Provincial Magistrates which the King according to his pleasure puts in and removes Some Places are govern'd by Commissaries THE KINGDOM OF TAFILET AND TERRITORY OF ITATA THe Realm of Tafilet Tafilet Marmâ—l lib. 7. c. 28. Diego de Tâ—rres Hister de los. Xeriffs c. 103. so call'd from its Metropolis Tafilet scituated in a Sandy Soyl near Zahara and the Daran Countrey is well fortifi'd with a strong Wall and defended by a Castle and hath above two thousand Families extracted from the Africanian Brebees call'd Filelis And from Zahara near the City a great River leads to and cuts through Mount Atlas The Territory of
seem to have appearance of Truth because the chiefest Geographers of this Age hold Gambea and Zenega to be two Branches of the Niger Yet some will have it Original Leo p. 1. that the Niger taketh its Original out of a Lake Eastward of the Desart Seu gliding from thence to the West and in the Atlantick disburthens its self But the Arabian and African Geographers assert that Niger is a Branch of the Nyle which running under ground after a great distance shews his so long-lost Streams again And that the Niger proceeds from the same Head or Fountain they also affirm from these Evidences First that they both breed one and the same sorts of Fish especially the Hipopotamus or Sea-Horse and overflow the Ground inriching the Neighboring Countreys near the same time and in the same manner as the Nyle The Antients themselves among whom Pliny make Nylus and Niger to be of one Nature or Quality and adde moreover that it produceth Reeds and the Papyrian or Paper-Plant as Nylus doth which the Egyptians used to write on as we on our Paper The Modern Geographers make Niger to take its Original out of a Lake call'd The Black Lake bordering on the Kingdoms of Medra and Vanque and make it also serve for a Boundary between the Abyssine or Prester-Johns Countrey and Negro-Land Afterwards it cuts through the Countreys of Biafar and Nubia diving about eighteen miles under ground and at last appears again and makes the great Lake of Borna lying upon the Borders of four Kingdoms From thence it floweth through these Realms Guangara Biafara Kassena Zegzeg and Kano and makes another great Lake call'd Sigisma or Guarda which in the South moisteneth the Kingdoms of Mandinga Guber and Gago and in the North that of Kano and Agadez gliding out of this Lake it runs to the West then rushing towards the North close by the Kingdom of Tombut and in the South hard by Melli spreads it self into a third ample Lake Niger parts into four Branches from thence branching into four Rivers near which losing its own Name Niger receives four new Denominations The first of which is call'd The River of Saint-John which in the Bay of Arguin falls in the Ocean whose Mouth makes the Haven Tofia The second running direct West which we have so often mention'd is Zenega The third gliding by degrees also West is call'd Gambea but the last Branch of Niger parts instantly into two other Branches one of which is call'd Sante Domingo and the other which taketh its Course to the South in Portuguese Rio Grande Each of these Branches boast of whole Kingdoms bordering their Banks as Guihala and Biguba according to the Name of those Rivers Rio Grande or The Great River distinguishes it self from the other Rivers in eleven Degrees Latitude and after having dispatch'd two Branches more from its own which are call'd Guinala and Biguba between the Islands of Bisegos falls into the Sea Sante Domingo otherwise call'd Jarim The River Sante Domingo is held by some for the eminentest River of the whole Coast because of the abundance of Slaves sold near its Banks It seems to be a Branch of Rio Grande which near the Bay call'd Esteirs Katerina ends its Progress in the Sea Many of the other Rivers gliding down from the In-land water the Coast of Negro-Land and fall into the Ocean But of these in their own particular place as of the other Rivers being Arms of Niger as Zenega and Gambea shall be treated of in the Kingdom Zenega between which they are included All these foremention'd Branches and Sub-branches swell and over-flow in the same manner and near the same time with the Nyle when the Sun in their Zenith enters Cancer all the benefit the Nyle brings to Egypt the like accommodation the Niger with other Rivers brings to Negro-Land Niger together with other Rivers beginning from the fifteenth of July rises forty days and retreating as long all which time till it draw within its circumscribed bounds the Low-Lands Plains and level Countrey becomes a Sea all places covered with Water as in Egypt where also during that time the Travellers are Rowed up and down in Boats The equal over-flowing of this River with the Nyle Isaac Vostius de Nili aliorum fluminum is not occasioned by the vicinity of the Springs of those Rivers belonging to the Nyle as the received Opinion but because their Head Fountains lie almost the same distance from the Equinox as we have declared at large Concerning the temper of the Air condition of the Soyl Vegetives Animals and the Constitution Modes and Manners of the Inhabitants their Riches their Policies in Government and several Religions of the Negro's Countrey in general shall here briefly be declared and as to what belongs to the materials of every Kingdom shall also in particulars be handled but observe that their Plants Beasts Men and Languages differ very much from neighboring Countreys under the Equator though the temperature of the Air and all the mutations thereof as Heat Cold Wind and Rain are not unlike but in a manner one and the same By the over-flowing of Niger Zenega and Gambea as also by the Rains Negro-Land is moistened and made exceeding fruitful in all manner of terrene Products especially Mille and Rice both being the chiefest Bread-corn of the Inhabitants The Countrey is in some parts plain and others Hilly but about the Banks of the River Niger it is very level and watered by several standing Pools left there by the retreating River which are planted about with shady Groves Recesses for ravenous Beasts and Elephants This Dominion fosters not onely tame but also wild Beasts in great numbers The Natives are very black but the Features of their Faces and their excellent Teeth being white as Ivory make up together a handsom Ayre and taking comeliness of a new Beauty they are well Limm'd and much addicted to Venus Their Languages are divers Their Language Gualata Tombut the In-land Guinee Melli and Gago there all these use onely one Tongue call'd Sungai but in the Kingdom of Kano Kalsene Zegzeg Guangura and Guber they have another call'd Guber and another in the Kingdom of Borno which is like that of Gaoga Likewise those of Nubia have a peculiar Speech of their own a Maslin of the Arabick Chaldee and some Coptick or Egyptian Besides along the Sea-Coast their Dialects differ every three or four miles distance but on the Coast of Guinee a particular Language Of which more hereafter As for their Governments Their Government some of them know none neither ever scarce heard of any but live in a confused Ataxy sway'd on all occasions like tumultuous Herds and at other times like tame Cattel feeding and following their idle pleasures But the rest are all Monarchical living under Laws Order and Princes Leo Eerst Decl. In the first place the King or rather Emperour of Tombut to whom they pay Tribute and
acknowledge as their Supream Ruler over these fifteen Kingdoms in the In-land as Gualata Guinee Melli Tombut Gago Guber Agadez Kano Kasena Zegzeg Zanfara Guangura Burno Gaogo and Nubia besides the King of Burno reigns over another Moiety acknowledging no Superior the rest of the In-lands are subject to the Gaogo's but in times past they were all absolute Kings doing Homage nor Fealty to no other Also the whole Sea-Coast of Negro-Land from Cape de Verde to Lovango stands divided into several Monarchies The Religion of the In-land Negro's Their Religion most of them antiently worshipped one God call'd Guighime that is Lord of Heaven this Perswasion of theirs not being inculcated by any Priests who study Rites and Ceremonies imposing a reverential awe on their Disciples and Proselytes but Instinct and the meer dictates of Nature which brings as soon to the acknowledgment of a Deity something not subordinate but infinitely supream governing all After this they were instructed in the Mosaick Laws which they long and zealously observed till some of them being converted to the Christian Faith wholly ecclipsed the Jewish then Christianity flourishing many years till Mahumetanism at last over-spreading all Asia and these parts of Africa they being still greedy of Novelty fell into Apostacy drinking in the poyson of this new and dire Infection so that Christianity is in a manner extirpated some few Professors of the Gospel after the Coptick or Egyptian manner yet remaining in Gaoga But those Southern People that inhabit the Coast from Cape de Verde to the Kingdom of Lovango sticking to their first Tenets are still all Idolaters as hereafter in particulars shall be declared THE KINGDOM OF GUALATA THe Kingdom of Gualata whose Inhabitants are call'd Benay's hath received its Denomination also from its Metropolitan possessing three great and populous Villages and some delightful Gardens and Date-Fields lying twenty and five miles from the Atlantick Observe these and the forementioned are for the most part Spanish Miles sixty Southward of Nun and about thirty to the Northward of Tombut Fenced in on every side with the rising Banks of the River Zenega or Niger Sanutus sets down in this Dominion a place call'd Hoden lying in the In-land six days Journey from Cabo Blanko in nineteen Degrees and a half Northern Latitude where the Arabians and Karavans that come from Tombut and other places of Negro Land travelling through the same to Barbary stay and refresh themselves ¶ THis Countrey which produceth nothing but Barley and Mille The Plants or Vegetables hath also great scarcity of Flesh yet the Tract of Land about Hoden abounds with Dates and Barley and hath plenty of Camels Beeves and Goats but their Beeves are a smaller Breed than ours of Europe This Countrey abounds in Lyons and Leopards terrible to the Inhabitants and also Ostriches whose Eggs they account a Dainty ¶ BOth Sexes are very Black they are Civil and Courteous to Strangers The Constitution and Manners of the Inhabitants like their Neighbors in the Lybick Desarts the Inhabitants of the City Gualata live very poorly whereas those of Hoden live plentifully having Barley-bread Dates and Flesh and supply their want of Wine by drinking Camels Milk and other Beasts ¶ BOth Men and Women in Gualata have their Heads and Faces commonly cover'd with a Cloth Their Cloathing and the Men of Hoden also wear short white Jackets but the Women think it no shame to go stark naked covering their Heads onely with a Caul of Hair dy'd red Their Language Their Language is call'd Sungai These Arabs of Hoden also like others never continue long in a place but rove up and down with their Cattel through the adjacent Wildes ¶ THose of Lybia Their Trade so long as the Countrey of Negro's stood under their Jurisdiction had formerly planted the Royal Residence of their Kings in Gualata which brought great Concourse of Barbary Merchants thither but since the Countrey fell into the hands of a powerful Prince call'd Heli the Merchants forsook this place and settled their Staples at Tombut and Gago But the people of Hoden still drive a Trade in Gualata and resort also thither in great numbers with their Camels laden with Copper Silver and other Commodities from Barbary and other Countreys to Tombut and many places in Negro-Land bringing no worse Returns from thence than Gold The King of Gualata Anno 1526. being in Battel overcome by the King of Tombut upon Articles paying him a yearly Tribute was restored to his Throne ¶ THese People Their Government though govern'd by Kings are not under the Prescript of any Laws nor have Courts of Judicature in their chief Towns there to summon and punish Malefactors but live in a rambling manner promiscuously every one endeavoring to be his own Judge and Arbitrator their Will being their Law ¶ THe Gualatans onely worship Fire Their Religion but those of Hoden extracted from the Arabs are a sort of Mahumetans professed Enemies to Christianity THE KINGDOM OF GUINEE OR GENOVA THis Kingdom The Kingdom of Genova which many call Guinea though not the same differing from our present Guinee lies by the Sea which reacheth along the Coast from Cape Serre Lions to Cape Lopez Gonzalves by the African Merchants call'd Gheneva Leo 7. Decl. by the Arabians according to Marmol Geneua and by the Natives Geuni or Genii ¶ IT hath for its Northern Borders The Borders the Kingdom of Gualata where the Wilderness runs ninety Miles long on the East that of Tombut and on the South Melle and runs in a Point to the Atlantick at the place where Niger falls in the same Ocean along whose Banks another Angle runs above eighty French Leagues This whole Countrey notwithstanding the vasteness of its Extent boasts neither Cities Towns nor Fortresses but one single Village yet that so large that not onely the Kings keep their Courts and Royal Residence there but also there is a University where Scholars Commence and the Priests receive their Orders and several Dignities besides a settled Staple for the Merchants of this Kingdom ¶ YEt this Place of so great Concourse hath but mean Buildings Their Houses onely small Huts and Hovels of Loam and thatched rang'd in a round order the Doors or Entries so low and narrow that they are forc'd to creep in and out which we may suppose are no statelier built because they expect annually in July August and September to be under water with the overflowing of the Niger then in prepared Vessels and Boats made for that purpose in which the King first loads the Furniture and Houshold-stuff of his low-rooff'd Palace then the Scholars and Priests their University-Goods and next the Merchants and Inhabitants their Moveables and last of all the Water increasing themselves as if they entred the Ark and at the same time the Merchants of Tombut come thither and joyning Fleets traffick with them on the Water This
Kingdom abounds in Rice Barley Cotton Cattel and Fish but their scarcity of Dates are supply'd them from Gualata and Numidia ¶ THe Inhabitants according to their manner go handsomely clad in black and blue Cotton of which they also wear Head-Shashes Their Clothing but their Priests and Doctors are habited onely in white Cotton ¶ THese People make great advantage of their Cotton-Clothes Their Trade which they barter with the Merchants of Barbary for Linnen Copper Arms Dates and other Commodities This Kingdom was formerly under the Luntiins a people of Lybia whose King was afterwards made Tributary to Soni-Ali King of Tombut his Successor Ischia obtaining a Signal Victory on a great Battel against the King of Guinee took him Prisoner and sent him to Gago where in miserable Captivity he died close Prisoner Thus the King of Tombut now grown Master of all Guinee reduc'd it into a Province setting his Lieutenant over them and then caus'd a great Market to be proclaim'd in the Metropolis of the whole Countrey THE KINGDOM OF MELLI THe Kingdom of Melli The Kingdom of Melli. likewise so nam'd from their prime Village the Residence of their King hath for its Northern Confines Gheneoa or Guinee Southward Desarts and barren Mountains in the East the Jurisdiction of Gago Westerly bounded with a mighty Forrest which runs sixty miles along the Banks of Niger to the Verges of the Ocean The Village Melli is very large The Village Melli. and contains above six thousand Families standing thirty days journey from Tombut The Countrey abounds in Corn Flesh and Cotton and hath a King but Tributary to those of Tombut ¶ HEre they are all Mahumetans Their Religion and have Mosques in which wanting Colledges they not onely perform their daily Devotions but in the Temples instruct their people and Disciples in their Laws and Doctrine These were the first Apostates from Christianity to Mahumetanism These People formerly were govern'd by a great Prince of Royal Extract descended from a Prince of Lybia Uncle to the King of Morocco the Renowned Josephus The Sovereignty continued in his Progeny until Uzchea King of Tombut Anno 1520. made the then King of Melli Tributary and so reduc'd all these Countreys under his Subjection THE MONARCHY OF TOMBUT OR TONGUBUT THe Kingdom of Tombat hath its Denomination from a City founded The Kingdom of Tombat as they say by King Mense Suleyman Anno 1221. about three miles from an Arm of Niger lying a hundred and eighty miles from the Countrey of Dara or Sugulmesse ¶ THis City gloried formerly in great Fabricks The City Tombat and sumptuous Buildings but now condemn'd to simple Huts and Hovels and onely boasting one stately Mosque and a magnificent Palace for the King built by a famous Architect of Granada Three miles from Tombut Kabra on the Banks of Niger stands another great Town call'd Kabra or Kambre being a convenient Port for the Merchants to travel from thence to the Kingdom of Melli in Guinea ¶ THis Countrey abounds with fresh-Water-Springs Corn Cattel The Disposition of the Countrey Milk and Butter but what savors all Salt is very scarce for a Camels Load goes often there at fourscore Ducats being brought over Land from Tegaza about a hundred miles distant from Tombut They use small Horses with which they ride up and down the City and the Merchants travel with them but their best Horses they have from Barbary whose numbers when they arrive are Registred which at any time is above twelve the King makes choice of the primest of them paying the Price they would go at ¶ THe Inhabitants especially those of the City Tombut The Manners of the Inhabitants are a People usually merry and of a chearful Disposition and spending most part of the Night in Singing Dancing and Revelling up and down through all the Streets They keep a great many Slaves both Men and Women Students which are highly esteem'd amongst them are there frequent and bred up at the Kings proper Charge Here are store of Arabick Books and Manuscripts brought from Barbary and not to be purchas'd but at a great Value Here are also many Tradesmen and Artificers especially Cotton-Weavers Their common Diet is a Dish made of Flesh Fish Butter and Milk hasht and stew'd together ¶ ALl the Women Their Clothing except the Slavesses go with their Heads and Faces cover'd They have no stamp'd Coyn but plain Pieces yet bigger and lesser all of pure Gold This King or Emperor of Tombut ruling vaste Dominions that yield him inexhaustible Treasure which he piles up in Bars or Billets of pure Gold some of them weighing if the report be true Thirteen hundred pound Weight ¶ MAny Merchants of Fez Their Trade Morocco and Gran-Cayre resort to Tombut for the Trade of Gold which was brought thither by the People of Mandinga in so great abundance that oftentimes the Merchants having disposed of all their Commodities which they barter with them for that Mettal it becomes a Drug and either left there till the next Return or else they carry it home again ¶ THis Countrey Their Government according to Marmol a Prince governs stil'd Emperor of Melli who dwelling in a magnificent Palace takes such state upon him that no Ambassadors or Envoys from Forreign Countreys making their Addresses are admitted to Audience but in posture of humble Suppliants kneeling with dejected Countenances throwing dust upon their heads In the City Kabra the King hath a Commissary who Hears Judges and Determines all Causes and Differences either concerning the Crown or other private Arbitrations betwixt the Subjects THE KINGDOM OF GAOGA THe Kingdom of Gaoga The Kingdom of Gagao or Goagao as Marmol calleth it lying by the unanimous consent of the chiefest Geographers in the same Elevation where Ptolomy placeth the Lake or Pool Chelidones bordering Westward on the Kingdom of Borno East on Nubia and South near the Nylean Desart which conterminates the North with the Wild of Seth. It passeth by the South of Egypt spreading from the West to the East a hundred and twenty five miles in length reckoning as much in breadth This Countrey abounds with Cattel and Goats but the People are in a manner savage and ignorant of all Civility and Literature nor under any form of Government especially the Mountaineers or Highlanders which go stark naked in the Summer onely retaining so much modesty that they wear a Lappet before them concealing their Privities They dwell in Huts or rather Arbors their whole defence against Sun Wind and Rain are Boughs of Trees set up and plac'd together Their chief Employment is onely in Cattel the whole Nation being onely Herdsmen yet they are a kinde of Christians after the Egyptian manner THE KINGDOM OF GUBER THe Kingdom of Guber inclos'd between very high Mountains The Kingdom of Guber is about seventy five miles Eastward from Gago with a barren Desart between them
many Cities Hamlets and Villages Leo p. 7. on that Plain where the King hath his Residence with his Army the chief City is Borno lying in eight and forty and a half Longitude and in seventeen Degrees and ten Minutes North Latittude ¶ THe Countrey is partly plain and partly rough and Hilly but fruitful The Condition of the Countrey the Highlands also producing Mille Corn Wheat and Tares and feed also many Beeves and Goats ¶ THose of the Plains are civilized understanding Order and Honesty The Constitution of the Inhabitants amongst whom reside Forreign Merchants both Blacks and Whites and there also the King keeps his Court and Camp but the Mountains are possessed with rough Herdsmen which go almost stark naked they are hard to be distinguished from their own Cattel going in Beasts skins with Hair in which they also sleep Their course of life seems void of all humanity for their Women and Children are not appropriated but in common none acknowledging either as his peculiar but pick where they please out of the Herd according to the manner of the antient Garamantes and like those of Mount Atlas have no proper Names to be distinguished by one from the other but every one hath his Nick-name or Denomination derived from the shape of his person whether deformed or comely for Tall they sur-name Long the Short Kort the Bunch-shoulder'd Crook-backs c. This King of Borno is said to be very rich for his Utensils both for Quirry Vessels of massie Gold Kitchen and Table are all of massie Gold These Natives are not superstitious neither Quarrel nor Dispute about Religion for having none at all Jews Christians and Mahumetans seeming to them all one stand alike in their esteem THE KINGDOM OF GAGO THe Kingdom of Gago The Kingdom of Gago thus call'd from its Metropolitan Gago hath in the East the Kingdom of Guber but is divided by a Desart The chief City Gago The chief City Gago standing by the River Zenega about a hundred miles from Tombut South-East in thirty five Longitude and eight and a half Latitude hath for the most part mean and ordinary Houses yet some of them shew well as among others the Kings Palace and Seraglio The rest of the inhabited places consist in Villages and Hamlets in which the Countreymen and People of meaner state have their abode The Countrey abounds in Corn Rice and Cattel but they have no Grapes nor other Fruits except Mellons Cucumbers and Citrons which are much used having more than an ordinary relish This City like others is not without an inconvenience being destitute of fresh Water which they are forced to fetch out of Pits forty or fifty miles from the Town yet this want is plentifully suppli'd by the abundance of Gold that is in this Kingdom which according to Meguet is fetch'd from thence by the Moroccoans The Countrey people are not Bookish taking no delight in Literature for not one in three days Journey is to be found that scarce knows one Letter of the Book yet the Citizens are much civiller and better taught than these Rusticks ¶ THe Barbary Merchants drive a successful Trade here in this City Their Trade vending all sorts of European Wares as Cloth and the like but that which goes off best and yields most profit is Salt These Morocco Merchants travelling thither go never less than two or three hundred in company and are six Moneths in their Journey of which they spend two in desolate and sandy Desarts directed in their course onely by the Sun Moon and Stars which if not well observed they are utterly lost perishing with Hunger especially Thirst Those that suffer there casually their Bodies decay not being dri'd by the parching heat of the Sand but become a kind of Mummy and sold in many places of Europe for the right ¶ THis Countrey is Governed by a King Their Government who pays Tribute to the King of Morocco since Muley Hanef in his Wars against the Negro's over-powering him with a great Army under the Command of Juder Bassa took by force the chief City Gago THE KINGDOM OF NUBIA THis Countrey Ptolomy calls Nubes or Nubiers and Strabo Nubea The Kingdom of Nubea which Stephanus places as a Neighbor to the Nyle which perhaps might cause Ptolomy to denominate the people Arabick Egyptians and Mela hath plac'd other Nubiers by the Bay of Aralites At this day all Geographers call it Nubie after the Moors who as Marmol says gave it the Name Neuba and some stile it Little Egypt It borders on the West on the Desart of Gaoga extending to the Nile The Borders which takes a long Course through this Kingdom dividing it in the middle On the East bounded partly by some people of Bagamedri call'd Belloes and partly by the Countreys of Dafila and Kanfila being Members of Barnagas a Territory in Abyssine in the South by the Desart of Gorhan and on the North by Egypt The Length is by the Inhabitants accounted two * That is 1800 English miles Moneths Journey The Length and somewhat more Pliny says the Chief City of Nubia was Tenupsus Antient chief City but the latter and more modern Writers give the Priority to Kondari Leo Africanus makes Dangala the Metropolis which he says containeth near ten thousand Houses but very meanly built and that all the rest are poor Villages and Hamlets scattered about the Nyle The Natives of this Countrey Nubian Geographers who have left us some Descriptions thereof affirm Nubia the Principal and the others pretending to any Eminency Nubie Kusa Ghalva Dankala Jalak and Sala Kusa lies under the Equinoctial six days Journey from the City Nubia Kusa Ghalva seated on the Nile below Dankala five days journey Jalak is ten days journey from Ghalva hither Shipping comes up the Nile Ghalva but they that will go from hence into Egypt must hard by unlade their Goods and carry them on Camels over Land by reason of the Cataracts of Nile ¶ THis Countrey like Egypt in many places once a year participates of the Benefits accrewing by the Overflux of that River The Nature of the Soyl. whereby it becomes exceeding fertile producing besides great store of Cattel and Sugar-Canes which the unskilfulness of the Inhabitants make little advantage of because in the boiling it becomes black and unpleasant in taste Here is found a very strong and deadly Poyson Mortal Poyson of which one Grain is enough to kill ten persons in a Quarter of an hour which they sell for fifty Ducats an Ounce and to Strangers onely whom upon delivery they oblige by Oath not to use in their Countrey Marmol says here is much fine Gold Speckled-Wood Civet and Ivory especially the last by reason of the great number of Elephants which breed in all parts of it ¶ THe Townsmen for the most part deal as Merchants Their Maintenance but the Countrey People live by Tillage
or Boura Rio de Campo Rio Sante Benito and Rio Danger five miles from thence is a great Bay or Haven from which six miles Southward lieth a prominent Point call'd St. Johns Cape Fronted with a Ledge of Rocks About three or four miles Southward of St. Johns Cape lies the Island near the Main Land call'd Ilhas des Korisko that is The Island of Lightning Fifteen miles more Southerly under the Equinoctial Line runs the River Gabon or Gaba as Linschot calls it and not far off Point Santa Clare and eight miles Southward the Cape of Lopes Gonzalvez in six and forty Minutes of South Latitude Lastly the River Olibatta with the Cape of St. Katharine and Ferdinando Vaz Peter Davity Rotiere Jarrik Samuel Bruno Linschoten and other Geographers Limit this Coast of Guinee in this manner From the River Zenega to Cape Verde the East reaches with its Creeks about four and twenty miles Near to the Cape Verde and the Kingdom of Jalofs Rio de Barbazin falls into the Sea adjacent to which are the Barbasins or Berbisins Countreys and the Kingdoms of Ale and Brokallo the last of which lieth by the River Gambea fifteen miles from Cape Verde about which Kadamust and Sanutus place the small Kingdoms of Gambea and Mandinga and Southward of these appears Cape St. Mary from whence to the River Sant Domingo it is reckoned seventeen miles All which places are inhabited by two sorts of People call'd Arriareos and Faluppo's through whose Countrey the River Kaza Manca takes its course till mingling with the Sea having on its Northerly Shore the People Iahundas on the Southerly the Benhuns and in the East the Boramo's Before the Mouth of Rio Sante Domingo lie the small inhabited Islands call'd Byagosar and Bysegos Between these Islands flows Rio Grande or The Great River on the North-side lieth the Kingdom of Guinala whence you go directly to the Haven of Bigubia or Santa Cruix where the Portugals have a Fort All the Territory is inhabited by Negro's call'd Beafers Upon a separate Branch of Rio Grande by the Haven of Bolola live a People which the Portugals call Tangos-Maos or Lancados From the Southerly Point of Rio Grande to the Cape Virgen the Mallus or Malluces Vagai and Korolines inhabit and here begins the Countrey of Serre Lions wherein is Cabo Ledo and Rio Das Gamboas with three Islands call'd De Bravas and the Cape of St. Anne lying in seven Degrees North Latitude From Cabo Ledo to Cape St. Anne is about ten miles after which follows the River Das Palmes and somewhat farther Rio das Gallinas Hen-River From Serre-Lions to this place it is forty miles From hence to Cape de Monte eighteen and from that to Cape Mesurado sixteen and within two miles thereof Mata St. Mary where the Grain-Coast doth begin From Mata St. Mary to the River St. Paul are six miles where the Mountains of the same Name very high and craggy stretch themselves six or seven miles along the Coast From Rio de St. Paulo to Rio Junk are six and from that to Rio Cestos two miles whereto neighbors the Kingdom of Bitonin a Member and Subject to that of Melli. Opposite to these appears the little Island of Palmes close by which are Ilhas Blancos the two white Isles from which to Cabo Formoso is commonly reckon'd five miles Then going forward you arrive at the Cape de Baixas where Rio dos Genueveses and St. Vincents Stream flow into the Sea next which lieth Rio dos Escalvos that is The River of Slaves close by St. Vincents Cape Then Cabo dos Palmas in four Degrees of North Latitude and twelve miles from the Cape of Clement Next we come to the Rivers of Maio Sueryo de Costa Rio Bobra or Cobra and Mancum upon this last stands Fort Agem or Axiem near Akombene Ville at whose side lies the Cape of tres Puntas in North Latitude of four Degrees and a half The Ivory Coast reaches from Cabo de Palmas to the Cape tres Puntas where the Gold Coast begins comprehending many Kingdoms and extending to Rio Volta wherein first appears Anten a place rich in Merchandise Next Jabbe Chama formerly a Castle of the Portugals then the Village Agitaki by others call'd Little Commendo and not far off the Castle of St. George de Mine built by the Portugals as upon the Point of Cape de Curso the Hollanders have erected Nassau Fort in honour of the worthy Family of Aurange so famously Instrumental in raising them from the meanest degree of Distress to make them capable of assuming the High and Mighty Titles they now use Not far from thence lies Moree or Morre the chiefest place of Trade in the whole Kingdom of Sabou then comes the great and famous Fort of Kormentine or Karmandin with the places and Kingdoms thereunto belonging viz. First Biamba then Berku next Akara or Akkra the Principal Town of the Kingdom of that Name having in the North the Kingdom of Akanie whose Inhabitants go to trade for Gold with other Blacks far up into the In-land Rio Lagos comes next in order beyond which to Landward lies the Kingdom of Dauma from Rio Lagos to that of Benin is about twenty and five miles and thence to Cape Formoso as much Afterwards in five Degrees North Latitude you come to the Royal River vulgarly Rio Reeal from whence to Rio dos Kamarones is thirty miles near neighbor to which is plac'd the Territory of Ambosine whereon abuts the Kingdom of Capons that reacheth far into the South and lies one Degree and a half in South Latitude then the Coast shooteth from the East to the South to the River Angra From which to the Stream of Gabon or Gaba lying at the Equinoctial Line are nine miles From the River Gabon to the Cape of Lopez Gonzalvez lying one Degree Southward of the Equinoctial is about five miles and a little Southerly Rio de Pero Diaz or Poeradia wherein breed Sea-Horses and Crocodiles and lastly Rio de Ferdinando Vaz In short the Coast of Guiny as Peter Davity holds reacheth to the Cape of St. Katharine and from thence to two Degrees and a half South Latitude to the Borders of the Kingdom of Lovango Thus having in brief run over the Coast of Negro-Land we shall hereafter describe at large the Kingdoms Countreys and Places lying more into the Land THE KINGDOM OF ZENEGA OR COUNTREY OF JALOFS Together with the Dominions belonging to it of CAYOR BAOOL IVALA ALE c. MArmol names this Countrey Gelofe and the Inhabitants thereof Gelofs Lib. 9. Jarric l. 5. c. 44. Marmol 9. Borders of the Kingdom of Zenega but others call it The Kingdom of Zenega By which Name in the common Maps or Charts it is set down This Kingdom reaching far into the Main-Land and bordering to the North on Guinee lieth between the two Arms of the River Niger the one call'd Zenega the other Gambea but by Ptolomy Darade and Stachiris It bordereth Eastward on the
Countrey of Tuchusor whose Inhabitants Jarrik makes the Negro-Jalofs to the West side on the Ocean the North bounded by the River Zenega and the South by the Kingdom of Gambea Ala The Bigness Jarric l. c. 44. and Brokallo The Length is from East to West Seventy six miles and upon the Sea-Coast forty Under the Name of Gelofs Marmol compriseth many People What People by Marmol are comprised under the Name of Gelofs the chiefest whereof which dwell on the Shore of the River Zenega are the Barbasins by Jarrik call'd Berbesins Tukurons Karagols Baganosen the People of Mani-inga Mossen and others beside ¶ THe Kingdom of Zenega The Subordinate Kingdoms under Zenega or Great Joalof holds several other inferior States subjected as Baool Cayor Ivala and Ale although others repute them for several and free Kingdoms because most of the Kings rule with absolute Power and no less than the Great Jalof himself without acknowledging any above them though in antient times they pay'd Tribute And not onely these but also all the Places from Cape de Verde to Kassan the Great Jalof writing himself King over thirteen or fourteen Kingdoms among which also the Barbasins are numbred ¶ THe Countrey of the King of Baool The Kingdom of Baool call'd Louchi Four by the Inhabitants begins on the East-side of the Village Kamino lying from Porto d' Ale about sixteen miles The King keeps his Court two days Journey from the Sea-Coast in Lambaya the chiefest City of the Kingdom taking to himself the Title of Tain ¶ THe King of Cayor The Residence and Court of the King of Kayor who also commands Cape de Verde and the Places round about hath his Residence in like manner two days Journey within the Countrey ¶ THe Dominion of Ivala The Kingdom of Ivala severed by the River De la Grace from that of Ala contains not above twenty miles whose chief Governor call'd Walla Silla dwelleth also two days Journey up into the Countrey but is indeed of little Power ¶ THe Countrey of Cayor The Extents of the Countreys of Cayor and Barsalo together with the Region of Barsalo border upon the North with the Kingdom of Ale and Ivala ¶ THe utmost Borders of these two Jurisdictions The Borders of Cayer and Borsalo are two Villages the one call'd Yarap belonging to Cayor and the other Banguisca to Borsalo divided one from the other by a woody and desolate Wilderness of eight or ten miles ¶ THe Principalities of Ale and Brokallo The Kingdom of Ale and Brokallo which last is much the bigger and bordereth on the River Gambea are inhabited by the Barbasins In Zenega In Zenega there are no strong Cities and the other inferior Dominions belonging to it there are neither fortifi'd Towns or wall'd Cities but onely sleight Villages and Hamlets The Countrey that runs out between the Rivers Zenega and Gambea Cape de Verde maketh that eminent Point call'd for its delightful Verdure seen afar off at Sea Cape Verde but the Inhabitants name it Besecher and Ptolomy Arsinarium which they place in the height of ten Degrees and forty Minutes North Latitude This Cape is very Hilly on the North-side dry and sandy shooting far into the Sea and containing many populous Villages and Hamlets upon the Sea-Coast ¶ ABout a Bow-shot from the Main Land The Island Goree in fourteen Degrees and thirty five Minutes North Latitude appears an Island to which the Hollanders have given the Name Goree Refrisco a Hamlet about three miles from Cape Verde Refrisco within half a mile of which lieth a high Rocky Cliff encompassed with dangerous Shoals and undiscernable Sands which the famous Pyrate Claes Campaen first adventuring to approach gave it the Name of Campaens Cliff Kampaens-Cliff A mile Eastward from Refrisco stands Camino between Cayor and Baool Kamino Two miles to the South-East lieth Endukura Endukura Gunihemeri-Punto and at like distance Gunihemeri beyond that close by Rio Picena the Village Punto that is a Corner Point which leads directly to Porto d' Ale eight miles from Goree and six or seven from Refrisco close adjoyning to which in the way to Ivala lieth the Wood Tapa The Wood Tapa On the Haven of Ale standeth a high Rock call'd The Whale The Whale which Sea-men Sailing out and in seek to avoid by all means by reason of the danger in coming too near it On the same Shore not far distant Cape Mast shews it self Kaho Maste so call'd from the breaking of Masts of Ships that Sail by which is done by the Wind furiously breaking forth from the two adjacent Mountains to prevent that mischief the Mariners always strike Sail beforehand The Sea-Coast from Frisko to Cabo Maste is clear and deep The Sea-Coast from Refricco to Cabo Maste and further so that the Ships may go close by the Shore but about Porto d' Ale the Coast is very foul scarcely having six or seven fathoms Water so that no Vessels of Burden can come within a League of the Haven Three miles from Porto d'Ale Porto Novo that is New Haven Porto Novo and a mile and a half farther up Punto Sereno and Punto Lugar Punto Sereno seven miles forward stands Ivala an open Town inhabited by Portuguese and Mulata's a Tawny People Ivala generated out of a white Father and a Negro-Woman which both Trade here for all Commodities of the neighbor Regions Four miles Eastward of Ivala lieth Candima Kandima and six miles farther within the Land Geroep where an Alkayor entituled Embap resideth with some Portugueses ¶ THis as to the Maritime Parts The In-land Places We will now proceed to set down the In-land Places To travel from the Shore to the In-land there are but two convenient and passable ways the one extends it self towards the North-West of Refrisco and the other full North. Upon the Edge of the first way a mile from Refrisco lieth Beer Beer a Town so call'd and on the second at like distance a mile also from Refrisco Emdoen Emdoen a Lordship and the Dwelling-place of a Great Man entituled Amarbulebu but a Vassal to the King of Ivala Two miles from thence towards the North stands Jandos Jandos under the Subjection of the beforemention'd Amarbulebu where grow many Palmito or Date-Trees A little more to the North may be seen the Lake Eutan The Lake Eutan nearly neighbor'd by Emduto where always one of the Antientest is elected as a Magistrate over the rest being a place of good Accommodation and Rest for all persons travelling those Parts Six miles further East lieth a Hamlet where the Licherins their Priests reside whose Superior is call'd Alletrop Thence you pass to Endir Endir where together with the Blacks four or five Portugal Families dwell and some Mulata's who maintain themselves by Merchandise Half a mile onwards lies Sangueng Sangueng where
stand two large Portugal Houses each having an exceeding great and tall Tree call'd Talbassero before the Door whose interwoven Boughs that afford a pleasant shade make a delightful Arbor whereinto they frequently go and eat and sleep there North-East from thence appears Magar Magar where the King of Cayor many times keeps his Residence Emboul and seven miles farther Eastwards Emboul where the Kings Palace is divided from the City with Pallisado's interweaved with Bands and Palmito-Boughs and on the in-side Planted with many Vines Before the Court lieth a great Plain The Court of Rayer where they use to break and exercise Horses set round with Trees Into this none may enter but such as are appointed because the King 's chiefest Wives therein have their particular Apartments yet about it at the distance of a Musquet-shot many persons dwell in small Huts or Tents making a reasonable Livelihood by petty dealing with the Servants and Attendants of the Court. Ten miles from the Palace they have Embar Embar a Town set apart onely for the Reception and Entertainment of all such as come of the Blood-Royal and may have any hopes to the Succession of the Crown Three or four miles farther Bey-hourte upon the Shore of the River Zenega is a large Hamlet termed Bey-hourte where the King's Customers and Receivers reside for the Collection of all his Revenues of all sorts thither brought to them About three miles from hence Westwards The Fort of the French the French have a Fort which they maintain to support the Trade they drive there but they pay to the King Sixteen in the Hundred for Hides whereas the Portugals pay but Ten and but a little for other Wares In this Tract we arrive at Baool Lambay whose Metropolis is Lambay where the King usually resides about two miles from whence towards the North-West lieth Sangay Sangay where sometimes the King takes his Divertisements Four miles removed Eastward stands Jamesil Jamesil and about five and fifty miles to the In-land the City Borsalo Borsalo But the Royal City of the whole Kingdom of Zenega is Tubakatum Turbakatum the Court and Chamber of the Great Jalof ¶ THese Countreys are usually infested with sultery heats The Air or temper of the Climate so that the depth of their Winter is warmer than May with us yet have they stormy and wet Weather Travaden or Stormy weather or Rains which they call Travaden that is Tempestuous accompanied with much Thunder and Lightning these begin on the Sea-Coast for the most part in June and continue till September though sometimes accidental Storms happen in October and May but without Rain These sudden Gusts arise commonly out of the South-East but the stiffest and strongest out of the East-South-East which too often prove dangerous to the Sea-men The most unhealthy time here is in October for then the Air parches with Heat but when the Winds begin to blow those Breezes temper and cool the Air and so continues till towards May. ¶ SEveral Rivers water this Countrey the Chief of which are those of Zenega and Gambea both after many meandring Courses discharg'd their full Streams into the Atlantick Ocean Ortelius believes that Zenega is the same which Ptolomy nam'd Daras or Darade but Lewis Cadamost maintains it to be the Niger of the Antients and makes it a bordering Limit to Negro-Land But that Opinion seems altogether impossible because like the Nyle Niger overflows and fertilitates the Countreys it passes through whereas Zenega leaves all lying about it very lean and barren Zenega hath as many Names as it runs through Countreys Several Names Marmol l. 8. c. 3. for the Jaloffs call it Dengueh the Turkornols Maso the Caragols name it Colle the people of Bagano Zimbala those of Tombut Iza but the Portugals not knowing its proper Name stil'd it Zenega from the Name of a Prince with whom upon their first coming into these Parts they contracted a League of Amity Johannes Barros derives this Stream from certain Lakes lying in the East The Head-Fountains by Ptolomy nam'd Chelonides the greatest whereof at present is call'd Goaga and the other Nuba The Course of it is very long and straight almost in a right line till about seventeen miles above Cape de Verde disemboguing into the Ocean In Zenega though not so full of Water as Gambea many Islands appear Islands of Zenega the greatest part whereof are full of Serpents and Wilde Beasts Nor is it much profitable otherwise to such as inhabit near being not passable in many places by reason of huge Rocks causing great and unusual Cataracts like those of the Nyle which some of the Inhabitants call Huaba others Burto that is a Bowe because sometime the Water is carried up into the Air by the force of the Wind in the manner of a Bowe Many other great Rivers run into this A strange Vertue of two Rivers especially one coming out of the South and seeming to have Red-Water between these two they say is such a strange Antipathy that whoever drinks the Water of one and presently that of the other findes himself necessitated to vomit yet neither of them produce this effect single nor both together after they have mingled their Streams and run in one Channel Several kinds of Fishes and other Creatures breed herein as the Hippopotamus or Sea-Horse Crocodiles and Serpents with little Horns yet notwithstanding all these inconveniencies the Water hath a Prolifick Quality foecundating Cattel that drink of it ¶ SIx miles Southward flows Borsalo full of great dry Sholes or Sands The River Borsalo on both sides several Villages shew themselves Fountain-Springs supply'd with fresh Water from a clear Spring that rises on the Easterly Shore A Tree four fatsiom thick by a Tree above four Fathom thick For the River Water by the flowing of the Sea is brackish near forty miles ¶ NOt far from Punto Sereno floweth a small River call'd Rio de la Grace being a Border to the Kingdom of Ale before whose Mouth lieth a Shelf many times overflow'd by the Sea from which as soon as dry fresh and sweet Water continually springs Somewhat more Southerly runs Bassangamar full of great Rocks The River Bassangamar The next is Rio des Ostro's or Oyster-River The River of Oysters deep enough for the coming in of Ships Between Borsalo and Gambea the Countrey all along is plain but full of high Trees yet wholly void of Inhabitants About three miles from Jandos Northwards The Lake Eutan is the Lake Eutan six miles long and half a mile broad In time of Rain it abounds both with Water and Fish but in a dry Season so empty that they can go over dryshod The bottom for the most part covered with Simbos or pieces of Horn and Glass which in Angola they use for Money Not far distant from hence is a Well of ten Fathom deep
Natives ¶ THe King of Kassamanse pays Tribute to another call'd Jaxem Their Dominion who himself hath for Superior as all the rest of the petty Princes thereabouts the King of Mandinga ¶ THe Trade formerly accustomed to be driven in Kassamanse Their Trade the Portuguese have for conveniency removed to Katcheo often before mentioned ¶ THe Kassamansines are down-right Pagans Their Religion devoted to one Idol among others named China signifying God in whose honour on the Twenty ninth of September at midnight they solemnize a high Festival at which time some of their Priests or Soothsayers which they call Arakam as indeed they are all no better than Magicians and Witches wears a blue Scarf wherein they depict a bundle of Rice Branches intermixed with Bones in remembrance perhaps of such as have out of the height of their blind zeal sacrificed themselves to this Idol under whose form the Devil beguiles them in several manners This Priest begins a circular Procession which finished they place it in a hollow Tree offering before it many Burnt-sacrifices and other Oblations of Honey and the like At length ending their Devotions in stead of Prayers with several extravagant and inarticulate Ejaculations they betake themselves to their particular Abodes ¶ THe Portugals here as in Zenega come with Ships laden with all sorts of Ethiopian Wares Their Trade which they barter with their Countreymen resident here to great profit for Negro Slaves which they transport to Carthagena in the West-Indies and there sell dearer by ten Rials a piece than any either of Benin or Angola and not without cause for these are cleaner limb'd better shap'd and featur'd of a notable capacity and understanding but withall stubborn and suspicious but time and experience must discover those qualities while in the interim their outward Semblance advances the Market nor are the numbers of them small as will easily appear if we consider that the best Commodities brought hither are for the most part exchang'd for such being either purchas'd by War or else under the pretext of some imperious and arbitrary Laws by the Kings and Great Men of the Countrey first enslav'd and then sold The like Trade is driven at St. Jago one of the Salt Islands Cape Verde Refrisko Porto de Ale and Ivala The Wares chiefly desir'd and bought up almost at any rate by the Blacks are Spanish and Brandy-Wines Oyl Fruits Iron Stuffs for Clothes fine Linnen Edgings Bracelets Damask Laces Nails Yarn Silk and other small Wares but among all these Iron is the chief The People BURAMOS THe Buramos or Papais live about the River Santa Domingo and from thence spread to the Mouth of Rio Grande far up into the South Their chiefest Town in the proper Idiom of the Countrey call'd Jarim lies five miles and a half from the Haven of Saint Domingo Jarim where the Potentest King of this People resides and keeps his Court. Katcheo scituate upon the River so named Katcheo wherein live several Portuguese Families and some Mulata's who have many Slaves they dwelt heretofore intermixed with the Blacks but of late have betaken themselves to Forts which they have erected and planted with Guns to secure themselves against Invasion ¶ THe Houses of the Natives are built of Clay Their Houses with Roofs made of the Leaves of Trees In the above-mention'd River lie some small Islands possessed still by the Buramos very pleasant fruitful and full of Trees ¶ BOth Men and Women file their Teeth to make them sharp The Nature of the Inhabitants as if Nature had not given them edges fit for their ordained work The Women Jarrik lib. c. 44. because they would not accompany themselves to much talking or scolding take every morning betimes a little Water in their mouthes which they keep there till all their Houshold-work is done but then putting it out give their Tongues free liberty They have many Governours but all subject to him of Jarim onely the Islanders have a particular Prince But as to matters of Religion they all continue in their old Paganism The Bisegos or Bigiohos Islands BEyond the Buramos to the South Bisego's Islands opposite to the Kingdom of Guinala and Bisegui lie seventeen other Islands call'd De Bigiohos or Bisegos The chiefest and greatest of these is the Fair Island by the Portugals named Isla-Formosa Isla formosa or The fair Island by the Spaniards Isla de Po according to the Discoverer's Name Ferdinando de Po in eleven Degrees and three and forty Minutes North Latitude four miles and a half due-South of Cabo Roxo These Islands are very fertile The Fruitfulness of the Islands and full of Palm-Trees which yield Wine Oyl and many other things for the most part plain and so fit for the producing all sorts of Grain that it affords a sufficiency of Food to the Inhabitants without being manured Here is also great store of Rice Iron Wax Ivory and long Pepper which the Portugals call Pimienta de Cola a Commodity much desired by and vented to the Turks And many times upon the Sea-Shore are found great quantities of Ambergreece The Land is well stock'd with good Cattel Beasts and the Sea and Rivers plentifully stor'd with excellent Fish whereof great profit accrews to the Inhabitants who as they cannot speak so neither are they willing to learn any Language but their Mother-Tongue being of a large stature and inclinable to fatness Their Arms are the same with those of Besu and Katcheo Arms. but not so well wrought nor so handsome which they are well skill'd in the use of being withall of great courage and very hardy Heretofore they so pressed upon the Portuguese The Valour of the Inhabitants and harrassed the Rivers where they had seated themselves with their light Boats that in the Year One thousand six hundred and seven they forc'd them to send for Aid into Spain which arriving they were brought to reason and ever since have held a friendly Correspondence The King of Biguba they reduc'd into so great straits that he was forc'd to flye in the Wilderness with all his Subjects The King of Guinala they have dispossessed of six Kingdoms and maintain continual Wars against their Neighbors on the Main Land from whom they take many Slaves which they sell to the Portugals Each of these Islands hath a particular Lord which are all under the Jurisdiction of the King of The fair Island or Isla do Po. THE KINGDOM OF GUINALA THis Kingdom inhabited by the Beafers The Borders of the Kingdom of Guinala hath its Name from the River Guinala and borders on the South on the beforemention'd Islands on the East on the Naluze◠a warlike people but not such troublesome Neighbors to the King of Guinala as the Islanders who as we said have dispossessed him of six Kingdoms The chiefest place of this Countrey is the Haven of Guinala The Haven of Guinala and the next the
Cross Haven which the Portuguese possess The Countrey by means of the clear and serene Air is very healthful and pleasant to live in The King always appears in great State and when he goeth abroad The King's State is attended with a strong and numerous Guard of Bowe-men He keeps also fifty great and fierce Dogs which he arms as it were in tann'd Skins of Sea-Cows that are so hard and strong they can scarcely be cut each Dog in the day time hath a Keeper but in the night they are let loose for there is no other Watch in this City but these Dogs and such is their fierceness no body dares stir in the Streets without the hazard of his life for they will fall upon every one without regard This Dog-Watch was at first set up against the Thieves who in the nights used to break open the Houses and steal the Blacks to sell for Slaves This King gives a Hat to his Governors which is an Ensign of Honour of whom he has under him seven which are not onely his Homagers but his Slaves When the King dies there comes into the Street twelve Men call'd Schiten When the King's Death is proclaimed and by whom cloathed in parti-coloured long Coats made of Feathers with as many Claromen or Pipers before them which sound mournfully yet shrill there they proclaim his Decease whereupon every one with a white Cloth thrown over them comes out of their Houses and do nothing all that day but walk about the Streets in a mournful posture his Friends Relations and Servants in the mean time assemble to chuse a Successor The Funeral Afterwards the Corps is washed and the Intrals burnt before their Idol but the Ashes preserved to be Interr'd with the Body which lies as it were in State for a Moneth at the expiration whereof prepared for Burial the Subjects bring out of all parts of the Kingdom Balsom Myrrhe Ambergreece Musk and other Perfumes to burn and smoke about the Corps which lastly is carried to the Burying-place by six of the most eminent persons cloathed in white Silk Coats followed in the first place with Musick playing mournful Tunes and after them with a great many people on foot some of which cry aloud other sing Funeral Elegies last of all the Princes of the Blood ride on Horseback in white Habit. By the Grave are his Women and Servants which in his Lifetime he most affected together with his Favourites and Horses which are all put to death and buried with the Royal Corps which is done to this end that he may be served by them in the other World as they believe and are taught This slaughter is performed in a terrible manner viz. after the cutting off their Fingers and Toes they break their Bones by stamping all to pieces and when it is beat enough they throw it out in the presence of all the others that are to undergo the same fortune for the avoiding which cruelty many Servants after they have sufficiently provided for themselves either leave the King's Service in his Life and fly away or else they retire and hide themselves in time when they see he is without hope of recovery ¶ THe King's Jurisdiction extends over six Kingdoms Their Power and Dominion besides those wrested from him as we said before and for the better and more orderly management of State-Affairs has a Privy-Council consisting of many Lords of which one who is the second person in the Kingdom is President ¶ THey worship Their Religion as the Cassanga's abundnace of Idols the chief of which they name China which is to say God although a long time since by the Preaching of some Portugal Jesuits they are said to have embraced the Roman Religion The King himself with a great number of Nobles in the Year Sixteen hundred and seven desired of Emanuel Alvarez a Jesuit to be Baptized which he upon farther examination finding their unstedfastness deni'd THE KINGDOM OF BIGUBA AT the Nether-Arm of Rio Grande The Kingdom of Biguba above the River Guinala lieth the Kingdom of Biguba The chiefest place thereof is the Haven of Biguba and a little higher the Haven of Balola inhabited by the Tangos-Maas but the Village of the Haven Biguba the Portugals possess The Beafers lead the same manner of life as the People of Guinala The Tangos-Maas are extracted out of the Portugal Blood but have united themselves with the Blacks and live now no less barbarously than they as if they had never heard of Christianity in some places going all naked and Carving their Skins after the manner of the Countrey ¶ THey live under a Monarch as those of Guinala after whose death the most powerful of the Family obtain the Crown but not without great contest so that in the interim they are all in Arms committing all kinds of extravagant outrages till by Conquest reduced under the obedience of him that lays the strongest claim They are like the Beafers Idolaters although some are already by the Jesuits brought to the Christian Faith THE KINGDOM OF MANDINGA ON both sides of the River Gambea live a sort of Blacks The Kingdom of Mandinga which have enlarged their Seat above a hundred and twenty miles up into the Countrey so that they command a Tract of Land that spreads it self in breadth from nine to eleven Degrees North Latitude which the Spaniards call Mandimenca after the Name of one of their Kings by others Mandinga by Marmol Mani-Inga and by the French and Dutch The Kingdom of Mandinga The chief City is Sango some miles more Easterly than the Cape de Palmas The Countrey is watered with many Rivers all which after long courses through several places at last contribute their streams to replenish and augment those of the more famous River Gambea ¶ THe Inhabitants of Mandinga are reputed the best of all Guinee The Valour of the Inhabitants yet are barbarous of nature deceitful and treacherous to Merchants and Strangers but among themselves and Neighbors thought expert Horsemen so that they go into divers Kingdoms to serve as Troopers not onely being readily entertain'd into Pay but for their Skill in Martial Affairs and tried Valour have the Van of their Armies admitted into the best Commands and allowed large Priviledges to oblige them to stay in their Service ¶ THe Arabian and other Merchants drive a great Trade here for Gold Gold-Trade which they say this Countrey abounds with besides other Commodities which at Tombut the chief City they are admitted freely to barter for ¶ THe King of Mandinga some years since was so puissant The Power of the King that almost all the Kings and People of Upper-Guinee obey'd and paid him Tribute especially the Cassanga's and the other Kingdoms lying at the River Gambea Heretofore he held the Seat of his Empire in the In-land and gave the lower Countreys lying on the West Sea to one Chabos and Faim Braso placing moreover
many other Vice-Roys under him as of Bursalo Jaloffo and Bersetti who commanded the Kingdoms of Boloquo Bintao and Hondigu but now these have taken the Title of Kings and regard this Mandimansa little or nothing every one governing his Countrey with full Power without acknowledging him or any other for their Superior The Mandingians were antiently altogether given up to the Delusions of the Devil worshipping Stocks and Stones and keeping among them many Sorcerers South-sayers and Witches nor have they yet detested those old and wicked Customs but of late years Mahumetanism hath much prevail'd among them brought first thither by the trading Moors and Turks and since increased by the Natives who went to serve in Forreign Wars The chief Bexerin or High-Priest hath his Residence in the chief City of the Kingdom and deeply skill'd in Necromantick Arts wherein he hath instructed the King of Bena who makes great advantage thereof in revenging himself of his Enemies whom he variously torments as his malice or necessity incites him BENA and SOUSOS THe Kingdom of Bena and Sousos The Kingdom of Bena and Sousos deriving its Name from the Inhabitants of its principal Town which is named Sousos stands scituate about nine days Journey from the Way that leads to the Kingom of Torra and Serre-Lions but more Northerly of those and Southerly from Mandinga ¶ THis Countrey is very Hilly and Mountainous The Nature of the Countrey all whose sides are plentifully furnish'd with shady Groves of green-leaved Trees and here and there scattered some Valleys veined with cleer and purling Brooks From the colour of the Earth in the Mountain they conjecture that the Iron Mines inclosed within their bowels are of finer Ore than most in Europe Within the covert of the Woods lurk many Serpents curiously spotted with so many lively colours as are scarce to be found in any other Creatures The King whom the Inhabitants stile King of Serpents keeps commonly one of them in his Arms which he stroaks and fosters as it were a young Child and so highly esteemed that none dare hurt or kill it ¶ WHen any one dies The manner of their Funerals the nearest Relations of the Deceased and next Neighbors have notice of it whereupon they immediately begin to make a howling noise so hideous as to Strangers is terrible afterwards the Friends and Kindred go to accompany the Funeral howling and crying as they pass on which is redoubled by the frightful shreeks of such as go forth to meet and receive them They bring with them Cloth Gold and other things for a Present to the Grave which they divide into three equal parts one for the King the other for the nearest Relations to whose care the Funeral is left but the third part is buried with the Corps for they believe as we said before that the Dead shall find in the other World whatsoever is so laid up at their Interrment ¶ THe Kings and other great Lords are buried in the night very privately and in unknown places The Funerals of the King and other Grandees Jarrik lib. 5. c. 48. in the presence onely of their nearest Kindred Which privacy they use in all probability to prevent the stealing away the Goods and other Wealth which in great quantities they put into the Grave with them especially what ever Gold in their lives they had hoarded And for the more certain concealment they stop the Rivers and guard all ways round about until they have so levell'd the place that not the least mark appears discoverable This is used towards the greatest and most honourable but frequently over the Graves of persons of meaner repute some small Huts are erected sometimes made of Cloth other while of Boughs whither their surviving Friends and Acquaintance at set-times repair to ask pardon for any offences or injuries done them while alive and so continue as long as the Weather permits it to stand ¶ THe Jurisdiction of this King reaches over seven Kingdoms The Kings Authority and yet he is under Konche the Emperor of all the Sousos ¶ THe Inhabitants as all the rest are Idolaters Their Religion and use certain Letters or Characters written by the Brexerins to preserve them from Diseases THE KINGDOM OF SERRE-LIONS OR BOLMBERRE THe Mountain looking into the Sea and known to the English French The Mountain and Kingdom of Serre-Lions and Dutch by the Name of Serre-Lions as also the whole Kingdom first obtained this Title from the Portugals and Spaniards who call'd it Serra Lioa and at last Siera Liona that is The Mountain of the Lioness The cause of which Name is conjectur'd to be drawn from hence Why it is so call'd for that from the hollow of its Concave Rocks whereon the Sea beats when the Winds bluster and the stormy Billows rage proceeds a terrible noise like the furious roarings of a robbed Lioness adding moreover that from the top of this Hill which lieth continually cover'd with Clouds which the violent heat of the Sun-Beams darting perpendicularly upon it twice in the year cannot disperse there is continually heard a rattling of Thunder with frequent flashes of Lightning whose resounding Ecchoes may be distinctly observ'd twenty five miles off at Sea ¶ THe Inhabitants name this Countrey in their own Language Bolmberre The Bigness which signifies Low and good Land and especially hath respect to the low and fruitful Tract of Serre-Lions which taketh beginning at Cape de Virgen and endeth at Cape de Tagrin or Ledo lying in eight Degrees and thirty Minutes North Latitude and is easie to be known at Sea because it is exceedingly higher than the Countrey Northward and runs far into the Sea The Mountain about the Point is high and doubled spreading along the Sea South-East and South and by East but the Countrey Northerly of the Point is low and flat ¶ THis Kingdom containeth above thirty Rivers which all empty themselves into the Great Ocean and most of them having broad streams neighbored with pleasant Valleys and flowing between Groves of Orange-Trees and their Banks on both sides edg'd with fair Towns and Villages to the great delight of Passengers The first River by Cape de Virgen is by the Portuguese call'd Rio das Piedras that is The Stone-River because of the many Stones therein It is a very great River and divides the Countrey with several Arms making many Islands stiled Cagasian or Cagakais where the Portugals have built a strong Fort for the conveniency of their Trade In the next place the Maps of the Countrey have set Rio Pichel Rio Palmas Rio Pogone Rio de Cangranca Rio Casses Rio Carocane Capar and Tambasine which two last take their original from the Mountains of Machamala upon which may be seen a stately Work of Chrystal with several Pyramids of the same Matter Lastly The River Mitombo they describe the River Tagarin otherwise Mitombo but at present by the English Portugals Dutch and other-Traders call'd Rio. de
Language call'd The Bolmish Tongue being hard to learn and difficult to pronounce whereas that of the people of Timna dwelling to the South is easie The Capez and Kumba's are subject to their particular Princes who sit in publick to administer Justice and decide their Differences and to that end have near their Palaces several terrassed Walks call'd Funko's in every of which is rais'd a Throne cover'd over with fine Mats where the King sits and on each side plac'd long Forms for the Noblemen call'd Solatequies that is Councellors with whose advice he determines the Causes The Method this first appears the Party Complainant with his Proctors and Advocates call'd by them Troens attir'd with several sorts of Feathers having Bells at their heels and Staves in their hands to lean on when they Plead they put a Mask before their Faces that they may not be afraid but speak freely before the King what they have to say after the Cause is pleaded on both sides and the Councellors have given their opinion upon it the King pronounces the definitive Sentence with present Execution against the party cast When the King Creates one of these Councellers How the King's Lords of his Council are made he causes him to come into the Funko where being set upon a wooden Stool curiously wrought and carv'd and appointed onely for this Solemnity he girts him with a bloudy Fillet of a Goats-skin about the Temples afterwards Rice-meal is strowed over it and presently a red Cap put upon his Head And that the people may take notice of this new-conferr'd Honour he is carried about in Triumph upon the shoulders of certain Officers to that purpose appointed These Ceremonies perform'd the new-made Lord makes an Entertainment wherein they spend three days in all kind of Mirth and divertising Pastimes setting forth divers Skirmishes and other jocose Exercises according to the fashion of the Countrey At last they kill an Oxe and divide the flesh among the common people ¶ WHen the King dies his youngest Son inherits the Dominion The antient manner of chusing of a King or if there be no Male-Issue then the Brother or nearest Relation succeeds But before they proclaim him they fetch him out of his House and carry him bound to the Palace where he receives an appointed number of strokes with a Rod. Then unbound and Habited in his Royal Robes he is conducted very ceremoniously to the Funko where the chiefest Nobles of the Kingdom have assembled and seated on the Throne when one of the gravest Olatequi declares in a large Speech the Right and Priviledge of the new King which ended delivers into the new King's hand the Insignia Regalia that is an Axe with which the Heads of Offenders are cut off and thenceforth he remains an absolute Soveraign peaceably and receives all Services and Tributes These were the antient Customs while the Kingdom was free but since by the Conquest of one Flansire Grandfather of the present King of Quoia or Cabo Monte it was subjected to Quoia Bolmberre is Governed by a Vice-Roy Bolmberre is become a Province and Governed by a Vice-Roy who receives the Dignity and Title of Dondagh that is King from the Quoia's as themselves took it from the Folgia's but they have thrown off that Yoke and at this day the Quoian King as Supream not onely gives Laws to Bolmberre but also to the Principalities of Boluma and Timna having also left his old Title Flamboere and from the Portugals by whom converted to Christianity received the Name of Don Philip. The King has four Brothers The Residence of the King and his Brothers who separately hold their Residence in distinct places in the South Countreys the eldest five or six miles beyond the Town Bugos the second call'd Don Andreas at the second Watering-place before-mentioned the third Don Jeronimo at the third Point of the South River the fourth Don Thomas in a Town call'd Thomby All that Tract of Land lying by the Sea The Dominion of King Fatuma from the North-side of the River Serre-Lions to Rio das Pedras together with the Isle De los Idolos are under the Jurisdiction of Fatuma a Potent Prince commanding far up into the In-lands and holding as his Tributaries the Kings Temfila Teemsertam and Don Michaell a converted Christian The People before the coming of the Jesuit Barreira Their Religion lay wholly drencht in Idolatry but he converted many to the Christian Faith and in the Year Sixteen hundred and seven Baptized the King his Children and many others giving to the King at his Baptism the Name of Philip as we said before to which the Portugals flatteringly added Don and because he was King of Serre-Lions call'd him Don Philip the Lyon But they little practice the good Instructions taught them but still retain with the generality of the People their old heathenish Customs as shall be declared afterwards in the Description of the Kingdom of Quoia The English Trade Hollanders and other people that come into these Parts to traffick carry out of Europe several sorts of Commodities which they barter and exchange with great advantage the principal are these Iron Bars Linnen Basons Earthen Cans All sorts of speckled Glass-Buttons Counterfeit Pearles of several sorts Copper Meddals Bracelets and Armlets Pendants and such like Small Cutlasses Seamens Knives Fine Bands Ordinary Lace Chrystal Ordinary Painted Indian Cloathes Spanish Wine Oyl of Olives Brandy Wine All sorts of great Bands Waste-bands wrought with Silk which the Women buy to wear about their middles On the Island in the River of Serre-Lions The English Fort subdued by the Netherlanders the English possessed a small Fort erected for the more secure managing of their Trade which in the Year Sixteen hundred sixty and four the tenth of December the Dutch under the Conduct of the Admiral De Rutter with a Fleet without reason surpriz'd and took wherein they found four or five hundred Elephants-Teeth a good number of Copper-Kettles Iron Bars and about sixty or seventy Lasts of Salt the later parcels with some other inconsiderable Merchandises they left there but the Teeth and other Wares of consequence they brought over in the returning Ships GUINE WE are to observe Several acceptations of the Name Guine that the English Portuguese and Dutch greatly differ in their Descriptions of this Countrey though in the general Name they seem to agree for the Portugals divide Guine into the Upper and Lower comprising under the Name of the Upper the whole Tract of Land lying by the Sea inclos'd between the River of Zenega and the Borders of the Kingdom of Congo and under the Lower the Kingdoms of Congo and Angola whereas others bring Congo and Angola together with Monomotapa Zanzibar and Ajan under the Exterior as they include Abyssine or Prester-Johns Countrey wholly in the Interior Ethiopia But by the English and Netherlanders Guine is circumscribed in much narrower Limits allowing it no more
Lords Government but own for their Superior the King of Quoia whose Predecessors subdued them by Arms by the Assistance of the Folgia's as hereafter we shall more fully declare Fourteen miles from Rio de Galinas to the South-East appears Cabo Monte in five Degrees and three and forty Minutes North Latitude THE KINGDOM OR COUNTREY OF QUOIA THis Kingdom scituate by Cape de Monte containeth especially two Countreys viz. Vey-berkoma and Quoia-Berkoma Vey-berkoma that is the Countrey of Vey Vey-Berkoma the Antient Name of the Inhabitants is that Tract which lieth at Cape de Monte near the River Mavah below which lieth Dauwala wherein the same River Northward of the Cape hath its Exit into the Sea The Antient Inhabitants as we said Vey are by Wars reduc'd to a small number possessing onely a parcel of ruin'd Villages or Towns insomuch that their Name is almost forgotten Another People nam'd Puy-monou Puy-Monou dwelt antiently before the Wars and Conquest of the Countrey by the Karou's in the Island Boebelech and along the Banks of the River Mavah But few of this Posterity are at present to be found being for the most part by Inter-marriages with the Karou's so united as if but one in Name and Nature Quoia-Berkoma begins at the Sea-Coast of the New-River or Rio Novo Quoia-Berkoma by the Inhabitants stil'd Magwibba and extends to Rio Paulo a Boundary between this and the Territory of Gebbe shooting out into the Land above twenty miles This Kingdom boasts great numbers of Towns and Villages most of them pleasantly seated on the Banks of the River Magwibba The first appearing in five Degrees and three and forty Minutes-North Latitude Cape de Monte. by the Inhabitants is call'd Wachkongo and by the Portugals Cabo Monte although the Countrey both on the West and East is low and over-grown with Bushes This Point to Ships sayling out of the West shews its self in the shape of a Helm but coming near it appears long with a gap in the middle Westward of this is the Road where the Ships Ride that put in to trade upon this Coast Half a mile upwards from Magwibba on the left side Jegwonga stands a Village call'd Jegwonga where the King Flamboere settled his Royal Mansion when he first left Tomvy but at present he resides on the Island Massagh in the Lake Plizoge whither he retired to avoid the hazards of the people of Dogo that invaded his Territories On the other side of the River stands the fair Town Fachoo Fachoo signifying I watch the Dead which Flamboere fortifi'd and retir'd to as a place of security upon intelligence that the Land of Folgia would make War upon him though afterwards he found it but a rumor A mile and half farther up Figgia on the same side Figgia discovers its self being formerly the Dwelling of Figgi one of King Flamboere's Brothers A mile beyond that Cammagoereia on the same Shore is seated Cammagoereia and half a mile from thence the handsome Town Jerboeffaia where the Prince of Quoia who commands the Countrey round about keeps his Court opposite to this last King Flamboere about a year since began to lay the Foundations of a new Town From thence going along the Sea-Shore lie dispersed some Salt-Towns where the Inhabitants boyl Salt out of Sea-Water In the Vales of Tomvy water'd by the River Plizoge stands a great Town or Village beset with Trees sprung up out of the Rubbish of its decayed Walls From thence to Cape de Monte lye some forsaken and wasted Villages On a Branch of the River Menoch or Aguado is scituate Faly-hammaia and two miles farther another call'd Flomy-Seggaya The Region of Quoia hath the benefit of four excellent Rivers The Countrey of Quoia is watered by four Rivers the first in the West Magwibba or Rio Novo the second Mavah the third Plizoge the fourth Menoch or Aguado The River Magwibba in Summer bears two miles and a half in breadth The River Magwibba but in Winter is broader and fuller of Water It runs from the Sea up into the Land taking a North-Easterly Course up into the Countrey in the Mouth of it are so many Banks or Shelves as great Bars that make it dangerous to be passed with small Boats although the English Portuguese and French have and still venture over it in their little Skiffs As far as Davarouia it may conveniently be passed with reasonable Vessels being very deep and four hundred foot wide but above that place by the interposition of divers Rocks which cause great Water-falls there is no passing The second call'd Mavah The River Mavah or Maffah on whose Shore formerly the Puy-monou dwelt springs from a Mountain four and twenty miles within the Countrey The Channel is wide and deep making its Exit into the Sea in the broken Land of Dauwala almost a mile Northward of Wach-kongo or Cape de Monte. Between these two Rivers along the Sea-Coast here and there they say stand certain Towns where the Inhabitants make Salt The third Plizoge meets with the Sea a mile Northward of Cabo de Monte. The River Plizoge This is sometime in dry weather very empty of Water but so continues not long being soon fully replenisht Three miles from this River appears a great Lake a mile and a half broad wherein stands the Island Massagh the Courtly Residence of the present King Flamboere on whose South-side flourish many stately Palmito-Trees The fourth Menoch or Rio Aqâ—ado The River Menoch cometh out of the Countrey above the Hondous and six or seven miles Eastward of Cape de Monte poures into the Sea It is a deep and wide River yet unpassable because of several Water-falls Cliffs and Shelves of Sand that choak it It hath on both sides Red-wood Trees Having thus given you the Scituations of Towns and Rivers in this Kingdom we will now proceed to describe the Vegetables or Plants Beasts and then the Customs or Manners of the People but by the way in regard Gala-Vy Hondo Konde Quoias Manou and Folgia lying round about participate of the same qualities with Karou already mention'd or at least with very small difference we will give you a cursory glimpse of these in particular and then carry on our intended method Gala-vy a member of Quoia shews the original source of Mavah Gala-vy near a great Wood of eight or ten days Journey in length It bears the Names of Gala-vy from its Inhabitants sprung at first from Galas but being driven out of their Countrey by the People of Hondo sought new Habitations in those places whence they were neither call'd Vy as those with whom they intermixt nor Galas their old Name but Gala-Vy that is half Galas and half Vy On the Borders of Hondo and Manoe beyond the fore-mention'd great Wood dwell the right Galas who are under the Jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Manoe and have a Prince
belonging to the people Vey and Puy whereupon the Heir of the Crown when the King dies requires Earth from the Ambassadors of Folgia in token of Acknowledgement and Installs the Lord of Bolmberre with the Title of Dondagh by a particular Ceremony of which we shall give this brief Account The Heir is laid flat upon the ground with his Face downward and some Earth thrown upon him Lying thus they ask what Name he desireth to have and what he chuses they impose together with the Title of Dondagh Then they cause him to rise and put a Bowe into his hand and a Quiver of Arrows to defend the Countrey with which performed he distributes Slaves Clothes Kettles Basons and such like Presents to the King of Quoia The Power of the present Quoian-Prince is absolute and unlimited so that he is the onely and sole Judge of all Causes For although he admit his Counsellors sometimes to give their Opinions yet they signifie nothing for he follows his own single resolved Determinations This absolute Power makes him jealous of his Honor For he will not endure it should be diminished by any His highest Pomp consists in sitting upon a Shield whereby he gives to understand that he is the Protection and Defence of the Countrey and the manager of all Wars pacifying Civil Insurrections and other Weighty Matters belonging to him alone His Title as we said is Dondagh which is as much as Monarch When any Nobleman proves disobedient and will not appear before him on Summons then he sends his Koredo that is his Shield In what manner the King deals with any man who keeps away from his duty as if he would say upbraidingly if you be not obedient be Lord your self and bear the burden of the Countrey This peremptory Command by the Shield is sent by two Drummers who as soon as they come near the Offenders Habitation begin to beat their Drums and so continue without ceasing till they have delivered the Shield upon receipt whereof without delay he must speed away to the Court carrying the Shield with him which he presents to the King begging forgiveness of his miscarriages and so taking up Earth before the King humbles himself ¶ THose that make an Address to the King to obtain his Favor An address to the King to obtain his favor now it is made make their way with Presents of Ribbons Elephants-Teeth or such things which he must deliver at the house of the Kings chiefest Wife who receiving the same bears it to the King with request that the person may be admitted to his Presence If the King accept it the person hath leave to enter otherwise if any complaints be brought against him he sends it back yet so as the Presenter dares not receive and carry it away but continues his Suit by Friends without intermission by whose frequent and renewed mediations the King at last seeming a little pacified remits his severity takes the Present and calls for the Suppliant who entring the Royal Presence goes bowing all along towards the King who sits on the ground upon a Matt leaning upon a Stoole when he approaches within two steps he bows himself to the Earth kneeling down upon one Knee with his right Elbow to the Earth and names the Kings Title Dondagh whereupon the King if pleas'd answers Namady that is I thank you if not sits silent If it be a person of Quality and his Subject the King perhaps causes a Matt to be spread on the ground upon which sitting at the distance of a Pace he declares what he hath to request But if he be a Foraigner that comes onely to Salute the King without any further Ceremony he is conducted to him receiving an immediate dispatch If the person have any Proposition Petition or Complaint to make upon notice thereof a Jilly or Interpreter is call'd who coming with his Bow in his hand opens to the King the whole matter sentence by sentence whereto according to the quality of the Affair he receives answer with promise if upon a Complaint that as soon as he hath heard what the other party can say in his defence he will forthwith give Judgment according to Right If any man come to thank the King for doing Exemplary Justice in a difficult Cause How the King is thank'd for doing good Justice after his Presents receiv'd he devests himself of all his Clothes and Ornaments saving onely a little Cloth to cover his Pudenda so casts himself backwards upon the ground and instantly turning again rises upon one knee takes up earth with his hand and lays it upon his head then leaning with one elbow upon the earth he says three times Dondagh whereupon the King answers some times Namady that is to say I thank you and sometimes otherwise as he thinks fit The first Address usually is perform'd in his own House in the presence of his chiefest Wife But such as concern Justice or the State of the Countrey he hears in the Council-House in the presence of the Lords of the Council This Assembly they call Simannoe When some Eminent Person sent from a Neighbor King desires Audience one of the Kings Wives goes with a Present and tells him who sent it whereupon the Person appears before the King and takes earth This Address the King receives in his Simannoe or Council-House being open on all sides with great attendance round about After this Gratulatory Salutation the Ambassador desires leave to relate his Embassie but is put off till the next day so retiring he diverts himself till the appointed time in Feasts and Sportive Recreations The Ambassador receives Answer by the Kings Direction from a Jilly or Interpreter after which they shew the Ambassador and his Retinue the place where they are to remain where the Kings Slaves bring them Water to wash and the Kings Women bring very neatly drest in Dishes set on their heads Rice and Flesh much or little according to the number of his Attendants The Entertainment ended the King sends him for his Welcome Wine and other Presents either a Kettle Bason or such like If any European Merchant bring the King a Present he is invited to eat with him but with no Black how great of State soever will he eat out of the same Dish but lets their Meat be carried by his Women to the place where they are When the King dies the eldest Brother succeeds in his Throne The Inâ—eritance of the Kingdom and enjoys his Rice-Fields Slaves and Women except those which in his life were given to the Children The Folgia's are under the Emperor of Manou or Manoe a mighty Prince The Folgia's are under the Manou's who receives of them yearly Tributes in Slaves Salt red Cloth Kettles Basons and such like for which he bestows on them as a Gratuity certain Cloathes call'd Quaqua-Cloathes which the Folgian send to the Quoians as they again to the Bolmian or Hondoian Lords The People of Gala-Monou
defensible against the assaults of the Blacks THE KINGDOM OF FANTYN FAntyn a populous Countrey borders Westward on Sabou Northward The Borders of the Kingdom of Fantyn on the Dominion of Atty Aqua and Fonqua Eastward upon Aguana and Southward on the Sea The chief Town of the In-land is Fantyn the Regal Seat of the King Fantyn the Head-Town being four miles into the Countrey The chief Town upon the Shore is Kormantyn Kormantyn the Head Town on the Shore the principal place of Trade for the English scituate two miles Eastward of Moure upon a very high Mountain It shews the fairest and most delightful prospect upon the whole Coast inhabited by as many people as Moure and appeareth coming by Sea out of the South reddish Near which the English have a Castle fortifi'd with four Bulwarks In the Year Sixteen hundred sixty and five on the eighth of February this Kormantyn was surreptitiously attaqued by the Dutch the manner thus The Holland Fleet coming to Anchor February the sixth The fruitless Attempt of the Castle Kormantyn between the Fort of Cape de Kors and Moure Westward of Kormantyn the next day got four or five hundred Canoos with Negro's from the Castle De Myne with which well Mann'd they departed from the Fleet intending to Land at Anemabo but were upon their approach near the Shore saluted by the Negro's of Kormantyn who lay hid behind the Cliffs and Bushes with Musquets and great Ordnance playing from the Fort with such fury and violence that they were beaten back and forced to retreat without doing any thing The Enterprise was afterwards twice re-attempted It was re-attempted by the Netherlanders upon the hopes of having brought the Negro's to side with them but neither time brought along with it any better success however resolving not to quit the Enterprise they came to a more close agreement with the Blacks who as an assurance to perform their Undertaking deliver'd into their hands several Hostages the Design they laid to be put in execution with the first opportunity At last having pitched upon a time at night came a Negro call'd Antonio with a Canoo sent by the Fantyns declaring that the People about Anemabo and Adja could not be ready at the appointed hour but in the morning they would not fail them with their promised help and assistance adding moreover that early in the morning at the new cast-up Fort of Adja the Princes Flag should be set up at which sign the Dutch might go with their whole Power and Land Affairs thus concluded the chief Commanders of the Fleet resolved the following morning to re-attempt the Onset yet beforehand sent a Letter to the English Commander in chief thereby requiring the surrender of the Fort without any opposition Accordingly at eight of the Clock in the morning the Princes Flag being rais'd upon the new-erected Fort of Adja They Land they Lanched through with much hazard near the same new Fort and thence marched in good order along the Shore with the Negro's to the number of three thousand every one with a Linnen Cloth about their Necks to distinguish them from the Enemies Negro's they came about noon to Anemabo and drew forth about Musquet-shot Westward of Kormantyn They finde great opposition to a Hill planted with three Pieces of Ordnance where they found stout opposition but at length over-power'd they fled and then the Hollanders entred the Town and set it on Fire which by the flame and smoke made the Garrison in the Castle suddenly amazed The subduing of the Castle for as soon as they saw the Soldiers with Scaling-Ladders Hand-Granado's and other Utensils of War under their Walls they took down the red Flag from the Tower and immediately as it were without a stroke deliver'd it up Into this Castle were instantly some Soldiers out of the Garrison of the Castle of Myne and Moure put to guard and defend it To the subduing of this Fort Braffo of Fantyn gives assistance for the subduing it the Hollanders were not a little animated by the promise of help and assistance from the Braffo and his Kabo Seros of Fantyn which they purchased of them 24000 Gilders as we hinted before for two and fifty Bars of Gold amounting to about two thousand five hundred pounds English Money Half a mile Westward off Kormantyn The Town Anemebo and a mile and half Eastward from Mowe stands Anemabo divided into two sorts whereof one half is inhabited by the Fishermen of the Myne and the other by the Fishermen of Fantyn both which for all that they take pay to the Braffo once a week a small Custom The Road here is very commodious and safe for Shipping At Canon-shot distance Westward of Anemabo The Town Adja lieth another Town call'd Adja A Fort where the Dutch had a small Fort taken by the English in the Year Sixteen hundred sixty four and by them kept till the Attempt upon Kormantyn Is subdu'd by the English The English blow up Adja where they blew it up with Gunpowder not without using a subtle Stratagem for they had laid a heap of Earth at the Mnye whereon when any came with hopes of Plunder they intended by Springing the Myne to have Blown them up likewise But little harm was done however the English in the mean time left the place and Retreated to Kormantyn Between the Town Aja and Anemaby lieth a Town call'd Janasia where the English have a Fort. The chiefest Places of Trade lying near the Sea Places of Trade and frequented by the Whites are Kormantyn and Ademabo The former having been the chief Place of the English upon this Coast for some years where they got the best sort of Goods and enjoy'd most Friendships For the support whereof they built that Fort Planted with two and forty Pieces of Ordnance and Fortifi'd with four Bulwarks The principal Goods Traded for at Kormantyn and Moure are Merchandize Sleisie-Linnens Copper Iron Searges and old Linnen-Sheets which bring very advantageous returns And these places are the more frequented because of the convenient going in and out to Sea The King keeps his Residence in the Town of Fantyn The Command of the King and extends his Jurisdiction about ten or twelve Miles round being able in time of War to bring eight or ten thousand men into the Field His Revenue consists in Tributes brought to him by the Inhabitants The Revenue and in Customes of all Goods which the Akarists come to buy there especially of Salt The Government is mixt and made up of many Inferior Braffo's Government yet all submit to one Supream the King of Fantyn in which respect 't is an absolute Monarchy The TERRITORY of AGWANA OR The COUNTREY of KONKOMO THis Territory taking the latter name from its last deceas'd King Borders of the Kingdom of Agwana a Valiant Souldier borders in the West at the Kingdom of Fantyn
and Sonquay in the North by the Kingdom of Aquumboe and the Countrey of Abonce in the East at Great-Akara and in the South spreads along the Sea-shore Agwana hath divers Villages and Mountains near the Sea as the Rough-Point a Village of Fisher-men Souldiers-Bay and The Devils-Hill New-Abrembee Old-Abrembee Great-Berku scituate on a Mountain four Miles from Akara Jako-Kox-broot and Little-Berku where Water'd by a small River All these places have Stony Cliffs before their Havens From Cormantin the Coast reacheth East and by South The spreading of the Coast to The Devils-Mountain about six Miles from thence to Berku a Tract of five Miles East and by North from Berku one Mile Westward to Akara a Tract of five Miles East North-East Beyond Kox-broot lieth low Land replenish'd with small Trees but the Countrey within is high and Mountainous In Berku breed many Hens sufficient to eat among themselves and to sell cheap to strangers and their Drink call'd Pitouw is like our small Beer The Inhabitants have the repute of Stout and Warlike People The Nature and Maintenance of the Inhabitants but in Peaceable times maintain themselves by Husbandry and Fishing Yet some of them are good Artists both in Iron and Gold of the first making good Arms and of the second curious Gold-Chains and other neat Pieces of Workmanship In this Territory is but a small Trade for European Wares There is little Trade and therefore little frequented the best dealing is for Slaves of Berku with the Akerasche Merchants which come thither who exchange them for Serges viz. a Piece of Serge for a Slave or else two ounces of Gold THE KINGDOM OF AKARA THis Kingdom contains in Circuit The Borders of the Kingdom of Akara ten or twelve miles having on the West Aguana and the Countrey of Abonce on the North the Dominion of Aboura and Bonoe on the East that of Labbeda and Ningo and on the South the Sea Near whose Shore are three Villages viz. Soko Little Akara fifteen miles Eastward of Kormantyn and Orsaky Having gone four miles into the Countrey you come to Great Akara where the King keeps his Residence Provision here is very scarce especially Fruits and Bread-Corn so that whatever Whites put into this Place to Trade must upon necessity provide themselves well with all necessary Provision The King hath and not without cause the repute of a Potent Prince The Kings Power being able in time of War to bring fifteen or sixteen thousand Men into the Field He hath a more absolute Soveraignty over his Subjects than any of his Neighbors so that he is an unlimited Monarch and for the more sure confirming his Jurisdiction keeps good Correspondency with all Whites without shewing more favour to one than another The Little Akara has been many years the chiefest place of Trade upon the Gold-Coast next Moure and Kormantyn Trade where Foreign Merchants carry Iron and Linnen which they exchange in Barter for Gold with much greater gain than on the other places of the Gold-Coast but the Linnen must be finer than ordinary otherwise the Blacks will not meddle with it While Trading here was free to all that is till the Hollanders West India Company had ingross'd it to themselves the Haven of Akara produced a third part of the Gold that was to be had on all the Gold-Coast which was brought thither to sell from the Countreys of Abonce and Akamen All the Wares which the Inhabitants buy they sell again at the Market of Abonce two hours Journey beyond Great Akara which they hold three times a Week with great resort of People out of all the neighboring Territories The King of Akara suffers none out of Aquemhoe and Aquimera to come through his Countrey and Trade with the Whites but reserves that freedom to his own Subjects onely who carry the Wares brought from the Europeans to Abonce and exchange them there with great profit Neither would this King suffer the Whites to set up a Store-house on Shore for Trade but forc'd to ride with their Ships Ketches and Sloops before the Haven yet some few years since he sold to the Dutch a piece of Ground whereon he hath permitted them to build a Store-house Adjoining to this they have so far incroached The Store-house of Akara as to raise a little Fort of Stones sixty two Foot long four and twenty broad and flat above overlay'd with thick Planks strongly mortis'd together and strengthned round about with high Breast-works Port-holes and defensive Points for keeping off an Enemy At Great Akara the King hath appointed a Captain over the Merchants Overseer of the Trade with full power to set a Tax or Price for Selling to prevent all Quarrels Differences and Controversies which might otherwise arise of whom the Merchants stand in greater awe than of the King himself for he not onely punishes Offenders according to his pleasure but in case that any Dissentions happen he stops up all the Ways if they do not pay him according to his Amercement THE KINGDOM OF LABBEDE LAbbede a small Territory hath on the West Great Akara The Borders of the Countrey Labbede on the North and the East the Kingdom of Ningo on the Sea-Coast two miles Easterly from Little Akara lies one and the onely Village call'd Labbede a delightful place Wall'd and fortifi'd with Cliffs by the Sea-shore The Countrey hereabouts has plain and many well-water'd Meadows convenient for Pasturage of Cattel The Trade of the Inhabitants consists chiefly in Cows Maintenance whereof they breed some up themselves and others they fetch over-Land from Ley a Place eight or ten miles lower which they then sometimes sell again to the Akraman Blacks and to those of the uppermost Places The Government of this Countrey belongs to a petty Government yet absolute Prince THE TERRITORY OF NINGO OR NIMGO THe Countrey Ningo hath on the West Borders of the Kingdom of Ningo Great Akara on the North Equea and Little Akara On the Sea-Coast in this Territory are four places Ningo three or four miles from Akora and two from Labbede Temina one mile from Ningo Sinko a mile from Temina and Pissy all with Cliffs before the Walls in the Sea Ningo abounds with Cattel which the Akarians buy and carry to sell with Canoos to Moure Within the Countrey stands another fair City call'd Spicei where grow many good Oranges The Inhabitants generally support themselves by Fishing Maintenance which they do in a strange manner and with as uncouth Implements being like Baskets or Coops such as they put Chickens under with which going along the Shore in the Night with Lights they throw them over those Fishes which they get sight of Ningo Sinko Pissy some years since Places of good Trade but having now for a long time given out no Gold they are not visited by the Merchants who for that cause go no lower than Akara where as it is before
they spend some days with Dancing and Playing about the Grave nay they sometimes dig the Corps up again to honour him with new Sacrifices both of Men and Beasts When a Woman dies her Friends take Pots Pans Chests and Boxes and go with them upon their Heads along the Streets with the sound of Drums and other Instruments Singing to the honour of the Deceased And according to her Degree and State kill at the Grave some Slaves and set near the Corps so that no person of ability dies there but the Funeral is attended with much expence of humane Blood Concerning Inheritance Inheritance the Husband takes all the Goods the Wife leaves behind her except what she hath given her Children while living whereas the Woman may not after the decease of her Husband take the least part because they all as well Wives Slaves as other Goods fall to the King who for the most part if there be a Son bestows them on him No Foreigners can Trade up the River of Benyn without Order of the King who chuses one Fiadoor Merchandise or Councellor of the Kingdom to Treat and Trade with them Neither may those appointed for the Trade so much as converse with the Whites or come into their Store-houses much less buy any European Wares but are constrain'd to take them at the dearest rate of the Fiadoors On the other side no Fiadoor or Steward may deal for any thing that belongeth to the Wars so that every one must keep himself within the bounds of his Office When a Ship with its Lading Toweth along the Shore a Messenger When a new Ships Lading comes Fiadoors are sent to Gotton or Passadoor is sent to acquaint the King with it who immediately dispatches two or three Fiadoors accompani'd with twenty or thirty Veelies that are Merchants to go down and Trade with the Whites These with great diligence go over-Land from Benyn to Gotton where they Press as many Canoos as they want Being thus arriv'd and provided of Boats they chuse the best Houses and Dwellings and without asking the Owner's leave bring in all their Goods turning him to shift for his Family and yet he is bound the first day to Cook their Meat for them without having any recompence for his pains When the Fiadoors come the first time into the Store-houses How the Fiadoors welcome the Whites they have neat Habits with a Chain of Jasper about their Necks and so kneeling present the Salutation from their King and his Mother and the greatest Fiadoors in whose Name they bring somewhat to eat ceremoniously enquiring of the state of their Countrey Wars against their Enemies and such like so after a small Repast and Entertainment they take their leave without speaking of Merchandise and the next day they return asking to see the new-come Merchandise which is shew'd them Such Goods as they have brought of before continue at the set Price but new Goods have a Price set upon them and when they have beat down Commodities as low as they can and the Market set they go on to Trade The Commodities Benynish-Wares which the Europeans and other Whites Trade for in the River of Benyn are Cotton-Cloathes Jasper-Stone and Women-Slaves Leopard-Skins some Pepper and Akori which is a certain bluish Coral Akori is a kind of blue Coral growing like a Tree in the Water This Akori carried to the Gold-Coast the Women wear for an Ornament in their Hair The Inhabitants call the before-mention'd Cloathes Mouponoqua being made of Cotton-Yarn either all blue or Strip'd with white and blue two Ells and a half and two Ells three quarters long and scarce two Ells broad And the other smaller three of which make a Garment Ambasis The Whites give in Exchange for these Cloathes such and the like Wares following Cloth of Gold and Silver Red Cloth Canvas strip'd with red at one end All sorts of fine Cotton Linnen Confection of Oranges and Lemons and other green Fruits Crimson Velvet Brass Armlets each of five ounces and a half Lavender and Violet Cotton-Seed Course Kersies Fine Coral Flower'd Stuffs and stiff Gumm'd Red Glass Pendants for the Ears Iron Staves Gilt Looking-Glasses Crystals East-India little Horns or Shells which they use in stead of Money The greater Strip'd Cloathes transported to the Gold-Coast have a good and quick Vent but those that are all blue are sold for most advantage in the River of Gabon in Angola Every three or four days in the Town of Gotton a Market is kept to which those of Great Benyn Arbon and other Towns round about repair where not onely the aforesaid Cloathes but all sorts of Provisions may be had The Inhabitants of Benyn have for their own use other Cloathes made in Coffo a Town lying a days Journey Eastward from thence but no Whites may come there Between Gotton and Benyn great Plains spread themselves wherein on Set-Days rich and plentiful Markets are found extraordinarily crowded by all sorts of Dealers All Differences arising about Trade the Nobility decide for the Judges of the Place meddle not so long as any remain there that belong to the King Their Arms are Shields Arms or Weapons Spears Bowes Lances or Assagays and empoyson'd Arrows which the Fetisero's or Devil-Hunters prepare very artificially The Nobility when they go to the Wars Cloathe themselves in Scarlet as a Badge of Eminency others have Gorgets of Elephants and Leopard-Teeth and high red Caps Wrought and Quilted with Leopards and Civet-Cat Skins unto which hangs a long Horse Tail for Ornament The common Soldiers usually go with the upper part of their Body naked but on the lower wear a Cloth as fine as Silk In Fighting they keep a good Discipline and Order for none may stir from his Place though he see Death inevitable before his Eyes None participate of the Booty but the General or Field-Martial by them call'd Owe-Aserry or Siasseere and yet every one thanks the King that he will account them worthy of Employment and deign to send them to the Wars for him What Arrows remain after the Battel unshot they lay up in several Chambers in the King's Armory and presently make as many new again which poyson'd by the Fetisero's become useful for further Service The King of Benyn can raise as they say in one day twenty thousand Men in Arms The Potency of the King and in time of need eighty or a hundred thousand so becomes dreadful to all his Neighbors The care and charge of his Militia he reposes in a Field-Martial or Generalissimo who Commands over all the Forces and in all things acts according to his own pleasure The King ruleth with an unlimited Power Government and so absolute a Soveraignty that all his Subjects how great soever be no better than Slaves And that accounted no small Priviledge that Parents present to him their Children to receive a peculiar Mark to authorize them to be reckon'd in that number His
General without speaking a word withdraws to his House and the Onegwa sets up that Son to be King whereof the retir'd General receiving notice after five or six days he comes again to the Court and calling for the Onegwa demands if that were the old King's will wherein receiving an affirmative satisfaction immediately they present the deposited Inheritance of the Crown and he receives the Dominion whereupon after thanks return'd he puts on Royal Robes and sits down Then come all the Vassals from the highest to the lowest and do homage upon their Knees This Solemnity ended the King retires to another Town call'd Goseboe The new King may not at first dwell in Benyn to keep his Court for till a set time-he may not come to Benyn unless to make a wicked Sacrifice of Men and Beasts But when the Siasseere thinks time enough to have been spent and that the Lessons and Life of his Ancestors be enough inculcated the same Siasseere or General invites him to and entertains him in Benyn where thence-forward he keeps his Court and Rules according to his own pleasure The King once setled upon the Throne The new King kills all his Brethren endeavours to cut off all his Brothers to secure himself against Competitors of late some of them have been spared but they made such ill use of that favor by confederating with the Friends of some condemn'd and banish'd Fiadoors that this present King smother'd and other ways put to death all his Brethren not clandestinely but upon publick notice though some stick not to report that he forc'd them to hang themselves because none may lay hands on the Royal Bloud to kill them yet after their Death he order'd them to be hang'd with great Magnificence and State Their Religion if any consisteth in honouring the Devil to whom Religion as we said before they sacrifice Men and Beasts for though they well know and believe that there is a God who hath created Heaven and Earth and still Rules yet they esteem it unnecessary to Pray to or Serve him because he is not evil but good but they seek to appease the Devilwith Sacrifices for that he always prosecutes them with evil They call God Orisa and the Whites Owiorisa that is God's Child They have wooden Fetisies or Idols which they Worship and Fetisero's or Priests who enquire of and receive answers from the Devil The Fetisi also foretels what shall befall them either in the Wars or otherwise by a contriv'd sound proceeding out of a Pot with three holes as is related before They offer yearly great Sacrifices to the Sea that it may be favorable and swear no greater Oath than by the Sea and their King They observe many high and solemn Times with Dancing Leaping Playing offering both Men and Cattel In the Village Lebo lying before the River Arbon or Bonya liveth a Conjurer all whose Ancestors practis'd the same Art for they could by report of the Inhabitants Charm the Sea in divers manners now raising Tempests anon causing a Calm sometimes foretel Wracks and Losses otherwhiles the safe arrival of Ships from strange Countreys for which or rather for fear the King gave him this Hamlet with all the Slaves which he yet possesses He hath such strange fancies and behaviour as if possess'd that none dare take him by the Hand The Bonyan Agents when they come thither stand in great awe of him and he himself dare not come to Bonya nor near it by command of the former Kings yet the Prince hath many of those Necromancers about him and holds them in great esteem The Kingdom of ISAGO JABOE and ODOBO THe Tributary Dominion of Isago borders in the West The Kingdom of Isago on the Dominion of Benya being a Countrey full of Horses which the Inhabitants use onely for Wars whereof having gotten together a very considerable Body some years ago The fruitless Invention of the Isagos's on those of Benyn they intended to set upon the Bonyans who being pre-acquainted with their Design underhand digg'd many Pits in the Fields and covering the same with Earth went to meet the advancing Enemy but soon retreated as if surprised with fear till they had drawn the Foe within their danger The Isago's supposing they had fled indeed betook them to a speedy pursuit but in stead of their hop'd Victory they fell into the prepared Pits out of which the Benyans fetch'd and kill'd most of them making the Countrey Tributary Since which they never have dar'd to act against the King of Benya At the same West-side lie the Kingdoms of Jaboe and Odobo Jaboe Odobo but of smaller Power and less considerable then the Isagon whose King though subjected as before related yet in Power and Ability falls little short of the Benyan himself The Jurisdiction of Istanna IStanna lying to the East of Benyn hath been formerly very powerful The Kingdom of Istanna but divers years since reduced and brought under the subjection of that King to whom they pay an annual Tribute The Territory of Gaboe GAboe lieth at the River Benyn The Kingdom of Gaboe eight days Journey above the great City of the same Name The Europeans get in this Countrey much Akori which they carry to the Gold-Coast and many Jasper-Stones but most of the Trade is for Slaves The People seem to be good natur'd and their Custom little differing from those of Benyn Biafar or Biafra MOre on to the East lieth the Kingdom of Biafar or Biafra The Borders of the Kingdom of Biafar according to Anamin and Linschot having on the West certain Mountains which divide it from that of Medra and spreads Southward to the fourth Degree of North Latitude The chief City also call'd Biafra and according to Hues scituate in six Degrees and ten Minutes The Inhabitants are generally inclin'd to Conjuration and Witchcraft The Inhabitants inclin'd to Witchcraft so that they believe by that Art they can do all things viz. procure or cause Rain Lightning and Thunder or any other Weather foretell Events to succeed and what not for which knowledge they honour the Devil so much that they sacrifice not onely Beasts and Herbs to him but also their own Children The Principality of Owerre or Forkado ABout four and twenty miles Eastward of Benya The Kingdom of Owerre Rio Forkado intermingles with the Sea near or by whose Banks the Territory of Owerre otherwise call'd the Kingdom of Forkado claims a scituation The Edges of this River are pleasantly shaded on both sides by neighboring Trees and the Stream very commodious for Ketches of a reasonable Burden being in breadth half a Mile and in depth twelve Foot or more A Mile inwardly upon a small Outlet stands a Fishers Village call'd Bolma About seven and twenty Miles upward appears the chief Town Owerre The City Owerre where the King keeps his Court containing half a Mile in circumference and surrounded on the Land-side with
Fighting they defend themselves from the Enemies Arrows with the flat Sides thereof in stead of a Shield and turn every way with such readiness that they void all the Shafts aimed at them They wear also Ponyards in Scabbards of Serpents-skins in Belts of Elephants-hides three Fingers broad and two thick Some have Shields made of Wood cover'd with the Skin of the Beast Dant They worship the Sun as their chief Deity in the Shape of a Man Religion next to that the Moon in the Figure of a Woman But besides these every one hath his peculiar Idol When they go to Battel they sacrifice to their Idol out of which their Devil speaks very plain and tells them what they must do The Anzikos live under a peculiar King call'd the Great Makoko Government whom they report to possess thirteen Kingdoms making him one of the most Puissant in Africa The Jages have three Governors the first entitul'd Singe the second Kobak and the third Kabango of which every one leads a distinct Army They maintain continual Wars against other Blacks and eat as is before-mention'd all the Slain but sell the Prisoners and in defect of Buyers kill and eat them also Such as desire to List themselves in their Companies must first receive the usual Marks viz. knock out the two upper and the two lower Teeth before and make a hole through the middle of their Noses into which they thrust Feathers There are at present no Jages to be found of the first Race but those that now assume that Name derive their Extract out of the several Countreys wherein they have Warred and been Victorious being chosen thereto in this manner So soon as they have won a Battel The Jages how they are bred they search among the Prisoners for the handsomest Youths of whose Courage they make tryal by shooting at them by and over their Heads Wherein if any discover a fear of the Arrows as Cowards and unfit for Service they knock on the Head and eat but those that appear fearless and undaunted they make holes through their Noses and Ears knock out their Fore-teeth and so bring them up to all Savage Cruelty who by practice at last stray so far from Humanity that they exceed the natural Jages These possess not only this Countrey of Ansiko but wander almost through all Africa although now they have their chief Residence here and in the South-East of Angola The Natural Jages as the Ancientest People of Angola relate are not the Indigene of that Countrey but came many years since with an Army of an hundred thousand out of Serre-Lyons and over-ran the whole Coast beyond the Kingdom of Benguella But finding themselves too weak to make further way and not willing to return they setled hereabouts but not contented with that Resolution they ranged till they came to the Kingdom of Monomotapa who overcame them in a Fight and made them retreat Others contradict this averring it improbable at least that the Jagos should first come out of Serre-Lyons and conquer as far as the Kingdom of Benguella a Tract of above seven hundred Leagues wherein they must pass so many Kingdoms great Rivers and Mountains The Jurisdiction of KAKONGO KAkongo takes beginning in the North at the River Lovango Lovize Boundaries of the Kingdom of Kakongo in about fourteen Degrees and a half South Latitude and borders in the South and West at the Kingdom of Goy and ends at the River Sambo some Miles up in the Countrey The Chief City is pleasant and well built Chief City abounding with all sorts of Provisions From Kakongo Southwards all the Countrey by the Sea-coast for thirteen Miles and for two Miles and a half Northward of the before-mention'd River Lovango Lovize lies very low but afterwards grows Mountainous beyond this rising still higher The Blacks call it Kaskais but the Europeans the Highland of Kaskais about which place a Mile Southerly a great Water falls into the Sea This Kingdom can shew onely one good River The River of Kakongo call'd also Kakongo which mingles with the Sea in five Degrees South Latitude gliding some eighteen Leagues through the Countrey A Mile Southward of this Stream lieth the Village Molemba The Village Molemba upon a great Bay making a convenient Haven or Road for Ships The Countrey thereabouts call'd Little Kaskais spreads the Bay of Cabinde in five Degrees and five and twenty Minutes South Latitude being both before and all along the Coast very Rocky and full of Cliffs yet between the chief City and the River Sonho full of Woods pleasant Fields and high Mountains but cannot boast any Fertility because for the most part untill'd although so Populous that it dares number Inhabitants with Lovango it self The Natives are treacherous Constitution of the Inhabitants revengeful turbulent and quarrelsom yet shew but little Spirit in the Wars all their Neighbours especially those of Goy continually infesting them without fear of revenge and perhaps would utterly destroy them but that the King of Lovango interposes in their behalf whose Mediation in such Cases prevails much with all his Neighbors Trades and Handicrafts are common with these People and those of Lovango Trade such are Husbandry Fishing and dealing in Clothes black stitch'd Caps broad Irons Beetles Hammers or Mattocks Tobacco Red-wood or Takoel and Linnen which Commodities they carry to Congo Sonho and other Places and there exchange for Slaves The Merchandises brought thither out of Europe and desired by the Inhabitants are one and the same with those Vented in Lovango but the Presents given for the permission of Trade are less Their Customs Shape Cloathing Riches Administration of Justice Inheritance Government and Religion differ little or nothing from what we have already described we will not therefore nauseate the Reader with a needless Repetition The King of Cakongo may not touch or wear any European Wares A Command on the King nor dares any habited therewith touch him because forsooth commanded by the Moquisie In all other things agreeing with Lovango At the River Sonho the Kings of Lovango and Cakongo keep a continual Watch to receive the Custom of the travelling Merchant and to observe that none should act any thing prejudicial to the Countrey At the side of the River Cakongo lieth the Territory of Serre or Sarri The Territory of Sarri subject to the King of Cakongo but was some years since for a Mutiny and Rebellion against him in a manner totally laid waste Upon the Edge of this and near neighboring to Goy The Territory of Lemba a Territory call'd Lemba claims a situation being a High-land comprehending onely one Village of the same Name whither the Whites come to Trade for Elephants-Teeth Slaves and Copper the last of which they bring from more adjacent Mynes that produce every year no small quantities The Dominion of GOY. GOy borders in the West upon the Shore on the South
Borders of the Kingdom of Goy at the River Zair or upon Congo upon Cakongo on the North whose chief City delightfully situate on a Plain near the Shore boasts many Inhabitants where several small Rivers have their Out-lets into the Sea whose Waters both refresh and fatten the Soyl they pass through On the Coast by the River Zair you discover Punto de Palmerino Punto de Paomerino and six hours Journey towards the Bay of Cabinde where the Portuguese Ships take in fresh Provision The Bay Cabinde passing to Lovando St. Paulo This is a good Road for Ships in regard they may be plentifully furnished with Provision at reasonable Rates always provided that the Governor have due respects tendred to him by considerable Presents Both Men and Women give themselves wholly up as it were to wantonness yet towards Strangers they are churlish and uncivil Constitution of the Inhabitants not onely exacting from them beyond reason but defrauding them by many subtil and slye inventions The Countrey abounds with Mille Beans and Fish But the Portuguese have a Store-house to buy Cloathes call'd Panos Sambos the proper Commodity of this Place because made no where else made Tufted like our Plushes but without Flowers or Imagery To Barter for these they bring out of Majumba red Wood which the Natives chuse at the highest Price before the richest European Merchandise resting in their original simplicity without desire of better knowledge from abroad for they never Travel from home but onely when the King sends them as Agents to any of his Neighbors with whom he holds a League of Amity This Kingdom in the Year Sixteen hundred thirty one Destruction of the Kirgdom of Goy was absolutely conquer'd by the Duke of Sonho who established his Son in the place of the Deceased King by whose assistance the Father afterwards got a great Victory over the Cokongian whose chief City he ruin'd and burn'd The King of Congo takes upon him the Title of Lord over both those last mention'd but hath neither Tribute nor Subjection from them for each hath an absolute and independent Soveraignty within his own Dominion The Kingdom of CONGO IN the description hereof great differences arise among Geographers Borders of the Kingdom of Congo some make it begin in the East at the Territories of Lovoto and Quilango in six Degrees and a half South Latitude and to extend thirty or forty miles into the Countrey as far as the a So we render it in English Dukedom of Sonho bordering the Western part with the before-nam'd Sonho and spreading in the North to the River Zair Pigafet and Linschot conterminate it in the North with Lovango and Ansiko in the South with Angola and Malemba on the East setting the Crystal Salt-Petre and Silver Mountains with the Rivers Verbele and Cakongo saith Jarrik and the People Giagnas or Galas deadly Enemies to Congo and in the West with the Ocean Marmol places for Boundaries in the North Benyn on the East the Islands of the Azzinguis or Anzigos and Mondequestes which dwell about the Lake Zambea out of which 't is said the River Zair taketh its original the People of Pangudingos Quilos Bambos Condongos Sonnos Libros Bankares Zakilos and Maria Bigness on the South the Mountains of the Moon which divide it from Abyssiny and Kaffrari or the Region of the Kaffers Some reckon the greatest breadth to a hundred and twenty Leagues and its length by the Coast seventy two The common Division of it is into six Dukedoms Division viz. Bamba Songo or Sonho Sundo Pango Batta and Pombo The Dukedom of Bamba lying in the North reaches Westward to the Coast of the Rivers Amaois and Dantis in the South to Angola and hath for Borders in the East according to Pigafet by the Lake Chelande or Aquilonde the Territory of Sissina On the Sea-Coast of this Territory Pigafet places divers Lordships as Lembo Dondi Bengo Koanza Kazzansi and to the In-land Angazi Chingengo Motello Chabonda and many other of smaller note Others who seem to have been diligent searchers herein intermix with the aforenam'd these following being say they Govern'd by several Lords in the Name of the King of Congo which the Portuguese call Sabos or Sovasen Such are Vamma Roansa Hany Kalle Kovangongo Engombia Muchama Kahonde or Cabonda Motemmo Kanvangongo Moffoula or Mussula Motemma Quingongo Oanda Quina Bamba Bumby Ensala Lovoto Quitungo The Dominion of Vamma Dominion coasting the River Danda lieth at the Sea-Coast Next this up the River are seven or eight small Provinces but of so little Power and Command that the Names thereof are not mention'd Further up the River you come to Koansa Koansa under which and the foremention'd Manivamma stand all the other little Sovasen Then follows the Jurisdiction of Kalle Kalle situate a little to the South and Commanding over some small Tracts of Land Kanvangongo neighbors this Kanvangongo and somewhat Southerly lieth Engombia Muchama or according to others Engombia Cabonda giving Laws to divers petty Lordships adjoyning REGNA CONGO et ANGOLA From the foremention'd River Danda Northward Motemmo Kanvangong appears Motemmo Kanvangongo as at the West on the Sea-Coast lieth the a So we may call them Earldom of Mussula comprehending within it the Provinces of Pumbo and Bamba and holding under his Obedience all the Countreys from Danda to the River Loze along the Sea-Coast The Sovas of Mossulo is very strong but nevertheless not so powerful as the Konvangongo Here grow some Nutmegs Eastward of Motemmo Konvangongo comes Motemmo Quingengo and about the South-East Kahende formerly one of the most potent in this Tract but at present very much weakned This Jurisdiction of Kahende as also that of Quingengo Kahende lieth six or eight days Journey from Konvangongo shooting to the East to these two all the Countrey Eastward from Konvangongo begins the Territory of Ambuela or Amboille a distinct Government of it self without relation to Congo South and South-West of Ambuela you come to Oanda Oanda divided from the former by the River Loze and borders in the West upon Bamba It is a great and mighty Countrey subject to Congo but was in the Year Sixteen hundred forty six over-run and laid waste by the King of Gingo and the People carried away for Slaves Next Oanda Eastward follows Quina containing a small compass of Ground Quina and less Power On the West of Oanda going down to the Sea-Coast Bamba touches between shoots a corner of Pembo Then come you to the Dukedom of Bamba to the South or South-West of which lieth the Province of Bumby inconsiderable for Strength or People bordering in the West upon Mussulo Between Pembo and Quina lieth Ensala whose Governor hath the Title of Mansala in the Year Sixteen hundred forty three he opposed the King of Congo who requesting aid from the Hollanders they sent him a
being called to explain which we must tell you That they conceit that none die either by Poyson Violence or otherwise until their Friends in the other World call them whereupon the Relations of the Deceased take away all things from the Survivor and for eight Days afflict him with divers Pains and Torments as shaving his Skin and the like saying Thus must you bear the Punishment if guilty or having a hand in the Death of our Friends The eight days ended they bring him or her to a new Tryal by Pleading and if upon that quitted they dwell still in the House as before but if found guilty are banish'd thence There is a prevailing Custom among them That if there be three Brothers Inheritance and one of them die the two that survive share his Concubines between them And when either of the two remaining die the longest Liver takes all After whose Decease all the Concubines stay in the House and become his due that happens to dwell therein afterwards Those of Congo reckon the Year by the Cossionoes or Winter-seasons The Accompt of their Year which there begin upon the fifteenth of May and end the fifteenth of November The Months by the Full Moon and the Days of the Week by their Markets because they have every Day one in a several Place but know not how to parcel out Time into Hours or less Spaces These People before the Arrival of the Portuguese who instructed them in the Christian Faith had no particular or proper Appellations for the Common People call'd themselves by the Names of Herbs Plants Stones Fowls Beasts and Living Creatures The Lords bare the Title of the Lordship they commanded as the Lord of Songo was call'd Mani-Songo that is to say Lord of Songo Mani signifying Lord and Songo the Countrey But at this day both Men and Women Persons high and low even the King himself commonly receives a Name in Baptism They seem well experienc'd in several Handicrafts but yet will not take upon them any Works of hard Labor Congo Songo and Bamba vent few Slaves and those the meanest of all because being us'd to live idly when they are brought to Labor they quickly die The best come thither out of Amboille Gingos Jages Caseudas Quilax Lembo and other Territories thereabouts above Massignan in Angola The Europeans also drive a little Trade with Simboes But the chief Dealing in Songo consists in Pannos Sambos Oyl of Palm Palmito-Nuts and such like Heretofore they brought thence many and those very large Elephants-Teeth but of late fall'n to nothing The City Saint Salvadore is the Staple for the Portuguese Merchants in those Countreys of whom the Natives desire chiefly to buy Cypress Clothes or painted Table-clothes call'd Capes de Verdura blue Cans Biramks or Surats Copper Basons English Cloth great Simbas of Lovando Baesier and other inconsiderable Trifles as Rings Beads and such like They use no Measure or Weight except among the Portuguese Housholdstuff nor have any Housholdstuff save onely Swords Shields and a few Slaves Their Wealth consists chiefly in Elephants-Teeth and Simbos or little Shells Riches which pass in stead of Money The Citizens of Saint Salvadore amount to near forty thousand of which most are Gentlemen and Nobles yet wretchedly poor For among them all you shall scarce find ten or twelve that have a Gold Chain or small Jewel The Revenues of the King consist especially in yearly Tributes The Revenue of the King paid him by the Dukes of Bamba Batta Sundo Nambanganga Bumby Mussulo Oando Quingengo and others under the Titles of Earldoms as those of Pembo Pango and many others which falls out on St. James his day when the King rewards them with some small Trifle as a Mark of his Favor Some have not doubted to aver That the whole Income of the King amounts not to above one hundred and twenty French Crowns besides some small Presents made by every Lord above his Tribute the greatest whereof rises but to a couple of Goats the most onely giving Fruits as Bacovens Wine Nuts and Oyl of Palm They have no Coyn'd Money Simboes or Horn Shells are their Money either of Gold Silver or Copper but as we have often mention'd make all their Markets with little Shells call'd Simboes which pass here as Current but in other Countreys of no esteem or value And the Portuguese use them in their Passage when they or their Pomberoes that is Slaves are sent with Merchandise to Pombo and other Places lying up the Countrey out of Angola Lovando Sante Paulo through Congo Apothecaries or Doctors they have none Medicines for Cure nor any Physick but what themselves make of Plants Barks of Trees Roots Stones Waters and Oyl which they administer for Agues Fevers and almost all other Maladies Fevers Sicknesses the most common Distemper of this Climate they cure with the beaten Root of Zandel-wood Zandel-wood mixt with the Oyl of Dates anointing therewith the Body of the Sick two or three times from Head to Foot Pain in the Head by letting Blood in the Temples with little Shells sharpned wherewith opening the Skin they suck with the Mouth till they draw the Bloud The Pox or Venerial Distemper call'd Chirangas rages among them extremely which they cure with red Wood call'd Tavilla The King appoints a Judge in every particular Province Government to hear and determine Civil Causes and Differences that happen who though there be no settled Laws or Statutes may Imprison and Release or impose a Pecuniary Mulct or Fine upon them But in more weighty Matters every one may appeal to the King before whom also Criminal Causes come wherein as Supreme Head he giveth Sentence In Matters of State Council of State and such as concern Peace and War the King takes advice of ten or twelve Councellors his Favorites who conclude for the Wellfare of the Kingdom and set forth and publish the Decrees by his Order and in his Name These punish Witchcraft and Idolatry openly Punishment of Offenders with great Severity condemning the least Sorcerer to the Fire Whosoever killeth a Man first having his Offence openly read before him and then convicted by Witnesses is condemn'd to die When an Offender suffers Death by Judgment of the King The punishment of Death is also with Confiscation of all his Goods he forfeits all his Goods and Slaves so that none of his Relations enjoy ought that was his And sometimes to supply the King's Coffers others are for small cause or if but suspected though the Witnesses fall short in the proof of the Fact Banished and their Goods Confiscate and seized to the King's Use When they march out with an Army to incounter their Enemies Arms. the Commanders wear Square Caps or Bonnets trimm'd with Ostriches Peacocks and other Feathers partly to make the greater shew and partly to seem the more terrible The upper part of their Bodies are naked
Bernardo de Menzos his Interpreter and Secretary The King's Apparel is very glorious and rich His Cloathing being for the most part Cloth of Gold or Silver with a long Velvet Mantle This King wears commonly a white Cap upon his Head He wears a white Cap. so do his Fidalgoes or Nobility in his Favour And this is indeed so eminent a token thereof that if the King be displeased with any of them he onely causes his Cap to be taken off from his Head For this white Cap is a Cognizance of Nobility or Knighthood here as in Europe every Order hath a peculiar Badge to distinguish it When the King goeth abroad with all his Nobles adorn'd with white Caps on their Heads When the King is desirous to have Taxes he lets his Cop blow off he sometimes puts on a Hat and at pleasure lays that aside and resumes his Cap which he then puts very loosely on upon set purpose that the Wind should blow it off the easier which according to design hapning his Fidalgoes run to take it up and bring it to the King again but the King as offended at the Disgrace will not receive the same but goeth home very much troubled the next day he sends two or three hundred Blacks abroad to gather in Taxes so punishing his whole Kingdom for the offence of the Wind in blowing off his Cap which he caused of set purpose He hath one Married Wife The Queen is call'd Mani-mombada which they call Mani-Mombada that is Queen all the rest Taxes for the Queen how rais'd being no small number are Concubines For this Wife a Yearly Tax is gathered through the whole Kingdom by them call'd Pintelso every House paying a Rate for their Beds viz. a Slave for every Spans breadth so that if it be three Spans broad they pay three Slaves The Queen hath her Lodgings in the Palace Her place of aboad apart with her Ladies of Honor which have little Courtship or Art to set them forth yet they go almost every night abroad to take their pleasure and to satisfie their wanton desires onely some stay according to their turns to wait upon the Queen who will her self if she finds a convenient opportunity and a Person that dares venture to come in the Night over the Straw Walls into the Court to her private Lodgings not be backward to receive their proffer'd Kindness But this she doth with great circumspection for if the King should hear of it it would endanger both their Lives The King on the contrary keeps as many Concubines as he pleases as well of the Ladies of Honor belonging to the Queen as of others without check but the Priests spare not to reprove him for it openly in their Preaching When the King dies his Relations put him into the Grave in a Sitting Posture to whom formerly a dozen young Maids leap'd out of free choice and were buried alive to serve him in the other Life as believing That he should not remain dead but go into that other World and live there These Maids were then so earnest and desirous of this Service to their deceased Prince that for eagerness to be first they kill'd one another And their Parents and Friends gather together all sorts of stately Clothes and put them into the Grave to the intent that when they arrive in that strange Countrey they may buy such things as they have occasion for therewith The Funeral of the King in stead of other Mourning is celebrated eight days together with continual Eating and Drinking and this kind of Mourning they call Malala and every Year after Solemnize it with an Anniversary-Meeting in the same manner This Custom is not only us'd for the King but also for the Nobility according to their Quality and continues to this day but by the progress of Christianity teaching better things they have laid aside totally the burying of People alive In the Succession to the Crown they observe no Order Inheritance of the Crown neither Legitimation nor Seniority taking place further than the Ruling Grandees please they according to the humor of barbarous Nations esteeming all alike Honorable For which reason the Nobles chuse one out of the King's Sons whether Legitimate or Illegitimate it matters not for whom they have the most respect or think the fittest or else perhaps sometimes sway'd by extravagant Fancies relinquish all the Children and give the Crown to a Brother or Nephew The Coronation of the King they Solemnize after this manner The manner of the King's Coronation All the Nobles and Portuguese assemble before the Palace in a four-square open Court built for that purpose of old encompass'd with a slight Stone Wall about five Yards high in the middle of which stands a great Velvet Chair and a Cushion with a stately Carpet spread before it and a Crown wrought of Gold Silk and Silver-Wyre laid thereon as also three Gold Armlets about the thickness of a Finger and a Velvet Purse wherein is the Pope's Bull or Letters of Confirmation to the new King The intended King after some time comes into this Congregation by invitation of the Nobless concern'd primarily in the Election where all things prepared there stands one up which in the nature of a Herald proclaims these words You that shall be King be no Thief neither covetous nor revengeful but be a friend of the Poor You shall bestow the Alms for the releasement of Prisoners or Slaves and help the Needy and be charitable to the Church and always endeavour to keep this Kingdom in Peace and Quietness and fully observe and keep the same without breach of League with your Brother the King of Portugal After this Speech ended the Musick begins to play with excellent Melody which having continued a convenient season the last two Fidalgo's go seemingly to seek him amongst the People the remaining part of them sitting upon the Ground These two in a short time find him they sought for and bringing him one by the right Arm and the other by the left place him upon the foremention'd Royal Chair and put the Crown upon his Head on his Arms the Gold Armlets and the usual black Cloth or Bayze-Cloak upon his Body then he lays his Hand upon a Mass-Book and the Evangelists which the Priest holds to him Clothed in a white Garment hung with white Tassels and the King swears to do and keep all that he hath been forewarned of by him the formention'd Herald After the ending of these Solemnities the twelve Noblemen and the King go to the Palace accompanied with all those that were present at the Coronation who cast Earth and Sand upon him for a Token of rejoycing and for an Admonition that though he be now King he shall be Dust and Ashes The King after his Crowning remains eight days in his Palace never going forth in which time all the Black Nobility none excepted and all the Portuguese come to visit and wish
him good success the Blacks do him a kind of Homage lying down upon both Knees clapping their hands and kissing the King's Hand the Portuguese sit kneeling upon one Knee and so the Priests and Clergy by that humble posture acknowledging his Soveraignty After the eight days past the King appears in the Market and makes a Speech to the People expressing his readiness for the performing of that which was propounded to him with assurance to them that he will seek nothing more than the quiet and welfare of his Kingdoms and Subjects and the propagating of the Christian Faith The People of Congo take the Oath of Fidelity to their King like other Christians but forget it quickly Murdering him upon any sleight occasion either by Insurrections or Treason so that within these forty or fifty years they have had many Kings for if all things go not to their minds or if it Rains too much or too little or if any other accident happens the King bears the blame The Earl of Songo the most Potent in all Congo was subject to this King but considering the Woods of Findemguolla which surrounds his Countrey like a Bulwark he fortifi'd it and made it almost impregnable so casting off the Yoke he will not acknowledge the King of Congo for his Soveraign but onely as a Friend of Songo Formerly this Earl before the taking of the City Lovando St. Paulo by the Netherlanders in the Year Fifteen hundred forty and three by instigation of the Portuguese would have burnt their Ware-houses but that he was afterwards prevented and his anger aswaged This Province of Songo yields Copper There is Copper in Sougo much better than that of Congo and some Cotton but they Vend little of it In the Year sixteen hundred thirty six Wars between the King of Songo and the Earl of Souho the King of Congo Don Alvares the second of that Name for some cause given by the foremention'd Earl with a great Company of Men and the assistance of a Company of eighty Portuguese Soldiers of Lovando St. Paulo drew into the Field But the Songo's by a sudden Sallying out of the Wood The Overthrow of the King of Congo routed the King's Army and took him Prisoner so that for his release and restoration to his Kingdom he was forced to give to the Earl two Territories the one a Principality call'd Mokata a great Land of Tillage lying where the River Zair bordereth nearest to Songo Yet afterwards the Quarrel was renew'd and Forces on both sides drawn into the Field A second Overthrow and the Controversie coming to be decided by the Sword the King lost the Day and together with it many Slaves These two Victories exceedingly puffed up the Earl It was imputed to the King as a great miscarriage that this last he drew into the Field with a small Force whereas he hath innumerable People under his Command but this oversight he quickly amended and hath taken severe revenge of the Songo's for the Losses formerly received But this kept them not long quiet A new War for the old Earl being dead in the Year Sixteen hundred forty and one there arose a new and bloody War between the King and the Earl Don Daniel du Silva arising upon this ground When after the Decease of Don Michael who Rul'd about the Year Sixteen hundred and six his Son the foremention'd Don Daniel du Silva could not come to succeed because a Faction rais'd against him was too strong he fled to the Duke of Bamba in whose Court he remain'd a long time but at last by the help of his Confederates got the possession of his Inheritance and burning with revenge for his sufferings and disgrace he gave occasion of Quarrel by refusing to request of the King of Congo according to the old Custom the confirmation of his Possessions first accusing him as one that had a hand in his long Expulsion and therewithall adding that the Election of his Subjects did enough confirm him in his Government and therefore he needed no other The King of Congo enraged hereat and accounting it a great dis-reputation and diminution to his Royal Authority to be so Bearded as a manifestation of his high displeasure placed his Son the Prince Don Alphonso in the Principality of Makata formerly given as we have said to the Earl of Songo for releasing of the King Don Alvarez giving him in charge not onely to keep it but from thence to make War upon the Earl Hereupon Discontents daily growing on the King of Congo raised a great Army which he gave to Don Alphonso who therewith invaded Songo and using all the extremities of War both against his Countrey and Subjects But the Songo's a very Warlike People in the Year Sixteen hundred forty and five the nine and twentiteth of April in a Pitch'd Battel defeated and put to flight the King's Army and took the fore-mention'd Prince of Mokata together with many Grandees Prisoners and according to the Custom of the Countrey chopt off all their Heads onely he kept Alphonso Prisoner being his Cousin and would not suffer him to depart from him The King by this overthrow provoked more than ever to take revenge raised in the following Year so great a Force that he doubted not therewith to over-run the whole Earldom at once Of this Army consisting of almost all the Nobility together with three or four hundred Moulatto's the Duke of Bamba was made General and therewith drew near to the Borders of Songo but was unawares fall'n upon by an Ambuscade out of the Wood Emtinda Guola on the last of July and his Army not onely totally defeated A third Overthrow but the Duke himself necessitated to yield to the Earl some Places and Countreys The Duke of Bamba taken Prisoner before wrested from him for the release of Prince Alphonso his Son Who was no sooner come home in safety but the Congo's inclin'd to the old revenge and not being able to digest the disgrace began new Quarrels which quickly broke forth into a great flame During this War the King sent Ambassadors with Letters to Brazile to Grave Maurice Ambassadors sent both from Congo and Songo to Brazile who had the Government of that Countrey for the States of Holland together with many Slaves for a Present to the Council and two hundred more with a Gold Chain to Grave Maurice himself Not long after their arrival came thither also three Ambassadors from the Earl one of which was Shipt from thence to Holland to the States the two other required of Grave Maurice that he would give no Assistance to the King of Congo which in some manner he hearkned to and to that end wrote Letters to their Governors in Congo and Angola not to intermeddle in the Wars of these two Princes for that they were both in League with the Hollanders Afterwards the King and the Duke of Bamba the second time sent Ambassadors to Grave
a little Meat a Slave was given at that time worth at least ten Crowns nay more thousands sold themselves for Slaves to the Portuguese of the Island of St. Thomas to preserve themselves from starving amongst which were some of the Royal Blood and many of the chief Lords The Congo's King finding himself too weak to withstand his Enemies by the Counsel of the Portuguese sent an Agent to Don Sebastian then King of Portugal praying his Aid who immediately sent him a Supply by Shipping of six hundred Soldiers In which Expedition many Nobles and Reformado's put themselves into the Service under the Command of Don Francis de Govea a Man who had often been in Asia and Africa who after a fortunate Voyage arriving at St. Thomas Isle where by Order they put in for Recruits of Ammunition and to Victual and refresh they went over to Congo and Landed at Horse-Island where the King of Congo then had his abode where the General having received new Supplies of Portuguese and Congo's went over to the Main Land and Fought the Jages beating them in divers Battels insomuch that Alvarez after a year and a halfs exile was restor'd to his Realm The King being thus re-setled in his Throne required for the establishing of the Christian Religion that Priests might be sent thither and as an acknowledgment of this Aid and Assistance he obliged himself by a Written Obligation to send yearly a Present of Slaves and withall to own him as his Lord The King of Portugal refused the same modestly returning That he acknowledged the King of Congo for his Brother at Arms but answer'd his Desire for establishing the Christian Religion At length after four years the General departed onely leaving behind many Portuguese as a Guard to secure the Peace of Congo for the future Thus far we have proceeded in the Affairs of Congo But Eastward of Lovango and North-east of Goy and Cakongo lie divers unknown Countreys as Bokke or Bukkemeale Ukango Sondy Pombo Fungeno Makoko Girituma Combo d' Okango Amboille of which we shall give you some particulars The TERRITORY of BOKKE or BUKKE-MEALE THis Territory whose Inhabitants are Jages lieth according to supposition about a hundred Leagues up in the Countrey to the North-East of Lovango for the Blacks which go thither to Trade are three moneths in their journey going and coming Out of this Countrey cometh most of the Elephants Teeth which the Mouirisen of Lovango buy of the Jages who go higher up in the Countrey to buy them of a sort of little people call'd Mimos who are under the great Makoko's Command and live in the Desarts The Jages report that these Dwarf-like Race can by Enchantment make themselves invisible and so kill or shoot the Elephants whose flesh they eat and sell their Teeth to the Jages which barter the same with the Mouirisen for Salt carry'd from Lovango by Slaves in Matteten or Bakets upon their heads But here we must take notice that all the Teeth which the Mimo's bring are not of Elephants which they Shoot but many are of those which die naturally and are found in the Woods and therefore look of a decay'd colour as if they were rotten The Inhabitants of Bokke-Meale are subject to the Command of the King of Lovango pay him Tribute and serve him in the Wars Government Between Lovango and Bokke-Meale lieth a desolate place full of great Woods six or seven days journey and without other Inhabitants than Elephants Tygers Wolves and such like wild Beasts The Countrey of OKANGO OKango a large and mighty Territory lieth to the East of Kongo Okongo The Inhabitants file their Teeth sharp and lead an idle and shirking life neither able to endure labour or hardship and therefore contemptible among their neighbors and strangers In this Countrey they make Clothes of the Bark of Trees some with Flowers and others without which they send to other Countreys in exchange for such things as they want and submit to the Commands of a Sovasen whom they entitle Mani The Territories of CONDE or POMBO de OKANGO ABout a hundred and fifty-miles North-East from the Dukedom of Batta you come to a Countrey call'd Congo or Pombo de Okango water'd by the swift and deep River Coango which looseth its course by running into the River Zaire The Natives aver that there are found Eastward of the River Coango a white People with long Hair though not so fair as the Europeans THE KINGDOM OF FUNGENO THis Jurisdiction of Fungeno is tributary and subject to the great Makoko The Kingdom of Fungeno and lies between the River Zaire and Coango Eastwards of Konde or Pombo d' Okango The Portuguese Trade here for few Slaves chiefly with a sort of small Pans or Clouts made of the Pith or Bark of the Matombe-Tree pull'd out long-ways These Clouts the Portuguese always us'd at Lovando in stead of Money and every thing may be had in the Markets for them nor do the Portuguese make a small gain out of them The Trade of the Portuguese limits not it self to these people onely but extends further to the Dominion of Nimeamay lying to the South-East of Makoko who travel from their own Countrey thither without any fear or hazard in regard the Kings of Nimeamay and Makoko hold a friendly correspondence and firm league of amity with each other THE KINGDOM OF MAKOKO MAkoko a potent and large Jurisdiction lieth Northward of Zaire behind Congo above two hundred or as others two hundred and fifty Spanish miles from Lovango or Congo The Inhabitants bear one general name of Monsoles or Metica's being also Anthropophagi or Men-eaters like the Jages or rather indeed the right Jages The eminentest place of this Kingdom known to the Whites is Monsol seated about two hundred miles from the Sea-shore This King hath the repute of greater puissance than he of Congo as having ten other Kings Tributary to him This King keeps constantly within appointed places in his Court two hundred Slaves of which part are given him yearly for Tribute and part condemn'd persons all fed by their keepers like stall'd Oxen or fatted Sheep and Hogs being the store to supply the King and his Courtiers with choice Provision for whose use slain and their flesh serv'd up as a delicate Morsel for they eat it rather out of a devilish wantonness than necessity for that almost all sorts of Cattel breed there in infinite multitudes neither is the Land wanting of any other product fit for humane Food In Monsol is kept a great Market of Slaves Trade whither the Portuguese of Lovango send their Pomberoes with Merchandizes which sometimes tarry out a year or two when at last having bought some Slaves Elephants Teeth and Copper they make the new-bought Slaves to carry all on their heads to Lovango so that they are at no charges to bring their biggest Teeth or Copper out of the Countrey The King according to his manner keeps in great State
are divided into fifteen or sixteen Clans each about a quarter of an hours Journey asunder yet all comprehended within the Walls of four hundred and fifty Houses Every Division or Clan consisting either of thirty six and thirty forty or fifty Houses more or less all set round together and a little distance one from another They possess Flocks of goodly Cattel well near an hundred thousand and above two hundred thousand Sheep which have no Wooll but long curl'd Hair They are all under one Prince or King They are under one King entituled Coehque who dwells about fifty Miles from the Cape and for his better ease appoints under him a Deputy or Viceroy The Coehque who Reign'd in the Year Sixteen hundred sixty one was nam'd Oldasoa his Viceroy Gonnomoa and the Third Person in the Kingdom Coucosoa Gonnomoa was exceedingly black beyond all others of his own People a gross and heavy-bodied Man having three Wives and by them many Children whereas the King himself who deceas'd in the Year Sixteen hundred sixty one of a languishing and painful Disease never had more than one This Prince was a Person handsom-bodied well-set very courteous and much bewail'd by his Subjects He left behind him his onely Daughter nam'd Mamis handsom and very comely of feature but Camoisie-nos'd as all the Blacks in general are Great and Little CARIGURIQUAS or HOSAAS THese lie most in the Valleys Great and Little Cariguriqua's boasting of nothing but very fair Cattel whereof exceeding choice and careful because they have nothing else in the dry time of Summer to live upon If you go farther up into the Countrey you come to the Chainouquas Cabonas Sanquas Namaquas Heusaquaes and Hancumquas CHAINOUQUA'S THe Chainouquas at present live three Moneths Journey into the Countrey Chainouqua's with their Families Retinue Wife Children and Cattel according to the report of the other wild Natives very near the Cobonas being not above four hundred Men but rich in Cattel Their Prince They are under a Prince call'd Sousoa an old Man had two Wives but both dead and hath a Son nam'd Goeboe whose right Leg broken in pieces by an Elephant is wholly useless to him Upon every Remove he rides upon an Ox and must be lift up and down His Clothing is a fine Leopards Skin with the spotted side turn'd inwards and the ill-favour'd fleshy side well liquor'd with Grease according to the manner of the Countrey outwards CABONA'S THe Cabona's are a very black People Cabona's with Hair that hangs down their Backs to the Ground These are such inhumane Cannibals that if they can get any Men Cannibals they broyl them alive and eat them up They have some Cattel and plant Calbasses with which they sustain themselves They have by report of the Hottentots rare Portraitures which they find in the Mountains and other Rarities But by reason of their distance and barbarous qualities the Whites have never had any converse with them In the Year Sixteen hundred fifty nine one of the Chainouquas call'd Chaihantimo went into the Cabonas Countrey and with the help of the People took and brought thence one of their Women whom he made his Wife The Netherlanders stirred up with a desire to see this strange sort of People desired Chaihantimo that he would order this Woman to come to the Fort of Good Hope whereto upon promise of a Requital he consented and sent some of his People to fetch and tell her That her new-married Husband would desire her to come to a People call'd Dutchmen who wore a great many Clothes such as neither she nor any of her Nation had ever seen This Woman partly out of obedience to her Husband and partly for Novelty to see Strangers after two days preparation drest in her best Apparel came thither under the Conduct of thirty or forty Chainouquas for an Aid and Guard against the Cockoquas with whom the Chainouquas were at that time in War But after some days travelling she was set upon in a great Wood and kill'd and her People put to flight who hasted to the Cape to Chaihantimo to carry him News of this sad misfortune whereupon he immediately withdrew to his own Countrey to revenge himself by force of Arms for this Injury SONQUA'S THe Sonqua's live in a very high Mountain and though little in Stature Sonquas yet defend themselves by their Numbers wherein they exceed their Neighbors They have no Cattel but live by their Bowes and Arrows Maintain themselves by Hunting which they handle very expertly in shooting Badgers that shelter under the Rocks and in the heat of the day come forth and play rowling in the Sand and also by hunting other Beasts especially wild Horses and Mules The Horses have very plump and round Buttocks all over striped with Yellow Black Red and Sky-colour but the Mules are only strip'd with White and Chesnut-colour The Sonqua's in the Year Sixteen hundred sixty two brought one of the Skins to the Cape of Good Hope which the Netherlanders bought for Tobacco and having stuffed it with Hay hung it up in the first Court of the Fort to be seen by all that came thither in the Ships as a Rarity The Badgers Flesh affords them an acceptable Food Food for upon that and Roots they chiefly live They are great Robbers and Thieves stealing from their Neighbors all the Cattel they can lay hands on and driving the same into the Mountains hide themselves and Prey about without possibility of discovery Their Houses are onely interwoven Boughs Houses cover'd with Broom and those numerous by reason they never pull them down but still build up new They wear onely Lappets made of the Skins of Wild Beasts sew'd together Clothes The Women have against the heat and burning of the Sun-beams a Quitazel or Fan of Ostrich-Feathers made fast round about their Heads NAMAQUAS THe Namaqua's live about eighty or ninety Dutch Miles East-North-East from the Cape of Good Hope Namaqua's to whom in the year Sixteen hundred sixty one the Governor of the Fort sent thirteen Netherlanders to inquire if no Gold Netherlanders sent to the Namaqua's to find out gold or any other Rarities were to be had amongst them who upon their arrival were entertain'd with signs of great Friendship and presented with Sheep and as a further manifestation of kindness they were welcomed with rare Musick of about an hundred Musitians in Consort which stood all in a Ring every one with a Reed in his hand but of an unequal length in the middle of whom stood a Man that kept Time which yielded a pleasant Sound like our Trumpets After the ending of this Musick which continu'd two or three hours upon the intreaty of the King they went into his House and were treated with Milk and Mutton On the other side the Netherlanders presented the King with some Copper Beads Brandy and Tobacco which they accepted kindly
they lay him naked upon the earth and cruelly beat him with a Rope full of knots which punishment the Judges themselves are subject to and the greatest Lords and Magistrates besides the Confiscation of their Estates and Offices If the Judges have any difficult business whereof they can find no proof they give the suspected person the Bark of a Tree cut small in Water and if he can keep that potion without Vomiting they clear him otherwise they condemn him to death These People are for the most part Pagans they call their chiefest God Maziry that is The Creator of all things They shew great reverence to a certain Maid call'd Peru in whose honor they shut up their Daughters in Cloysters as Recluses Moreover Religion they set apart as Sacred some days of the Moon and the Birth of their King but the innumerable number of Erroneous Opinions darkens all the Splendor of their Belief which they should have to God the Creator of Heaven and Earth But the earnest endeavour of the Portuguese Jesuites hath converted many to Christianity and brought them to receive Baptism In the Year Fifteen hundred and sixty the King himself with his Mother and above three hundred Nobles and chiefest Lords of the Realm were Baptiz'd by the hands of the Jesuit call'd Gonzales Sylveyra but afterwards at the instigation of some Mahumetans he was slain by the King's command with the imputation of a Sorcerer but a little time discovering their malice they made satisfaction for his undeserv'd death with the loss of their own Heads The Kingdom of AGAG and DORO with the Territory of TOROKA or BUTUA AMongst the substitute Dominions of Monomotapa are Agag and Doro bordering in the East on the New-Land and in the West at the Kingdom of Takua Toroka or Torea by some call'd Butua or Buttua takes beginning according to Linschot and Pigafet at the Fish-Cape and so to the River Magnice or Sante Esprit having in the South the foot of the Mountains of the Moon and the aforemention'd Cape in the North the River Magnice and in the West the Stream of Bravagull The chiefest Cities are Zenebra and Fatuka In this Countrey far to the In-land on a Plain The building Simbaoe in the middle of many Iron-Mills stands a famous Structure call'd Simbaoe built square like a Castle with hew'n Stone of a wonderful bigness the Walls are more than five and twenty Foot broad but the heighth not answerable above the Gate appears an Inscription which cannot be read or understood nor could any that have seen it know what people us'd such Letters Near this place are more such Buildings call'd by the same name signifying a Court or Palace and for that all the places where the Emperor at any time makes his abode are call'd Simbaoe this Building is guest to be one of the King's Houses The Inhabitants report it a work of the Devil themselves onely Building with Wood and aver that for strength it exceeds the Fort of the Portuguese at the Sea-shore about a hundred and fifty miles from thence The Emperor keeps a Garrison in it as well for the safeguard of the place as of several women he maintains there A little way from the Sea-shore are many beautiful places richly Verdur'd with Grass and stockt with Cattel but destitute of Wood so that the Inhabitants use the dry'd Dung of Beasts for Fuel They have many rich Gold-Mines whereof Boro Gold Mines and Quitici are the names of two lying about a mile and a half from Sofala The Habit of the People is but mean Clothes being onely the rough Skins of Beasts The Wealth of the Countrey besides the beforemention'd Mines Riches consists in Elephants-Teeth whereof they sell infinite numbers and Salt which they send abroad into most parts of Africa to their no small advantage The City Fatuka boasts great abundance of Gold Silver and Pretious-Stones beyond all her neighbors They have a Prince of their own but a Vassal to the Emperor Government his name Buro The Countrey of INHAMBANE and INHAMIOR THis Kingdom lies a little within the Countrey under the Torrid Zone Jarrik lib. 5. c. 9. having for its Metropolis a City call'd Tonge The heat is so great that the people of Europe residing there for Trade are not able to endure it but are discommoded by several strange and troublesome diseases The Inhabitants generally keep to their ancient Idolatry though many by the diligence of the Portugal Jesuites have embrac'd the Christian Religion and in particular as we told you Gonzalves Silveyra in the year Fifteen hundred and sixty Baptiz'd the King and his whole Court The place where the King keeps his Court lieth about half a mile from the Town Sema the residence of many Portuguese The Kingdom of MONOE-MUGI or NIMEAMAYE THe great Kingdom of Monoe-Mugi The borders of the Kingdom of Monoe-Mugi Pigafet lib. 2. c. 9. Conge Jarrik lib. 3. c. 3. or Mohememugi by others call'd Nimeamaye scituate over against Mombaza Quiloa and Melinde hath for Northern borders Abyssinies or Prester-John's Countrey and the Kingdom of the great Makoko in the South Monomotapa and Mosambique in the East Mombaza and Quiloa in the West on the River Nyle on the North-side between that and Prester-John's Countrey lie some small Kingdoms which being weak of Forces sometimes pay Tribute to the King of Monoe-Mugi and sometimes to the Abyssines These Countreys abound with Gold Silver Copper and Elephants The Inhabitants said to be white Skin'd and of bigger stature than the Europeans go naked on the upper part of their bodies Cloathing but over their nether parts wear Silk or Cotton They use also for Ornament Chains or Bracelets of Chymical Stones which glister like Glass and are brought from Cambaye These Beads serve them also in stead of Money Gold being of no value with them This King holds an amicable correspondence with Quiloa Melinde and Mombaza by which means Silks Cotton-Stuffs the aforesaid Beads of Cambaye and many other Commodities are brought into the Countrey and barter'd for Gold Silver Copper and Ivory He liveth also in a League of Peace with the great Makoko whereby from hence some Black Merchants have Converse and Trading with the Portuguese that keep their Markets in the Kingdom of Fungeno as also in Pombo d' Okango At the end of this Kingdom on the East by information of some Black Merchants of the Kingdom of Nimeamaye given to several Portuguese lieth a great Lake out of which many Rivers by them unknown take their Original adding moreover that in this Lake are abundance of Islands inhabited by Blacks and that on the East-side of these Lakes Land may be seen where sometimes they hear the sound of Bells perhaps brought thither by the Abyssines and discern some Buildings which they suppose Churches from this East-side sometime in Boats there came Tauney-Men and by chance Blacks yet the sides of the Lake are possess'd by persons
all other sort of Meat it being a delicate Food pleasant and delightful of taste There are also many excellent Birds with black Feathers and black Flesh either boyl'd or raw yet accounted no unwholsom Food The Haven swarms with Fishes which the Inhabitants call Marraxos and the Portuguese Tintoreas they are very ravenous after Man's-flesh for so soon as they see a Man fall into the Water by chance or go to swim they will immediately catch and devour him The Inhabitants are a mixture of Mestiffs Mahumetans and absolute Heathens yet all subject to the Portuguese The Natives of this Island are black of Complexion The Nature of the Inhatants and low of Stature with short Curl'd Hair like Wool they smell very ranck when grown warm they are by nature barbarous cruel and revengeful but withall timorous Both Sexes go naked Apparel onely the Men have a small Clout before their Privacies and the Women cover their Bodies from their Breasts half way to their Knees with course Cotton-Clothes Their Ornaments consist in three or four Strings of white Omaments green blue and red Beads about their Necks and ten or twelve Copper or Tin Armlets about their Arms. They make holes in their Ears wherein in stead of Pendants they hang pieces of Copper or Lattin cutting and carving the rest of their Skin for an Ornament Their common Food is Fish Food and Rice boyl'd in Water with Honey Their Drink is Palm-Wine and Water and a sort of Liquor call'd Arak made of Rice Their Skiffs Boats or Canoos consists all in one Piece as we often mention'd They speak generaly a kind of broken Arabick Language There are a certain sort of handsom Mats Trade made by the Inhabitants which are sent to Goa The Portuguese drive a smart Trade here with Spanish-Wine Oyl Cotton Skiffs red Beads and such like notwithstanding they have a quick Market at Sena Makuno Sofala Quamma and other places Their Arms are Bowes Armâ— Arrows or Lances but of late they have begun to learn the use of Fire-Arms The Portuguese have many years ago built a Fort supposed the strongest they possess in those Parts consisting of four Bulwarks from whence with their mounted Artillery they can defend and make good the Haven against any ordinary attempts It hath strong and well designed Flankers fortifi'd and surrounded with three double Walls and a broad Trench made about it in the Year Sixteen hundred and thirteen Several vain Onsets have the Dutch made upon this Fort but chiefly in the Year Sixteen hundred and six when after a formal Siege of thirty two days they were compell'd to withdraw first as an effect of their malice having burn'd many Ships Canoos Houses and Churches those two especially of St. Gabriel and St. Domingo beforemention'd Some of the Inhabitants by reason of the Converse and Trade of the Arabians on this Coast are drawn to Mahumetanism others are Christians but the most part of them are Idolaters The Kingdom of QUILOA THe Kingdom of Quiloa derives the Name from an Island Situation Plgaf 2. b. 8. H. lying in eight Degrees and fifty Minutes South-Latitude at the Mouth of the River Kuavo said to spring out of the Lake Zambre and according to Peter Alvarez posited so near the Main Land as if joyn'd to it and hath a stately City by some taken for the Rapta of Ptolomy with lofty Houses after the Spanish fashion all adorn'd with stately Halls Chambers and other Apartments furnished with costly Housholdstuff and accommodated both for Pleasure and Profit with sweet and fertile Gardens There lies on the Main Land of Quiloa another City call'd Old Quiloa Sanut lib. 12. built about six hundred years since by one Haly Son of Hacem King of Cyrus in Persia but yields nothing so delightful a Prospect as that mention'd before This Kingdom before the coming of the Portuguese thither spread it self along the Sea-Coast above a hundred and fifty Dutch miles for he Reigned formerly over Sofalo Quamma Angos and Mozambike but when Francois Dulmanda in the Year One thousand five hundred and five put in for this Coast with the Portuguese Fleet the King though invited to Friendship prepared for a Warlike Defence whereupon seven hundred Portuguese went on Shore who quickly took the City and put him to flight Sanutus saith this Countrey hath such an antipathy to the nature of the Europeans that the Portuguese found themselves necessitated to forsake the same notwithstanding they had built a Fort there and made no doubt but to have been the Masters thereof But later Opinions hold the Air since that to have grown more temperate for that some good and wholsom Fruits have been found growing there Osorius praises it as being water'd with many Fountains so enriching the Soyl that it produces all sorts of Grain and Fruits with little labor especially Maiz Rice Oranges Citrons and Lemons They have great store of Oxen and sheep many Hens Pigeons Beasts Turtle-Doves and several other sorts of unknown Birds divers sorts of wild Beasts in the Woods and on the Sea-shore variety of Fish Some of the Inhabitants draw their Original from Arabia such are brown some black others white Pigafet affirms them to be all white whereas on the contrary Pedro Alvarez maintains them all black Their usual Food is Maiz Rice and other Grains Carrots Food and variety of wild Fruits a fit Diet for such poor People The Merchants and better sort of Men go Habited in Cloth of Gold Apparel Silk or Cotton with Turbants on their Heads The Women wear also stately Apparel with Gold and Silver Chains on the Arms and Legs and costly Pendants in their Ears In brief they go Clothed after the Arabian or rather Turkish Mode They commonly speak Arabick but understand other Languages Language by reason of their Trading with Outlandish Merchants The Riches of the Quiloan Merchants consists in Gold and Silver Riches Ambergreece Pearls and Musk. The Inhabitants are under a peculiar King whom Linschot makes a Vassal or Tributary to the King of Mommugi They are partly Mahumetans Religion and the rest Pagans The Kingdom of Mombaza TO the Northward of Quiloa Borders on the Sea-Coast you come to the Kingdom of Mombaza so call'd from an Island in four Degrees and five Minutes South-Latitude which Sanutus makes in its Circumference to be twelve Italian miles but Jarrik onely a League or thereabouts The City being of the same Name The City Membaza built after the Italian manner bears a considerable bulk being situate on a high Rock The extent of the whole Dominion not very big bordering on one side at the City of Orgaba seated on the Banks of the River Onchit which poures her Waters into the Nyle by the Mountain Amara where the Kingdom of Melinde begins The Turks had formerly thrown up a Fortification at the Shore of this River so that none could come into the City
Complainant be a great Lord then being come at the Palace he winds his Horn to acquaint the Servants of his coming before the King If upon examination he finds both have offended then the least Offender is sent to the Lords of the Justice who punish him corporally by beating with Cudgels but the greatest he condemns in a pecuniary mulct But if onely one great Lord hath committed any offence being brought before the King in his Chamber he is stripped stark naked and laid upon the Ground where upon his humble submission and begging of pardon he receives some blows with a Wand from the King 's own Hand more or less according to the bigness of the Crime After which he takes up his Clothes kisseth the King's Feet and in all humility thanks him for the favor receiv'd then he attends the King into his Hall who forgives him in the presence of all the Court with a Command to do Justice and afterwards goes out of the City in publick with honorable attendance and returns into his Countrey with as great satisfaction as if he had received some great Present When the King travels abroad to view his Concerns he rides upon a Horse richly furnished and going out of the Palace treads over a new-kill'd Deer whereupon all the People give a loud shout and at the same time the Priests inspect the Intrails to know whether his Progress will be prosperous or not When he makes his entrance into any City then all the handsomest Ladies and Maids meet him some singing his praise others carrying and burning Perfumes before him others playing with small Sticks on a Bason and every one striving to recreate and please him When any Native Prince sends an Agent to Treat about some weighty Matters they also kill a Deer which the King steps over thrice the Soothsayer in the interim viewing the Inwards to enquire of the effect that may be produced thereby Some report the Inhabitants of the City Melinde for Heathens Religion others for Mahumetans but Linschot says they are of both sorts among which are many Christians The Mahumetans incline to the Sect of the Emoraydes which disesteeming the Alcaron follow the Doctrine of Zayd the Son of Hoiem The Christians have a strong Congregation as a proof whereof they have erected a great Gilded Marble Cross and have seventeen Churches or Chappels there The Kingdom of Lamo. MOre Northerly lieth the Kingdoms of Lamo or Lamen and Pate but that of Lamo spreads more to the West as bordering upon the River Quilmanzi having in the North Melinde and in the East Pate The chief City Lamo lying a little Northward of the Line hath a good defensive Wall against the Invasion of the In-land People with whom though in War yet as occasion offers Trade together Both King and People are all Mahumetans but pay Tribute to the Portuguese Government to whose Power they submit in all things The Kingdoms of Pate Sian Chelicie and Ampaza THe Kingdom of Pate extends all along the Sea-Coast on both sides the Bay in Portuguese call'd Baya Formosa and the City is handsom and large and hath a good Haven The Jurisdictions of Sian Chelicie and Ampaza neighbor it on all sides having indeed peculiar Lords of their own but so inconsiderable that their whole Strength cannot defend them from being miserable Slaves to the Portuguese they Lording over them nor can the greatness of the Turks to whose Protection they sometimes flye give them either a Relief or Relaxation The Portuguese have a Castle at Pate and another between that and Sian call'd Mondra But because the Mahumetans shewed themselves unwilling to pay Tribute and began to raise some Mutinies and Disturbances the Portuguese Admiral Thomas Sousa in the Year Fifteen hundred eighty nine pull'd it down to the Ground And Alphonso de Mello laid waste the City of Ampaza in Fifteen hundred eighty seven for the like Rebellion yet the King after he had made Peace with the Portuguese remain'd in the ruin'd City The Countrey of Ajan THe Countrey of Ajan or Axam as the Arabians call it according to the testimony of Marmol or rather Habaxa or Habex some take for the antient Trogloditica extending along the Shore of the Arabian and Avalitian Gulf to the Mountain Elefas Fellos This Countrey hath for Borders in the South the great Arm of the River Quilmanzi and the last described Kingdoms in the North Abyssynie or Prester-Johns Countrey and the Straights of Mecha in the West the Mountains out of which the River Quilmanzi shoots and also the same River with part of Abyssinie and in the East the Ocean It concludes within its compass from the South to the North the Republick of Brava the Kingdoms of Madagaxo Adea or Adel and some other more unknown Places This Countrey affords plenty of all Necessaries for the preservation of Man's life but most famous for a Breed of good Horses From the River Quilmanzi they extract Gold The People living at the Sea-shore are most of them Whites but those in the Countrey Cole-black with whom the Beduines a white People commixing produce Mulatto-Children neither perfectly white nor absolutely black These Beduines live a toylsom and beastial life ranging along the Shore of the River lodging under the open Canopy of Heaven and maintaining themselves by Robbing and Stealing The Inhabitants of this Countrey maintain a continual War against the People of Abyssinie and sell all those they take Prisoners to the Arabians living beyond the Red-Sea in Asia The Merchants of Kambaye Aden and all the Arabians come into the Haven of Ajan to Traffick carrying thither all sorts of colour'd Stuffs and Cloth with Glass-Beads and other Commodities From Ormus they bring Raisins and Dates which they exchange in the Havens of Zoila and Barbore for Gold Ivory and Slaves The People inhabiting this Coast are all Mussulines but those farther into the Countrey are Emoraides otherwise call'd Beduinen a sort of Mahumetan Sectaries The City and Republick of Brava BEyond Quilmanzi at the Coast of Ajan not far from the Sea-shore in ten Degrees and thirty Minutes North-Latitude lieth the City Brava surrounded with strong Walls and full of stately Houses built after the Moorish fashion It is a Place of great Trade and hath abundance of Gold and Silver The Inhabitants pay yearly a Tribute of five hundred Metigals of Gold to the Portuguese every Metigal reckon'd worth a Ducket and a third part of one We may read in Texcira that on the Coast of Zanguebar near Brava was a piece of Ambergreece found so big that one standing at one side of it could not see a Camel on the other side This is the onely Republick of Africa being Govern'd by twelve Xeques Government chosen by the antientest People out of the Family of the Brothers aforemention'd who to escape the Persecution and Tyranny of the Kings of Lakah Religion fled out of Arabia Felix hither where they still retain the Mahumetanism which
their Ancestors brought with them Madagaxo or Magodoxo AS you Travel more Northerly towards the Red-Sea you come to the Kingdom of Magadaxo which hath been formerly so powerful that all the Mahumetans on this Coast were subject to it The Countrey spreads it self according to Urette betwixt ninety and a hundred Leagues in breadth but he seems to include therein the Kingdom of Adea This Territory produces great abundance of Barley with variety of Fruits and feeds huge Droves of Horses and other Cattel Some of the Inhabitants are brown some black and some white yet notwithstanding this difference of complexion they agree in Language all speaking Arabick The Head City Madagaxo hath gain'd the repute of great Wealth by the Trade of the Kambayan and Aden Merchants bringing thither all sorts of Clothes Drugs and Spices and receiving from thence in Barter Gold Ivory and Wax They use in their Wars no other Arms but poyson'd Arrows The Kingdom of Adea THe Kingdom of Adea begins in the middle of Adel on the Main Land Borders bordering in the South at Madagaxo in the West at Oyja belonging to Abyssinie in the North at Adel and Eastward border'd with the Indian-Sea The most famous Place of this Realm hath the Name Barraboa that is The good Shore though it be somewhat distant from the Sea and in passing to it you go up against the Stream in a Skiff by an Arm of the River Oby or Quilmanzi The Dominion of Granze comes next having for Limits the Kingdom of Oyja Xoa and Gorage then Barra Maa which is Bad Shore because no Ships can come near it At last upon the Skirts of this Realm you find a Place call'd Ogabra Ograbra This Countrey hath many great Woods insomuch that the Inhabitants are forced to cut down the Trees to make the Ways Nature hath served them with a plentiful hand so that they want no Provision having extraordinary Herds of Cattel They have a peculiar Mahumetan Prince Government but dependent upon the Abyssine Emperor to whom he pays Tribute The Inhabitants in general are zealous of Mahomet's Superstition Religion but those of Granze are partly Idolaters and partly Christians Adel or Zeila THe Kingdom of Adel Borders so call'd by the Portuguese but by the Natives Zeila lying at the Sea-shore borders in the North at the Beglierbeyat or Provinces of the Bassa of Suaquen near the Straits of Meche in the South at Adea in the West upon Fatigar in Abyssinie and in the East at the Indian Sea Pigafet makes the Southermost Places of this Kingdom to be Meth and Barbosa together with a part of the Arabian Gulf and the Cape of Guardafu It extends in length from Zeila to the Cape of Guardafu Bigness along the Sea-coast seventy two Miles and from Guardafu along the Eastern Coast about eight and forty but in breadth fifty six The Chief City of this Kingdom is Ara situate in nine Degrees North Latitude by some call'd Arika Gurrele but by Marmol Arat who places the same eighteen Miles from Zeila he settles also here the Royal City Adel and the Towns Orgabra Migiate Sequeta Bali Mautra Doara Komizara Novecara and Soceli On the Sea-coast Pigafet tells of a small Place nam'd Asuin or Affion well stored with Provision but wanting a Haven and so consequently little frequented by Merchants Then follows the Cape of Guardafu or Guardafuy by many taken for the Aromata of Ptolomy lying in twelve Degrees and a half North Latitude and very famous because the Easterly Coast of Africa ends there It lies almost at the entrance of the Arabian Gulf so that the Ships which come out of India and will go to Aden and Ziden or to Zeila and Barbara Sail close by it On the Coast of Adel appears a Place call'd Salie which Sanutus takes for that which Ptolomy denominates Mosilon Next to Salir follows Barbara and Meth the first lieth to the North on the Shore of the Red Sea eleven Miles from the City Zeila the latter according to Sanutus a small City Afterwards cometh Zeila one of the best Places on this Coast being in eleven Degrees and twenty Minutes North Latitude six and twenty Miles saith Marmol from the Straits of Meche This City though built on a low and Sandy Ground boasts not onely a large Extent but a very convenient Haven for Ships It stands within the Kingdom of Adel in the Province Baragian which includes the two other small Jurisdictions of Dalacha and Malacha all under the Obedience of the Turks The Houses in Zeila are built of Stone and the Streets curiously Pav'd and daily frequented with Swarms of People The In-land Countreys of Adel lie even and plain The nature of the Soil onely here and there some easie and pleasant Ascents The Plains yield plentiful Returns to the Labouring and Industrious Husbandman answering his Expectation in the abundant Product both of Plants and Beasts having withal the River Haoax which takes its original out of that vast Range of Mountains on the Borders of Xaoa and Ogge and feeds the lesser Stream of Mach with Water Some have not stuck to aver it to be little inferior to the Nile but nothing near so long because it overflows not above six thousand Paces Neither doth it reach how full of Water so ever it be to the Sea but is quite drank up by the dry and thirsty Earth before it cometh so far The City Zeila hath no fresh Water within two days Journey nor other Ground than Sand but the Fields at further distance afford such Plenty of all things that out of this Haven and that of Barbara on the same Coast Ships Transport Provisions to feed Adom and Ziden especially Corn Beans Barley and Oyl not press'd out of Olives but extracted from the Seed of a Plant call'd Zerzelin or Gerzeluin or Grugioline but indeed no other than Sesamos Beasts breeding here are Sheep of two sorts Beasts one with Tails of twenty five pound weight black Necks and Heads and the remainder of their Bodies white the other quite white with Tails as long as a Mans Arm and crooked as a Vine-Branch Some of their Cows have Horns like a Stag black Hair and wilde others are red but with one Horn on their Foreheads of a Span and a half long but turning backwards The Inhabitants as far as Barbara are Olivaster-colour'd Nature of the Inhabitants but from thence more to the North about Zeila and Barrazan they grow much blacker naturally quarrelsom and apt to make Wars upon any trivial occasion They go cover'd from their Navel to their Knees with Cotton but the upper part of their Bodies remain naked onely Persons of Quality wear Coats which in Arabick they call Bernuz This Dominion possesses much Gold and Ivory besides such a liberal Provision of Victuals that they feed their Neighbors of several other Countreys They vend also Clothes Myrrhe Pepper and Slaves The Merchants of Cambaya and
in former times the Red-Sea overflow'd all Egypt and by its Water took away the colour from the green springing Soyl but after the Water began to fall away and lessen it remain'd at length with so little moisture that the Sun-beams which shine down in that place with very great power make a reflexion of the red Sand from the bottom which seeming to give a tincture to the Water from its ruddiness gave the occasion of denominating it the Red-Sea though Pliny will have it from a King who Reigned here and in Greek was call'd Erithreos that is Red. To this Opinion inclin'd Pomponius Mela Aristotle and others But Quintus Curtius is of a contrary Judgment maintaining that this Sea was call'd the Red-Sea from the Egyptians who were drown'd in it when they pursu'd the Israelites in the Year after the Creation Two thousand three hundred fifty and four according to the computation of Michael Zapuler in his Description of the Holy Land Johannes de Castro formerly Vice-Roy to the King of Portugal in the Indies affirms that the red colour of this Sea ariseth from the great quantity of Corral growing at the bottom Others that the Rivers which pour into this in the midst of Winter having flow'd through Countreys of a red colour'd Earth make the Water seem red and consequently gave it the Name Certain it is that all the Water is like that in the great Sea and saltish In this Sea befell the Miracle which the holy Scriptures mention when Moses with his Rod commanded a Way for the passage of the Israelites to the number of six hundred thousand Men Women and Children not reckon'd and wherein Pharaoh in pursuit of them as he supposed flying twelve thousand Foot-Soldiers and fifty thousand Horsemen were swallow'd In this Sea are many strange and remarkable things as Trees growing Branches of Corral Mushroms Meremaids flying Fishes and other wondrous Creatures But how great diligence soever they have used none could ever take any of them although common and at all times seen along the Coast for the Egyptians believe that they and theirs by the killing such a Creature should die within a year as they say they have found by experience And out of that conceit when in the Year Sixteen hundred thirty one one was taken alive in the Nyle by the City Rosetta the Bey or Governor of the City commanded it presently to be put into the Water again though a Venetian had bought it for five and twenty Piasters and rather than incur the hazard return'd him his Money Gaspar de San Bernardino in his Journey to the Indies by Land saith the Entrances into the Red-Sea lie in twelve Degrees and forty Minutes being no other than two Points of Land one on Africa side call'd Rosbel and the other on the Coast of Arabia lying right over against it nam'd Ara. In the midst of the Passage lieth the Island Mium between which and the Main Land of Asia runneth a Channel nine or ten Yards deep and a large League broad as another on Africa side shoots down to the depth of sixteen Yards but useless because it hath no convenient Haven for Ships and many dangerous Shelves and Banks From this Port inwards the Sea widens all along till towards the end where it grows narrower and narrower the broadest part is not above thirty Leagues or Spanish Miles Petrus della Valla a Noble-man of Rome in the second Part of his Travels describes the Red-Sea as followeth In some places of the Red-Sea unpassable for its shallowness they gather up a finer sort of Corral than the common especially useful to be set in deep Caves and Grotts because it represents perfectly the shapes of little Trees with great delight to the Eyes of curious beholders In these Vegetables many times by varying colours or transparency Nature plays and sports it self with great curiosity The Inhabitants of these Parts pass this Sea in little Barques made of Planks joyn'd together not with Nails but certain Pitcht Towe Many Commodities are brought in these Boats to Cairo which the Proprietors take in pieces afterwards and sell the Planks at dear Rates and then return home by Land to their Houses This way of building Boats without Iron-Nails seems to be no Novelty considering Strabo the Geographer many Ages since speaks of Leather-Boats used by the Arabians for pastime in the Red-Sea As also of some other made of Osiers and Brush-wood with which the Egyptians passed over the Nyle I somewhat marvel'd says the foremention'd Petrus della Valla at the Name this Sea beareth for that it is not as the Black-Sea which is so call'd from the blackness or muddiness of the Water For the Water of this is so clear and pure that Men may see to the bottom and shews afar off like other Seas The Sand is also like that of other Seas so that it hath borrow'd its Name no otherwise than from the King Erithreos who as Strabo saith lieth buried in an Island of the South-Sea and hath given the Name of Red to the whole and not onely to the Arabian Gulf but whether so or no we will not dispute but content our selves that the holy Scriptures calleth it so in several places Upper-Ethiopia Or the EMPIRE of ABYSSINE Otherwise call'd PRESTER-JOHN'S-COUNTREY AByssine Name otherwise Prester-John's Countrey is by Marmol call'd The Kingdom of the Abixins or Abexin or rather Abassia or Abaxia and Habas or Elhabas as the Coast of the Red-Sea the Coast of Abex The name Abyssine derives its Original either from the Inhabitants by the Arabians call'd Abassi or Habasschi and by adding the Arabian Particle El comes to Elhabashi as that by the alteration of the guttural Letters makes Abassinia and Abyssines or from the people Abassenos which divers of the Antients among whom Stephanus in his Book of the Cities Davity placeth in Arabia Felix supposing they came from Africa over thither Some imagine that they took denomination from a Territory of Ethiopia nam'd Abyssi lying under the Jurisdiction of Prester-John under that Title including Ethiopia below Egypt mention'd by Ptolomy Terra Cinnamomifera or The Cinnamon Land of the Antients a great part of the Troglodytian Arabia with some of Libya AETHIOPIA SUPERIOR vel INTERIOR vulgo ABISSINORUM sive PRESBITERIIOANNIS IMPERIOR Notwithstanding all these losses and dismembrings the common Vogue stretches it to that vast magnitude as makes it exceed all Europe having in circumference above seventeen hundred Dutch and according to Pigafet four thousand Spanish miles but we dare be bold to aver that at this day it doth not exceed Spain alone in bigness and that in Africa are many other Kings which possess many more Kingdoms and are of greater power than this so much famed Abyssine To reduce then this unsettlement to some certainty Bigness the length taken from Egypt or rather from Bugia and Nubia to the Kingdom of Monomotapa Pigafet reckons to five hundred and Cluverius to five
hundred and eighty Dutch Miles and the breadth between the Mouth of the Arabian Sea and the River Niger to four hundred and fifty but in truth the length both of Old and New Abyssine from East to West that is from the Mouth of the Arabian Sea to the Kingdom of Goiame a hundred and sixty Miles and the greatest breadth from the Territory of Alaba to Magazan or to the United Stream of the Nyle and the River Takazu that is from the eighth to the sixteenth degree of North-Latitude about a hundred and twenty miles And in this Point Joannes Barros a Portuguese seems to come nearest the truth when he gives in circumference six hundred seventy two Portuguese miles or five hundred and four Dutch The antient borders of this Kingdom some have plac'd in the North at Bughia or Fungia where it touches also on Egypt and Nubia in the West Antient Borders upon the same Nubia the Countries of Canfila Danfila and the Island Meroe the Kingdom of Medra Part of Negroland Congo and according to Marmol the Countrey of the Jews within Negroland next that of the Amozones or Maoviste das Sugetes that is The Kingdom of Women bordering of Sanutus hit right upon the Kingdom of Damout in the South the Empire of Benomotapa and as Pigafet adds Monemugi in the East the Countrey of Zanguebar and Ajan the Kingdom of Adel and others with the Arabian Gulf where at this time Prester-John doth not possess so much as one Haven But here we must observe that in this great Roll of Kingdoms are many Countreys found which do not acknowledge the Emperor of Abyssine but are onely nam'd to shew the length and to distinguish the borders more plainly Philippus Cluverius sets down almost the same boundaries that is in the East the Red-Sea with the Kingdom of Ajan and Zanguebar in the South Monomotapa in the West the Kingdom of Congo and Medar and in the North Nubia and Egypt The antient state of the Abissines according to the relation of Jarrik and Godignus compriz'd six and twenty several Kingdoms and fourteen great Territories The Kingdoms were Tigre or Tigrai Dankali Angole Boa or Noa Amara or Ammara Dambeo or Bambia or Dembea Ankaguccele Adel Dabali Oecce Ario Fatigar Zengao Rozanegus Goyame Narca Feth Koncho Mahaola Goroam Danimt or Damut Dari Damut Adaro and Faskalon The fourteen Territories being not Kingdoms are Dubane a member of Tigre Xuncho in the same Realm bordering at that of Dankali Daraita by the Kingdom of Angote Bora between Tigre and Bagamedri Calara or Calaoa near Boga Aga Arim near the Kingdom of Dahali Arbo Xankala close by the Kingdom of Zingere Xacoxa or Xankora Ambyamo by Zanut according to Peter Davitu call'd Angona Bergamo near to the other Aris on the other side of the Nile and last follows Gara lying above Aris. Balthazar Tellez reckons the Kingdoms and Territories formerly subject to Abyssine and at this day cut off from it to be Angote Doaro Ogge Balli Adea Alemale Oxelo Ganz Betezamora Guraque Buzama Sugamo Balargamo Kambate Doxa Gumar Konch Damut Mota Aura Holeka Oifate Guedom Gangk Maralet Manz Bizamo But this Kingdom hath receiv'd such diminutions by the Turks and Gala's that Prester-John at this day enjoys onely six great and ten small Provinces The great are Tigre Dambea Bagamedce Gogamo Amahara Narea and a part of Xaoa The lesser are Magaza Salemt Ogara Abargele Holkait Sagueda Semen Salao Ozeka and Dobai Hereby it may plainly be observ'd into how narrow a compass the Dominions of Prester-John are circumscrib'd from what Antiquity relates which we may believe they did but guess at We will therefore first describe the aforemention'd six Kingdoms yet remaining entire to Prester-John and afterwards those of the antient Abyssine partly to agree with the Antients in the matter of Beasts Plants and Customs and partly to survey the whole Circumference both of the Old and New Dominion Tigre The Kingdom of Tigre then otherwise call'd Tigrai and Tigremahon and by Francis Alvarez call'd Azen lies the most Easterly being eminentest biggest and best part of the whole and takes beginning according to Balthazar Tellez by the Island Makua or Mazua at the Red-Sea close by the Haven Arquiko spreading ten or twelve miles to the Haven of Dafalo Alvares Sanutus or as others shooting Northward close by Egypt Bugu or Nubie and Westerly to Dankali containing in length ninety and in breadth fifty Spanish miles This Kingdom comprizeth seventeen several Provinces Davity the most Northern of which lying at Egypt they call Barnagas or Barbarnagas which Alvarez Sanutus and others make a peculiar Dominion because govern'd by a peculiar Lieutenant of the King 's though in truth Barnagas is a part of Tigre and signifies Lord of the Sea Bar denoting the Sea in that Countrey Language and Nagas Lord. Barnagas includes according to Tellez three small Lordships of which Debaroa or Doubaroa so call'd by the Abyssines and by Maffe and Sanutus Boroa or Barvan is the chief wherein is a small City but curiously built and populous seated by the River Mareb on a pleasant and fruitful Mountain Some have taken it for the Colove of Ptolomy and Colve of Arnian and by others for the great Primis or Premnis Alvarez and Sanutus give Barnagas in the North for borders the Countrey of Bugie and Nubie in the West the Nile in the South the River Mareb with some neighboring Mountains over-looking Tigremahon and in the East the Red-Sea The same Alvarez and Sanutus place in Barnagas the Regions of Canfila and Dafila and therein a place nam'd Emacen a day and a halfs journey from Dabaroa and thirty miles from Suaquen Formerly this Province comprehended Suaquen the Island Mazua the Haven Arquiko and Dalakka But the Turks and Moors have many years ago dispossess'd the Abyssines thereof The same Writers further adds to Barnagas Cire Ximeta and Arrazie a Dominion of great consequence St. Michael d' Joco a famous Cloyster four miles from Arquiko and the Cloyster of Bizan five Besides the chiefest Palaces of the Kings and two or three Churches one of St. Michael and the other of St. Peter and Paul about which Maffe assigns some Villages and Hamlets as Camarva and Barra c. Lastly Barnagas takes in the Jurisdiction of Bur or Burro formerly the Kingdom of the Queen Candace Next Barnagas Sanutus sets Tigremahon to which he assigns for borders in the North the River Marabo in the West the Nile in the South Angote in the East the Red-Sea Then follows the Dominion of Cire and by the Red-Sea Amasen or Agamea inhabiting by a people not under Prester-John's Jurisdiction Arxa formerly a great City where they say the Queen of Sheba kept her Court and indeed the remaining Ruines do manifest an Antique Grandeur The other places are the City Tigre or Auzen the Metropolis of the Realm the Garrison of Gileitor Amba Salalam Saet Cora forty or fifty Portuguese miles
from Makua Southwardly Fremone or Framone otherwise Maegoga in fifteen degrees and a half South-Latitude the usual Habitation of the European Christians and Jesuites The rest of the most remarkable places are Caxumo or Chaxumo or Accum perhaps the Auxum of Ptolomy or Axomites of Anian by some taken for the Courtly residence of the Queen of Sheba to whom Solomon as they say gave a visit in Egypt where are seventeen stately Pyramides and three famous Churches one of St. Michael one of Abba Likanos and one of Abba Pantaleon Northward of Caxuma lies the Lordship of Tarrete wherein stands two Cloysters one great one call'd Alleluja and the other Abbagarima famous for the abode of the Jesuites together with Angeba beautifi'd with a Royal Palace wherein none may have their abode but the King's Lieutenant Somewhat more Westerly appears the Kingdom of Dambea or Dembea The Kingdom of Dambea bordering in the West upon Goyan in the North upon Fungie and in the East on Bagameder Several Arms of the Nile cut it almost in the midst and in the very Center lies the great Lake Bar-dambea The head-City according to Jarrik hath the same name with the Kingdom yet others call it Zambia or Zamba where Prester-John keeps his Court from October to Easter Pigafet calls the principal City Belmachu and sets other Towns by the Shore of this Lake as Atsana Goga Fogora Anfras Ganetas Jesessus Old-Gorgora New-Gorgora and many others Bagameder or Begamedry a peculiar Kingdom according to Sanutus The Kingdom of Bagameder and Tellez though others would make it a part of Tigre or Tigremahon borders Eastwardly at Angote and from thence running South touches upon Amahara near the River Baxila that hastens there to contribute his Streams to the increase of the Nile The length from the City Sart the utmost limit of Tigre amounts to Sixty Portuguese miles and in breadth to near twenty Sanutus esteems Bagameder one of the greatest Dominions of Abyssine beginning it in the South by Goyame and so ending upon Amara Angote Tigre and Barnagas a Tract of a hundred and twenty Miles to the Island Moroe The Head-City Bagamedry Davity scituate on a delightful Plain at the River Suama by some call'd The Imperial City because the substitute King of Tigre after the receipt of the first Crown on the place where chosen takes the second there as the third out of the hands of the Emperor himself which Ceremony hath been used ever since Abibliakane or Dabba Likanos who liv'd in this City in a Cave with so great repute of sanctity that the King which then Raign'd would receive his Crown by the hands of this Saint and all the Kings of Tigre come there to receive the second Crown Southward of Damben The Kingdom of Goiam you arrive at Goiam or Goyame in eleven degrees North-Latitude being in length if Tellez and Sanutus miss not their reckoning fifty Portugal or six and thirty Dutch miles that is from one Shore of the Nile to the other For this famous River encompasses the same and thereby becomes a Fence to it against the Invasion of Enemies This Kingdom hath a mixture of Inhabitants but the Natives are the Agoa's in the North-West about the Nile and in the South-East the Gafates The Agoa's possess about forty eminent Towns besides Zalabaka Ambaxa or Ankassa Croia Cavera Angula Anchaka Sakahala and their chief City call'd Tavia The Jesuites have their abode as in Collella Surka Adase Tempa Tassala Fangala Duniel Tankon and Embeste In the last of which may be seen the remaining Ruines of several stately Churches built by a certain Abyssine Queen of Stone hewn like Roses On the North-side lie many Hills and Woods near which Sanutus reports some Jews have their abode Amara The Kingdom of Amara or Amaara or Amahara lying between the eleventh and twelfth degree of North-Latitude borders in the North at Bagameder and Angote in the East upon Dankali and in the South upon Oleka from which separated by the River Ruezar a branch of the Nile and in the West at Dambea Sanutus limits it in the North with a Lake on the borders of Angote in which lieth the Island St. Stephen with the Mountain Amara wherein the Princes the Heirs of the Crown are kept in the East with the Kingdom of Xaoa in the South with the Valleys and Baquen-Mountains and in the West by the places about and near the Nile It comprizeth saith Sanutus a great number of Towns Villages and Castles of which one more remarkable call'd Azzoll lying on a Hill between two Rivers two days journey from the Lake St. Stephen Narea The Kingdom of Narea by Godignus Nerea and by the Abyssines according to Davity Innari hath in the North-West Damut in the East Guraque and in the South Gingiro and contains three times as much ground as Bigameder Xaoa Xaoa divided into the upper and lower borders in the East at Oifet in the South at Ganz in the West at Gojam and in the North at Oleka Thus much of the Kingdoms at present possess'd by the Abyssmes The other taken from them by the Gala's and Turks are Dankali Angote Damut Dahali Ario Fatigar Zengero Rozanegus Roxa Zith Concho and Mataola After the Kingdom of Tigre follows that of Dankali The Kingdom of Dankali conterminated on the North and the East by the Red-Sea and the Countrey of Adel in the West Balgada in the South with Dobas and Angote Here are some eminent places the first Vella or rather Leila according to Davity a Haven at the Red-Sea lying in thirty degrees North-Latitude Corcora a fine place adorn'd with a Palace a stately Church with a great and rich Cloyster Afterwards you come to Manadely a populous Town containing about a thousand houses Formerly the King of Dankali by the report of Sanutus maintain'd a War with the Abyssines but became afterwards as Godignus and Jarrik relate his Tributary though since torn from them by the great Turk After Dankali follows Westward that of Angote Angote which Godignus borders in the East at Tigre in the North at the same by the River Sabalete and in the South at Amara The best places of this Kingdom are according to Sanutus Dofacso inrich'd with a thousand houses Corcora of Angote to distinguish it from Corcora Dankali The Countrey of Ambugana thirty days journey from Barna with a famous Church nam'd Imbra Christus besides others Damut or Damout borders in the North upon Bizami or Goiame The Kingdom of Damout in the South-West at Narea in the South at Guraque and in the East with Ganz and Xaoa This Kingdom the Abyssines saith Davity divided into two the one call'd Damout Dari and the other Damout Adari where stands The Dead-Mountain being the highest and coldest of all Ethiopia and therefore Prester-John sent such great ones thither as he desir'd to have out of the way because they quickly dy'd there of hunger and
Rock between two Valleys with very narrow Passages besides other middle Gates and Ports about two Miles from the Aquisagi and one from the River Anachete Afterwards follow the Gates or Ports of Badassa that is the New Countrey about four Miles from the Aquisagi and a Mile and half from the Middle-Gates Near which they have a Passage under Ground where in very deep Caverns the Treasure of Prester-John is kept At these Gates they receive the Toll for the way and they serve for Passes between the Kingdoms of Amara and Xoa But that which makes this Kingdom remarkable is the high Mountain of Amara by some call'd Amba Guexen by others Quirem and by Sanutus The Royal Mount because there as he says in a Castle nam'd Amba all the Children of Prester-John as in a convenient Shelter are kept from whence none but the Successor of the Empire can ever come out It is so high and strong a Mountain by Situation that Alvarez Godignus and Sanutus report it fifteen days Journey round at the Foot and aloft at the top some few Miles in compass being every where from beneath to above as it were cut streight up like a Wall having onely three or four troublesom Avenues to it Godignus makes this Rock circular and places on the top a Plain a mile long with one only Building and that not very stately and avers That they have no Water but the Reserves of Rain kept in Cisterns cut in the Rocks But Sanutus adds a Cloyster of St. Anthony's with eighty six Monks and stores it with Sheep Hens Geese and Fruit-Trees And further this we dare avouch contrary to the Fictions of Urrettes and others That the Emperor hath neither a Library nor Treasury for Gold or Precious Stones there neither doth any Penalty fall upon a Stranger or other entring into it Southerly from Bar-Dambea lie the Mountains of Gafale by some mistaken for the Mountains of the Moon There are no Cities in all Abyssine but onely Towns or Villages No Cities in Abyssine and those not over-plentifully inhabited for the King himself keeps almost continually in the Field and commonly in Tents or Pavilions The Chiefest and most Populous Places are these being sixty one Bizan Asmara Adegada Bebaroa Goberea Guele Auzen or Tigre Cera Sart Amba Salam Amba Canet Gama Assa Fremona Alello Accum Mascalo Maebezy Tres Igregias Lamalmon Oldeba Arbatanea Camby Dancaz The Court Ganete Jesessus Old Gorgorra New Gorgorra Patriarcha Anfras Goga Fogora Atsana Alata Adaxa Nebesse Debra Semona Debra Ore Saza Adisalen Enamora Ligenegus Debra Selalo Cobela Abola Serea Namina Alagoa Ondege Nesaca Tancoa Fonte de Nylo Mine Debra Libano Amba Guexen Amba Cel Tabah Marvam Amba Legat Labibela Necas Belza Serra Belza Bebra Marjan The Air in most Places by the Report of Godignus hath a most healthful Temperature being sweetly cooled and refreshed by gentle and fresh Briezes but in the lower and Southerly Places by the scorching heat of the Sun it grows more malignant In the Kingdom of Tigre Jarrik highly extols the goodness of the Air For saith he although it lie under the Torrid Zone yet the continual blowing of the North-winds there not cold so clears it that many exceeding old People very fresh and strong of Limbs are found there The Winter according to the same Godignus and Sanutus begins with the going out of May and continues till September during which time it Rains and Thunders moderately every day They begin their Lent in August and the other Seasons follow in course As this Countrey hath many great Mountains so it wants not some fruitful and large Plains for the most part well Manur'd and bearing all sorts of Grain and Fruits in the midst whereof sometimes rise huge aspiring Rocks which in the time of War they use for Strengths and Fortresses The Soil of Tigre is by the Shores of the River very fat The Condition of the Soil and fit with a little Labor to produce two Crops in one Year Every Hedge-row garnish'd with good Olive-Trees and every Field with Rye Barly Beans Pease and Tares Fatigar appears for the most part plain Sanutus lib. 2. onely here and there rising Summits bearing Rie and Barley The Precinct of Goroma boasts a Fertility capable of feeding Great Armies Dancali of small concern and unfruitful In some places grow Wheat Barley and Oats and the Ground unfit for them bears a Grain call'd Tafo de Guza or Tefet or Tef of great worth for its goodness daintiness and durableness subject to no Worms but will remain good a long time besides two others nam'd Agoussa and Mashella wherewith they make very good Drink and Bread Angote produces every where Rye and Barley but with small increase Turkish Wheat in abundance besides Beans Linseed and Tefet The Mountains of Abagana Barley The Kingdom of Amara especially the Fields of Azzel Barley Rye Oats and all sorts of Grain There grow many several Trees Godâ—gnuâ— but most bearing Fruit of an unpleasant taste onely one proves of excellent use in Physick for when the Abyssines many times eat raw Flesh which breeds Worms which would without doubt eat through the Bowels if they did not every Moneth purge with this Fruit which presently causeth the Worms to die and dischargeth the Body They have also Citrons contrary to the opinion of Boterus Oranges Pomegranates Indian-Figs Peaches very large and good and ripe in the Moneths of February and March Pruens Sebestens Jujubes Tamarinds and Grapes but no Wine made thereof except in the Kings Houses and by the Patriarch They make Oyl without smell and of a Gold-colour not of Olives but of a Fruit call'd Gecca whose Leaf resembles that of the small Vine They have neither Melons nor Radishes but Ginger in abundance and Sugar-Canes In Barnagas and the South part of Tigre are many Woods wherein grow Cypress and Date-Trees Willows Jessamine and Basilicon yielding an odoriferous Perfume to the circumambient Air. They have so much Honey that not onely in the Cloysters among the Clergy but all the Inhabitants in general burn Candles of Wax and not of Tallow All sorts of Cattel both for use pleasure and profit Beasts breed here in abundance as Cows Oxen Sheep and Goats Mules Asses Camels and Horses of which Sanutus and Boterus say the best are of Arabia and Egypt or rather of Nubia being very hardy Bay-colour'd and not low of stature Their Beasts of Game are Wild Boars Elephants Buffles Lions Leopards Tygres Rhinocerots and Giraffi of an extraordinary bigness Deer Civet-cats Wild Goats small Oxen and Cows so wild and salvage that they seem not tamable having little Horns standing so loose upon the Skin that they move them as their Ears Wolves Catamountains Harts Badgers and very great Apes They have innumerable Fowl and Poultrey as Hens and Cocks Partridges with yellow Feet and grey Bills tame and wild Storks tame and wild Ducks Pigeons Quails and
in his Name but continu'd their Dominon scarce two years before they were caught and punished whereupon Zerah of right took the Crown and Reign'd 34 Bethe-Marian his Son who died in the Year One thousand four hundred forty eight after he had held the Scepter upwards of 10 Schander that is Alexander died in the Year One thousand four hundred ninety three having Govern'd six moneths above 15 Amdezeon who died in the Year One thousand four hundred ninety three Rul'd onely six moneths  Nahu or Nahod the Brother of Alexander taken out of Mount Amara who died in the Year One thousand five hundred and seven having Reign'd 14 Then came David his Son otherwise Athanidinghil that is The Incense of Mary during whose Minority the Abyssines say his Mother Helen manag'd the State in his behalf This was that Helen who sent her Ambassador Matthias to Emanuel King of Portugal to pray his assistance against the Mammelucks and Moors Jovius writes that this King David subdu'd the Troglodites and took Casante the King of Mosambique Prisoner He vanquished and kill'd the General of the Queen of Bethsage near the Cape of Good Hope and handled the King of Congo and Torme so roughly that he compell'd him to pay a very great Tribute and gave Hostages He Fought with and got two Victories over the King of Adel or Zeila and in the Year Fifteen hundred sent four and twenty Ambassadors and Letters to Pope Clement the seventh with promise of Obedience Vignier saith he had one onely Wife Bibl. Hâ—stor and by her four Sons the eldest of whom with the Father lost his life in a Battel against the King of Zeila after he had held the Scepter 33 or 36 years Claudius his Son otherwise call'd Aznassaghet by Genebrard which signifieth He is worshipped to the utmost ends of the Earth He subdu'd the King of Adel in revenge of his Father's death and died in the Year One thousand five hundred fifty nine having Reign'd 20 years Adamas his Brother otherwise call'd Mena and by the Abyssines Adamas Saghet which signifieth Majesty he died in February One thousand five hundred sixty three after he had Reigned four years Sarsadenghil or Sarsadinghil the Son of Adamas by his own direction call'd Malak Sequet had two Brothers each of them having several Sons the King had but one and that illegitimate by Name Haste Jacob that is Lord Jacob Prince of Nerea who after his Fathers death possessed the Kingdom and continued saith Godignus seven years in the Government he endeavor'd to extirpate Christianity Whereupon a certain Prince by Name Susneos who favor'd the Professors thereof sided with them and making use of that occasion to set up his pretence to the Kingdom took up Arms against this Jacob. Till the Year Sixteen hundred and twenty eight this War continued when King Jacob wounded by the Shot of an Arrow found himself necessitated to retire to a Fort where after a few days he died leaving two Sons the one nam'd Cosme eighteen years of age the other about sixteen by Name Zaga-Christ that is to say The Treasure of God which were both then in the Island Meroe in the City Aich where usually the Children of Prester-John are Nursed and Educated The Queen-Mother Nazarena seeing this mishap in her Family arisen by the death of the King her Husband and that Prince Susneos the new King endeavoured to suppress all those whom his Predecessor had favored instantly sent her Sons notice of their Fathers death ordering them to retire from Meroe to some faithful Friends of the Emperor their late Father And to that end she sent them much Gold and rich Jewels to maintain them and to raise some Troops to revenge the death of their Father The Prince Cosmes the eldest took his way to the South towards the Cape of Good Hope the other Zaga-Christ drew Northwards with a Company of about five hundred Men to the Kingdom of Sanar his Inheritance from thence to the Kingdom of Fungi where he was nobly entertain'd by the King whose Name was Orbat a Vassal of Prester-Johns but not suffer'd to rest quiet there he was forced to withdraw being pursu'd by the Horsemen of King Susneos so close that he was necessitated to go through the sandy Desarts of Arabia but with the number of fifty Servants for all the other fearing the wearisomness of the Way left him then he came into Egypt to the City Corrigia and lastly to Grand Cair where he was well receiv'd by the Copticks and honorably entertain'd by the Bashaw for the space of two days Thence he withdrew scarce accompanied with fifteen Servants for the other remain'd because of weariness and sickness in Cair to Jerusalem into which he came at the Purification in the Year Sixteen hundred thirty and two He went out of Jerusalem but with three Servants and eight Clergy-men to Nazareth where he made Confession of the Christian Religion and after the stay of some Moneths left off all his Servants and from thence came by Ship to Rome to the Pope who gave him a Palace for his Residence where he stay'd two years and then went from thence into France and stay'd at Paris about three years and died at last at Ruel in the Year Sixteen hundred thirty eight Susneos in the Year Sixteen hundred twenty nine took upon him the Sovereignty and nam'd himself Saghed that is Worshipped of all employing all his Forces to extirpate the Stock of King Jacob And having confirm'd and setled his new-gain'd Dominion he died in the Year Sixteen hundred thirty and three and his Son Fasilatas succeeded him It is by many concluded that the Queen of Sheba by some call'd Nicaules Religion and by others Makede who came out of the South to hear the Wisdom of Solomon in Jerusalem and Commanded over these Countreys planted her Imperial Seat in the Island of Meroe having learn'd from Solomon the knowledge of the true God so that both she and her People began to embrace the Doctrine of Moses But after the encrease of Christianity they receiv'd that Doctrine first brought into Abyssine by the Eunuch of Queen Candace by Name Indich for he being Baptiz'd in the Way from Gaza to Jerusalem by Philip upon the command of the Angel as we hinted before he afterwards Baptiz'd the Queen and all the Subjects of the Countrey But after the Division of the World among the Apostles they say the Abyssines fell to St. Matthew who gather'd a rich harvest of Souls there Afterwards this People together with the Copticks receiv'd the Doctrine and Errors of Dioscorus and Eutiches and elected a Patriarch to oversee the Church who hath his chief Residence in the City of Alexandria and appoints a Substitute in Abyssine nam'd Eteche or Chomos who hath many Bishops under him The Abyssines captivated with the destructive Opinions of Eutiches and Dioscorus believe That the Souls of the Saints after their death do not go directly to Heaven
Clergy to the very Eteche and Bishops dwell in Cloysters in the Cities and in the Wildernesses they go bare-foot never eat Flesh nor drink Wine and do besides unusual severe Penance for besides Fasting they torment themselves terribly by being bound to a Cross and so set for a whole day broyling in the Sun Others go stark naked up to the neck into a cool Brook and stay there till they are half dead Some which they call The Clergy of Libela for a Penance carry two four-square pieces of Lead of fifty or sixty pound weight which hang before their Breasts and behind their Backs with which so about them they fall upon their Knees with their Foreheads upon the Ground so that many times their Heads swell and their Bodies grow all black and blue Others sit with a great Stone about their Necks which so bows down their Heads that they cannot look up to Heaven nor move themselves from the places where they are All the Abyssines Circumcision as well Clergy as Temporality are Circumcised the eighth day after their Birth and Baptiz'd the fortieth but the Daughters the sixtieth and afterwards in their sixth year are Re-baptiz'd with Fire in this manner They take a sharp Iron which cuts on both sides and making it red hot in the Fire set therewith upon the very tip of their Nose two Marks to distinguish them from Mahumetans who are also Circumcised The Water of Baptism they Consecrate with many Ceremonies and Benedictions with which they renew their Baptism every year upon the Day of the Three Kings because upon that day Christ was Baptized The Confession of their sins they say they have by Apostolical command which they make standing after which they receive Absolution Godignus avers that they neither make known the particulars nor the number of their sins but say onely in general Habessen Habessen which signifies I have sinn'd I have sinn'd They hold onely five mortal sins fixing upon the last Chapter of the Revelations which excludes out of the holy City Sorcerers Fornicators or Adulterers Murderers Idolaters and Lyars They acknowledge but five Commandments imply'd by Christ in these Negatives I have been hungry and ye have not fed me I have been thirsty and you have not given me drink I have been a stranger and you have not let me in I have been naked and you have not clothed me I have been sick and you have not visited me I have been in prison and you have not come to me Believing that Christ will say to Reprobates onely these words at the last Day They perform Mass daily yet no more but one in every Church and that usually in the Evening an hour and a half before the going down of the Sun except on Saturdays and Sundays They ordinarily bury their Dead with a Cross and Prayers reading over them the Gospel of St. John the next day give some Alms for the benefit of their Souls They Fast every Wednesday Damian Goez in remembrance of the Council of the Jews upon the Death of Christ which was held upon that day and every Friday in Commemoration of the Death of Christ eating nothing before the going down of the Sun observing besides with other Christians several other times of Abstinence Some of the Clergy in the Cloysters always eat Flesh because they lie far from the Sea and have no Lakes nor Rivers out of which to take Fish Others eat on Fasting-days but onely an Apple with Bread and Water or else some Herbs boyl'd without Oyl or Butter and some onely Bread and Water Such as eat Fish in some Places will touch nothing that hath any Bloud but content themselves with Grashoppers Oysters Lobsters and the like Also they use upon Fasting-days a Grain call'd Camfa and another Tebba both prepar'd and made ready like Mustard Most of the Abyssines have made defection from their antient Opinions acknowledging the Roman Church to have the true Doctrine and the Pope to be Christ's Vicar for in the time of Pope Clement the seventh Prester-John sent to acknowledge him High-Priest with promise of obedience to him and his Successors and all that have succeeded him have done the same till the Year Sixteen hundred and nine when the Prince of Narel Jacob infected with the Errors of Dioscorus and Eutiches got the Crown After him the Son of Zaga-Christ who in the Year Sixteen hundred thirty and three stept into the Throne embraced the same Opinions so that he put out of the City all those that acknowledged and obeyed the Pope But Cosme Son of King Haste Jacob about the Year Sixteen hundred and thirty caused in the Kingdom of Dambea near his Court a Church to be built after the European manner of Cedar-wood and Zaga-Christ his Brother and all his Family heard Mass openly in the Kingdom of Goyame And moreover being a singular Votary of the Catholick Religion established among others those Laws That no Clergy-man that is Marry'd may administer the Lords Supper upon pain of death That no temporal Person may have any more but one Wife and That none should draw near to the Lords Table before he had made satisfaction to all whom he had wronged In the Year Sixteen hundred and twenty in the Territory of Agoas a spacious Countrey and fruitful five thousand Souls were Baptiz'd by the Portuguese Jesuits The several states of the Countreys relating to Religion are as followeth In Tigre the Turks possess the Places lying near the Sea Peter Davity Estats du Grand Kegus but the Bowels of the Kingdom are fill'd with Idolaters mixed with Christians Those of Angote are Christians without mixture so those of Xoa and Amara Damut according to Sanutus contains a mixture Leka remains wholly Christian but Bagamedi hath some Christians and some Heathens so Dambea Mahumetans wholly possess the City of Aukaguerle But Dahali contains Christians Moors and Mahumetans Gecie Moors and Idolaters Ario and Fatigar wholly Christians Those of Zingaro and Roxa are Idolaters but they of Ronazegus all Christians Goyame comprehends Heathens and Christians but Marea Goroma Zeth Concho and Mahaola lie totally involved in Idolatry Sua hath Mahumetans and Christians Bora Calava and Aga in show Christians but in heart Idolaters Dubane and Xaucale Caffers a People without any Religion Xincho Aris Evara and Arbo none but Mahumetans Daraita all Christians and lastly Agoas are most Idolaters but some Christians who have many Monasteries and Convents both of Men and Women They have a great number of Churches Churches the first and principal of all is call'd Delia Libanos that is The Mountain of Liban in the Kingdom of Goyame wherein formerly the Kings of Abyssine us'd to be buried the second Marcoza Mariam that is The Misery of Mary in the same Kingdom the third Dima or St. Maries in Goroma the fourth Macana Celacen that is The Seat of the Trinity in Amara the fifth Laboca that is Mountain of Gold dedicated to St. Michael in
Alarbs who pay nothing but by Compulsion For this Oppression and Tyranny they are generally hated and the people certainly knowing the time of their coming oftentimes break up their Tents and drive all their Cattel before them into the Mountains where the Convenience or Strength of the Place gives them hope to have an opportunity of avoiding their Cruelty These Marches are contrived always to begin in Harvest but if it happen they can get neither Money nor Coyn they secure themselves by taking their Cattel and Corn and sometimes their Children All the gather'd Tributes are brought to Algier and a particular Accompt thereof given in the Divan Some perhaps at first hearing may wonder how one of these Troops at most not above three hundred strong can so easily run down the whole Countrey but his own recollected thoughts will easily rectifie him when he shall consider the one are ignorant of Martial Discipline and that breeds in them a want of courage neither know how to manage those few Arms they have whereas the other are compleatly arm'd well disciplin'd and daily exercis'd in the Wars The Register or Secretary of the Divan hath the Command or Check of those Troops of whom he always hath a List or Muster-Roll by which knowing every mans Quality and Service he accordingly puts him upon Duty And when they go out to fetch Contribution though they be all Foot-Souldiers yet are they allow'd Horses as well as their Officers onely with this difference the Commanders have Slaves to look to their Horses which the others may not When they draw out of Algier they Rendezvouz about the City lying in Tents till they meet together But when they march they commonly have their Allowance of Bread with a little Oyl Vinegar Rice and Couscous What other Provisions they will have they must buy with their own Money but that they take no great care for as well enough knowing how to fetch Victuals abundantly from the Arabs and Moors The greatest gain those Companiess make ariseth from the Ostridge Feathers they bring from the Wildernesses in the South which upon their return they sell very dear As to the Corsairs or Pyrates the best account that can be given of them is from the great number of their Ships wherewith they put to Sea which amount to thirty five in all A List of which with the Names of the present Commanders as they were in the Year 1668. and what each Ship carries in her Stern with the number of Guns we have here inserted as followeth  Guns CAptain Tegue Admiral The Tyger 44 Usten Usiph The Palm-Tree with two Bucks 32 Caramis A White Horse with a Moon in his Back 30 Tabuc Rais A White Horse 32 Maned Segma A Gilt-Lime-Tree 36 Ben Alle Rais A Lime-Tree 32 Birham Cololy A Gilt Sun 40 Bischew a Dutch Renedago A Moor Gilt 38 Dochier Hoggi A Gilt Star 30 Alli Rais Trego The Shepherds 36 Alli Rais Vento The Oak 32 Alli Rais a Spanish Reneg A Gilt Rose 34 Buffone Ray a Dutch Reneg The Seven Stars 36 Rais Elleway A Gilt Flower-pot 30 Mustapha Rais an English Reneg A Green Serpent 28 Regient Rais A Half-Moon Gilt 32 Mustapha Rais a Dutch Reneg An Antelope 30 Mustapha Baris The Palm with two Lions 28 Regient Rais a Savoyard A Half-Moon 14 Montequera A Moon with two Cypress-Trees 20 Mustapha Rais a Genouese Reneg with two Lions 26 Cornetto a French Reneg A Dolphin Gilded 16 Le Madam Wynkes Reneg A Lion with a Hand 32 Two Satees two Gallies 14 Six Ships on the Stocks from 26 to 40 Guns 236 Two Tartans ready to be Launch'd  This is the Number and Quality of their Strength at Sea with which they do infinite Robberies besides the vaste numbers of Christians which they reduce into a miserable Slavery Gramay in his time reckon'd their number to above thirty thousand but that we may well suppose to exceed Nor is it an easie matter to make a certain Calculation But if they were much fewer than they are yet were it a Meritorious Work for any or all Christian Princes and States to unite to unroost that Den of Thieves whose inhumane Cruelties merit nothing but utter destruction And although since the before-mention'd Defeat of Charles the Fifth Emperor no great Attempt hath been made upon them yet lately in 1669. Charles the Second of Great Britain c. a Squadron of His Majesties Ships under the Command of Sir Thomas Allen lay before the Place declaring War against them and seiz'd two Barques and a Galliot with about seventy Turks burning another in the Haven ¶ THese Advantages and in truth all other their Wealth coming in by the Souldiers make them to be so highly esteem'd that it is Death to strike one of them nor are they liable to the Censures or Punishment of any Officer but their own Aga. And notwithstanding they consist of all Nations as English French Spanish Italian Germans Dutch and others yet are they so well govern'd and live in such unanimity that very seldom a quarrel is heard of among them As to other particular Singularities in this Kingdom we will give a particular Account thereof in its proper place ¶ THis Countrey in the time of Juba that Sided with Pompey against Caesar was very potent and a terror to its Neighbors But this flourishing Greatness at length decay'd the Dominion sometimes resting in Constantine other whiles in Bona and lastly in Tremecen from whence wrested by the Mahumetan Moors and Arabians and Barbary divided into several Kingdoms as at this day In the Year One thousand five hundred and ten Ferdinaud King of Spain besieges Algier Don Pedro of Navarre having subjected the Cities of Oran and Bugy to his Master Ferdinand King of Spain reduced Algier to such extremity that finding themselves not able to withstand him they submitted to Selim Eutimi the Great Prince of the Alarbes who had always liv'd in the Campaignes about Algier under whose Protection they made it their whole work by perpetual Incursions to infest the Coasts of Spain Majorca Minorca and the other Islands whereupon Ferdinand sent a powerful Fleet to destroy Algier The Citizens seeing such a Naval Force ready to fall upon them submitted to the King of Spain obliging themselves to pay an Annual Tribute However the Spaniard built a Castle in the City wherein was always two hundred Souldiers and great store of Ammunitions and Provisions whereby he kept both Pyrates and Citizens in awe which continued as long as Ferdinand liv'd But Divine Justice at length gave a check to these Successes by his Death for in the Year 1517. by the Marquess of Comares who was march'd out of Oran against him in the behalf of the dispossessed King of Telensin with ten thousand Christian Souldiers at a Passage of the River Huexda he together with Fifteen hundred Turks were kill'd After his Death his Brother Cheredin Barbarossa was chosen King by a general Consent who
though a man of great Valour and Conduct yet sent a Galley with Letters to the Grand Seignior desiring his Assistance and Protection against the Christians very readily did the Turk consent to his Request sending thither two thousand Native Turks Thus fell this City and Kingdom to the Grand Seignior to whom it is yet subject Govern'd by a Vice-Roy who is entituled a Bassa to whom the Christians give the Stile of Highness ¶ THeir Marabouts carry so high a reputation among them that whatever they say is look'd upon as an Oracle and their Commands obey'd even to the hazzard of life They cut not the Hair of their Heads or Beards their Habit a long Coat to their Heels over which a short Cloak reaching but to the middle of their Back as in the foregoing PRINT doth more plainly appear Their Religion and Worship is the same with other Mahumetans or at least very little differing each having an equal Reverence for the Alcorna and using both the same Times and Method of Devotion BUGIE BUgie formerly a Kingdom by the Moors call'd Bigeya or Bugeya The Borders from the chief City belonging to the Dominion lying towards the Sea borders on the West with Algier on the East with Gigel or Gigery before the Bounds were alter'd by the Turks this Countrey was the most Easterly Part according to Davity of the Caesarian Mauritania bordering then on the West as we said with Algier on the East with the City of Tenez and Africa the Less having the Midland-Sea and the City Collo on the North and on the South Biledulgerid and Numidia This Countrey stretching almost Fifty Dutch Miles towards the South over the Mountains to the Wilderness of Numidia contained formerly according to Marmol Bugie their chief City from whence the whole Territory is so nam'd with the Garrison and Village of Gogere Micila Migana Tezteza Lamora Nekauz the Mountains of Benijubar Auraz and Abez but Gramay reckons thus Gigeri Mesile or Misile Stefe or Distefe Nekaus Kollo and Sukayda But now Gigeri is a peculiar of it self and Sukayda and Rollo are incorporated to Constantine So that at this day Bugie contains onely Micili Distefe and Nekaus with the Mountains of Bugie The City Bugie by the Arabians and Moors says Marmol call'd Bigeya The City Bugie or Bugeya and held by some to be the antient Metropolis Thabraka by others taken for Igilgilis or Vrikerh and by Ptolomy for Salde lieth near the Mediterrane on the side of a great Mountain about seventeen miles East from Algier and the like Westward from Gigery The Romans they say first Founded this City being invested with high strong and antient Walls in Fifteen hundred and twenty well Peopled boasting of Eight thousand fair Houses It hath also a commodious large Bay or Road antiently call'd The Numidian Sea The Streets are handsome and well-order'd but being upon a continual ascent or descent they are wearisom to those whose occasions call them to walk much therein Here are several Mosques many Colledges and also Cloysters publick Inns and Houses of common Reception for Strangers built after their own manner They have a fair and spacious Market-place near which on a rising Hill stands a strong Fortress invironed with thick and high Walls curiously adorned within with several seeming Characteral Mouldings upon Plaisters and Carved in Wood besides exquisite Paintings according to their manner which as they say cost more than the whole Fabrick Eastward of this the River Hued-el-Quibir that is the great River falleth into the Sea Micile or Mesile lies within thirty miles of the Border of Numidia surrounded with the Mountain La Abez Stefe or according to Gramay Distefe or rather Distese or more rightly as Marmol calls it Tezteze supposed to be that which Ptolomy call'd Apfar being fifteen miles to the In-land Southerly of Bugie scituated upon a delightful Plain near Mount La Abez formerly destroy'd by the Arabians but soon after re-inhabited by Three hundred Families Nekaus Nekaus formerly call'd Vaga one of the delightfullest Cities of Barbary stands on a River side seventeen miles from the Sea and twelve from Testese on the Borders of Numidia It hath strong Walls and boasted formerly of stately Baths Houses of Entertainment wherein Strangers and Foreigners were Lodged and well accommodated besides many Palaces and Churches Every House though but a Story high had a Garden Planted with Vines Damask Roses Myrrhe and Jasmine Bugie lieth almost quite hemm'd in with the Mountains of Zarara but the most remarkable they call Bene-quibar being five miles from the City Bugie six miles long and three miles broad This Ridge of Mountains taken together reach along the Sea-Coast thirty miles and are in some places six or seven miles broad ¶ THe Land about Bugie is barren and unfit for Tillage yet it brings forth excellent Garden-Fruit Near the City Nekaus are large Plains abounding with Corn and on the River stand an incredible number of Hazel and Fig-Trees accounted the best of that Countrey ¶ THe Mountains afford little Wheat but abundance of Barley besides Nuts and Figs Flax and Hemp whereof much but course Linnen is made Iron-Mines also and good Wood The Inhabitants also keep a great number of Horses Oxen and Goats ¶ THe Women of Nekaus are handsome body'd The Constitutions and Customs of the Inhabitants and fair with black and shining Hair which makes them take a pride to frequent the Baths The Inhabitants of Micile are Clownish and exceeding Rustical sturdy and revengeful so also the Mountaineers Some of them are kind in their Conversation and very much inclin'd to Pastime and more than any use Musical Instruments Those of Nekaus have a good Mien and comely Deportment milde sure Friends and always neat in their Apparel And though every Mountain is possest with a several Family yet their Customs and manner of life are all one Those of Bugie and Nekaus have their Colledges where their Youth are instructed in the Mahumetan Laws and Philosophical Studies the Students Cloathes and Diet born at the Cities Charge The Inhabitants of Micile are all Artificers and Husbandmen The Inhabitants of the Mountains mark themselves according to an Antient Custom with a black Cross on their Cheeks and on the Palms of their Hands which first they us'd when they were subdu'd by the Turks who then requir'd no Tribute of the Christians Whereupon many of them took up the Badge of Christians so escaping the Tax that was laid on other Perswasions which though now useless they continue as a fashion neither knowing the Cause nor Original The Riches of the Inhabitants consisteth in their Cattel Their Riches Corn Plants Linnen and Hempen Cloth The Mountaineers use for their Coyn small Gads of Iron of half a pound weight yet they Coyn also small Pieces of Silver ¶ IN the Declension of the Roman Empire the Goths expell'd their Legions Their Government and made themselves Masters of Bugie and there settled the