States or Parliament Dokum the Admiralty of the Province Schelling is an Island upon the Coast where are some Towns which serve to give signal to the Ships They Hunt the Sea-Dogs there after a pleasing manner The Men who mean to take them disguise themselves like Drummers and with a thousand Apish Tricks do insensibly attract towards the midst of the Island those poor Creatures who are over-joy'd to see them but in the mean while Nets are laid which hinder their returning to the Sea The Passage between this Island and that of the Vlie is much frequented out there go thence Ships which are bound for the North and the Baltick-Sea Groninghen which has the last Voice in the Assemblies of the States-General has but two Cities Groninghen and Dam. Groninghen is in so important a Situation by reason of the Frontier that the Duke of Alva projected the. making a Cittadel there In the Year 1672 after the taking of several Places the Bishop of Munster had the displeasure of not being able to compass his Design upon this The Province has Pasturages wherein Turfs are made which serve for Fewel It has several Navigable Chanels the Key whereof seems to be contain'd in the Fortress of Delfzil at the Mouth of the Ems. The Ommelands which make a part of it towards the East have frequent Disputes with this Province and would willingly pretend to make the eighth of the Vnited-Provinces The Provinces of the Spanish-Netherlands THese Provinces are called Catholick because the Roman-Catholick Religion only is exercised therein They have often the Name of Flanders given them which is the most Beautiful the Richest and most Populous part of 'em Those People have been called Walloons who border upon France The Provinces which these People Inhabit being at present possess'd by the most Christian King the French call 'em the New-Conquests Amongst the Catholick Provinces there are four Frontiers of France the Counties of Flanders Artois Hainault the Dutchy of Luxembourg Five within the Lands the Dutchy of Brabant the Marquisate of the Holy-Empire round about Antwerp the Barony of Mechelen the County of Namur the Dutchy of Limbourg There is also the Bishoprick of Liege which is of the Empire and Cambresis The French King and the King of Spain are at present Masters of these Provinces for the preservation of which the Spaniards have employ'd a good part of the Gold and Silver of their Indies The Hollanders possess also some Towns in ' em The County of Flanders is so full of People that we may say it is but one City and the finest County of Christendom It s Coast has Downs of Sand which cover the rich Plains Formerly Flanders was divided into Gallican Flemming and Imperial now into three parts one French one Spanish and the other Holland which is of small extent The principal Towns of all the Country are Gaunt Bruges Ypres Lille the two former belonging to Spain and the two others possess'd by France as well as Tournay Doway and Dunkirk Gaunt is one of the greatest Cities of Europe tho' it has several Rivers which still maintain its Commerce it has not now the thirty five thousand Houses which it had when it was able to have put fourscore thousand Men in Arms. The French King who had possess'd himself of it was oblig'd to restore it in consideration of the Peace The Spaniards who saw the Chanel of this Town stopp'd up by the taking of Sluce have made there a new one which can receive stopp'd Ships after they are come to Ostend a Town whose Port could not be stopt up when when it was the stage of War and that it sustain'd a Siege of above three Years together Ypres has several Chanels and Conduits of Water under Earth Lille is one of the best of the Low Countries both for its Commerce and its Riches In the Year 1667. the French King made it his Principal Conquest since which he has caus'd a strong Cittadel to be made in it All the other Places of Flanders are generally considerable either for their Beauty or their Fortresses or the Sieges and Battels Tournay is very ancient beautiful spacious strong rich and populous It is the first City of the Low Countries which in the Year 1667. submitted to the French Monarch His Majesty establish'd a Parliament there and caused a Cittadel to be made It is observ'd of Tournay that it was taken four several times on the very day of St. Andrew 1. By Henry the Seventh King of England 2. By the Emperour Maximilian 3. By the Emperour Charles the Fifth And 4. By the Duke of Parma Doway upon the Scharp on the Confines of Artois and Haynault is meanly fortified The Church of Our Lady is there twelve hundred Years old There is a Staple of Corn an University and lately Navigation by sailing up the Scharp as far as Arras Dunkrk a very trading Town by reason of its Haven is one of the most considerable Possessions of France Graveling is an extraordinary strong place Furnes was the abode of the French King Lewis the Eleventh during his retreat to the Duke of Burgundy Artois now reunited to the Crown of France from which the French say it was dismembred is a Province extraordinary fertile in Corn. Arras its Metropolis is compos'd of a high and low Town both well fortified Hesdin is a regular Hexagone and its River has been lately rendred Navigable as far as Montreuil Bapaume is an advantagious situation Lens is known for the Victory of the French in the Year 1648. Bethune for its good Cheeses Terouenne for its Ruins St. Omar is environ'd with Marshes where are floating Islands Aire is important for the Navigation of the Lys. Hainault according to the Archives of the Province owns none but God and the Sun for ruling Lords Nevertheless it has two other Masters the Kings of France and Spain Mons the capital City defended by three good Ditches has a Soveraign Council independent of that of the Parliament of Mechelin It has also Chanoinesses who make proof of Nobility of Eight Races and who have the liberty to Marry Valenciennes is large sumptuous well fortified upon the Scheld It was taken by force in the Year 1677. by the French King's Army commanded in person by that Prince Quesnoy Landrecy Avesne Philippeville Mariembourg Conde Bouchain are strong places in the hands of the French King Luxembourg has its capital City of the same Name Thionville Montmedi Damvilliers are possess'd by the French Some Lands there are in the Forest of Ardennes belonging to the Bishoprick of Liege Bouillon with the Title of a Dutchy and a strong Castle upon the Rock St. Hubert where the Hunters have a peculiar Devotion Rochefort which saw the Battel of Avein in the Year 1675. between the Spaniards and French By the Peace of Nimmeghen the Dutchy of Bouillon was restor'd to France who has put the Prince of that Name into possesion of it Brabant which is about
only Temporal Princes and that the Diocesses of the same Name which acknowledge their Bishop for Spirituals have very different bounds In the Year 1680. several places depending on these Bishopricks and which had been dismembred from 'em at diverse times have been adjoyned to the Crown of France The Rivers of Meuse Moselle Saone and Sare have their beginning in Lorrain Under the Emperour Nero they had a design of communicating the Ocean and the Mediterranean-Sea by a Chanel drawn from the Moselle into the Soan which is but very little distant from it and which falls into the Rhosne The Sare is navigable and gives its Name to several places by and through which it passes The French King has caused Sar-Louis and other Fortresses to be built there for the securing the Frontiers of his Dominions Nancy the Capital of the whole Dutchy has had the best Fortifications and Works that were ever seen in Europe Without all these Defences it did gloriously resist Charles Duke of Burgundy who lost the Battel and his Life near the Walls in the Year 1477. In the Battel of Morat in the Year 1476. which followed that of Granson and preceded that of Nancy the Diamond of this warlike and unfortunate Prince fell into the hands of a Suiss who thought himself well payed in having for it a Florin of Gold tho' this Diamond was one of the finest things of the kind in Europe Another Suiss was so lucky in the same Battel as to find the Collar of the Golden Fleece of an inestimable value which the Duke of Burgundy was wont to wear and contented himself with two Crowns that were given him for it in Milan whither he went to sell it at the dearest rate he could Now Nancy is in possession of the French King who offers to yield up Toul to the Duke of Lorrain in case he will sign the Treaty of Nimmeghen The Burrough of St. Nicholas keeps the Relick of its Patron which occasions a great concourse of people to that Town as well as its Fair. Rozieres and Dieuse have Salt-Pits of a great Revenue as have also Marsal Chasteau-Salins and Moyenvik The Annual Revenue of the Salt-Pits of Marsal has commonly been three hundred thousand Livres Luneville has a fine House Remiremont a famous Abby of Ladies Plombieres which is not wall'd is known for its Baths The Dutchy of Barr has the Cities of Barleduc St. Mihel and Pont-a-Mousson Vaucouleurs one of the adjacent Territories is noted for the Birth of the Maid of Orleans in a neighbouring Burrough called Arques Mets Toul and Verdun have been more strictly united to the Crown of France by the Treaty of Munster by that of the Pyrences and by good Cittadels Metz had formerly the Title of a Kingdom which was that of Austrasia with the right of coining Money it is now the Residence of a Parliament 'T is of a large circuit and nevertheless in the Year 1552. it gloriously repuls'd the Emperour Charles the Fifth who besieg'd it with an Army of a hundred thousand men from thence came the Proverb amongst those of the Country when any one undertakes any difficult matter they say He will do e'en as much as the Emperour before Metz. This Disgrace stuck so sensibly close to that glorious Prince's heart that there happening presently after the insult he receiv'd from Duke Maurice of Saxony it 's said to have obliged him to resign his Dominions to his Son and his Brother and make the retreat he did in the Monastery of St. Just in Castille to the amazement of the whole World The Dukes of Lorrain have hitherto styled themselves Princes of the Empire and the Empire has pretended Right of Sovereignty over their Dutchy of Lorrain Nevertheless they pretend to be exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Imperial Chamber of Spire and from all the Contributions by the Empire They have neglected to assist at the Dyets of the Empire that so they might not be bound to give place to such Princes as they esteemed less than themselves The Dutchy of Barr is a Fief depending on the Crown of France and chiefly what is on this side the Meuse as for what is beyond it he pretends its dependence on him under the Title of Marquisate of Pont or Ponta-Mousson From whence it comes that the Inhabitants Barrois are esteemed Natural Frenchmen Anthony Francis Charles the Third Dukes of Lorrain did Homage for it to the French Kings The War of Lorrain which followed that of Italy was made upon the account of this Homage not being paid The Dutchy of Barr was afterwards united to the Crown of France Since which there have been several Treaties between the French Kings and the Dukes of Lorrain The Franche-County THis Country which made part of Great-Burgundy is known under the Name of High-Burgundy by reason of the Course of its Rivers and under that of Franche-Comte by reason its Inhabitants have pretended several exemptions and that in possessing those Lands they might dispose of them without having any regard to Wife Children or any other Relatiions It is a Province very Populous and wholly Roman-Catholick whereof most of the Inhabitants are very rich by reason of Corn Wine and particularly by Salt which made them formely be called The Salted or Pickled Burgundians The Woods raise 'em also a good Revenue and we may say That their Land is no less good now than in the time of Julius Caesar In the Year 1668. the French King pretending the Right of the Queen his Wife made the Conquest with a surprizing Success it being then under the Protection of the Crown of Spain but was bound to restore this Province in consideration of the Peace of Aix la Chapelle The Spaniards kept it until the Year 1674. when having declar'd War upon France the French rendred themselves Masters of it again and were confirm'd in their possession of it by the Peace of Nimmeghen This Province is divided into three parts the High-County of Amont the Middle one of Dole and the Lower one of Aval Grey is in the Upper part Dole or Besanzon is in the Middle Salins in the Nether Grey is very strong upon the River Saon Dole was the Capital of all the County the Seat of a Parliament wherefore the Emperor Charles the Fifth made it be Fortified with seven Bastions Besanzon is both ancient and strong now with a Cittadel The Fertility of the Lands about it have given occasion to the calling it the Granary of the Country It s Archbishop styles himself a Prince of the Holy-Empire but the Germans do not grant him Session in the Imperial Diets The City was Imperial unto the Year 1652. when it became Spanish in exchange for the City of Frankendael which the Spaniards restored in executing the Treaty of Munster the French King has caused the Parliament of the Province to be transferred thither Salins so called from its Salt-Pits is defended by two Castles Its Salt-Garner is a very remarkable
right Name was Columbus or Colonus Nor whether the Quadripartite Division of the World is rational or any Equality to be found in it The Reader is suppos'd to have some acquaintance with these things and to know what is the meaning of the Meridian Aequator Zodiack Tropicks Polar Circles and Zones or at least without these Knowledges may reap benefit enough from this Book But tho' this Treatise doth not pretend to shew how the Latitude in the Abstract may be found either in the day-time by the Sun or in the night by the Stars though it doth not brag of having invented any new more certain and ready way than hitherto has been used for the finding out the Longitudes of Places yet in the Descriptions of the most considerable Regions the Longitudes and Latitudes of them are not past over but are very carefully set down There is one Exception more which I am to take notice of That whereas our Author having divided the World into Upper and Nether Hemisphere has considered the first with Relation to France which will not do exactly in England yet since that England for the most part is under the same Meridian with France I have made bold to venture all Countries so considered in English without any Change or Alteration because there will be no great Squares broken For the like reason and by a Pardonable figure of Speech I call Europe Asia and Africa our Continent though we live in an Island which yet as some have said and proved how truly I shall not here question to have been once joyned to the Terra Firma I said I had but one Exception more to wipe off for I am sorry I have not forgot that nice one which some Criticks may make that I say of different Places such a thing in such a Place is the best in the World But besides that some things may be best in different Prospects and Relations these sort of Expressions follow the French and are vulgarly us'd in our own Tongue and are of a very ancient Date as appearing frequently in the Lively Oracles of God when both Hezekiah and Joshua are commended To have had none like unto them neither before nor after them THE PRESENT STATE Of the Four Parts of the WORLD The Terrestrial World WE mean by the Terrestrial World this round Mass which Comprehends the Earth and Water The Earth whose Description is here intended consists principally of two great Continents and some Lands towards both Poles The first of these Continents has three great Parts to wit Africa Asia and Europe Africa lyes toward the South and the West Asia on the East Europe North-West These three great Parts are in our Hemisphere which we call Superiour and Oriental with regard had to that of the Americans which seems to be below us and is West of us America possesses the other great Continent in the Inferiour and Occidental Hemisphere The Lands near the Poles are of two sorts Artick and Antartick neither have they long been nor is there much of them discover'd than what 's along the Sea-Coasts The Antartick Lands are separated from the other great Continents by the Ocean the Turn that Merchants and Travellers take in circling the World from East to West thro' the South Seas having left no subject of doubt We cannot with certainty say the same thing of the Artick Coasts tho' some affirm the Northern Sea communicates with the Oriental towards the North-East of our Continent and with the South-Sea toward the North-West of Northern America The Artick Region THese Parts have been call'd by the name of Artick because they are near the Artick Pole they are called Northern because of the North in which they are scituated * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Boreales from a Greek Word which signifies the North-Wind they consist of Islands and Peninsula's where there are Bears Foxes and Rain-Deer in abundance the Inhabitants living commonly on Hunting or Fishing The Seas of these Regions make a part of the the great Ocean which is here known under the name of Northern and Frozen The Ice there lasts a long time because to these Parts the Sun during several Months discovers not himself and when he appears he doth not heat or thaw it The Bays and Streights of Hudson Davis and Forbisher are in the Inferiour Hemisphere that of Weygats otherwise of Nassaw in the Superiour Hemisphere on the North of our Continent Cabot Willoughby Forbisher Davis Hudson and other English men have sought a Passage to the East-Indies through the three former Streights Barenson Heemskirk and other Hollanders have done the same thro' that of Weygats but all to no purpose by reason of the Ice which is almost continually there and stops Ships in their Navigation and this it is that has hindred 'em from going beyond the 80. Degree of North Latitude Three Courses have been commonly steer'd in these Northern Seas to Archangelo into Moscovy for Furs to Spigelberg and Greenland for Whales and into Norway for Herrings and Timber The Artick Lands are Estotiland Greenland Island Spigelberg Nova Zembla to which may be added the Land of Jesso tho' it be in the Northern temperate Zone Estotiland is towards the North of the great Continent of America Greenland is of a vast extent to the North of Estotiland Christian the Fourth King of Denmark call'd it His Philosophers Stone because the Ships he sent thither could hardly find it out His Successours keep a Governour there at Bearford The Greenlanders Cloaths are made of the Skins of Wild Beasts and their Wastcoats of Birds Skins garnish'd with their Feathers the Flour of the Bread they eat is made of Fishes Bones they drink Sea Water without receiving any inconvenience by so doing Iseland ISeland the Thule of the Ancients one of the greatest Islands in the World lyes towards the North in both Hemispheres where it is part of the Dominions of the Crown of Denmark This advantage it has of not having so many Rocks upon its Coasts as have the other Northern Countreys There are two Principal Villages Hola and Schalholt As for Cities it has none the Houses in other places are commonly of Wood cover'd with the Bark of Trees and with Turfs The Inhabitants are of the Confession of Augsbourg have no Physicians feed their Oxen and their Horses with dry Fish when they are in want of Hay They receive often great floats of Ice which are loosen'd from the Northern Shores whereon is Wood and several sorts of Creatures which they accommodate themselves withal Therefore they inhabit more willingly the Sea-Coasts than the inner part of the Island There are several Mountains whereof Mount Hecla is the most considerable It casts forth Fire and is not to be approached within six Miles distance Danish Hambourger and Lubecker Ships frequently refort thither with diverse Commodities of Europe which the Islanders stand in need of The Danes fetch from thence dryed Fish Whale-Oyl Butter Suet Sulphur Ox-Hides
and those Teeth of Valrushes which some esteem as much as Ivory Spigelberg or Spitsbergen is a Countrey in our Hemisphere the most advanc'd toward the Artick Pole It produces only green Moss those that have been left there to make a full discovery of it perish'd through cold after having fought with White Bears who pretended a right to eat them Upon its Coasts Whales are taken of a prodigious bulk since from one alone has sometimes been drawn a a Hundred and twenty Tun of Oyl The English and Hollanders lay claim to the Dominion of it Nova Zembla is the Island Carambice of the Ancients very near our great Continent from whence one may pass to it upon the Ice and one way stretches as far as Spitsbergen nay and much farther so as it may probably be said that this is the place where those pass'd who first of all inhabited America the streight which parts it from the Terra firma has in its Eastern part high Mountains of Ice which are call'd Pater-nosters This Name of Nova Zembla is by reason of the Way that has been so long sought after along those Coasts to go to the East-Indies through the Tartarian-Sea In the year 1676. Capt. Wood that Ingenious and Industrious Seaman was again sent out by His Majesty King Charles the Second to make a more perfect Discovery of that North-East Passage perswaded unto it by diverse Relations of our own and Dutch Mariners who reported many things concerning it which Capt. Wood upon his own experience conceives to be false as that they were either under or near the Pole that it was there all thaw'd Water and the Weather as warm as at Amsterdam c. He saith further That he himself cou'd pass no further than 76 Deg. where he found the Sea as far as he cou'd discern entirely frozen without intermission That it is most likely that Nova Zembla and Greenland are the same Continent at least that there is no passage betwixt them for that he found scarce any Current And that little which was ran E.S.E. along the Ice and seem'd only to be a small Tide rising not above Eight Foot And whil'st he was in that Degree there were nothing but Frogs Frost and Snow and all imaginable ill Weather tho' at the same time the heat seem'd to be as great as at any time in England The Land of Jesso lyes between Asia and America being separated from each of those Continents by great Arms of the Sea Its Inhabitants exchange in those Cities of Japan that are nearest 'em their Fish their Skins the Tongues and the Fat of their Whales for other Merchandize which they fancy most The Planks of their Vessels are not nail'd they are sewed very dexterously with Ropes made of the Rind or Bark of Cocoes and they do not rot in the Water The Hollanders have been there several times Their Relations affirm That part of this Territory acknowledges the King of Japan for its Soveraign That the Commander in Chief of this Country who has his Residence at Matzimai carries that Monarch every year Silver Birds Feathers of several Colours with very fine Furs The Antartick Lands THe Antartick Land is often called Australis Magellanica Incognita We might with just title name them the Southern Indies and the third World Those who would engage Soveraign Princes to promote the discovery of these Lands say that they are of as great an extent as all America nor less Peopled or less Fertile than Europe They may have above Six thousand Miles of Coast in three several Zones of the Southern part of the World the Hot Temperate and Cold Perhaps Countreys might there be found of all manner of temperament tho' none have yet been beyond the 68 Degree of Southern Latitude Amongst the Streights that are there that of Magellan first afforded a way in the year 1523. to voyage it round the World through the South Sea this Streight is Two hundred Leagues in length in breadth in some places two three in others five six or ten Those who pass through it receive great inconveniencies by reason of the sinuosities and windings and the frequent storms that are there The Streights of Maire which were discovered in the year 1615. are much more commodious 't is but ten or twelve Leagues in length and as many in breadth That of Brouvers which was pass'd in the year 1643. is on the South-East and has the same advantages with that of Le Maire The English and Hollanders sometimes steer this Course to go to the East Indies Besides under the name of Antartick Lands are reckoned Countries which indeed are very far distant from the Southern Pole but which cannot be attributed to the other great parts of the World since they are separated from it by Seas of a vast extent New Guiney the Isles of Solomon New Zealand the Land of Fire the Land of Parrots New Holland There 's hardly any thing known of the other Southern Parts befides the Names of those who discovered them New Guiney towards the South of the Equinoxial Line and in the Inferiour Hemisphere is a very great Isle and bears this Name because it seems to be Diametrically opposite to the Guiney of Africa The Isles of Solomon are in the South Sea at ten or twelve Degrees of the Southern Latitude The Spaniards who have them in possession give them the name of Solomon to persuade the World that that wise King sent for his Gold from thence New Zealand is the Country where the Hollanders have met with scurvy usage when they would have setled themselves there There it is they say are great Men and of a huge stature whether they really be so or fear made them appear such at least each of their two Companies to the Indies avouched the same thing In all probability it was discovered by Fernandez de Quir who tells a thousand advantageous particulars of it He spent Fourteen Years in his Travels Fourteen Months at Court and presented in vain Eight Petitions to the King of Spain to persuade him to send Colonies thither Between New Zealand and the Streights of Magellan some have placed several small Islands which are said to have been discover'd in the Name of the King of Spain by Hernando Gallego in the year 1576. The Land of Fire on the South of America consists of several Islands that are called Magellanic and the Fires that were seen there the first time the Europeans went on shoar have given occasion to this Name The Land of Parrots is probably that which we call Terra Australis In the year 1504. a French-man called Gonneville went on shoar there and was kindly receiv'd by a petty King called Arosca After several Months abode he brought away with him some of the Inhabitants and amongst others one called Essomeriq a King's Son who has left of his Posterity in Normandy New Holland seems to be that Land or rather those two great Islands of Petan and the lesser
he ever had lost before Argiers The Kingdom of Tunis can pride it self in the Birth of Hannibal Asdrubal Terence and other great Men and Christianity is obliged to it for the Birth of Tertullian St. Cyprian and St. Augustin The City of Tunis has encreased it self from the Ruins of Carthage the Great formerly the Rival of Rome and the Capital City of a very considerable State At present it obeys a Prince whom they call the Dey Bizerta and Souza are two places where those of Tunis do often keep their Pyrate Ships Souza is composed of the High and Low Town Mahometa is the ancient Adrumetum or Adrumyssus near which some have been pleased to say that formerly thirty Gaulish Cavaliers repulsed above two thousand Moors Caraan has been the Seat of a Calif that is to say of a Mahometan Pontiffe It is the Ancient Thisdrus where Massinissa gained over Asdrubal the Battel which Scipio was spectator of Beja is in a soyl so fertil in Corn that it 's a saying of that Countrey That if there were two Beja's there would be as much Corn as there are grains of sand in the Sea Guadibarbar makes so many turnings and windings that it is passed full five and twenty times in the way from Bone to Tunis Between the Kingdom of Tunis and the Isle of Maltha there are some small Islands Pantalaria belonging to the King of Spain with a Gulph where the vapour which clings to the Rock above distils as much Water as is necessary for the use of the Inhabitants Lampadosa and Linosa depends on the Order of Maltha There is in Lampadosa a Chapel famous for the Offerings both of Christians and Turks And it has been observ'd that the Sacrilegious have never been able to carry any thing away from thence with impunity The Kingdom of Tripoly is a barren Land considerable only for Pyracies and the Commerce of its City called Tripoly of Barbary that it may be distinguish'd from those others of Souria and Natolia which go under the same Name Upon the Coasts of that Kingdom is the Island Zerbi where in the Year 1560 the Spaniards were defeated by the Infidels In this Island was it also that the Corsair Dragut escaped from the famous Doria this last held him there so narrowly Besieg'd that he could not stir out the other bethought himself of making a Channel without the Christians perceiving it and so in a clear night he had the means of Transporting his Galleys into another part of the Island and of retiring to open Sea where he came and presented himself before his Enemy who was in no small surprize The Land of Barca begins at the place where stood formerly the Altars of the Philenians which had also served for Bounds to the States of Carthage and Cyrene and since to the Empires of the West and East 'T is only a meager and desart Plain where stands the City of Caruenna formerly Cirene the Capital of a small State which was given by Cirus for a retreat to King Croesus In this Country did the Psilloe inhabit who had the reputation of making Serpents die only by their presence Egypt FEw Countreys have had so many ancient Names as Egypt the Hebrews and Jews call'd it Mesraim and the Egyptians at present call it Chibet It s length that is to say its extent from the North to the South is two hundred Leagues and its breadth which is what it contains from the West to the East is confin'd by the Mountains which bound the Valley of the Nile It is the only Region of Africa which touches Asia and the Countrey the most populous in the World tho' the Air be somewhat bad Its Women do often bring forth two or three Children at a time which is attributed to the Water of the Nile Egypt was no less peopled formerly if it be true that under Amasis one of its ancient Kings it had full twenty thousand Cities The plenty of Corn it affords made the Ancients call it the Publick Granary of the World The abundance or famine of the Roman Empire depended on the good or ill Harvest in Egypt The Nile by the inundation of its Waters which are full of Nitre as we said before gives it this advantage not by wholly covering the Lands as several have imagin'd but being brought into several Channels after the Inhabitants have broke the Dikes That part which is on the East of the Nile is more fruitful than that which is on the East of the River Its Plants grow so abundantly that they would stifle one another if they did not prevent it by casting Sand in the field Thus it is somewhat surprizing that the Egyptians make their Lands lean with Sand whereas other Nations endeavour to fatten theirs with Dung Besides Corn they transport out of this Countrey Rice Sugar Dates Sena Cassia excellent Balm Skins Linnen and Cloth They are but ill inform'd who say that it never Rains there whereas there are frequent Showers during the Months of November December and January principally on the Mountains and in the lower parts Still are there at this day to be seen in Egypt Pyramids Obelisques Labyrinths and other Works which its ancient Kings caus'd to be made at an extraordinary charge to shew their Power and to give Employment to their People The Statue of Memnon was formerly very considerable there as well as the Pharos near Alexandria But among all these several Works it has been observ'd that the Pyramid is the most solid Monument Antiquity has left us There remains nothing more in the Lake Meris than the place of the Labyrinth which is said to have had above three thousand three hundred Chambers The Mummys which are very frequent in this Region and which Travellers take delight to bring into Europe are Humane Bodies pitch'd and embalm'd that have been preserv'd above two or three thousand years in Caverns whither the ancient Egyptians took care to carry them They passed for that purpose a Lake in a Bark and so first gave occasion to the Fable of Charon Fiction has made Gods Heroes and Men reign in Egypt History gives an account of several of its Kings before Alexander the Great It says that among those Kings Sesostris was the greatest Conquerour that Memnon having dedicated his Statue to the Sun it saluted that Star at its rising that Busiris pass'd there for a Tyrant by reason of the Cruelties he exercised over the Hebrews that Cencres is the Pharoah who was drowned in the Red Sea that Protcus had the repute of changing his Form because he had divers sorts of Head-array that Chemnis employed three hundred and sixty thousand Men for twenty years together in building the first and greatest Pyramid that Sesonchis with an Army of four hundred thousand Foot and sixty thousand Horse took Jerusalem and that Sennacherib King of the Assyrians being come against him wild Rats gnaw'd the Bow-strings in the Assyrian Army that Necaus began the Channel for the
of the Turks upon the Red Sea The Governour keeps two small Galleys and some Ships to make himself considerable upon the Red Sea The Merchandizes of the East-Indies bound for Europe came thither formerly for which reason the Turks have not without regret seen the Establishment of the Europeans in those Indies But they still bring Spices to truck with the Inhabitants for Corral Cossir formerly Berenice was the Resort of the Commodities which the Romans fetch'd from the East-Indies and which from thence were carried to the nearest part of the Nile in the City of Coptos now called Cana. Buge in the most Southern part of Egypt is a Kingdom tributary to the Abyssins according to the Relations of 1657. Biledulgerid and Zaara BIledulgerid is the Numidia of the Moderns and more Southern than the ancient Numidia The Name of Biledulgerid speaks a Land fruitful in Dates A Fruit which the Numidians gather tho' they be short-sighted by reason of the Sand which the Wind brings in their Eyes This part of Africk extends from the West to the East almost as far as Barbary Some Kings there are of the Mahometan Religion whose power is but very inconsiderable The Arabians under their Cheiques or Chiefs are strong in Cavalry and capable of great Enterprizes if they had not War amongst themselves They sometimes assist the Turks and at other times the Kings of Morocco and Fez the changes of Soveraigns and the diversity of Tongues have often caus'd the Names of Cities to be changed The Arabians in these parts hunt after Ostriches because they make great advantages of 'em they sell their Feathers eat their Flesh and order their Skins for their Baggage they make their Witchcrafts and Incantations of the Heart their Medicaments of the Fat and their Ear-Pendants of the Horn or Beak Suz the best peopled Countrey of all Biledulgerid has the City of Tarudante where the greatest Traffick is of Sugar and where began the Dominion of the Cherifs The River of Suz renders the Land fruitful by its inundation The Sea-Towns are Cartguessem of the Conquests of Portugal and Messa with a Temple near which the Inhabitants believe that Jonas was cast up out of the Whales belly They say that all the Whales approaching it die immediately and that from this Temple must come forth a great Pontif. The Cape of Guer which is not very far distant from it has near it the City of the Holy Cross formerly called Agades and Darrumia It was built by the Portugals but the Moors have it in possession and the Christians have nothing more remaining there than some Magazines in its neighbourhood Tesset is a Countrey of small product and thinly inhabited Daru has some fortified Places and amongst others that of Tigumedet the native Countrey of the Cherifs who having first of all obtain'd from the King of Fez a Drum and an Ensign under pretext of making War against the Christians dethron'd at length the King of the Countrey which happen'd towards the beginning of the last Age. Segelmessa abounds in hurtful Animals Tegorarina has plenty of Dates Zeb wants Water and those who inhabit it in Summer yield their abode to the Scorpions Biledulgerid communicates its Name to all the Countrey Fessen has a Town of the same Name The Desart of Barca consists in Plains of Sand where was formerly seen the Temple of Jupiter Hammon notorious for its Oracles for the Fountain of the Sun for the loss of the Army of Cambyses King of Persia and for the happy Journey of that of Alexander the Great Bacchus Perseus and Hercules are said to have been there before this Conquerour and three High-ways are reported to have led thither the first from Memphis the second from Paretonium and the third from Cyrene Mount Atlas advances several of its Branches into Biledulgerid The Cap of Non upon the Ocean was for a long while the limit of the Navigations of the Portugueses who call'd it in that manner for that they at that time pass'd no farther The Name of Zaara signifies Desart and that of Libya which is also given to this Countrey is a Greek word which was first of all attributed to Africa Little is to be seen in the Zaara but Sand Monsters and Scorpions for which reason the Inhabitants wear Boots for a defence against the stings and bitings of those Creatures The Air is healthful and the sick of the neighbouring Countreys are brought thither for the Recovery of their health The Arabians consider there three sorts of Countreys the Cehel where is small Sand without any Verdure the Zaara where is Gravel and a little Verdure and the Asgar where are Marshes Herbs and Bushes Travellers before-hand make provision of all things necessary for the Life of Man for the Houses and Wells are at such a distance from one another that they go often a hundred Leagues without finding either Abode or Water A Merchant formerly endured there so much thirst that he gave ten thousand Ducats for a Cup of Water and yet he di'd as well as the person who receiv'd his Money for the giving him Drink People are sometimes constrain'd to bury themselves in the Sand to avoid meeting with Lyons and other wild Beasts which make a horrible noise every night The Inhabitants are for the most part Shepherds and the best Hunters in the World but very miserable Some amongst 'em follow the Religion of Mahomet and the greatest number lead a libertine kind of life Several small Sovereigns receive the Tribute of the Caravans which pass thro' their Dominions Their other Revenues consist in Cattel and when mention is made of their Riches they ask how many Camels they have Five principal Desarts are reckon'd Zanhaga Zuenziga where are Salt-Pits Targa Lempta and Berdoa The Ghir which is the greatest River of it forms some pretty considerable Lakes and loses its self in the Sand in several places of its course and comes out again presently after the Rio Ouro which is empty'd into the Ocean and was so call'd by the Portuguese by reason of the Gold they found there when they made their first Voyages along that Coast This River runs under the Tropick thro' desart Countreys with ten or twelve fathom water towards its entrance into the Sea The Coast as far as Cape Boiador has high white and grey Hills or Downs with a desart Countrey o'rspred with Sand and wild Rushes Nigritia NIgritia is so called from its ancient People the Nigritae who reciprocally seem to have had their Name from their black Colour or from that of their Land which in some places is all burnt by the excessive heat which contributes to the blackning both the Sand and the Inhabitants They who attribute this blackness to the Race of Cham say that people of other Countreys preserve their whiteness in Nigritia and that the Asiaticks and the Americans who are in the same Zone with the Negroes are not naturally black The Niger does somewhat temper the Country
the 2d Emperour of the Turks Pella was the Birth-place of that ancient Conquerour Edissa the abode of King Philip his Father who was there assassinated Philippi is famous for the defeat of Cassius and Brutus Monte-Santo otherwise Athos for the great number of its Caloyers religious Greeks who chose it for the Place of their abiding by reason of the goodness of the Air. Its shadow reaches to the Isle of Lemnos which is seen from Mount Ida in Asia Xerxes had the satisfaction to make it his Island Stesicrates a Sculpturean proposed to Alexander the Great to make of it a very extraordianry Statue with one hand it should have poured a great River into the Sea with the other it should have held a considerable City Thessalonica or Saloniki has had Kings of its own Albania is renowned for its good Cavalry where Valone is accompanyed with good harbour from whence the passage is easie into Italy Pyrrhus King of Epirus had a thought of making a Bridge of Boats from that Coast to Otranto in Italy During the War against the Pyrates Terentius Varro Pompeys Lievtenant had the same design Durazzo is noted for the encampments of Gaesar and of Pompey Groye for being the brave Scanderbegs Native Place that Flail of the Ottoman Empire whose Armies he defeated in two and twenty set Battails Scutari was a long while besieged by the Forces of Mahomet the 2d who shot therein so many Arrows that they furnished the Garrison with Wood sufficient to warm themselves with all the Winter Epirus has had the Title of a Kingdom Prevesa was the best Town it was formerly Nicopolis built by order of Augustus in memory of the Naval Victory which he gained over Marc-Antony and Cleopatra near Actium Larta is the ancient Ambracia which served for Residence to King Pyrrhus Near that place dwells the Acarnanes the best Slingers of Greece the only People which did not assist the Greeks in their Trojan War The Epirots were the first People of Greece who made War upon the Romans and who made use of Elephants against them unknown before to Italy Thessalia has had several Tyrants amongst others Jason of Pheres There be the Cities of Larisse the Native place of Achilles where Mahomet the 4th for some time made his Abode during the last War of Candia Armira Volo with their Sea Ports Tricca the Episcopal Title of Heliodorus who chose rather to lose his Bishoprirk thandisown his Romance of Theagenes and Chariclea Achaia has two Cities Setines and Stives the former was the most flourishing Republick of the World the Abridgment of all Greece the other as we have said has dared to aspire to the general Dominion of the Countrey Sparta is famous for the signal Victory of the Christians over the Turks in the year 1671. In that engagement a hundred and eighty nine Turkish Galleys were lost five and twenty thousand Turks killed four thousand made Prisoners twelve thousand Christians freed This City is in the Countrey of the ancient Aetolians who despised the orders of Alexander the Great during his greatest Conquests Negrepont formerly Euboae is only seperated from Achaia by a Strait called otherwise Euripe This Euripe has given a good deal of Exercise to Philosophers who have sought out the cause of its ebbing and flowing those who seem to have examined it best say that it is regular towards the days of the New and Full Moon that is to say in twenty four or twenty five hours it has twice its ebbing and flowing as the Ocean and that it is irregular towards the dayes of the first and last quarter of the Moon that is to say that in twenty four or in twenty five hours it has 11 12 13 or 14 times Floud and as often an Ebb. The Peloponesus the most renowned Peninsula in the World is joyned to the rest of Greece by a Neck of Land of about six thousand paces in breadth which several Kings and Emperors have in vain endeavored to dig through It was a saying fodere Isthmum when they meant to express nenterprize which had no probability of being effected The Christians who called it Morea upon the account of its Mulberries have made there retrenchments in divers times against the Turks who won them under Amurath the 2d and under Mahomet the 2d The midst of that Peninsula was formerly inhabited by the Arcadians who had in their Countrey the finest Asses in the World and who neglected to learn Astrology when the other Greeks received it because they esteemed themselves more ancient than the Moon Patras where St. Andrew was put upon the Cross is one of its best Towns Modon the abode of the Sangiacbey or Governour of the Province Maina gives its Name to a Petty Countrey which has no longer the Liberty it a long time maintained against the Turks by favour of the Sea and the sharpness and steepness of the Mountains Napoli of Romania and Malvasia are peopled on the score of their Sea-Ports where a great Trade is droven Corinth now ruined was formerly named the Rich the conveniency of its Scituation made it be called the Market of Greece Its Inhabitants invented the Greek Galleys after that it was burnt by the Romans there came a mixture of its melted Mettals which has retained the Name of Corinthian Brass Philip King of Macedon esteemed three places in Greece for strength the Castle of Corinth Demetrias and Calcis The Castle of Corinth named the Acrocorinth and Ithoma near Messena by reason of their Scituations were called the two Horns of the Peloponesus Mesitra is the ancient Sparta otherwise called Lacedemon whose power was particularly upon Land whereas that of Athens was upon the Sea It s most Noble Citizens were called Spartiates the others Lacedemonians perhaps with the same difference that is put between the Castillans and the Spaniards The Government of this State consisted in few persons they observed there a stile in speaking and writing which expressed much in few Words Olympies was noted for the Temple and Oracle and Statue of Jupiter the Olympian one of the seven Wonders of the World for the Olympyads which were reckoned from four to four years after the celebration of the Olimpick Games The Ceremonies where of were kept until the Countrey was subdued by the Romans Sicion had its Kings almost as soon as the Assyrians The Ancients did affirm that the River Alpheus which passes in the Peloponesus went under the Sea to the Fountain Arethusa in Sicily Besides the Dominions of the Grand Seignior which we have mentioned in Africa in Asia and Europe His Highness possesses Suaquem upon the Red Sea Teflis in Georgia Asoph at the Mouth of the Dom. Themon and Temroch near the Palus Maeotides on the side of Asia Arabia Petrea part of desart Arabia The Kingdoms of Zibit and Ziden in Arabiafoelix with the Towns of Dolfar and El-catif In Europe Bessarabia Ocziacou Dassain towards the Mouths of the Nieper Gaffa and other places
Java which Mark Paul saith lies South East of the Isle of Java The Hollanders set so great a value upon these New Lands that they have caused the Map of them to be cut in inlaid or Mosaick Works upon the Pavement of their Stadt-House in Amsterdam America IS a part of the World bearing the Name of Americus Vesputius a Florentine tho' Christopher Columbus a Genoese discover'd it before him It has been also call'd the New World because it was not well known until the last Age and its bigness has made it pass for the greatest Continent of the Earth Sometimes it is called the West Indies and the Little Indies to distinguish it from the East Indies which are great and part of Asia Some give it the Name of the Spanish Indies because the King of Spain has the greatest and better part of it in his possession Thus the Name of Indies is common to two great Regions the one in our Continent the other in the other Hemisphere whether they were discover'd at the same time or that in both the Inhabitants go commonly naked or that from the one and the other are brought rich and precious Merchandize and Commodities or lastly whether the Pilot Alonze Zanches d' Andalousia being the same that saw America before Columbus and left him his Memoirs did think that it was joyn'd to the Indies of Asia In all probability America is the Atlantick Island of the Ancients some say that it is the real Tarsis which Monarchs to take from their People the knowledge of its great Riches and the desire of trading thither had given it very strange Names calling it Hell the Elysian Fields and the Fortunate Islands and that for the confounding the Name of Tarsis they had called by the same Name several Places of our Continent where the Merchants had their Banks and their Correspondencies Several are persuaded that the City and Island of Cadiz are now what was formerly Tarsis Those Soveraigns pretended there were Dragons Infernal Rivers sometimes a Cherubim with a flaming Sword which were probably nothing else than those storms which are frequent in the Torrid Zone and the Insults of Corsairs and Pyrates who watcht the the coming of the Gallies and Fleet from Terra firma to get Booty Several do assure us that it was to the Atlantick Isle Hanno the Carthaginian went when he conducted towards the South West a Fleet of Sixty Sail with Thirty Thousand Men. They also say That five years afterwards the same Hanno being return'd into his own Countrey prohibited all such Voyages to his Citizens that their City might not be depopulated by their going to dwell there charmed with the great Riches that were to be found in those-Countries for fear the Rebels might make it an Asile to the ruin of their State Those Authors find but little credit who undertake to prove by a feigned Medal of Augustus which was pretended to be found in those parts or by a supposed Marble taken out of the ground in Portugal under King Emanuel with Latin Verses of a forged Sybile touching the discovery of this New World If it be then true that America was known by the Ancients we may say that the perils People must expose themselves to in traversing the Seas that are between the two great Continents before they arrive there and the little experience the Ancients had in Navigation did make 'em abandon the persuit of their Commerce into these Regions and that had it not been for the favourable reception that was made by Ferdinand King of Arragon and Castile to Columbus whose proposal had been rejected by the Government of Genoa the Kings of Portugal and England we should perhaps be still to learn if there was any other Continent than ours America is divided into two great parts or Peninsula's the one Northern called Mexicana the other Southern called Peruana This Division is according to the Isthmus or neck of Land which lyes near Panama and not according to the Equinoctial Line The Spaniards had once a design in their heads to cut through that Isthmus for the sparing the Charges which are far greater to them in that Tract of Land by the transportation of their Merchandizes when they go to Peru or return from thence than in all the way by Sea they make between Spain and America tho' this way be above two thousand Leagues But were not able to bring this Enterprize of theirs about The Countries of Northern America are as you go from the North to the South Canada or New France Virginia Florida New Mexico Mexico or New Spain and the Islands of the Antilles You find in Southern America all along the Seas the Terra firma where is Castella del Oro and Guyana Peru Chili Magellanica Paraguay where is Tucuman and la Plata and lastly Brasile America is environned with the Sea if it be true that towards the North West it is separated from the Land of Jesso by the Streights of Anien Those who make it as big as Asia and Africa together compare its Northern part to Asia and its Southern to Africa It has the advantage of being fertil and temperate by reason of its great and goodly Rivers and of the cool Winds that arise there even in the Torrid Zone where the Inhabitants have not the blackness which is natural in most of the Africans and in some Asiaticks of our Continent who inhabit under the same Zone This makes us see that the most or the least heat is not always caused by the proximity or remoteness of the Sun and that which contributes thereto often is the situation of Places the disposition of the Mountains and Valleys the quality of the Soil and the diversity of the Winds which blow in those respective Regions The Riches of America are so great that Spain has drawn out from thence and does still draw every year a prodigious quantity of Gold and Silver of which many private persons of Europe both in Peace and War under diverse borrowed Names receive a good share The Mines of Potosi have always furnished an immense number of Millions Never were any Riches comparable to those of Atabalipa and of Guainacapa Kings of Peru and to the precious Furnitures of the City of Cusco It was no extraordinary thing during the Reign of those Kings to see in some Cities of those Countreys Temples Wainscoted with Silver and Houses Cover'd with Sheets of Gold The Spaniards do affirm their King draws from thence every year above Twelve Millions of Livres by means of the Impositions he lays upon Commodities that are transported from those Parts As Gold Silver Pearls Emeraulds Skins Sugar Tobacco Cutchenelle Sarzepareilla Ginger and several other things Yet it is made out that the first Expence for the discovery of America came but to Fifteen Thousand Ducats which were advanced to Columbus by a Secretary of the King of Spain The Mexican and Peruvian were the only Nations amongst the Americans who had Cities
These Cities tho' built by People we stile Salvage and Barbarous yielded in nothing to those of Europe or for bigness or magnificence No Horses were in America An Indian of good sence reckoned a Horse in the number of the three things he most esteemed the two others were a new laid Egg and Light Horses gave so much terrour to the Americans that for above a hundred years they could not be prevailed with to mount ' em The Inhabitants are of four sorts Europeans Metis Negroes and Salvages Most of the Nations of Europe have Colonies in this Portion of the World which for the most part bear the Names of their respective Provinces and Cities The Spaniards stand possess'd of the greatest the richest and the fertilest Countreys of America Among others of Mexico and Peru formerly two famous Kingdoms the latter Hereditary the other Elective their King pretends a Right to All by vertue of the Donative of Pope Alexander the Sixth in the year 1493. But this other Nations do not allow of The Portugneezes have the Coasts of Brasile The French have Colonies in Canada in several Islands and upon the firm Land The English have fair and great Establishments all along the Coasts of Northern America and in the Islands The Metis are those who are born of the Europeans and Indians In the Territories conquered by the Spaniards they call Crioles those who are born of a Spanish Man and Woman and these are they whom the Spaniards of Europe have a mortal aversion to and whom they put by all great Offices for fear of a Revolt The Negroes are transported into America from Angola and other parts of Africa to labour in the Mines which drudgery the Americans are not able to support The Salvages here live commonly on Hunting Maiz Cassave which is their Corn. They have amongst 'em almost as many Tongues as Villages He who has the use of those of Mexico and Casco may make himself understood through all America This diversity of Tongues is the cause that we have little knowledge of their Origine They are all naturally dexterous and active good Runners and excellent Swimmers Several amongst 'em live like Beasts without King Policy or Law The Sun Moon nay and the Devil too are consider'd by them as so many Divinities The Sooth-sayers who are very numerous in these parts keep 'em in these Errours The Kings of Spain have caused five Arch-Bishopricks to be erected there and about thirty Episcopal Sees The French have one Bishop in Canada The Portugueezes have at this present three in Brasile under the Arch-Bishop of S. Salvador The other Nations who have Settlements in these Countreys have likewise establish'd there the Religion they profess America is not peopled comparatively with the parts of our Continent perhaps by reason of the continual Wars which the Inhabitants wage there against one another or else because of the cruel treatments the Indians have received from the Spaniards some Authors do attest they have put to Death there several Millions of Persons whether for Religion or for other Pretexts and that the Blood of those who have perished in the Mines where they have been forc'd to labour would weigh more than the Gold and Silver they have thence extracted The Spaniards met with no strong resistance in their Conquests where they found none to make head against 'em but naked People whose Armies were easily broken by the Noise only of a Canon-shot or at the sight of a Horse-man The poor Indians stedfastly believed that the Spaniards were the Masters of Thunder they thought 'em half Men and half Horses or some Sea-Monsters when they saw 'em on Horse-back And when they saw them on board their Ships eating Bisket and drinking Claret they said they were descended from Heaven upon a great Bird that they eat Stones and drank Blood If we confider the situation of the Islands of that part of the World we shall find that California is in the West of Northern America the New Lands the Bermudas and the Antilles towards the East The Mountains of the Andes Cross all Southern America from the North to the South That of Potosi in Peru is esteem'd the richest of all by reason of its Silver Mines The Spaniards would persuade us that there are others in the Neighbourhood at least as rich The North Sea is so call'd because it is on the North of the firm Land which makes part of the Southern America and was sooner discovered than the Northern America in regard of which it cannot bear the Name of the North Sea 'T is called the Green Sea towards the Tropick of Cancer by reason of the Herbs found there upon the Surface of the Waters The South Sea is really Southern in regard of that North Sea but if we consider all America both Northern and Southern we shall find that it is Western It 's often called Pacific by reason of its pertinacious Calms or else because very few Acts of Hostility are perform'd there Between Mexico and the Island of California 't is call'd the Vermillion Sea It hardly receives any considerable Rivers The Sweet Sea which is in Canada and the Parime Sea in Southern America bear the names of Lakes because they are in the midst of Lands Many are of opinion that by this Sweet Sea the Northorn Sea communicates with with the Southern Among the Rivers of America that of Canada or St. Lawrence is vulgarly call'd the Great River perhaps for that it receives above two thousand others great and small and that above five hundred Leagues above Quebeck its source has not yet been found out It makes some Lakes grow narrow sometimes it casts it self among the Rocks with such impetuosity that 't is impossible to pass there by reason of the number of Water-falls which they call Saults and Carriages because those who mean to go over must carry their little Boats upon their shoulders which they term Canoes It s ordinary breadth is full twelve or thirteen Leagues its depth does often exceed two hundred fathom it keeps its Waters clear as far as below Quebeck The River of Chayre upon the Confines of the two America's affords means for the Transportation of Merchandizes from one Sea to the other L'Orenoyu is the largest of all those of America The Amanzon is esteemed the greatest strongest and deepest of all those of these Countreys and one of the fiercest in the World In the Year 1638. the Portuguese who were then under the Crown of Spain remounted it up as far as Quito in Peru and came down again the following Year It has its Inundations as well as the Nile whereby the neighbouring Countrey is not incommoded with Insects Above a hundred and fifty several Nations have been observ'd to dwell in the Neighbourhood of this great River and those which fall into it La Plata has its Name from the Mines of Silver which are near it Towards its beginning it bears the Name of Paraguay after having
Virginia They would make us believe that there is a flying Squirrel which makes use of its paws as if they were wings The Inhabitants of Virginia love to make good Cheer are Idolaters and have divers Lords whom they call Werouns Their Towns which they surround with Pallisadoes have only 18 or 20 Houses Pomeiock and James-Town are the Principal places of this Region The Bay of Chesapeack is very considerable being seventy five Leagues in length for the most part six or seven broad and ten or twelve towards its entrance The Ships sail up above sixty Leagues for it is often fifteen or sixteen fathom deep and six or seven where it is most shallow The Islands of Barmudas or Summer Isles are under the same Crown and almost in the same Parallel with Virginia distant above three hundred Leagues from the Continent of America They are several in number around the principal one and almost all invironed with Rocks and sufficiently known for the Shipwracks that happen there The Merchants bring thence Cocheneal Tobacco Pearls and Amber there are found Tortoises of an excessive bigness and Spiders without venom extraordinary large of a streak'd colour which spin Webs capable of holding little Birds In the Year 1516. five men being imbarked at the Barmudas in a little Pinnace traversed above twelve hundred Leagues at Sea and by a singular happiness arrived in Ireland In the Year 1525. a Portuguez who was in the East Indies being desirous to do a notable piece of service to his Prince undertook a Voyage which was no less perilous for with a small Gally but sixteen foot long and six-broad he departed from Cochim and having traversed the Occan and all its particular Seas at last he arrived at Lisbon where he brought the King of Portugal the news of the building a Cittadel at Diu a piece of news which was agreeably received in that Court Florida THe Spaniards and French the Discoverers of this Province have but very small knowledge of it as not having been very far in the Country the Spaniards under divers Leaders and principally under Soto made some Expeditions into it but both he and most of his men dyed in the prosecution of their design The Name of Florida was given it either upon the account of its Flowers which it produces in great abundance or by reason of the first Discovery of some of its parts which was on a Palm Sunday The French that setled themselves in that part which lies towards the North-East had left there the names of the Scine Lonaloire Garrone Gironde Chorcute to the Rivers they met withal in those parts But the Spaniards jealous of the French Names having given them others and the English who have lately setled several Colonies here do still at this day Christen them anew In the Year 1562. John Ribaud caus'd to be built upon the River of Port-Royal the Fortress of Charles's Fort which he called by that Name in consideration of King Charles the Ninth of France Two years after one Laudonier built the Fort of Carolina upon the River of May Now by the way it is to be observ'd that several Geographers do not give to these two Places their true Position Since which the French were constrained to abandon 'em both upon the account of the Civil Wars which arose in France and of the jealousie of the Spaniards who could not well bear with the Frenchmen having footing in Florida The Spaniards made Florida much greater than it really is for they attribute to it Virginia and New France perhaps not to prejudice the Pretentions of their Soveraign who attributes to himself all America tho' his Subjects have only appear'd in some of its Provinces Others give only this Name of Florida to the Peninsula of Tegesta which advances to the South and contributes to form the great and famous Gulph of Mexico and the Channel of Bahama The Air of Florida is so temperate that there has been often seen old Men at the Age of Two hundred and fifty years whilst the Children of five Generations are all alive at the same time The Land is fertile full of Fruit-trees and its Towns the best peopled of all America having in several places rich Furs and an immense quantity of Pearls It s Mountain Apalatei produces abundance of Copper It s principal River is that of Spirito Sancto or Chucagua which falls into the Mexican Gulph The Coast is not over convenient for great Ships because the Sea is but very shallow The Inland parts are possess'd by the Savages under the Government and Jurisdiction of divers Paroustis or Caciques who are their Lords Relations acquaint us with the Brave Resistance they made against the Spaniards These Savages adore the Sun and Moon Upon the Coast the Spaniard holds St. Austin and St. Matthews two Colonies of small consideration tho' in each there be a Castle St. Austin is of the greatest importance by reason of its Haven and its nearness to the Channel of Bahama where the Spanish-Fleets commonly pass when with their Cargoes they return from Havana into Europe New Mexico THis Mexico is call'd New because it was one of the last Conquests of the Spaniards in Northern America not being subdued till after the Year 1583. 'T is the Ancient Mexico according to some Authors who say its Inhabitants people part of New Spain The scarcity of Victuals and other inconveniencies of this Countrey have not hindred the Spaniards from going to search for Mines in its Entrals The Natives are Idolaters and call their Chiefs Caciques New Mexico California Anien Quivira and Cibola are its principal parts and Santafe the most considerable Town California on whose Coasts some Pearls are found is one of the greatest Islands in the World Anian gives its Name to a famous Streight beyond which is the Land of Jesso The Wealth of Quivira consists in certain Bulls or Oxen which are very benificial to the Inhabitants their Flesh is their Food of their Skins they make Cloaths and Coverings for their Houses Thread of their Hair Bow-strings of their Nerves Awls and Bodkins of their Bones Trumpets and Bugles of their Horns they preserve Water in their Bladders and make Fewel of their Dung dryed This Creature has something of the Lyon the Camel the Goat and the Sheep There is in Cibola Grandeda Acoma and some other Fortresses upon the Mountains with Palisado's and Ditches which shew that the Americans were not ignorant of the Art of Fortifying such places as they meant or stood in need to defend Other Enumerations are made of the Countreys of New Mexico but very uncertain are they the Inhabitants commonly have no setled abode give the Names of their Chiefs to their Villages and those Names only subsists during the Life of each of those Leaders New Spain THe Indians name this Countrey Mexico and the Spaniards New Spain so that hereby they call their King the King of Spains The Spaniards here establish'd in this Countrey several
rare Colonies as in the most considerable of their Conquests notwithstanding the misunderstanding that arose between Cortez and Narvaez their principal Commanders This Region tho' under the Torrid Zone seems to enjoy a perpetual Spring by reason of the purity of its Air and the goodness of its Soyl. 'T is the finest the most agreeable and the most populous of all America All Northern America is called Mexicana It has Mines of Gold and Silver wherein they work with more ease than in those of Peru the Silver that is drawn from thence is unquestionably the best in the World It produces that admirable Plant of Magucaz which produces small Wine Vinegar Honey Needles Thread Stuffs and Timber proper for building It has Cotton Hides Silk Wool Balm Sugar Salt that is made in its Lakes and several sorts of good Fruits It has all the Commodities of Europe unless Wine and Oyl Formerly 't was an Elective Kingdom full of great Cities governed with great Policy and its Inhabitants very civil Its Kings could bring into the Field Armies of three or four hundred thousand tall fighting Men. The Kings of Spain who have a Vice-Roy there whose Residence is in the Castle of Mexico have taken care to erect several Bishopricks The Mexicans are well made dexterous in melting their Metals and in making Pictures of their Feathers which they have off their Cincons small Birds of their Countrey which live only upon Dew They keep their Balls in the open Field where it is pleasant to see 'em Dance or rather make Gamboles and perform the Double Sommerset sometimes two or three thousand together Formerly the Mexicans divided their Countreys into hot and cold At present the Spaniards reckon their several small Provinces as New Galicia Guadalaira New Biscay Mexico Mechoachan Panuco Jucatan Guatimala Honduras Nicaregua Costarica Veragua and others They have establish'd Royal Audiences I mean Parliaments at Mexico Guadalaira and Guatimala There is a sort of Ravenous Birds in Guadalaira which are not much greater than our Sparrows and nevertheless make a horrible distruction of their Corn they have Bees too without stings The Province of Mexico properly taken is that which lies near the City of Mexico the greatest richest and best peopled of all America This City suffer'd a great loss in the Year 1629. all its Digues and most of its Houses having been carried away by the violence of the Waters its scituation being neer a Salt-water-Lake of about twenty five or thirty Leagues in circuit where there enters another Lake of sweet Water Since that it has been rebuilt and has full a hundred thousand Houses great and small Before the coming of the Spaniard into this Countrey there were several places very considerable neer Mexico Chulula contain'd above twenty thousand Houses with as many Temples as there are days in the year and its Inhabitants did annually put to death five or six thousand of their Children in sacrificing them to their Idols Tezeuco was twice as big as Seville in Spain Queretaro had a Fountain which wou'd furnish Water for four years together and cease running four years after Los Angelos upon the way from Vera Cruz to Mexico is a City of ten thousand Inhabitants where is a Bishoprick of great Revenue there 's also a Mint for the coining of Money Cloth Hats and excellent Glasses are made there too Acapulco upon the South Sea with a Fort of five Bastions is a Bay of good security tho' at the entrance it be but a League in breadth Jucatum is a Peninsula between the two Gulphs where the City of Merida is so call'd upon the account of its ancient Structures and Buildings which were found equal to those of Merida in Europe Tabasco the first City that made any defence against the Spaniards is a Province where the Inhabitants have great Priviledges because they contributed much to the Conquest of Mexico Near Tabasco Cortez gain'd a great Victory in the Year 1518. over Montezuma the Ninth and last King of Mexico We killed there upon the spot above three hundred thousand Indians This Land is so fertile that a Peasant having caused two Sheep to come thither from Castile those two Sheep multiplied in such a manner that there were above forty thousand of 'em in a few years The Isle of Cozumel near the Coast is famous upon the account of its ancient Idol Guatimala produces Balm Sulphur Wood and Cacao which is a Fruit like to little Almonds whereof the Inhabitants make a very delicious Drink Near Guatimala is a Vulcan that is a Mountain which casts forth Fire where a private person seeking after Treasures which he fancied there found the End both of his Wealth and his Life The Henduras furnishes Honey Cotten Cloaths and Wool Niceregua was first of all named the Paradice of Mahomet by reason of its fertility and the quantity of its Gold Its Lake of a hundred and thirty Leagues in length ebbs and flows and disgorges it self into the North Sea There was once a design of communicating it with the South Sea but they imagin'd this would cause a great deal of disorder this Sea being much higher than the North Sea because of several Rivers which have their source in its Neighbourhood and nevertheless fall into the North Sea One of the last Kings of Niceregua seems to have had some knowledge of the Mysteries of our Faith He ask'd the Spaniards What they knew of the Deluge If any was to happen If the Sun and Moon won'd one day lose their light What was the Cause of their Motion Whither the Souls went after the separation from their Bodies If the Pope and Emperour were immortal And for what reason they sought after Gold and Silver with so much Eagerness and so many Perils The Caribby Isles or the Antilles UNder the Name of Antilles are generally known all the Islands of the North Sea which are between Florida New Spain and the Firm-Land of Southern America The Luccayes seem to be so called from that of Lucayonequo Bahama gives its name there to a Channel wondrously rapid from the South to the North and famous at present for the passage of the Spanish Fleets in their return from Mexico and from the Terra Firma of America in Europe Bimini which is a place of no easie access by reason of the Flats and Rocks thereabouts has had the renown of having a Fountain which made people young again because the Women there were extraordinary Beautiful and that for their sakes several Men went to dwell there Guanahani is that which was first spyed out by Columbus who called it San. Salvador by reason it was the cause of saving him from the Conspiracy of his Men who a little before would have cast him into the Sea as not in their mind meeting soon enough with those Lands whereof he had given them such hopes Hispagniola otherwise Saint Domingo is the first Country in the New World where the Spaniards built Towns and Fortresses
Crescent very capacious deep and secure for Ships being big enough to secure five hundred Vessels at once from all storms The Town is long containing several Streets and adorned with abundance of well built Houses being the place of Residence of the Governour or His Deputy where the Courts of Judicature are kept It hath two strong Forts opposite to each other for its defence and the security of the Ships but the Town is ill seated the Ground being lower than the Banks of the Sea Little Bristol formerly Sprights Bay scituate about four Leagues from St. Michael a commodious Road for Ships well frequented and defended by two strong Forts St. James formerly called the Hall seated not far from Bristol here is a good Road for Ships also and is a place of considerable Trade Also Charles-Town about two Leagues from St. Michael where are kept weekly Markets and Monthly Courts for the Precincts there are also several good Bays belonging to this Island as Fowle-Bay Austins-Bay Maxwel-Bay c. and here are divers Caves some of which are very deep and large enough to hold five hundred men and those Caves are often the Sanctuaries of such Negro slaves as run away and it is supposed that these Caves were the Habitations of the Natives The Riches and Commodities of the Island consist in Indico Cotton and Ginger in great abundance Logwood Fustick Lignumvitae and Sugars whereof there is so great a quantity that they freight above a hundred Ships with it every year the Inhabitants truck it for other Commodities at the rate of thirty shillings the Quintal this Isle is so very fertil that it bears Crops all the year long The Trees Fields and Woods being alwayes in their Summer Livery They have here in their Seas several sorts of Fish as Cavalos Cong-fish Green Turtles c. which of all other are the most delicious with several other sorts appropriate to this and the rest of the Caribby Isles Here are also almost all sorts of English Herbs and Roots and several sorts of Fowls and great variety of small Birds but no Beasts or Cattel but what are tame and imported as Camels Horses Asnegroes Oxen Bulls Cows Sheep Goats and Hoggs in great plenty here are also Snakes a yard and a half long Scorpions as big as Rats and Lizzards but neither of them hurtful to Man or Beast Musketoes Cock-Roches and Merry-Wings which are very troublesom in the night in stinging and here are Land Crabs in great abundance which are found good to eat and a small Flie called Cayo whose Wings in the night as it flies affords a mighty lustre and the Indians do commonly catch them and tye them to their hands and feet and make use of them instead of Comets which are forbidden them here are also abundance of Fruits as Dates Oranges Pomgranates Citrons Lemmons Icacos Cherries Raisins Indian Figgs Pine-Apples the rarest Fruit in the Indies with several other sorts and for Trees here are great varieties fit for several uses as the Locusts Mastick Red-wood the Prickle Yellow-wood Ironwood-tree Cedar Cassia Fistula Colloquintida Tamorins Cassary Poyson-tree Physick-Nut Calabash the shells of which Tree serveth them for Troughs to carry liquid things in and the Roneon of whose Bark is made Ropes and also Flax Lignum-vitae with several others The other Antilles Islands which are Inhabited have Colonies either of English French or Hollanders There are some other Isles along the Coasts of Terra-firma which are called Sotavento because that in respect of the others which are on the North-East and which go under the Name of Barlovento they are below the Wind which blows commonly from the East to the West Margareta and Cubagua had formerly the Fishing of Pearls which prov'd very profitable to the Spaniads having used all imaginable stratagems to Fish there for those Oysters wherein they found the Pearls Tobago which has given its name to Tobacco or else has received its own from that weed has a Colony of Zelanders Tobacco was formerly called the Nicotion Herb by reason one Doctor Nicot was the first who introduced the use of it into Europe Those who call'd it the Queens Herb gave it that name as having been first presented to a Queen of Spain Castella Aurea CAstella Aurea so called from the Gold which the Spaniards found there in so great abundance that in the Year 1514. several of their Country-men would needs go thither in the Opinion that it was there to be Fisht for with Nets Its Inhabitants eat Crocodiles Serpents whose flesh they find very delicate Food The Spaniards have there several Provinces Terra-firma Cartagena Sancka Martha the Rio de la Hacha Venezuela New Andalousia Popayen and the New Kingdom of Granada The Terra-firma lies near the Isthmus which joyns the two America's It is different from the great Terra-firma which makes part of the Northern America upon the North Sea It s called so as being the first Land of the Continent of America that was discovered after the Islands It s City of Panama upon the South Sea is the Store-House or Magazine of the Gold and Silver of Peru which is afterwards carried by Land to Porto Belo which is sixteen or eighteen Leagues from thence upon the North Sea which is much augmented from the ruins of the City of Nombre de Dios which the ill Air had caused the Spaniards to abandon At Porto-Belo this Gold and Silver is put on board of Ships which carry it into Spain In the way from Panama to Porto-Belo they have the conveniency of the River of Chagre if they please to make use of it and then departing from Panama you have but five Leagues by Land after which they Embark upon that River By the same way do they bring their Merchandizes out of Spain into Peru. In the Year 1668. the English plundered Porto Belo exacted very considerable summs from the Spaniards before they would restore it them The Buccaniers and other Privateers have done the like Cartagena affords Balm Rosin and several sorts of Gums Its Inhabitants had formerly peculiar places whither they carried the Bodies of their Dead with their Gold their Necklaces and other most precious Ornaments The Spaniards to take advantage of this have shown those Relicks the light for the second time the City which is in a Peninsula has had its Name from the resemblance of its Harbour with that of Cartagena in Europe 'T is one of the best of America the Rendezvouze of the Fleets which come from Cadiz for the Terra-firma Sancta Martha produces almost all the sorts of Fruits that are had in Spain and there you see the beginning of those High Mountains which under the Names of Andes advance towards the South The Rio de la Hacha no longer affords the fishing of Pearls in its Neighbourhood Venezuela had this Name from a Town that was found built there upon Piles of Wood in the midst of Waters When this Countrey was Discovered the Germans to
give away what belonged not to him and that he the said Atabalippa had right to prefer the Divinity of the Sun before that of a Crucified Man He likewise threw down upon the ground a Breviary that was offered him because it spoke not a word and they had made him hope it would tell him fine things This unhappy Prince having been defeated and taken by the Spaniards at Camamalca offered as much Gold as a Room seven and twenty foot in length could hold seventeen in breadth and proportionably high to the half of its height Notwithstanding which he was put to death as a Conspiratour and a Tyrant It is not to be wondred at the abundance of the Incas Gold and Silver since they had in Gold all the Animals and Plants they had the knowledge of and had Temples where they plac'd a number of Statues of pure Gold and an infinite company of Precious Stones those rich Fabricks have been demolish'd by the Spaniards in hopes of finding Gold in the Materials and joyning of the stones which were cemented with it tho' they were of a prodigious bigness The Provinces of Peru are Quito los Reyes los Charcas la Sierra Quito has a great deal of Gold Cotton and Medicinal Herbs and a Town of the same Name the ancient abode of the Inca Guainacapa The Province de los Reyes has the finest Cities of the Countrey Lima and Cusco Lima is new and one of the best of all America It s great Trade as well as the Residence of the Vice-Roy and of the Arch-bishop have rendred it the Capital of Peru. Callao a Sea-port Town two Leagues from Lima is capable of receiving and securing several Ships Cusco built four hundred years before the Spaniards took it is very Populous because the Kings kept commonly their Court there and oblig'd the Caciques or Lords of the Countrey to build each a House there and make it the place of their Childrens Residence There is in the Province de los Charcas the Cities de la Plata and Petosi this last one of the best inhabited in all the West Indies It has all the Conveniencies and Delights of Life and for that reason several persons go to dwell there The Silver Mines of its Mountain are really the richest in the World they are in no wise subject to the Inconveniencies of the Waters which commonly incommode other Mines The King of Spain drew thence formerly every year above a Million of Ducuts for his Fifth but since they are much diminished The Spaniards are not sparing of proclaiming from time to time the discovery of other Mines in their Provinces of America Chili CHili derives its Name from that of one of its Valleys or from the Cold which people suffer in its Mountains that environ it towards the North and East The difficulty of passing through these Mountains obliges the Spaniards of Peru when they go thither to take their way by Sea They have had it in possession since the year 1554. Some parts of this Countrey are so fruitful and pleasant chiefly to'wards the Sea-Coasts that there are none of all America that better resemble those of Europe which we esteem the finest They have Ostridges Copper and the purest Gold in the World there are so many Mines of that precious Metal that Chili is compared to a golden Sheet which has made the King of Spain resolve to keep it tho' what he holds there costs him more to defend than the rest he has in America The Cold is excessive Almagre lost more Men and Horses by the Cold than by the Sword At the four Months end after he had invaded this Countrey they found some of his Troopers dead in the same posture and as fresh as if they had but just mounted on Horse-back The Rivers only run in the day time and remain frozen during the night This does not hinder but there are a number of Vulcano's or Mountains belching forth fire The Spaniards have a Governour who depends on the Vice-Roy of Peru. The Arauques made such a Resistance against them that in the year 1641 they were constrain'd to make Peace with them There is not in all America a more Warlike and Valiant People than these Arauques they know how to make Swords Muskets and Cuirasses they have the dexterity to draw up in Battel to Attack fight in a Retreat to Encamp advantagiously to build Forts and they put in practice most of the stratagems of War which they have learnt in having seen them but once used They have often surpriz'd and ruin'd Cities massacred Garrisons they have also demolished the Fortresses of Arauco Turen Tucapel An Arauque makes no difficulty to attack a Spaniard San Jago the Conception and the Imperial are the principal Cities of Chili San Jago has its Sea-Port called Valparaiso the Conception is the abode of the Governour by reason of the Neighbourhood of the Arauques La Mocha at five Leagues distance from the Terra firma is a small Isle where the Ships go often to take in fresh Water and where several Inhabitants of Chili have taken refuge to exempt themselves from the rigour of the Spanish Yoke Magellanica MAgellanica is at the point of Southern America near the Streights of Magellan 'T is sometimes called Chica and the Country of the Patagons 'T is is a Land very poor and subject to cold by reason of its high Mountains whereon Snow is almost ever lying The Natives dwell in Dens where they adore the Devil for fear he should do them some mischief The English Spaniards and Hollanders have given very different Names to the places to which they have resorted The Spaniards in the time of their King Philip the Second built Ciudad del Rey Filippe and some other Fortresses at the Eastern entrance of the Streight of Magellan with design to hinder their Enemies from passing into the South-Sea But the Channel was found too large for the compassing such an Enterprize and the want of Victuals caus'd that Colony to perish there So that Ciudad was called Puerto del fame The Haven of St. Julian where Magellan wintered and punished his Mutineers and the wish'd-for Haven are upon the Eastern Coast Here is Sweet Water wherewith most Ships have provided themselves as those of Magellan Drake Candish Olivier de Nort le Maire Schouten and others that have touch'd there The Spanish Relations affirm there are Men called Patagons ten foot high that will thrust Arrows of two foot and a half long down to the bottom of their stomach and drew 'em out again without receiving any harm that eat at one Meal a great Basket full of Bisket and drink as much Wine as a Horse can drink Water that one alone can carry a Tun of Wine that three or four of 'em can launch a Ship into the Sea that they run as swift as Staggs and lastly that fifty Spaniards can hardly bind one of these Patà gons The English who have since landed in Magellanica
relate things quite contrary to what is before specified and say that the Inhabitants there are not bigger than the Europeans Tucuman TVcuman is a temperate Countrey interlaced with several Rivers which after having watered the Plains fall into the great River de la Plata Its Inhabitants are docible and ingenious being more given to Peace than War the Spanish Captain who subdued them stood in no need of very considerable Troops for that purpose They obey Caciques their Lords their Riches consist in Cattle The Spaniards have there a Governour and their principal Town is San-Jago d' El-Estero Cordoua is the next best Town of Tucuman Chaco and Trapalanda are two of its principal Countreys It s People Quirandies towards the Southern part have much of the Scythian humour they have their moveable Habitations and have always made a great resistance against the Spaniard La Plata THe Name of La Plata was given by the Spaniards to this Countrey and a great River which waters it in consideration of the Silver they received there and of the Mines they found This Countrey is pleasant and fertilâ— It has a good Corn-Soil Vineyards fruitful Trees and Cattle in abundance It has a Rock which by Antithesis is called Poor Several Europeans have had a passionate desire to settle themselves here in hopes of finding great Treasures The King of Spain is acknowledg'd in most of the places of De la Plata Wherefore in the year 1680 the Colonies of the Countrey sent Men to hinder the settlement of the Portuguese in the Isles S. Gabriel near Buenosaires The Spanish Governour has his Residence in the City of the Assumption wherein there is a Garrison The true Paraguay is towards the beginning of the great River of the same Name which in our Tongue signifies the River of Feathers Parana is along the River which has Cataracts or falls of Water near two hundred Yards high Buenos-aires is one of the best Spanish Colonies by reason of the Commerce it drives in Brasile from whence it receives the Merchandizes of Europe which has invited the Spaniards of Potosi to go often thither to furnish themselves with Necessaries in exchange for their Ingots of Silver notwithstanding the rigorous Prohibitions of their King whose Rights are lost by these means A Proposal was made to his Catholick Majesty to have his Silver of Peru brought this way which is much nearer and shorter than that of Panama But he thought not fitting to consent to it for fear his Subjects should communicate their Commerce of Silver with the Portuguese of Brasile The Inhabitants have great Trees which they call Zaines whereof they make Boats all of a piece They shew the right wayes to several places by the felling of Trees and as those Trees are some green others either black yellow or red the Forests are agreeably diversifyed by them The Orechons are there remarkable for the bigness of their Ears According to the Relations of the Year 1627 there are in La Plata People more Civiliz'd and more succeptible of our Arts and Religion than in the other parts of America they say that according to a Tradition left their Fore-Fathers by St. Thomas whom they call St. Sume Priests should come into their Countrey with the Cross to instruct them and teach them their salvation Brasile BRasile has its Name common with a sort of Wood which it furnishes in abundance It was called the Country of the Holy Cross when discovered in the Year 1501 in the Name of the King of Portugal It extends along the North Sea towards the North. It has great Rocks under Water whose Mouths make several good Harbours Its Bounds towards the West are unknown those it has towards the South are placed diversly according to the will of the Castilians and Portuguez who explain their own way the Regulation of the Year 1493 Each pretending the Possession of the River La Plata with that of the Molucco Islands and causing Geographical Cards to be made for that purpose to their own advantage By the Regulation above mentioned Alexander the 6th whom Sixtus the 5th Lists in the Rank of the three greatest Popes of the Church invested Ferdinand King of Arragon and Isabella Queen of Castile his Wife in all the Lands which they should cause to be Discovered on the West of a Line which was imaginarily to be drawn from one Pole to the other a hundred Leagues beyond the Islands Azores What was to Discover on the East of that Line was to belong to the King of Portugal Now the difficulty was in the Execution the Castilians would reckon those hundred Leagues from the most Western of the Azores the Portuguese from the most Eastern with design of making pass for what they abandoned within the Desarts of America the rich Possession of the Molucco's which since was pawned to their King by the Emperour Charles V. for Three hundred and fifty thousand Ducats In short these two Nations not agreeing in this affair no more than in several others the Portuguez reckon'd as Brasile all that extends from the River Maranon unto that of La Plata and the Spaniards plac'd the Southern Bounds of it at the Capitania of St. Vincent In the Year 1680. the Portuguezes have shown by their Descent into the Islands of St. Gabriel that they mean not to abate the least of their Pretensions Tho' Brasile be under the Torrid Zone its Air is temperate its Waters the best in the World Its Inhabitants live often a hundred and fifty years and more Besides the Woods of Brasile there is Amber Balm Tobacco Whale-Oyl Cattel Confitures Sugar in abundance the Engines with which they prepare it being of great value There are such Animals Trees Fruits and Roots as are not seen in other parts The Serpents Adders Water-Snakes and Toads have no Venome and serve for Food for the Inhabitants The Fields are destined to Sugars the Mountains for Woods and the Valleys for Tobacco for Fruits and for Mandioche which is a kind of Root which the Inhabitants make their Bread of In this Region is an Herb called Viva which if toucht will shut up as a Dazy in the night and will not open till the Party that injured it be out of fight Most of the Towns are not of above a hundred or an hundred and twenty Houses The Coast of Brasile is divided into fourteen Praefectures or Lordships which are called Capitania's and belong at present all to the Portuguese In the Year 1654 the Hollanders lost all they had Conquered in these parts the War they had then with England not suffering them to send succours thither and the Portuguese Colonies were there much better established than theirs In the Year 1662 the Portuguese entred into Treaty with them to give them satisfaction that they might not have them their Enemies at the same time they were to defend themselves against the Spaniards Amongst the Capitanias Tamuraca is the most ancient tho' the smallest
Fernambuca is esteemed a Terrestrial Paradice by reason of the Beauty of its Territory Bahia de todos os Santos to the City of San-Salvador at present an Archbishops See and the Residence of the Governour It was taken in the Year 1624 by the Hollanders who got such a Booty there that each Souldier had for his share above fifteen thousand Crowns This good fortune occasion'd their Retreat and their Retreat gave occasion to the Spaniards and Portugueses to retake it The Capitania of Rio-Janeiro which the Savages call Ganabara has a great resort of Ships by means of a Navigable River or rather of an Arm of the Sea which advances full twelve Leagues within the Land and is seven or eight in Breadth In the Year 1658 a Mine of Silver was found in the Capitania The City of Santos can receive Ships of two hundred Tun by means of its River As concerning the inward part of Brasile it is not much known but what is known take as followeth The Inhabitants there go naked for the most part and have the dexterity of passing great Rivers by the help of a Panyer and a Rope Three Letters of our Alphabet are of no use amongst them F L R Some say it s because they have neither Faith nor Law nor Ruler The Principal nations amongst them are the Toupinambous the Morguices the Tapuyes and others who differ in Manners and in Language and commonly are distinguish'd by divers Head-Gears and Forms of Hair they wear Their number was much greater before the coming of the Portuguese among 'em several Toupinambous to preserve their freedom have traversed great Desarts and are gone to dwell near the River Maranhaon The Tapuyes are more hard to be Civiliz'd than the Brasilians who inhabit Aldea's These Aldea's are Villages which have but five or six Houses but very long and each capable of containing five or six hundred Persons Most of the Inhabitants of Brasile have made a brave Defence notwithstanding the Wars they make among themselves they have hindred the Europeans from making any progress in the Inlands of their Countrey and have often ruined the Towns and Sugar-Engines which the Christians had made along the Coast Africa THat which the Romans call'd Africa was known among the Greeks under the Name of Libya Thus these two Nations styled the Provinces that were opposite to them towards the South on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea and these Names were afterwards communicated to the rest of Africa The Writers of Holy Matters call it the Country of Cham because that in the Division made by the Children of Noah it fell to Cham's share Africa is a great Peninsula which represents in some manner the Figure either of a Heart Pyramid or Triangle Those who compare it to a Bow say that the Cape of Sierra-Leona and that of Good Hope are the two ends of it that the Isle of St. Thomas in the Ethiopick Sea is the Middle of the string where they put the Arrow whose Heel they place at the Isthmus of Sues in Egypt This part of the World advances thirty five Degrees beyond the Equator and as many on this side the same Line and yet the Inhabitants of the Southern parts are much blacker and less Politick than those of the Northern It s length is from West to the East from Cape Verd to that of Guardafuy which are above two thousand Leagues distant from one another Eighteen hundred are reckon'd from Cape Boa towards the midst of the Coast of Barbary as far as the Cape of Good Hope The Portuguese were the first who discovered the African Coasts upon the Ocean Some say it was first sail'd round under the Ptolemeys others that Solomon sent Fleets to Ophir which having been fitted out in the Red Sea return'd to Joppa in the Holy Land by the Mediterranean Sea Three famous Seas serve for its Bounds as the main Ocean the Mediterranean and the Red Sea The Ocean communicates it self to the Mediterranean Sea by the Streights of Gibraltar and to the Red Sea by that of Babel-Mandel Several Opinions walk about touching the rise of the Name of the Red Sea the Vulgar believe this Sea to be so call'd by reason of its red sand some assert that the reflection of the Mountains which seem reddish burnt and glowing communicates that Colour to it Others attribute it to the Rain-Waters and to those of a Fountain which run into that Sea from the Coasts of Arabia Probably this Name of Red and that of Rubrum which the Latins have given the Gulph of Arabia came from that of Erithrean which is Greek and was peeuliar to that Gulph which was known to us sooner than the other parts of the Erithrean Sea The Red Sea is very long and narrow full of Rocks and divided into three Channels according to its length The middle one called the Long Sea is from twenty five to fifty Fathoms deep Navigable by night and day the two others along the Shoars are so full of Rocks small Islands and Woods that they are only to be sail'd in the day time nor that neither without having Pilots which are taken at Babel-Mandel or Zeilan This Sea receives no considerable Rivers There is green and red Corral and they fish and take some Pearls near the Island Dalaca The ebbing and flowing is so great that some Naturalists have affirmed that the Children of Israel past it dry-foot during the Ebb and that the Egyptians having not well nicked their time were overtaken and lost by the return of the Tide But the Holy Scripture tells us that the Sea divided it self for the facilitating the passage to the Israelites and the Arabians still show the place of their passage between Azirut and El-Tor The greatest Rivers of Africa are the Nile and the Niger The Nile according to the newest Relations has its Sourse in Abyssinia at twelve Degrees of Northern Latitude and runs a Course of full five hundred Leagues after having pass'd thro' the Lake Bar-Dambea Its Cataracts or Water-falls are towards its Source and in the Confines of Aethiopia and Egypt its Mouths make their influx into the Mediterranean Sea out of Egypt where the Ancients have left seven and the Neotericks four Tho' indeed there are but two of them now unless there 's an Inundation Its Waters enrich and fatten the Land and nourish Egypt by their regular Overflowing It s ufual height and encrease is to sixteen Cubits more or less proves inconvenient It is to be perceived by the retreat of the Cattel by the marks which are in the Pits and by the heaviness of the Rivers Mud which they expose in the night out o' doors to receive moisture or Dew which precedes and foreshews this Overflowing The cause of it has been diversly alledged some have said this River communicates its self with the Ocean by the Lake and River of Zaire and that the storms of the Sea cause its Waters to swell Others affirm that the sand
joyning the Nile and the Red Sea and made all Africa to be travell'd round about Under Amasis the Kingdom of Egypt fell into the hands of the Persians afterwards into those of the Greeks and then to the Romans and after the Romans it was swayed by the Califes whose abode was first of all at Medina then at Bagdad at Damas and at Caire The Sultans succeeded the Califes The Turks have had it in possession since the year 1518. They reckon there 18 Cassilifs or Governments where they are commanded by the Bashaw of Caire and the standing Soldiery there are the bravest and the most esteemed of all the Ottoman Empire And indeed this Government is the most honourable of all those that are out of the Port and the Grand Seignior receives every year from hence above a hundred and fifty thousand Piasters a Turkish Coin worth about 4 s. sterl The Egyptians are the best Swimmers in the World gay pleasant brisk and very ingenious The Invention of Astrology Arithmetick and Physick is attributed to 'em Wherefore Egypt is often called the Mother of Arts They say it was Ptolomey Philadelphus who took care to have the Version of the Bible out of Hebrew into Greek done by the serenty Interpreters and to make a Collection of above two hundred thousand Volumes There was also a prodigious number of Books in the Library of Alexandria which was unluckily burnt when Julius Caesar there made War The Natives of the Countrey have a peculiar way of hatching Chickens by means of Furnaces or Ovens wherein they put sometimes three or four thousand Eggs together and when they are hatch'd they sell them by the Bushel They are for the most part Mahometans but have amongst them Jews too and Christians known under the Name of Copties These Copties are Natives of Egypt they have a Tongue wholly peculiar and a way of Writing little different from that of the ancient Greeks The ancient Egyptians were so very superstitious that they had almost as many Gods as Animals and Plants whose Names they gave to their Cities Some Authors attribute this great number of their false Divinities to the Resolution they had taken of making and adoring the Figures of what had hindred them from following Pharaoh when he was drown'd in the Red Sea Egypt is commonly divided into four parts Sahid or High Egypt Bechria otherwise Demesor or Middle Egypt Erriff or Low Egypt and the Coast of the Red Sea Some make only two of it the one High and the other Low according to the Course of the Nile and say that the Hebrews inhabited the Higher which they pretend to prove by the coming of the Locusts from towards the East for the punishment of Pharaoh and by the way that Prince took when he pursued those same Hebrews Some Ancients have divided Egypt into Libyca or Africana and into Arabica or Asiatica in regard of the same River Amongst the Cities Cairo is called Great by reason of the advantages it has over all the other Cities of Africk It is on the other side the place where was the ancient Memphis and three Leagues lower to the East of the Nile Those who reckon in 't sixty thousand Mosquees comprehend in that number several heaps of stones They say also there are above twenty four thousand Contradoes or Quarters and about seven Millions of Persons whereof sixteen hundred thousand are Jews 'T is certain there are full three and twenty thousand Mosquees but some of 'em are not ten paces square It s Castle which stands upon a rising Hill has the rarest Prospect and the best Air in the World It is one of the finest and strongest that is seen tho' it be much impair'd from its ancient splendour 'T is not of marble as some Relations averr there are only several Mosaique Works The Water of the Nile is convey'd thither by an Aqueduct of three hundred and fifty Arches The People of Cairo must questionless be very numerous since we are assur'd that in three Months of the Year 1618 they buried there above six hundred thousand Persons that died of the Pestilence and that this sickness is not perceivable when it only sweeps away two hundred thousand in a year In short Cairo is said to have full two hundred thousand Houses eighteen thousand considerable Streets and twenty five or thirty Leagues in circumference But I speak this comprehending therein the old and new Cairo and the Boulac which are near it If new Cairo was only meant in this Account its bigness does not equal that of London They ride thro' the Streets upon Asses as People go here in Chairs and Coaches not but that there are Horses in Egypt but the Turks have introduced this Custom that they may keep them for their own use The Inhabitants of Cairo make those excellent Tapistries which we call Turky Carpets Besides the Pyramids that are three Leagues and the Mummys which are six from Caire the curious Travellers go to see the Granaries and Pits of Joseph Now it 's to be observ'd that what ever is beautiful and good of the Ancients in Egypt is attributed to Joseph and what is vilainous and infamous to Pharaoh They go also to see Matarea two Leagues from Cairo which serv'd for a retreat to the Virgin with the Fountain which with that of Caire is the only Spring-Water in all the Countrey Here is no longer to be seen the Plant of the true Balm which was brought thither from the Holy Land by the Cares of Cleopatra and the permission of Anthony Sahid formerly Thebes with an hundred Gates was the abode of the Kings of Egypt which was afterwards transferr'd to Alexandria then to Memphis and at last to Cairo It gives its name to the Thebaid which serv'd for a retreat to several Hermits The most modern Relations call this City Gergio and make it the Residence of a Bashaw Alexandria the Work of Alexander the Great formerly the best Town of all Africa after Carthage was the abode of the Ptolomeys and Cleopatra When it was subject to the Romans it contributed more in one Month alone than Jerusalem did in a whole Year It had in its Neighbourhood the Tower of Pharos one of the Seven Wonders of the World It drives some trade by means of its two Havens It is the chief of a Patriarchate of the same Name St. Mark hath made it renown'd in Holy History The Desarts of Macaire where were reckon'd above three hundred Monasteries were on the West of it Damietta is one of the Keys of the Countrey by reason of its Scituation and its Haven upon the Mediterranean-Sea which made the French King Lewis entituled the Saint resolve in his Expedition into the Holy Land to make himself Master of it Rosetta a modern City and pretty well built is the resort of several Ships upon the most frequented Channel of the Nile Sues which has not much above two hundred Houses with a sorry Port is nevertheless the Arsenal
City of all Nigritia Ardre towards the Coast has its King from whom there was an Ambassadour to the French King at Paris towards the latter end of the Year 1670 for the establishment of Traffick in its Dominions The Coast of Maleguetta is so call'd from a kind of Pepper which it produces and which is said to be better than that of the Indies Apes do them great service in Guinca Those that are called Barris fetch Water turn the Spit and serve too at Table Abissinia or Aethiopia THis Countrey is otherwise call'd Abech Abassia Abassinia the Empire of the Negus the Kingdom of Prester John the Middle-Indies the Southern-Indies the High or Great Aethiopia Those of the Countrey give their King the Name of Belulgian by reason of the Ring which the Queen of Sheba received from Salomon and which since that time has been Hereditary in that Royal Family Those who call him Prester-John do it upon this foundation that he sometimes carries a Cross in his hand The Popish Missionaries boast that some of the late Kings have been Catholicks But since the Jesuits who had been powerfully establisht in that Countrey have been Banish'd thence the Papists complain of the Persecution their followers have suffered in those parts The Abissins have a great number of Churches where Divine Service is performed much after the same manner it is here This Land is temperate unless in the Valleys where it is very hot and upon some Mountains where it is cold The Aethiopians are the most ancient People in the World and boast of having never been driven from their Countrey They are dexterous active blith and perform better than other people in great Employments The Mahometans are used to Spirit away the Abissin Children and go sell them to Indian Princes They are so-so Souldiers for Africans but they have not the Art of Building nor of Grinding their Corn and they often eat Cows flesh all raw with Salt and Pepper which they look upon as a peculiar Delicacy They have Civet-Cats and make use of Cloth Stones Salt and little pieces of Iron instead of money for which purpose they also use Gold which they give by weight They do not work in their Mines of Gold and Silver of Narea which has given occasion to say of their Prince That he might with his Treasures purchase whole Worlds The King of Abissinia to whom is also given the title of Emperour is Absolute in all the Territories of his Dominions And this it is that makes his principal Revenue He commonly keeps his Court in the open Field sometimes in one place sometimes an other He has few Cities but a great number of Villages Several places upon the Frontier of the Galles have been fortified for the security of the Inhabitants against the incursions of those people the capital Enemies of the Abissins The Turks hold the City of Suaquem upon the Red Sea whither the Vice-Roy of Barnagasse has commonly sent a Tribute of a thousand Ounces of Gold There are several Relations of Aethiopia and for the most part fabulous But the Jesuits pretend that the late ones they have published to be the most certain According to the Account of an Abissin Ambassadour sent to the Grand Seignior in the Year 1657 Gonthar was the abode of the Emperour Four Kings were tributary to him The King of Sennar which is a hot Country paid him his Tribute in Horses the King of Narea paid it him in Gold The Kings of Bugia and Doncala payed it him in Linnen and Cloth These Dominions are not of so great an extent nor of the same scituation they have hitherto been shown us The Galles on one side have subdued several great Provinces in the Southern part and the Moores have rendred themselves Masters of several places all along upon the Red Sea upon the Coast of Abex According to the late Relations the Sources of the Nile are placed in the Province of the Agaux at twelve Degrees of Northern Latitude which shows in the Cart the difference of above thirty of those Degrees That famous River goes first of all towards the North and then towards the East across the Lake of Bardambea from thence towards the South and towards the West so to return to take its Course pretty near its Sources towards the North and to continue it thro' Aegypt Twenty four small Kingdoms have been commonly accounted in Abissinia that of Amara has a Fortress upon a Mountain called Amba Guexem where formerly were kept the Princes of the Royal Blood Goyama is almost environed with the Nile Which has given some occasion to say that it is the Island Meroe There is in that of Tigermahon the City of Caxumo or Aceum which is said to have been the Residence of the Queen of Sheba several of the Abissin Kings have held their Coronation in that Town Dambea has the famous Lake Bar-Dambea and 's not very far off the City of Gorgora one of the last Residences of the Kings The Coast of Abex upon the Red Sea is full of Woods The tongue of the ancient Troglodites who inhabited it had this peculiarity that it resembled whistling Some have endeavoured to persuade the World that the King of the Abissins might very much incommode the Grand Seignior if he diverted the Waters of the Nile into the Red Sea and so render Aegypt dry This proposition has rendred them ridiculous because there are Mountains that must of necessity be cut through for the bringing this about and that these Mountains which have the Sources of several great Rivers make Aethiopia one of the highest Countreys of all Africa Albuquerque Vice-Roy of the East-Indies for the King of Portugal seems to have had the same design but he did not pursue the putting it into execution He it was who would have caused the Body of Mahomet to be stollen away and have pillaged Mocha with three hundred Horse which he had sent from Ormus upon Ships made on purpose for this Design Congo COngo is a temperate Countrey the Rains and Winds moderating the Heat which is insupportable in the adjacent parts Africa has no Regions that abound more in Rivers The Zaire which is the principal one of this Countrey is considerable for its rapidity and for the abundance of its Waters The Congolans know not how to make use of the Commodities of their Land and though they have Mines of Gold they have none but shells for Money Several amongst them have been converted to Christianity after the example of some of their Kings The Portugueses bring from thence Ivory and Slaves They have their establishment in the Royal City called San-Salvador and in that of St. Paul in the small Island of Loanda where they get fresh Water out of the holes they make in the sand They keep a Garrison in the Forts of Massagan and Cambambo in the Kingdom of Angola for the security of their Silver-Mines in which they work and here it is they assemble their
Negroes appointed for Brasile The Males alone have Right of succeeding in this Kingdom and all Lands belong to the King who is called Mani The Inhabitants have Horses of Wood the use of which is mighty pleasant They lay a piece of an Oxes Hide of the bigness of a Saddle upon a Post near twelve inches thick and he who travels is seated thereon with his leggs on each side all this is carried by two strong men who find others in the way to relieve them Learning is amongst them in so little estimation that when Emanuel King of Portugal had sent to their King all the excellent Books of Law that he could meet with with a considerable number of Civilians This Prince sent the Doctors back and caused the Books to be burnt saying They would but puzzle the Brains of his Subjects who stood in need of nothing but honest reasonable old fashion'd Thinking and common Sense That nevertheless he should be no less a friend of the King of Portugal They still reckon under the notion of Congo the Kingdoms of Angola Cacongo and Malemba The Ansicain people who have the Qualities of the Basques in France And lastly the Bramas and Loanghi Those Kingdoms and People no longer acknowledge the Soveraignty of the King of Congo as they did formerly The King of Angola calls himself the Soba His Subjects love Doggs flesh to that degree that they bring up whole Herds or Packs of them and one Dogg alone well sed is sometimes sold amongst them for above two hundred Crowns They have nothing recommendable but their Dexterity in shooting with the Bow They will let fly a dozen Arrows before the first be fallen upon the ground They say the Sun is a Man the Moon a Woman and the Stars the Children of that Man and that Woman Cafreria and Mono-Motapa THe Land of Cafreria is the most Southern of all Africk nay of all our Continent reaching along the Aethiopick-Sea with an extent of Coasts for about twelve hundred Leagues part in the Torrid and part in the temperate Southern Zone 'T is full of Mountains subject to great Colds and under several petty Kings who for the most part pay tribute to the Emperour of Mono-Motapa The King of Sofala pays it to the King of Portugal who has a Garrison in the Castle of Sofala and who by the means of this Garrison draws abundance of Gold from the Mines which are in the inland Countrey This Gold is accounted as good as any in the World they gather it likewise in the Rivers with Nets after there has been Rain Solomon might possibly have had his come from hence which he employed in the building of the Temple The Coast of Cafreria is low and full of Woods the Soyl produces Flowers of an grateful smell and the Trees make a curious prospect Three great Rivers discharge ' emselves into the Indian Seas through Cafreria all three known in the beginning under the name of Zambera Cuama Spirito Santo les Infantes The Cafres live without Law so as their Name speaks them They often furnish the Seamen who come thither with their Cattel But the Mariners now cause the Oxen they buy to betied to great Posts and shut up the Sheep before they pay 'em because the Cafres after having sold 'em were used to make 'em return home with the Call of a Whistle which is wholly peculiar to ' em We may say of 'em in seeing their colour that they resemble our Chimney-sweepers Besides that they have big Heads flat Noses whether they take care to break them in their infancy or that this happens because when they are little their Mothers carry them continually upon the Back Be it how it will they look upon it as one of the Beauties of the Countrey to have them in that manner They have frizl'd Hair Lips extraordinary big the Chine of the Back sticking out sharp and very large Hips insomuch that nothing can be seen more terrible So that we are not to wonder if Pirard calls 'em those Devils of Cafres The Cape of Good Hope which lies toward the most Southern part of this Countrey is by much the longest the most famous and the most dangerous Cape in the World 'T was called so in hopes of arriving suddenly at the East-Indies when it was veered in the year 1498. Before it had the Name of the Tempestuous Cape from the storms that are frequent thereabouts Some have call'd it the Lyon of the Sea others the Head of Africa There are Signs by which the Sailers know when they are near it fifty or sixty Leagues off they find the Bodies of great Reeds called Trombes floating on the Sea and they see flying a number of white Birds mark'd with black spots They who return from the East-Indies see Troops of Sea Wolves made like Bears and then they are continually sounding This Cape serves for bounds to the East and West-India-Companies As they go to the East-Indies and return from thence they must of necessity come in ken of it The Land enjovs a temperate Air several Valleys have Herbs and Flowers in abundance There are Rivers full of Fish and Woods full of Deer and Cattel The Inhabitants who make their Garments of Beasts-skins are very good at running but very villanous in their Diet and when they speak you 'd think you heard Turkey-Cocks Mono-Motapa which is entirely in the Terra firma is almost environ'd with Cafreria It goes under the Name of its King whereas Kings commonly go under the Names of the Countreys that are subject to ' em It is fertile abounding in Ivory and so rich in Gold that the King of it is called the Golden Emperour The Inhabitants who are very superstitious have Pikes Bows and Arrows for their Arms several of 'em are so swift o' foot that they equal Horses in running The Common People only wear Garments below their middle A Relation that was publish'd in the year 1631 tells us That the King then reigning was baptiz'd with all his Court by the Jesuits This Prince is commonly adorn'd with Chains and Jewels like a Bride He is said to have for his usual Guard a Regiment of Women and another of Doggs and that in the Armies those Women do not less service than the Men. The Princes who pay him Tribute receive every Year firing from him for a Mark of the Fealty they owe him the City which is the most considerable has the same Name with the Kingdom Zimbaoe is a square Fortress and the abode of the Court Mono-Emugi is a State on the North of Mono-Motapa The Giaques otherwise called Galles and Chava border upon it and are illustrious for their Valour and for their Conquests which they have made in our time over Abissinia in the upper Aethiopia Zanguebar ZAnguebar of Barbary is a great Coast in the Oriental part of Africa along the Indian-Sea on each side the Equinoctial 'T is a low fenny woody Countrey which by the extremity of the
exact Discoveries of all the Eastern and Southern Coast of the Island The Isle of Bourbon called formerly Mascharenhe five and twenty Leagues in length and fourteen in breadth is in possession of the French It has a Vulcano that is to say a Mountain that spits and casts forth fire the rest of its Land is by much the best and finest Countrey in the World the Waters are very healthful and it has most of the Commodities that are in the Isle of Madagascar The Isle of Maltha MAltha about the midst of the Mediterranean-Sea was formerly call'd Melita by reason of its Honey 'T is attributed to Africk because nearer it than the firm Land of Europe and because the Maltheses have great conformity with the Africans in point of manners It s Land and its Stones have Vertues altogether singular if there be Serpents they have no venome Some appropriate to this Island the particulars of the Shipwrack of St. Paul and those of the little Dogs which others affirm to have been in the Isle of Melada in the Gulph of Venice The Isle of Maltha has often had the same Soveraigns with Sicily at present it is the abode of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem under a Prince whom they call the Great Master The Patron of the Order is St. John Baptist and nevertheless the Name of St. John was given it upon occasion of the place where that Order was first of all establish'd and by reason of a St. John Bishop of Alexandria celebrated for his great and bountiful Alms. The Emperour Charles the Fifth gave it to the Knights who had no setled abode since the loss of Rhodes and who before had resided at Jerusalem at Margat Acre and Limisso in the Isle of Cyprus The Order is compos'd of eight Tongues which are as many principal Nations Provence Auvergne France Italy Aragon England Germany and Castile To each of 'em belong some considerable Dignities Priories and Commanderies The three Tongues of France have full three hundred Commanderies and the five others together have not many more The Name of Knight was not in use in the beginning of the institution of the Order The Religious were then called Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem One of the Statutes of the Order bears That the Knights ought rather to lose their Lives than yield up the Places that are confided to their keeping The Island produces several good Fruits as it has little Corn and Wine to nourish seventy five or eighty thousand persons Sicily does commonly supply that want They make account there of fifteen thousand Men fit for service and they now keep there eight good Galleys It is but ten Leagues in length and five in breadth with several Harbours and Roads that are called Calles and Marsa It is the best fortified of the World as being the principal Rampart and Bulwark of Christendom and its Fortresses have above three hundred pieces of Canon By reason of its strength and the valour of its Knights they say Maltha fior del Mondo There are four Towns the City which is about the midst of the Island Valetta a new City the victorious Burg City which repulsed the Turks in the Year 1565 and St. Michael which is now called the Isle de la Sangle the three last are near one another and seem to make but one La Goza a small Island near that of Maltha affords good Hawks the Great Master styles himself the Prince of it They call those young Knights whom they mean to droll upon for their Bravading by the Title of Prince of Forfola which is a Rock near the Coast Of some other Islands of Africa MAdera eighteen Leagues in compass in the Atlantick and on the North of the Canaries belongs to the Crown of Portugal It enjoys a pleasant Air is not subject to excessive Heats but never feels any Cold. Seven or eight small Rivers contribute much to its temperature It is call'd the Queen of Islands by reason of its Beauty and the fertility of its Soil which produces excellent Wine Here grow also delicate Fruits and they make the best Sugar in the World which furnishes the means of preparing Marmalade Codinniack and other such like Preserves It has three Towns the principal is Funchal the Residence of the Governour and the Bishop 'T is at the foot of a Mountain which is full five Quarts of a League high with three Fortresses and an Harbour in form of a Crescent where Ships may come and lye at Anchor within Pistol-shot of the Town St. Thomas under the Equinoctial is rich in Sugar the Air bad for those Foreigners who go to dwell there they never grow bigger than they were at their first arrival there The Portuguese were the first who subdued it It s best Town is Pavoasan of about seven hundred Families with a Fortress in the Eastern part of the Island at present belonging to the Hollanders It has several Trees like to that of the Island of Fierro they have the same circumstance of distilling Water continually for the use of the Inhabitants Their Swines-flesh is more pleasant and more healthful than that of Fowl by reason that Creature is fed with Canes that produce Sugar The Prince's Island has had this Name since that its Revenue was set apart for the maintenance of the Prince of Portugal Annabon was so called having been first discovered on the first day of the Year The Portuguese have an Habitation there in its Northern part St. Helena of sixteen Leagues in compass is in the Ethiopick There is not an Island in the World farther distant from the Terra firma They call it the Sea's Inn because it has fresh Water in abundance and that those who come from the East-Indies are us'd to touch there to take it in It 's high and full of Mountains with a very clear Coast without Rocks where is even near the Rocks above ten fathom Water The English have found such great accommodation here that they have built a Fort in the Island Zocotora and Bebelmendel are towards the Red Sea this last in the Streight which receives its Name where the passage is most commodious on the side of Africa Zocotora near the Cap Guadarfu five and twenty Leagues in length and ten in breadth obeys a King that is an Arabian It has a good Road and Bays very commodious where Ships may ride safe at Anchor even near the Rocks Ships may Winter there more conveniently than at Mozambique or Mombaze the Air being healthful the Entrance of the Bar without danger and the Cattel in great plenty AsÃa THis part of the World which is called the Levant by reason of its scituation on the East of Europe and of Africa is the greatest of the three which compose our Continent It s Length from the West to the East is full two thousand five hundred French Leagues from the Western parts of Natolia to the most Eastern parts of China If we include herein
Babilon have been so great that it alone contributed more to King Cirus than did the third part of his Dominions After Babilon Seleucia has been considerable in Assiria Ctesiphon Vologe-socerta and lastly Bagdad which is in the place of Ctesiphon Bagdad which some call Baldac and which is vulgarly called Babilon is not only resorted to by Merchants of several Nations but also by Mahometans who go thither from all parts of Asia to visit in its neighbourhood the Sepulchres of Omar Ali and other Disciples of Mahomet It was for a long while the Residence of the Caliphs one of whom named Vlit has had the glory of being Master of the greatest Monarchy that has ever been in the World It extended from the most Western parts of Barbary to the Indus 'T is observ'd of another Caliph of this same City that he left at his death eight Sons eight Daughters eight Millions of Gold eight thousand Slaves and his Dominions augmented by eight Kingdoms In the Year 1638 when the Grand Seignior Amurath the Fourth recover'd this strong and important City of Bagdad from the Persians he caus'd three Men of each Company of his Army to be cast into the Ditch and upon them a number of Faggots and Sacks of Wool for the making the Assault with the more facility Kufa is a Town which the Inhabitants have in peculiar veneration by reason of the Sepulcher of Ali. They keep there a Horse always ready to mount him whom they say is to come and convert the whole World to their Law Bassora is a Town near the mouth of the Tigris called Chat by those of the Countrey 'T is spacious and pleasant by reason of its Palm-Trees By the means of its Harbour it furnishes the Indies and Persia with Dates which serve for Bread and Wine to those who know how to prepare them It s great Commerce of Horses makes it often called by the Name of Mer-El-Catif They were used to Voyage upon this Sea or Gulph along the shoar and with the lead in hand The Barks that are made use of there are sewed with little Cords of Coco insomuch that not any Nails are to be perceived in ' em Some few years ago Bassora belong'd to Ali Bashaw who called himself King of it and who had this state from Father to Son and was the Dominus fac-totum paying only a small tribute to the Grand Seignior who did not press him for fear he should take the Persians side Souria is divided into Souria Phoenicia and the Holy Land Souria proper to the City of Aleppo which is reckoned for the best of all the Levant and contains above two hundred and fifty thousand Persons It is really the third of the Ottoman Empire if we consider the resort thither of the Caravans the Rendezvouz of the Turkish Armies in the Wars of Persia and all its other advantages The Jewels Spices Silks and other precious Commodities arrive here from the East by Sea and by Land They send them afterwards into Barbary by means of the Port of Alexandretta upon the Mediterranean Sea They there make use of Camels for the going to Bi r where they might have the conveniency of the Euphrates as far as the Neighbourhood of Bagdad but several Mills there hinder the Navigation It 's fine to see upon that River the Peasants going down the stream upon Goats-skins which they fill with Wind and let out again when they have made use of them Antioch which for excellency has the Denomination of Great was the abode of some Roman Emperours and the Cradle of Christianity St. Paul having established here the first Patriarchate of the Church It has had formerly a Suburb called Daphne which passed for one of the most delicious places in the World Damas the Metropolis of Phoenicia sends us sweet smelling Waters Wines pleasurable Fruits Prunes Raisins Cutlasses Sword Blades and other works which keep the Name of it They say that after the Battel of Issus Alexander the Great found in Damascus two hundred thousand six hundred Talents of Coined Money This City is in so fertile and so agreeable a scituation that some have called it the Paradice of the World Sayd otherwise Sidon has a French Consul for Trade Sur or Sour from whence came the Name of Souria is the ancient Tyre renowned for its fine Scarlet for its good Mariners for its Colonies and for the Siege of seven Months which it held out against Alexander the Great before he could take it In its Neighbourhood is to be seen the Castle of Tygade the ancient obode of Old de la Montagne Prince of the Assassins who executed blindly all the Orders of their Sovereign Saint John de Aere otherwise Ptolemaida formerly the Residence of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem is accompanied with a Sea-Haven Mount Libanus is remarkable for its height for its fertility for the ancient Cedars which have been found there since the Creation of the World It has full sixty Leagues in compass and forty Villages of the Maronites Those people who are Catholicks receive their Name from the Monastery of Saint-Maron They are in possession of four hundred Villages and can bring fifteen thousand Men in Arms. Canobin is the Residence of their Patriarch who bears the Title of that of Antioch Besides the Maronites in this Mount Libanus are Emirs or Princes and the Nations of the Druses Nassarians Kelbins who maintain there their liberty The Holy Land where the principal Mysteries of our Salvation were wrought is as it were in the midst of our Continent It was first of all named the Land of Canaan the Land of the Promise the Land of the Hebrews the Land of Israelites and afterwards Judea Palestine and finally the Holy Land by reason of the Birth and Death of the Saviour of the World and in consideration of the abode of the Prophets It s principal and first Divisions have been into eleven people who bore the Names of the Children of Canaan into fifty two Kingdoms and five Satrapies into twelve Tribes who went under the Names of the Children of Jacob. 'T is however to be observed that Manasses and Ephraim are the Names of the Children of Joseph who died before the Division and that the Tribes who had the Lands on the East of Jordan had them upon condition of engaging first in the most dangerous Actions The other Divisions of the Holy Land have been into twelve Governments under Solomon Into two Kingdoms Israel and Judah Into six Provinces after the Captivity of Babylon Into three Roman Provinces Into five Tribunals or Audiences by Gabinius And lastly Into three Ecclesiastical Provinces The Holy-Land has hardly at present any place of Remark and the Turks only preserve the Towns they have there by reason of the Money which they exact from the Pilgrims It had formerly Cities so rich so powerful and in such great numbers that no Countrey in the World was there that could be compared to 't for that
that they keep Registers of their Race which are from time to time approv'd of by the Judges Horses of the most noble and commonly Mares are sometimes sold for three or four thousand Piasters The Arabians eat their Meals crouching upon their Heels whereas the Turks eat upon Cushions cross-legg'd the oldest among 'em wear the finest Cloaths and the gaudiest Colours Their Predecessours prohibited Buildings and the tilling of Lands for that those who stood possess'd of great stocks if they meant to enjoy 'em were easily constrain'd to obey them who aim'd at subduing ' em They made also that Member of the Noble Race Successour of the Kingdom who came first into the World after the proclaiming of the King In the comparison of the Manners and Maximes of the Levantine Nations with those of Europe the Arabians are made to resemble the Italians the Persians the French the Turks the Spaniards Arabia in general is subject to such great heats that they are constrain'd to keep the Markets by night There is a great number of Mountains and few Rivers It is divided into three parts Petraea Deserta and Foelix the two former is almost wholly in the possession of the Turks Arabia Foelix has several petty Sovereigns Arabia Petraea was inhabited by the Madianites Moabites Amalekites and Idumeans Nations of whom mention is often made in the Holy Oracles Its Inhabitants pay Tribute to the Bashaw of Cairo Crac otherwise Montreal formerly call'd Petra has communicated to it its Name Busseret is the Countrey of Philip the Roman Emperour who is said to have embrac'd Christianity Tor upon the Red-Sea is a Port defended by a four-square Castle There are in the places adjacent found petrified Mushrooms white Corral Chagrin small Oysters and sometimes Sea-men or such people as are bred and live in the Sea 'T is said the Red-Sea is but three Leagues broad in that place and that the Children of Israel pass'd it over there dry-shod when they came out of Aegypt that it was one of the Ports from whence Solomon sent his Fleets into Ophir to fetch Gold Pegs of Wood are put into the Ships of the Places that belong to this Sea because little Iron is to be found there Those who have a mind to impose Talk as that if they made use of Iron Nails instead of Pegs the Ships would be attacked and stopp'd by the Loadstone that is found in the neighbouring Mountains Mount Oreb is famous in the Holy Writ for the burning Bush wherein God appear'd to Moses Sinai is illustrious for the Decalogue or Ten Commandments which this Prophet receiv'd It is extraordinary high and nevertheless the Mount St. Catherine which is near it is much higher Arabia Deserta is a Countrey where they often want good Water tho' there be some Wells the Water for the most part is hardly worth any thing Ana upon the Euphrates has an Arabian Emir There is a King in this Arabia who has a moving and portative City which consists in Tents and he causes it to be carried whither he pleaseth He takes this course to avoid being surpriz'd by the Turks Sumiscasac is esteem'd the ancient Saba from whence departed the three Kings or rather wise Men to come and adore the Saviour of the World in Bethlehem Arabia Faelix goes under that Name as being a good Countrey It has Horses very much esteem'd Manna Cinnamon Myrrh Balm Benjamin Incense and other Perfumes There is so great a quantity of Incense that from the Port of Dolfar the Inhabitants furnish the principal parts of the World Aden is a City of great trade in a small Peninsula at the foot of a Mountain with two Castles towards the North and a small Fortress at the entrance of the Harbour The Portugals at the time of their establishment in the East Indies had Orders to make themselves Masters of Aden Ormus and Malaca by reason of their important situations The Turks prevented them at Aden whose King they caused to be hang'd on the Mast of their Captain 's Galley Since that time there have been some Revolutions those of the Countrey having dispossess'd the Turks Ormus and Malaca have been in the power of the Portuguese the Persians have taken from them Ormus by the help of the English and the Hollanders Malaca Mecha and Medina are famous for the Pilgrimages of the Mahometans who are in great esteem after such a Journey they go particularly to Mecha to pay their devotion to Kiaabee the four-square House which they call the House of God as having been built by Abraham This City about as big as York as containing about six thousand Houses is a days journey distant from the Red-Sea the place of the Birth of Mahomet whose body was as some Authors say transferred to Medina when Albaquerque the Portuguese would have surpriz'd the Port of Ziden otherwise called Gidde with design to go with Cavalry and fetch away that Mahometan Relick The Countrey about Mecha produces in abundance that sort of Berry which serves to make the Drink called Coffee so much us'd in the Levant by reason of its virtue to fortifie the Stomach and facilitate Digestion Medina three days journey from the Red-Sea is the place where that pretended Prophet lyes buryed Endeavours have been used to make his Tomb pass for a Wonder as if it was suspended in the Air by the means of the Load-stone this is not only found to be a fallacy but Antiquity shews us such like things Democritus the Athenian by order of Ptolomey King of Aegypt undertook to make the Statue of Arsinoe all of Iron for to dispose it after the like manner and in the Temple of Serapis in Alexandria they formerly hung up the same way a Sun made of a very delicate Iron The Prince of Mecha called Sultan Scherif is one of the most Potent of all Arabia His most usual Residence is in Almacharana The Grand Seignior makes him often Presents and causes part of the Revenue of Aegypt to be given him by reason that he 's of the Race of Mahomet and to oblige him to defend the Turkish Pilgrims The Arabians call Scherifs the Relations of Mahomet the Turks call them Emirs Fartach Caxem Gubel-haman Alibinali Amanzirifdin Masfa Mascalat Jemen are as many Sultanies or small Kingdoms in Arabia-Felix Mascate formerly belonging to the Portugals has for a long while carried on the trade from the Indies to the Mecha by the means of the Cities El-Catif and Lehsa Sohar in the Eastern part drove the Commerce which has since been to Ormus and to Gombru Mocha upon the Red Sea is an open Town with a small Castle By reason of the goodness of its Haven there resort thither Ships from all parts of the East-Indies with Merchandizes to take in those of Europe which are in like manner brought thither There are Jews Persians Armenians Indians Banians It is the place where the Pilgrims disembark who go from the Indies to Mecha 'T is much augmented since the
Pelts and do nothing else than look to their Cattel Their Countrey has in all times been a Nursery of Men who under divers Names have made Conquests and establish'd Colonies in several places That great Wall which the Chineses had rais'd for the putting a stop to their incursions has not been capable of effecting that purpose They aaknowledge several Princes whom they call Cans They have sundry Hurdes that may be called Cantons Camps Tribes or Assemblies of Families The little knowledge we have of them is the reason we call them all under the general Name of Tartars They have the Owl in great veneration since that Cingis one of their Sovereigns was saved by the means of that Bird. They will not suffer they should be buried some amongst 'em make choice of a Tree and give order for their being hang'd up upon it after their death There be still among 'em Idolaters but they are for the most part Mahometans It has been observ'd that those who have conquered China have hardly any particular Religion tho' they practice several Moral Vertues Five great parts are commonly reckon'd in Asian Tartary Tartaria Deserta Giagathi Turquestan Northern Tartary and the Tartary of Kin. Desort Tartary is so called because that most of the Lands there are uncultivated It is for the most part subject to the Czars of Muscovy who draw fine and rich Furrs from thence and who with ease subdued the Inhabitants of it they being only Shepherds Its Gities of Casan and Astracan are near the Wolga which empties it self into the Caspian-Sea by seventy Mouths the Obi which in the same Countrey empties it self into the Ocean has six Astracan drives a great trade in Salt which the Inhabitants find in a neighbouring Mountain The Calmack People are Idolaters much like to the ancient Scythians by reason of their incursions their cruelty and their other ways of living Giagathai and Mawaralnahr have peculiar Chams The City of Samarchand is that where Tamerlane the great a Native of la Casta a day's journey from thence establish'd a famous University There is also one at Bockora which passes for the Countrey of Avicenna a famous Philosopher and Physician another at Orcange near the Caspian-Sea Alexandria of Sogdiana was formerly famous for the death of the Philosopher Calisthenes The Tribe of the Mogul is known by the rise of the Prince of the same Name whose Successours command a good part of India The Inhabitants of these Parts hunt wild Horses with Faulcons in some of these Countries they have such a disposition for Musick that their little Children sing instead of crying Those of Giagathai and Yousbeg do not call themselves Tartars being of the Mahometan Religion Turquestan is the Country from whence some make the Turks to come Thibet which is part of it has Musk Cinnamon Coral which serve for Money to it's Inhabitants The Tartars of Kin which some call Cathai is the most Potent State of all Tartary very Populous Rich and full of Great Cities Cambalu or rather Muoncheu is the Capital thereof Several Authors have told Wonders of this City making it known under the Names of Quinzai Xantum Suntien and Peguim Amongst other things they say that in the Palace Royal there are twenty four Pillars of fine Gold and another much greater of the same Metal with a Pine Apple beset with Jewels that are worth four Great Cities The Voyage of Cathai has been undertaken by several ways in hopes of finding Gold Musk Rhubarb and other Rich Commodities there several have gone thither by the Terra-firma others by the Northern Sea some by going up the Ganges The Tartars of this Country invaded China in our Time the King of Niuche called Xunchi is the same who made the Conquest of it at the Age of twelve years assisted with the good and faithful Councels of two of his Uncles Besides a continual success and happyness a great Moderation has been observ'd in this young Conquerour who has treated a Nation newly subdued with all the Lenity imaginable The old or true Tartary which the Arabians call after a different manner is towards the North and but very little known Salmanasar King of Assyria is said to have transported thither the Tribes which he carryed away Captive from the Holy Land and there are also said to be still at this day Hords of them who keep up their Names and follow their Manners It has Imaus one of greatest Mountains in the World China CHina which receiv'd almost as many Names as it has had Royal Families has ever pass'd for one of the most Considerable Kingdoms in the World by reason of it's bigness the Beauty of it's Cities the great number Politeness and Maximes of it's Inhabitants Printing the Manufacture of Silks Artillery Gunpowder and Chairs or Sedans are said to have been in use with them sooner than with us Besides what is necessary to the Life of Man China produces the most precious commodities of the East It seems as if Nature had bestow'd upon each of it's Provinces some peculiar Gift those who have dwelt in this Country do aver that all that is thought fine dispers'd in the rest of the World is collected in China That there is likewise a vast number of things which would be in vain sought for else-where So that it is no wonder if the Tartars found it so easy a matter to subdue a Nation subdued in delights before who having forgot to wear the sabre contented themselves with fighting at fisticuffs and with their Nails which they expresly let grow for that purpose and for tearing away their Flabels and their hair which was their Principal Ornament This oblig'd their Conquerours to call the Chineses the soft and easy and to make them enjoy the Pleasures of the Campagne which they had never done before that Conquest China is almost Quadrangular so Populous that there has been sometimes reckoned above Sixty Thousand Millions of Persons of those who might be assessed and pay Taxes It 's Rivers are so covered with Boats that there are held to be as many as in all the other Rivers of the World The Annual Revenue of it's King has ever been esteem'd a Hundred and Fifty Millions of Gold according to others Four Hundred Millions of Ducats The Chineses laugh'd at our Maps which plac'd their Kingdom at one of the ends of the World they say they are in the mid'st the Jews have pretended the same thing for Jerusalem the Greeks for Delphos the Moors for Granada They say also that they have two Eyes that the Europeans have but one and other People none at all Learned Men are oblig'd to them for that they have compiled their History which was brought into Europe by Martini the Jesuit It is esteemed so much the more faithful in that they made it but of their own Country and only for themselves They have always been so Jealous of the secrets of their Policy and of their other affairs that they did
King of Narsinga who is the Raja of Velou whose Territories advance towards Cape Comorin stiles himself the King of Kings and the Husband of a thousand Wives The City of Bisnagar is upon a Mountain with a Cittadel There are on this Coast the Naiques or Princes of Madura Tanaior and Gingi and in their Dominions Inhabitants who have pleasant Imaginations they make the number of their Gods mount to thirty three Millions They say that the Globe of the Earth is supported with a Serpent arm'd with a thousand Heads on which all the World is pois'd that this Serpent is born by eight Elephants who stand upon the Back-bone of a Tortoise which of its self remains firm and motionless even with the Water They also multiply the Seas and make seven different ones of them the one of Water the other of Milk the third of Cream the fourth of Butter the fifth of Salt the sixth of Sugar and the seventh of Wine These small States have rose out of the ruins of that of Narsinga The late Relations make mention of the Kingdom of Messur bordering upon that of Madura of the Moravan People being very Warlike and of the Land of Thieves There are several Apes in the Woods of this Country where People take the Diversion of making them fight to get Rice Golconda belongs to a Mahometan King of the Sect of the Persiaens there is a Mine of Diamonds so abounding that in the Year 1622. the King caused it to be stopped up for some time for fear that the too great quantity would render them common or that the Mogul might have a desire to possess it This Mine is at the foot of a Mountain where are sometimes a hundred thousand Workmen There are also Mines of Iron and Steel the Steel that is drawn from thence passes for the best of all the Levant The Inhabitants of this Countrey are very much addicted to Traffick though the Countrey be Mountainous and Sandy yet it produces great plenty of Rice The King has so many Customs and Imposts that there accrue to him from thence above twenty Millions They speak Talenga in this Kingdom and reckon by Gauts each of which comes to six thousand paces The City of Golconda is one of the most beautiful and strongest of all India it is also one of the greatest being divided into three Citites Badnaguar otherwise Hidraband where is the King's Palace though it be without Walls Golconda where is the Cittadel Emanjour upon a River which separates it from the former The King's Palace is the most magnificent of all those of India it is twelve Miles compass Gold is there employed to such uses as we employ Iron for Mazalpatan an unwalled Town has narrow Streets and low Houses it is strong by Situation in a marshy place where it has a Bridg of fifteen thousand paces in length It s Harbour or Road is half a League from the City commodious for all sorts of Ships most Europeans have their Factors here The Inhabitants of the Town drive a great Trade in Stained or Painted Cloaths and other Works of Cotton so delicately wrought and with such lively Colours that they are more esteemed than those of Silk The Fortress of Condapoli has six Fortifications one upon another each with its conveniency and Lands capable of nourishing its Garrison There are sixty other places of defence in the Kingdom of Golconda The Peninsula of India extra Gangem IN this part of India is a great number of good and great Rivers which render it fertile by their Inundations and which afford the means of Transporting thence the same Merchandizes as from the Neighbouring Countries The Elephants do great service principally when Fire has seized on any place for then they pull down with a wonderful dispatch and dexterity the Houses neighbouring on those which are burning upon a certain signal from him who governs them they take away with their Trunk the Roof of the House that is shew'd them and Butt down the Walls that remain without going beyond the Order that is given them The Inhabitants of these Countries are for the most part Pagans and live in a state of War under divers Kings in whose Dominions are daily wrought some Changes or other the most powerful still becoming Masters of the weakest Aracan is fertile in Grains and Silver-Mines Pegu was very considerable when it comprehended two Emperors and twenty six Kingdoms It is much decayed and fallen from its grandeur through the Wars it sustain'd against the King of Siam for the maintaining itself in the possession of a White Elephant This Elephant was in so much the greater esteem amongst the Indians in that they firmly believed that their Xaca or Prophet was Metamorphosed into such an Animal In the Year 1661. the Tartar Victorious over China push'd on his Conquests thither in pursuing Constantin the last King of the Chineses The Glasses of the Pagods which are the Churches of the City of Pegu are of Tortoise-shells so as those of Goa are of Mother of Pearl The City of Siam which is otherwise called Odia or India is twenty Leagues from the Sea upon the Menan River which overflows every six Months the Indians call it in this manner as if it was the Mother of Waters This River has three Mouths whereof the most Eastern is the most commodious Several Ships come to the City of Bankok six Leagues from the Sea from thence their Boats and Pinnaces go twenty Leagues as far as the City of Siam The King of Siam has been very absolute has had several small Tributary Princes but has since own'd Homage to the Tartar Master of China He is an Idolater and nevertheless allows of the Building of some Christian Churches in his Capital Cities nay he himself has caused some to be Built at his own cost He himself Trades out of his Dominons are Transported Buck-skins Benjamin and all other precious Merchandises of India The Siamois contrary to other Orientals dispose their Writing after the same manner as do the other Orientals Tanacerin near an Isthmus Ligor and Patane drive a great Trade This Country is fertile temperate and brings forth Fruits every Month of the Year Hens Geese and Ducks lay often their Eggs twice a day insomuch that Victuals are in abundance and at easie rates Malaca with a strong Castle is as the Centre of the East-Indies where you may wait for Winds fair for the Navigation you intend to make Barks may enter into it by the River but great Ships cast anchor between the two Islands that are in the mouth of the River The City ows its rise to Fishermen of Pegu Siam and Bengala who frequented it establishing there at the same time a new Tongue which is at present receiv'd in several parts of India The Portugals gave out that the Air hereof was unwholsome which was to prevent all desire in other Nations of setling themselves here In the Year 1641 the Hollanders made themselves Masters
of it People observe there for a rarity the doleful Tree whose Flowers only come by Night and fall at the sight of the Sun Ihor in the most Southern part of India is built upon Posts near a River which divides it into two Ports Cambodia whose King is a Vassal of that of China drives a great Trade The City of the same Name is sixty Leagues from the Sea built in length upon a rising ground to exempt it self from the Inundation of its River The Mecon which passes by it has two principal Mouths which separate themselves afterwards into two others It is Navigable In the Year 1644 four Holland Ships entred it and got out again notwithstanding the endeavours and oppositions of the King of that Countrey who would have hindred them from so doing Cochinchina is one of the best Kingdoms of all India A great number of Galleys are kept there where the Office of Rower is more sought after than in Europe the French Bishops have been busie there to promote the Catholick Religion Tunquim or Tonkin has its peculiar King as well as Cochinchina and Cambodia Upon the Confines of China and India there are People called Maug Timocoves Gueyes and others The Tunquiners are the best Fire arms-men of all Asia instead of Purses they have little Strings whereon they file their Copper Money which are round pieces pierced thro' the middle distinguish'd from sixty to sixty by certain marks they carry them upon their shoulders or else around their arms The Country of Tunquim is boggish watry and interlaced with above thirty Rivers which fall into the Sea the Air is nevertheless very pure They reckoâ— they have aobut twenty thousand Villages and six great Provinces wherein are said to be two hundred thousand Christians The capital City is esteemed twenty Miles in circuit wherein it contains above a Million of Persons There are upon the Frontiers Forests full of Apes who go sometimes to the number of three or four hundred and ravage the fields from whence they carry a prodigious quantity of Rice which they fasten between their skin and a girdle of straw which they make for that purpose This Country has no wall'd Towns or Fortresses The King of Tunquim has above fifty thousand Soldiers for this guard and keeps above sixty thousand upon the Frontiers of Cachinchina with whose Prince he is often at Dagger's drawing He is said to have above five hundred Elephants about as many Galleys most of em well fitted and finely guilt It is by the means of the Elephants that the Tunquiners have maintain'd themselves against the Chineses who did domineer over 'em for somewhile The most modern Relations make seven Kingdoms pass under the Name of Tunquim Tunquim Cochinchina Ciucanghe or Caubang the small Bao the little Lao and the Mountains of Rumoy or Kemois where there is a little King of Fire and another of Water They likewise make mention of the great Kingdom of Lao which extends from fourteen Degrees to two and twenty and a half of Northern Latitude upon a breadth of fifty Miles along a River of same Name where Langione at eighteen Degrees of Latitude is the capital City They likewise mention that its King has for Tributaries those of Bao Ciocangue Ava and that there are full five hundred thousand Men capable of Service in his Dominions The Maldive Islands THe Maldive's Islands situate on the South of India both on this and the other side the Equinoctial have this Name from their City called Male and from Dive which signifies Island in the Language of the Country They are said to be twelve thousand in all which is spoke at hazard and an uncertain number is taken for a certain These Islands are dispers'd from the North-East to the South-East into thirteen Provinces which the Inhabitants call Atollons whereof each has a Bank for its Ramparts Some of 'em are only Rocks or heaps of Sand and all are very small That of Male which is the Principal is not a League in compass They are interlaced with several Arms of the Sea environed with Rocks which render 'em of very difficult access It has been the good pleasure of Divine Providence that there are four Ports or four Openings to the Issues of each Atollon that those Ports corresponding to one another the Inhabitants might communicate together Without this help the Ships would be hurried away by the great Currents of the Sea for above seven or eight hundred Leagues from the Maldives These Currents go six Months towards the East six Months towards the West sometimes more sometimes less The Chanels through which the Ships may pass most easily are those of Malos-Madou of Adou and Sovadou this is twenty Leagues broad As the Sea is but shallow in these parts and there are commonly high Winds and few Commodities few Europeans resort to these Islands The King of Maldives is called Rascan His Revenue consists in the Misfortunes of others that is to say it accrews from the Shipwracks of Vessels that are cast away in those parts Certain it is there is no trust to be put in the Pilots of those Islands they often cause the Ships to be cast away that are left to their conduct that so the profit thereof may redound to their King This Prince has a Custom to Caress strangers and invite them into his Island that so by their dwelling there for some while they may die of the Disease that reigns in those parts The Insularies are of a low Stature of a tawny Complexion of the Mahometan Religion subject to several Evils by reason of the excessive heats which reign there and Feavers which seldom abandon their Islands They shave themselves with cold water catch Fish by swimming go easily to the bottom of the Sea choose a convenient place for the Anchors of their Ships will with an incredible facility weigh up from thence burdens of a hundred thousand pounds weight by the means of a Cable and some pieces of their Woods of Condou Their Cocoes furnish them with great Conveniencies they make of 'em Wine Honey Sugar Milk and Butter they eat Almonds instead of Bread with all sorts of Meats they place each Trade in a particular Island Now to exempt ' emselves from the Vermin which might spoil and destroy their Commodities they have their Ware houses and Magazines set up in the Sea upon Posts and Pillars at two or three hundred Paces from their Islands The Isle of Ceylan CEylan is said by the Insularies to have been much greater formerly than it is at this day of four hundred Miles which it was then in compass it is not now above three hundred 'T is made to resemble a Pearl and several do believe that it is the Taprobana of the Ancients It s Air is the purest and most healthful that is in all India Some call it the Land of Delights and say that it is the place where was the Terrestrial Paradise that the Pico of Adam whither
the best and most frequented Havens of the Isle of Java Borneo is the greatest Island of all Asia fertile in Merabolans and Camphire It has several good Roads but few good Towns Some say it is the Java Major of Marc-Pol of Venice and Java Minor is that we have just before made mention of The City of Borneo is built upon Posts in the Sea at the Mouth of a River where is a Great and Commodious Haven It has its particular King as well as Bender-Massin Sabas is the Capital of a Kingdom which affords Diamonds The Isles of Japan THere be several Islands known under this name The three most considerable are Niphon Ximo and Xicoco Niphon much larger than the rest is separated from the firm Land by an Arm of the Sea about ten Leagues in breadth some say that it is joyn'd to it but that by the difficulties of the ways the Japans chuse rather to go thither by Sea All these Islands have a temperate Air abound in Rice Pearls and Mines of Silver very much esteemed Their Pearls are large but are found to have too much of Red in them In this Country is a very extraordinary Tree it becomes dry when they wet it and to nourish it they must put into a hole they make in it filings of Iron with Sand very dry and to make its Branches green and gain and exert its Leaves they are to be fastened with a Nail The Japaneses are Idolaters good Soldiers and very patient Notwithstanding the dangers of the neighbouring Sea they have sometimes taken the Peninsula of Corca from the Chineses They have the most happy memories in the World and a very abounding Tongue for each thing they have several names some for Contempt others of Honour some for the Princes others for the People Their Customs and Manners are wholly contrary to ours They drink Warm water and they give this reason for their so doing that the Cold is binding provokes Coughing and the Distempers of the Stomach but that the Warm nourishes the Natural heat of the Body that the passages are opened by it and that the thirst is the more easily quenched They give such Potions to the Sick as are very sweet and odoriferous They never let Blood because they would spare their Blood as the Vehicle of Life They esteem black Teeth the finest They mount on Horseback on the right side Salute by a shaking of the Feet To treat the King of Japan who calls himself Cube or Caesar three Years are said to be required for Preparations and that the Feasts last full three Months The Jesuites Cordeliers Jacobites and Augustines have been very busie here and are said to have considerably promoted their Religion In the Year 1596. there were reckoned to be six hundred thousand Christians since the Year 1614. they have been extraordinarily persecuted and none dare make Profession of Christianity now there but in private In the Year 1636. the Jesuites the Spaniards and Portugals were entirely driven thence where the Hollanders alone have had the Liberty of Commerce because when they came into those Parts they forbid their Men above all things speaking of Religion They have several particular Tones or Princes the most part of whom confine their Power within the Circle of a Town This Custom is generally receiv'd that when one of those Tones loses his Dominions his Subjects lose likewise their Estates The Capital City is Meaco which is said to contain sixty thousand Housholds Yendo is a Royal Castle Sazay a famous Sea-Port In the Year 1658. a Fire happened at Yendo which occasioned the loss of above forty eight Millions of Gold The Spaniards Sail along these Islands when they return from the Philippines to Mexico and Peru. The Hollanders are said to go now to Japan by the North passing West of the Land of Jeso The Philippine Islands THe King of Spain Philip the Second has given his Name to these Islands which are to the number of forty or fifty this is to be understood of the greatest for if we reckon'd all the small ones they would be found to be above eleven thousand Most of these Isles are fruitful furnish Gold wherewith the Inhabitants pay their Tribute The Council of Spain for the Indies has often propos'd to abandon them by reason of the too great expence of the Garrisons that are necessary to be kept there because they contribute to the Commerce that is driven with China and the Molucco's his Catholick Majesty has thought fit to keep them The Islanders are valiant and defend their Freedoms in several places Lusson otherwise New Castile is the greatest of all the Philippine Islands The City of Manilhe which gives its Name to the whole body of these Islands is the abode of a Governour and an Archbishop 'T is small but beautiful and well fortified the two thirds of its compass are along a River which carries Barks and the third part towards the Sea Besides the Spaniards and Indians it has many Chineses who have taken refuge there as in a Town where is the Magazine of one of the richest Commerces in the World Cavite two Leagues from the Town is the principal Haven secure from great winds and defended by two Forts The Bay is forty Leagues in compass where they have the conveniency of building great Galeons but it is beaten by the Northern Winds the bottom is bad and the entrance difficult Here did the Spaniards detain a French Bishop Titular of Heliopolis to make him afterwards take a turn round the World before that he return'd into Europe from whence that Prelate is departed for the third time with the Apostolical Missions of the See of Rome The Isle of Mindanao was not subdued by the Spaniards till a long while after that of Lusson that of Paragoya obeys still their own Kings that of Tendaye bears the Name of Philippine as having been first discover'd Cebu and Matan are known the first for Magellan's arrival there in the Year 1520 the last for the death of the said Magellan This was the first time that the Voyage had been perform'd round the World which was done in the Ship of this Captain who had put himself into the Service of the King of Castile for that the King of Portugal whose Subject he was had refus'd half a Ducate a Month above his constant Pay The Spaniards who sail to the Philippines do not go through our Hemisphere They go thither by Mexico and the South-Sea For which reason they would fain comprehend these Islands as well as the Moluccoes in the bounds of their West-Indies which they extend for that reason as far as Malacca The Moluccoe Islands THere are five of these Isles with the particular Name of the Moluccoes in the head of several others much greater which receive from them their Name These five Isles are very small and in a situation near the Equinoctial Line where it is unwholsom living for those who go to settle themselves there
to the Cape de Jasques In the India of the Mogul Damaon with the Forts of St. Jeronimo St. John Kielme Mahi Tarampor Bazaim with the Isle Salsete the Fort Bandera called Manora the Village of Tana Fortified with three Bastions the Rock of Asserim Ougeli-bourg upon the Ganges the Traffick to Agra Amedabat Cambaya Suratte Baroche in Bengala They have in Decan Chaul the Forts of Morro of Caranga the Village of Massagan Goa with its Fortresses and Dependencies in the Land of the Bardes and in the Isle Salsete Upon the Coast of China Macao In the Isle of Solor the Village and Fort of Larentock The Traffick into Persia Golconda Aracan Pegu at Tanazerin Ligor Odia Cambodia in the Isle of Timor The English have extraordinarily augmented their Dominions in America they have in Northern America New-England Trinity-Bay Chinchet little Plaisance in the Isle of Terra-Nova Virginia the Bermudoes Island New-York the Fort of Orange Some Colonies in Florida at Cap-faire la Ciguatee and other Lucca-Islands At the Antilles Isles the Barbadoes which are Barbada Barboudu Anguille St. Christophers in part the other part belonging to the French Montserrat Nieves otherwise Meuvis Antego la Dominique St. Vincent in part the Isle of St. Catharine called Providence the Isle of Jamaica that of Trinity St. Pointe and other Colonies at Surinam at Maroni at Sinamari with some Forts upon the Coast of Guayana In Africa Tangier near the Streights the Fort of S. Andre in the River of Gambia San-Felippe towards the River St. Dominique Tagrin Madrebomba Takorari Cabo-Corso Eniacham or Naschange and other Places of Guinea A Fort in the Isle of St. Helena Maderaspatan upon the Coast of Coromondel the Isles Bambain Angedive Pouleron A Hall or Lodge wherein they have a President at Suratte at Bantam Factories at Ispaham at Gombru where they have half the Revenue At Agra at Amedabat at Cambaya at Brodra at Baroche at Surat at Dabul at Pettapoli at Masulipatan at Balazor in Bengala at Ougeli In Siam at Camboia at Tunkin in the Island Formosa The Hollanders have been dispossess'd of their New-Holland in America where they have still the Isles of St. Eustache of Saba of Curasao of Tobago the City of Coro in Terra firma the Colonies of Boron Esquib Brebice Aperwaqul and others upon the Coast of Guayana In Africa Arquin Gorea towards Cap-Verde where they have a Fort with Factories at Rufifque at Porto-d ' Ale at Joal St. George de la Mine the Fort of Nassau or Moure Cormentin Axime Botrou in Guinea upon the Golden Coast several Forts in Congo Near the Cape of Good Hope at Tafel-bay or Table-bay two Forts On the East of the Isle of Madagascar the Island Mauritius In the Coast of Malabar Onor Barcelor Mangalor Cananor Cranganor Cochin Coulan In the Coast of Coromandel Tuticorin Negapatan Karkalle Guelderland near Pallecate In the Peninsula of India Extra Gangem Malacca with the Ports the Isles and Fortresses which depend on it In the Isle of Ceylan Negombo Colombo Galle Baticale Trinquilemale Jaffanatapan a Fortress in the Isle of Manar In the Isle Java Jacatra call'd Batavia with its Dependences the Island Bima part of the Moluccoe Islands namely in Ternate Tacomma Talucco Malaya In Motir the Fort of Nassau In Machâ—an Taffaso Tabillola Naffaquia otherwise Nahaca Maurice In Bachian Grammadoure Loboua In Gilolo Sabou Coma In the Isle of Amboina Coubella Lovio In the Isles of Banda Nassau Belgique in that of Nera Revenge in that of Powleway In the Isle of Solor the Fort Henry the Fort Joupandam otherwise called Rotterdam in the City of Macassar The Isles Savo and Boton near Macassar A Fort in that of Timor Part of the Terra Australis which they have called New Holland where are the Carpentaria the Lands of Arnems of Witz of Endracht otherwise called Concord of Edels Leuvin of Nuitz Several Factories in Persia at Gombru at Congue at Ispaham in the Dominions of the Mogul at Agra Amedabat Cambaia Baâ—che Surate Ougeli Cayumbasar Deca Patena Pipilipatan In Decan at Fingerla In Coromondel at Tenegapatan In Golconda at Golconda Mazulipatan Palicot Datscheron and Bincola-patan In Pegu at Ava and Siriam In Siam at Odia In the Isle of Sumatra at Ticou Piaman Indapour Cellebar Jambi and Palimbam In the Isle of Java at Bantam and Japara In the Isle of Celebes at Manado At Macasar The Traffick in the Isle Zocotora On the Coast of Arabia at Mocha Aden and Fortach In the Isles of Larck of Kesem near Ormus At Porca and in most of the places of Malabar In Bisnagar at Ornixa in Aracan in Pegu at Tanasserim Pera Ihor Paham Patane Singora Bordelong and Ligor in Tunquim at Chincheo and other places of China at Rima in the Isle of Borneo To the exclusion of other Nations they pretend to the Traffick on the Eastern Coast of Sumatra of Japan in the Isles of Amboina and Balli and Bima in the Isle Camboua They stand no longer possess'd of the Island of Formosa which favour'd them in their Commerce of Japan the Chineses having expell'd them thence The Suedes have establish'd in Northern America Colonies under the Name of New-Sueden Christiana Gothembourg Ensimbourg The Danes have some Territories in each of the Indies They have New-Denmark towards the North of America the Fortress of Fredericksbourg of three Bastions which Commands at Cabo-Corso and the Castle of Christiansbourg in Guinea Krankebar called Trango-bay and Dansbourg on the Coast of Coromondel The Courses the Europeans steer towards the West-Indies MAriners that sail upon the Ocean teach us that the Winds which commonly blow in the Torrid Zone are called Brizes and General Winds that those Winds are from the East to the West according to the Motion of the Primum Mobile which as some are pleas'd to say makes the Sea to move after the same manner The Winds they have commonly from thirty Degrees of Northern Latitude are Winds from West South-West to East Upon the Seas towards the Poles the Winds are not regular It is the bus'ness of Pilots to choose Seasons fit for Navigation to know by Experience the Flats the Currents or Ledges of the Places where they are to go to know the Quality and the Condition of their Ships to observe the Wind well that they may shorten their Course when they point their Chart finally to have regard to the Variation of the Compass which is not always the same in one and the same place We call America the West-Indies the Spaniards have made the most Voyages thither Their ancient Course was to go first of all into Great Canary or into Gomera to sail towards the South or the South-East there to take advantage of Monzoons or General Winds of the Torrid Zone which carried them to Guadaloupe where they met with good Water Now adays because they have two Fleets the one for New Spain the other which is call'd the Gallions for the Terra firma after
of three or four Foot in length as thick as a Man's arm lying upon the Water with their Roots They are used to pass to such a distance to the Cape des Aiguilles that they can sound the Bank which is in the South of it From thence they go Eastward and then North-East to arrive at Madagascar In the above-mentioned Course they stay some time at the Canary Islands or in those of Cape Verd formerly at Cape Blanck Rufisque in the Isles of the Idols at Tagrin or in the Bay of Saldaignâ—â— upon the Coast of Africk according to their Occasions and Occurrences The Bay of Saldaigna which is seven or eight Leagues in length and two or three in breadth has good anchorage it looks like a Lake and it has good shelter about from five or six small Islands which are there The return into France is performed after another manner than the way they go from thence by reason of the General Winds which reign from the East West-wardly in the Torrid Zone as we have said After having doubled the Cape of Good-Hope and been some hundred Leagues to the East they pursue the Course North North-East unto the sixteenth Degree of Southern Latitude from whence they go directly West to ken the Island of St. Helena where they are used to refresh themselves the English have made there a Fort some few years since From the Isle of St. Helena they go to the Isle of Ascension where they have the conveniency of Fishing for Tortoise and then still towards the North-East until they come to the height of France In their return when they are somewhat on this side the Line they leave the Panedo of St. Peter on the left After that they leave the Isles of Cape-Verd on the right as well as the Tercera's and are very cautious of approaching the Abrolhes which lye on the West of those Islands The Portugals go to the East-Indies by the South of the Cape of Good-Hope their Navigation into the Indian Sea is regulated by certain Seasons and the Winds they call Muessons After having doubled that famous Cape they bend their Course for Goa between the firm Land of Africa and the Island Madagascar to the East or to the West of the Shores of India They go to refresh themselves at Mozambick and pass between the Isles Comorro and Juan-Miz then still to the North-East unto the sixteenth Degree of Northern Latitude in the distance of about a hundred Leagues from the Desart Coast At length they steer directly East for Goa When they go from Goa to Macao they they make Sail along Malabar towards the Cape of Comorin South of Ceilan and of all the Southern Islands They pass through the Streights which are near the Island Galli and Sail along Macasar and the Manilhes unto Macao This they do not without great inconveniencies and they take that great Circuit because the Hollanders hinder them from passing between the Streights of Malacca and Sunda nay and often scout 'em towards Cochim and at the Point of Galle upon the Coast of the Isle of Ceilan The Navigation from Macao to Japan is about twenty days In their return at their departure from Goa they pass by the Cape to the West about a hundred and fifty Leagues and come in ken of the Desart Coast of Africa and in sight of Land and get to Mozambick making Sail between the Isle of Madagascar and the Shores of India they Coast along the Land of Natal where the Currents are commonly from the North-East to the South-West and where the Navigation is very dangerous After which they return into Portugal by the Cape of Good-Hope following the above-mention'd Course The Course the Hollanders often take to the East-Indies is by the South of the Cape of Good-Hope They go thither sometimes through the Streights of le Maire and Brovers They take that way by reason of the Winds motion of the Water which they have then favourable in Sayling towards the West and because commonly they spend less time and lose fewer Men in this than in the other way When by the South of Africa they go and double the Cape of Good-Hope they after touch at the Bay they call Tafel-Bay This Bay is a commodious Retreat for Ships they can Anchor there with all safety at six or eight Fathom Water and shelter themselves from the Storms which are very frequent in those parts The Air is healthful they find all sorts of refreshments excellent Water the access to it is so easie that they can take in fresh Water without any trouble For these considerations the Hollanders made an Establishment there some years since and no longer content themselves as they formerly did with leaving Letters there for their Country-men that might come to pass that way The Mountain of Tafel-Bay is esteemed thirteen hundred and fifty Foot high Those Hollanders who do not stop at Tafel-Bay make for Mauritius-Island otherwise Swan-Island This Island has in its Southern part a Port between the Flats wherein above fifty great Ships may ride safe under the shelter of a Fort built in the Year 1640. From thence between divers Flats they make for the Chanel of Mamale or that of Malique and in this last Course they have favourable Currents For their way towards Malacca whether that they go from Mauritius Island or from Cochim they pass by the Islands of Nicubar North of the Isle of Sumatra and leave the Isle of Pulo-Lada on the left otherwise called the Isle of Pepper of about twenty Leagues in compass They return into Holland after the same manner as do other Europeans Other Tracts and Ways to the East-Indies THE People who inhabit along the Mediterranean Sea designing for the East-Indies go to Alexandretta to Aleppo and Bi r which is four small days Journey from thence There are Caravans from Aleppo to Erzerum to Erivan to Tauris At Bi r they Embark upon the Euphrates to go in ten days to Rousvania from thence by Camels to Bagdad and then by the Tigris to Bassora They may go by Water from Rousvania to Bassora in small Barks from Bassora to El-Catif in eight days the Navigation is not very commodious upon the Euphrates and the Tigris by reason of the numbers of Mills they meet with upon those Rivers Sometimes they go through the Desart to go to those two Cities from whence they go to Ispaham and to Agra by Caravans or else after being Embark'd upon the Tigris they go to Congue and Gombru near Ormus by the Sea El-Catif and into the East-Indies by the Ocean The Customs of the Turk and Persian gain very much by the Merchandizes which take this way The Carriage from Bagdad to Bassora is very easie and pleasant in the Barks which go that way they sometimes make use of Sails and sometimes Oars often do they let themselves be carried along by the Current and Stream of the Water so as they only Steer The River which the
Arabians of the Neighbourhood call Chat or Xat as they do the other Great Rivers is two Miles in breadth and about six Fathom deep It is something like the Rhosne in France less rapid and more abounding in Fish its Water tho' somewhat brackish is nevertheless mighty good to drink It forms several Branches because that the Land is low there and sandy In the Way they take to China through the Territories of the Levant they are to be at Aleppo towards the end of the Month August for to take there in September the conveniency of the Caravans which bring them in November to Bagdad From Bagdad they are ten days in going to Bassora twelve in going from Bassora to Gombru where they almost daily meet with conveniencies in Barks called Tranquins In January and February the Muesson stands right for Surat where they commonly Embark upon English Ships or Moorish Vessels which go that Voyage in five and twenty days This way is look'd upon as much the same with that from Marseilles to Alexandretta At Surat they take their Way by Land spend therein forty small days Journies as far as Mazulpatan a City upon the Gulph of Bengala and this about the Month of March From Mazulpatan they go to Tanazarin by Sea from thence to Sian from Sian to China in all Seasons This way did the three French Bishops go who were Missionaries into China They make mention of another way to China thro' Candahar Agra Pathna Niepal Pitan c. this way is gone by Land no Inn to be found few Villages great Desarts hideous Mountains where they make use of great Goats to carry their things There are also some of those Mountains so steep that to pass them they are forc'd to wrap themselves up in Carpets and put themselves into the hands of certain People who lay you upon their Shoulders to carry you through those difficult places Those who dwell upon the Shore of the Black-Sea remount the Faze get to Arais the Caspian-Sea Albiamu from whence they go by Land to the Indus or the Ganges those Rivers carry them to the Ocean Nicanor King of Syria had projected to joyn Pontus Euxinus and the Caspian-Sea The Genoueses have a long while held the City of Caffa for the maintaining this Commerce There is for those of those parts another way by Trebrizond Erzerum and the Euphrates which lead to Bi r from thence as we have said into the Sea of the Indies The Moscovites have the conveniency of the Volga the Caspian-Sea Albiamu and the Indies For to return into the City of Mosco they go up the Volga Ocea and the Mosca These are the common ways that are taken for the going to the East-Indies and which now render that Country as famous as did formerly the Military Expeditions of Bacchus and Alexander the Great Now follow those which have since with great care been sought out for the same design The Romans went to Alexandria of Egypt ascended the Nile as far as Coptos now Cana and by Land went to Berenice which is Cossir where they had the conveniency of the Red-Sea and the Ocean Under the Soldans of Egypt Sues and Arden were the Magazines of the Indian Merchandizes which were Transported to Cairo by means of the Nile then they had in Europe fresher Spices than they have now the Venetians and Genoueses brought them thither by the Mediterranean-Sea France TThe Kingdom of France is at this day one of the most flourishing States of Christendom in the midst of the Northern temperate Zone where its People breath a very favourable Air. The French call it the Eye and Pearl of the World and say that it is to Europe what Europe is to other parts of the Earth it is Rich Fertile very Populous there being reckoned above four thousand good Towns in it It 's above two hundred and twenty Leagues in length and full as many in breadth The French-men value most of their Towns to be worth Provinces their Provinces to be worth Kingdoms Their Corn Wine Salt and Linnen do very much enrich the Inhabitants France was formerly known under the name of Gaul which was carried into several places of Europe nay into Asia when the Gauls made War in that part of the World The extent of Gaul hath been divers The French may well boast that this King's Conquests have not been bounded neither by the Rhine nor the Ocean nor the Pyrenees nor the Alps. The Crown is Hereditary and according to the Salick Law the Female never succeeds upon the Throne The French King's eldest Son is called Dauphin This Monarchy is said to have subsisted since the Year 420. The three Royal Races of Merovers Charlemaigne Hugh Capet have furnished it with sixty five Kings Amongst other Titles its Princes take upon them that of Most Christian and Eldest Son of the Church They pretend to Precedence before all other Kings upon a pretext of being the most Noble and the Most Ancient of Europe Their Arms are Azure with three Flower-de-luces d' Or since Charles the Ninth The Kingdom is composed of three Orders or States the Clergy the Nobility and the third Estate There are reckoned seventeen Arch-Bishopricks a hundred and six Bishopricks besides the Arch-Bishopricks of Cambray Besanzon the Bishopricks of Arras St. Omar Tournay Ipres Perpignan sixteen Abbayes Heads of the Order or of the Congregation about fifty thousand Curates besides other Ecclesiastical Dignities several General and Particular Governments Thirty two great Provinces Twelve ancient Peerages several of new Creation A great number of Principalities Dutchies Marquisates Counties Baronies and other Lordships Eleven Parliaments besides those of the Conquer'd Countrys eight Chambers of Accounts twenty two Generalities There are four Principal Rivers the Seine whose Water is esteem'd the strongest in the World and more healthful to drink than that of Fountains the Loire the King of the French Rivers la Garonne the most Navigable the Rhosne the most Rapid Several Divisions are made of France which regard the Church the Nobility the Justice and the Finances It is sufficient to say here that the States-General of the Kingdom were held in the Year 1614. that then all the Provinces appear'd under twelve Great Governments four of those Governments are towards the North the Seine and the Rivers which fall into it Picardy Normandy the Isle of France and Champaign Four towards the midst near the Loire Brittany Orleanois Burgundy and Lyonnois The four others towards the South and near the Garonne or the Rosne Guyenne Languedoc Dauphine Provence With Orleanois they then conjoyned le Mains le Perche la Beauce on this side the River of Loire Nivernois Tourain Anjoy above the said River beyond it Poictou Angoumois Berri Burgundy had la Bresse as it has still at present Under Lyonnois were Lyonnois Avergne Bourbonnois la Marche In Guyenne was Bearne Gascogne true Guyenne beyond the Garonne and on this side Saintogne Perigort Limosin Querci Rouergue Then as well
as now Languedoc comprehended Cevenes The other great Governments are not subdivided into great Provinces Now follow the capital Cities according to that distribution Amiens Rouen Paris Troyes Rennes Mans No-gent-le-Retrou Orleans Nevers Tours Anger 's Poictiers Angoulesme Bourges Dijon Bourg-en-Bresse Lyon Clermont Moulins Gueret Pau Auch Bourdeaux Saintes Perigueux Limoges Cahors Rodes Toulouse Viviers Grenoble and Aix Spain SPain is a Great Peninsula two hundred Leagues in length and the same in breadth in the most Western part of Europe betwixt the ninth and twenty fourth Degree of Longitude and between thirty five Degrees and a half and forty Degrees and a half of Northern Latitude This Peninsula is upon the Ocean and upon the Mediterranean-Sea towards the North-East it borders upon France for the space of above a hundred Leagues the Pyrenean Mountains between both Several things concur to the making Spain thinly inhabited its Fertility Mountains the barrenness of its Women the banishment of the Moors of whom above eight hundred thousand were constrain'd to depart thence in the Year 1610 the great number of persons that are sent to Colonies and the Wars abroad From whence it proceeds that never above seven thousand natural Spaniards were ever seen together in any Army The Heat reigns there more than the Cold those Provinces which lye South-East are more fertile than the rest The Mountains without Trees and the mighty Rocks are there called Sierra This Country has but scarcity of Corn but abounds with the strongest Wines the most delicious Fruits and the sweetest Oyls of Europe The Gold and Silver which is brought into Spain from America is very capable of purchasing it all the other Conveniencies of Life In the Year 1618. it was verified that since the first discovery of this New World by Columbus the Spaniards had drawn from thence above fifteen hundred thirty six Millions of Gold These are immense Sums but as the Traders of Europe have the best share in them they have not enrich'd Spain proportionably to what it has been weakned by the Colonies that have been sent thither Moreover the necessity of having foreign Commodities drains and exhausts the better part of those Riches This made Henry the Fourth of France say That the Spanish Pistolls spoke their Riches in their own Dominions but carried elsewhere did but shew their Poverty Mines there are of Copper Quick-silver Lead Iron and Salt in Spain those of Gold and Silver have been spared since they have had the conveniency of those of America The Horses of this Region are generally in esteem those of Andalousia above all others yet they travel commonly in this Countrey upon Mules and Asses by reason of the Mountains No Prince whatsoever has so much Land as the King of Spain He may with justice style himself the greatest Territorian of the Universe if I may use that Term. True it is that his Dominions lye separated from one another and dispers'd in the four parts of the World Some of his Predecessours have boasted that the Sun never set in their Dominions and that the extent of their Territories was only to be measured by the Course of that Planet In some Letters which the Kings of Persia have address'd to them in the foregoing Age there is To the King who has the Sun for a Hat Among other Titles they wear that of Catholick particularly since Ferdinand the Fifth and that of the King of Spains they have taken up this last but of late years These following are those which Philip the Fourth took in the Pleinpouvoir which he gave in the Year 1659 to Don Lewis de Haro for the treating of a Peace between France and Spain Dom Philip by the Grace of God King of Castile Leon Arragon the two Sicilies Jerusalem Portugal this Title was left out in the Plein-pouvoirs of the Peace of Nimmeghen Navarre Grenada Toledo Valencia Galicia Maillorca Seville Sardaigna Cordova Corsica Murcia Jaen the Algarbes Algezire Gibraltar the Canary Islands the East and West-Indies the Islands and Terra firma of the Ocean-Sea Arch-Duke of Austria Duke of Burgundy which is no longer allow'd him by the French King since the Cession of the Franche Compte Brabant Milan Count of Hapsbourg Flanders Tirol Barcellonna Lord of Biscay and Malines The principal Order of Knighthood in Spain is that of the Golden Fleece the others are those of St. James of Calatrava of Alcantara and Montese the Kings of Spain have attributed to themselves great Masterships and Jurisdictions of 'em under the Name of Perpetual Administrators There are moreover above fourscore Grandees who are much the same with the Dukes and Peers of England this Dignity of Grandee is setled upon Lands and falls to Females The Spaniards esteem Arts as disnonourable upon which account most of their Artificers are strangers They have always maintain'd the reputation of being Faithful and Loyal to their Prince they are slow in their Resolutions and their Tediousness and Procrastination makes them often lose good Occasions Some of 'em have the vanity to say That their Country furnishes the World with Generals of Armies That God spoke to Moses upon Mount Sinai in the Castillian Tongue That the Lord of the Universe must be a Spaniard born and other such great Words Spain sometimes called Iberia Hesperia Mus-Arabia was subject to strangers during a long while the Celtae Rhodiots Phenicians Carthaginians Romans Vandals Swabians Goths and the Moors have commanded and domineer'd there over all or in some parts Its first Division was into two parts the one on this side the other on that side the Ebre which then bounded the Empires of Rome and Carthage since what has been called Vlterior Hispania has only comprehended Betica and Lusitania In each part the Romans establish'd fourteen Convents or Benches of Justice During the decay and fall of the Domination of the Moors there arose five Kingdoms Leon with Castile Aragon Navarre Portugal and Grenada After which the whole Country fell under the sway of the King of Castile the King of Portugal and the King of Arragon It is principally by these three Titles that the King of Spain has possess'd all his States wherein are eight Vice-Roy-ships In our time the King of Castile has been a peaceable Possessour of all these Kingdoms tho' that since Pelagius the Succession of these Kingdoms has fallen ten times upon Females In the Year 1640 Portugal proclaim'd the Duke of Braganza King The principal Rivers of Spain are the Douere abounding in Fish the Tagus renowned for its golden Sands Guadiana which is said to run under Ground Guadalquiber is the deepest Iberus famous for its Name All of them have their Source in Castile and are not Navigable like many Rivers in other Countreys Guadiana has given the Spaniards occasion to say That their Land affords the richest Bridge upon Earth that it daily feeds above ten thousand Cattel and that a great Army may march over it in Battalia the Ancients seem
the Flemmings wedded to Commerce to Manufacture and Navigation Both People are industrious in making Handy-craft-Works They have two sorts of Tongues the Walloon which is a corrupted French and which becomes purer since the French King's Conquests and the Flemming or Low Dutch The first is particularly in Artois in French-Flanders and in Haynault The Vnited Provinces and the Provinces of the King of Spain were in War until the Year 1609. when they made a Truce of Twelve Years His Catholick Majesty did then treat with the States General of the Vnited Provinces in quality and as holding them for Free-Countrys Provinces and States to whom he had no Pretension In the Year 1648. the Peace was made there before that of the Empire which was concluded at Munster in the same Year And since the Spaniards of Flanders and the Hollanders have thought fit to live neighbourly and in good intelligence nay to confederate together for their mutual defence The War having been declared by the French King upon the Hollanders in the Year 1672. the Spaniards fail'd not to take part in it for the traversing the Conquests of his Christian Majesty which cost them very considerable Cities and Provinces whereas the Hollanders recover'd what they had lost The Princes of Orange of the House of Nassau have almost ever had the Military and Civil Government in the Vnited Provinces The Vnited Provinces of the Low-Countries THe Vnited Provinces are so call'd from their Union at Vtrecht in the Year 1579. They are commonly called Holland that being the richest most populous Province of 'em all Their situation is towards the end of the Rivers Rhine and Meuse in the Northern part of the Low Countries between the Dominions of the King of Spain in Flanders England which is separated from 'em by the Sea and several Principalities of the Empire The Princes of the Empire who are their Neighbours are the Duke of Newbourg in his Dutchy of Juliers and his Barony of Ravestein the Elector of Brandenbourg in his Dutchy of Cleves the Elector of Cologn the Bishop of Munster the Count de Bentheim the Prince of East-Friesland in the Territories of the same Name The Vnited Provinces which before owed subjection to the King of Spain have since been independent of one another or to say rather as many Republicks which altogether make now but one under the Name of the States General of the Vnited Provinces of the Low Countries The Dignity of this State residing in the States General the Absolute authority over things reserved by reason of the alliance has remained in the States of each Province The Seal of the Republick is a Lion holding a Bundle of Seven bound Arrows with allusion to as many confederated Provinces these Provinces as the Politicians say have not always been so well united but that they resembled a Body which has several Heads some of which would draw it on one side while the others endeavour to tug it on the other There is no State in the World of so small an Extent which has so great a number of Fortresses and which seems better defended by the Nature of the Places than this It has the See and several Rivers which defend it the Rhine the Meuse the Waal the Issel Notwithstanding all these Defences the French King made surprising Conquests in the Year 1672. by the reduction of three Provinces and sixty considerable Towns which proceeded from raw unexpert meer Citizens sons being imploid in the Soldiery Besides the Vnited Previnces and the Places that are in them the States General have in Flanders the Cities of Sluyce Middlebourg Ardembourg Sasvan Gaunt Axel Hulst in Brabant Lisle Bergen-ap-Zoom Breda Boisleduc Grave and they have Maestricht in the Bishoprick of Liege Dalem Fauquemont Bolduc in the Land of Outre Meuse These Places were taken by the French King but restor'd to them by his Majesty in consideration of the Peace of 1678. In Germany they had upon the Rhine Orsoy Wesel Reez Emerik Genep in the Dutchy of Cleves Rhineberg in the Electorate of Cologn these are return'd into the hands of its true Masters in consideration of the aforesaid Peace Towards Westphalia the States General have Garrisons in the City of Embden in the Forts of Eideler and Leer-ort which belong to the Prince of East-Friesland There are in Holland two Companies of Merchants the one for the East-Indies the other for the West The first of these Companies seems it self to be a Potent Republick It boasts of having subdued more Leagues of Country than there are Acres of Land in all Holland Of having fourteen or fifteen thousand Soldiers and a Number of Ships in its Service Of employing commonly above fourscore thousand Men. It had long since above twenty very considerable Fortresses as many Magazines upon the Coasts of the Indian-Sea where it has endeavour'd to constrain several Petty Kings not to receive into their States any other Nations of Europe than their own The West-India Company is weak and feeble in respect of the other whether that the Portugals have had more right and more strength than the Hollanders in Brazil Or the term of the Concession of Priviledg obtained by these from their Sovereign be expired Or in short that the Company of the East-Indies has us'd all its efforts to ruin the other The Hollanders have hitherto been Powerful at Sea have often beaten the French the Spanish Fleets nay made Head against the English who are Sovereigns of the Sea The Number of their Ships is so great that if we may believe their Partizans it equals that of the rest of Europe They have always in their own Country wherewith to Equip a great Number tho' their Land neither produces Wood nor other things necessary for that purpose They are able to Arm out above a hundred to Sea if they had but the Mariners and Soldiers they had formerly At their first Establishment they only pretended to Fishing and Trading from Port to Port since they have drove the richest Commerce that is carried on at Sea Amongst the Vnited-Provinces there are four towards the West Holland Zealand Vtrecht Guelderland Four towards the East Zutphen Over-Yssel or Trans-Isalane Friesland Groninghen Those who reckon but seven make but one of that of Guelderland and Zutphen In the Assemblies these Provinces have ever given their Votes in the following Order Guelderland with Zutphen first of all then Holland Zealand Vtrecht Friesland Over-Yssel finally Groninghen with the Ommelands Each of 'em sends its Deputies to the Hague where are form'd three Colledges or Assemblies of them the States-General the Council of State and the Chamber of Accounts In the Assembly of the States-General all the Provinces above-mention'd must consent in General and in Particular to the Resolutions that are taken therein and do not follow the plurality of Voices Each Province may send thither one two three four or five Deputies but all these Deputies have together but one Voice and have right to
keeps in its Metropolitan Church call'd the Dome the Relick of St. Suaire wherein the Face of our Lord is imprinted with most of his Body It boasts of having of all the Cities of Italy brought the Press into use Nice near the Sea has several Roman Antiquities and a Cittadel which seems inaccessible by reason of its situation upon a Rock Montferrat has most of its Towns upon Hills very fertile in Corn and Wine By the Peace of Quieras a part of that Country was yielded to the Duke of Savoy the other remaining the Duke of Mantua's who possesses Casal near the Po. This Town is fortified with several Bulwarks and Half-moons with a Castle and a strong Cittadel composed of six great Bastions The Land of Milan is the most beautiful Country of all Lombardy and the finest Dutchy of Christendom now possess'd by the King of Spain The Ways are pleasant almost all in a direct line with Chanels of Spring-Water on both sides and rows and plantations of Trees which make them resemble Alleys and Walks The Champain of Milan is so fertile that there is not an Inch of Land but brings forth twice a Year The Nobility as well as in the Kingdom of Naples does not meddle with Commerce as does that of the other neighbouring States The City of Milan is called Great because it is full ten Miles in compass wherein it contains above two hundred and thirty Churches ninety six Parishes as many Convents and above a hundred Fraternities It is a general Mart of the Merchandizes of France of Spain of Italy of Germany so great a number of Artizans it has of all sorts that the Italians have it for a Proverb That Milan must be ruin'd if they would accommodate Italy with them It has ever passed for a second Rome tho' it has been besieged forty times and taken two and twenty Its strength consists rather in its Men than in its Walls it being reckoned to contain above three hundred thousand persons It s Castle is one of the finest Fortresses of Europe of six great Bastions Royal invested with Brick with Grafts and Ditches full of running Water The Coast of Genoa formerly called Liguria produces Muscate-Wines Olives in abundance all manner of good Fruits the Western part particularly is full of Lemmon Orange Fig Palm and Cedar-trees the Inland of the Country is mountainous full of Woods which furnish Materials for the making of Ships and Galleys The Situation of Genoa is upon the Sea-shore part in Plains part in Hills The City is full five Miles round and has Fortifications which are yet much greater in circuit for which reason it is the greatest the most trading and the most important of all Italy towards the West The Buildings and Structures of this Town are so magnificent and so beautiful that it is called the Stately tho' very much endamag'd by the late Batteries of the French One of the principal Revenues of its Inhabitants consists in the transportation of Silk-stuffs Parma the Capital of Parmezan is the common abode of the Duke of that Name of the House of the Farnezes a Feudatory of the Church It has a Cittadel whereon Money has not been sparing for the rendring it good and a fair Palace for its Princes dwelling Modena is the Capital of the Dutchy of the same Name fortified with Bulwarks after the ancient manner inhabited by above thirty five thousand Souls In Modena it was that Brutus was in vain besieged by Mark Anthony after the Murder of Julius Caesar Octavius having happily defeated the Army of him who would by this Siege have renewed the Civil Wars Mantua is seated in the Waters of a Lake of twenty Miles in circuit which only affords entrance by Causeys into the Town Its Mills do raise a good Revenue to this Duke the Jews who are there very numerous pay him a great Tribute The Ducal Palace is one of the finest and best furnish'd in all Italy The Demesn of Venice has so many Rivers Canals and Navigable Lakes that Merchandizes are easily conveyed into all its places The Republick is independent above twelve hundred Years standing the Bulwark of Christendom against the Turks The City of Venice is one of the greatest of Europe so populous that there are reckoned above three hundred thousand persons Those who have seen it may boast of having seen one of the Wonders of the World It s Arcenal is the finest the greatest and the best furnished upon Earth The Isles whereof the City is composed are separated from one another by Chanels wherein there be above fifteen thousand Boats which they call Gondoles The Church and Palace of St. Mark are very fine Structures the Treasury of St. Mark contains immense Riches The Bishoprick of Trent which belongs to its Bishop is under the Protection of the House of Austria The City of Trent is ancient inhabited both by Italians and Germans renowned for-holding the last General Council The state of the Church is look'd upon as so much the more considerable in that the Pope who is the Temporal and Spiritual Prince of it pretends to be the Chief and Soveraign Pontife of all Christendom the Patriarch of Rome and of the West Primate and Exarch of Italy Metropolitan of the Suffragan Bishops of Rome Bishop of St. John de Lateran Rome formerly the Capital of the finest greatest and most considerable Empire of the Universe was once the Mistress of the better part of the World famous for excellent Men who have surpassed others in Valour in Piety in Justice and Temperance It has had in its beginning Kings Consuls and Emperours the Papists call it Rome the Holy by reason of the Residence of the Popes We may say it has few Equals if we consider its Antiquities Churches Palaces and Curiosities Tuscany has three principal Cities Florence Siena Pisa formerly as many Republicks Florence the Capital of this State renowned upon the account of its Beauty is large and very populous The Palace of the Great Duke has fine Pictures Jewels of great value several Rarities Lucca fortified with eleven regular Bastions is famous for its Silks and Olives The Head of this Republick is a Gonfalonier or Chief-Standard-Bearer whose Charge lasts but two Months The Kingdom of Naples is the greatest State of Italy it belongs to the King of Spain who pays for it every Year a white Hobbey to the Pope with seven thousand Ducats The Spring is there so long and so full of Flowers the Autumn so loaded with Fruits that it is esteemed a Paradise The City of Naples is the abode of several Gentlemen which makes it be called the Gentile It is situated so advantagiously that it seems an abridgment of all the Beauties of Italy There are few Cities in Europe who have so many Churches and so many Cittadels as has Naples Germany GErmany has very fertile Provinces and a great number of fine Cities The Corn Fruits Salt and other Commodities afford a very considerable
towards the Obi has Inhabitants which be said to be frozen up six months of the year because that during a that time they dwell in Tents environed and covered with Snow and do not stir out from thence until it be thaw'd and melted away The Samoiedes are seldom above four foot tall they are said to have a very broad Face little Eyes the head on one side is much greater than the proportion of the Body does require it short Legs extraordinary great Feet because they seem so in the Skins of Animals they cloath themselves with and the stuff whereof they make their shoes they wear those Skins in such manner that in Winter they turn the hairy side inwards and wear it outwards in Summer to sow them they have the bones of Fish and the Nerves of Animals instead of Needles and thread they have the best Archers in the World The Tingoeses express their thoughts better with their Throats than with their Tongues Those People inhabit Siberia a Province which furnishes the finest and richest Furrs the Malefactours of Moscovy are transported thither and such Noble Men as are out of Favour with the Prince The River Pesida is the bound of it towards the East they have not yet ventured to go beyond it though they have seen there several Horses and other things which make some believe that it is a Country as considerable as Cathai which cannot be very far distance from it Of the Empire of the Turks ALl the Territories of the Emperour of the Turks otherwise called the Grand-Seignior are generally known under the Name of Turkey This Name is made to come from that of Turchestan one of the Regions of great Tartary from whence they went out Shepherds who setled themselves first of all in Natolia and afterwards divided themselves into several Cantons under divers Chiefs Ottoman one of those Chiefs govern'd so prudently and was accompanyed with such success that after the death of Aladin one of the Princes of the Country he remained Master of Bithinia of Cappadocia and gave beginning to that great Empire about the year 1300. His Successors have been to the number of twenty two their Residence was first of all at Burse in Natolia at Adrianople and at last at Constantinople in Romania They have caused to be built in those Cities their stately Pallaces which they call Serraglios Most of the Turkish Emperours hitherto have seldom stirred out from thence but to the Army or on Progress they commonly spend their dayes with Children Women Eunuchs Mutes and Dwarfs their finest Sultanesses are Captives or those who proceed from the most Beautiful Persons which are kept at Constantinople as breeding Horses after that the lesser Tartars who are the Turks Hunters have brought them thither These Emperours make a Conscience of spending what they exact from the People otherwise than in War they have a particular Treasury wherein they keep this Revenue for the subsistance of their Family several of them choose a Trade which they actually work in In less than three hundred years the Turks have made Conquests in Europe Asia and Africa as considerable as those of the Romans which took them up about eight hundred years they keep so well what they acquire that it is hardly possible to dislodge them from thence True it is their Provinces are not Populous like those of Christendom War and Pestilence sweeping away a great number of their Men their Lands do not afford such great Productions as formerly the Turks being extraordinary lazy and too presumptuous to cultivate it their Custom is to ruine the Citys and to keep only the most important Places of that Frontier from whence it comes that most of the Cities of Turkey are without Walls and much smaller than their Suburbs The Turks have it for a Proverb that their grows no more grass where there Horses have once fet footing The Countrys of their Empire have their Quality very different by reason of their diverse Scituations those of Europe are the best and most Beautiful though one may take whole days Journeys there without meeting with either Burroughs or Villages those of Asia are still more desart What is in Africa is only inhabited towards the Coast and near the great Cities The Grand Seignior is so called by reason of the absolute Power he has generally in all his Dominions and over all His Subjects and not upon the account of the extent of his Empire for there be Soveraigns which possess much more Land than he does their Lands pass from the Father to the Children these only enjoy them as usufructuaries and not as Proprietors There be some Provinces as Turcomania and Curdistan where the Inhabitants have them in propriety There be no other Gentlemen in Turkey than the Princes Officers who are obeyed by the rest of the People His Higness takes upon him very extraordinary Titles Soliman the 2d said that one of his smallest Territories was the Empire of Alexander the Great The Religion of the Turks is that of Mahomet a Native of Mecca There goes every year to that Town a great Number of Mahometans in Caravans each of thirty or forty thousand Persons The Places of their Assemblies are Damascus for those of Turkey in Asia Cairo for those of Aegypt and of Constantinople Zibith or Aden or Mocca for the Indians Bagdad for the Persians A fifth Caravan there is which is that of Barbaresques and the Western of Fez and Morocco Amongst other things which Mahomet setled by his Law he prohibited those of his Sect Wine and gaming for to take away all occasion of Duels and of quarrel which might have arose amongst them Nevertheless tho' during the encampments there be abstinence from Wine yet amongst ten Turks there is seldom found one but who 's a Drunkard He would not that any Mahometans shoud be Slaves for he who first received his Instructions was one of his Slaves called Zeidin whom he made a Freeman for that reason He ordered that Prayers should be said five times in the day and that for a Month should be kept a Lent called Ramedan fasting is there observed all the day long by some Turks with so much scruple that going along the streets they wear a Crape before their Faces for fear that in breathing they should swallow a Fly or a drop of Rain Water or Dust They shut their Teeth on the same score and dare not so much as swallow their Spittle they take each day for divers intentions Friday for the Musulmans who are those of their Law Saturday for the conversion of the Jews Sunday for that of the Christians Monday for the Prophets Tuesday for the Priests and Cheiques Wednesday for the Dead for the sick and for the Slaves Thursday for all the World There be Jews in Turkey and several other Sect a great number of Catholicks of the Religious of several of the Roman Orders who have there their establishment The common liquor of the Turks is
Parliament is very different from those of France besides the House of Lords there is that of the Commons called the Lower House The principal Rivers of England are the Thames Severn and Humber which do not encrease by the Rains the neighbouring Lands being sandy There be reckoned one and fifty Counties called Shires each of those Counties is distributed into hundreds into Tithings or Tenths They may be considered according to the four Regions of the World and this division is much the same with that the Romans made when they were Masters of the Country The Southern part of England is along the Channel where be the best Harbours of the Kingdom Canterbury and Bristow be there considerable the first upon the account of its Archbishopwrick and of its Primacy the second for its Commerce Ships arriving there at full Sail. Rochester is the usual Station of the Kings Ships which are called men of War Frigats Yachts Salisbury has a Metropolitan Church wherein are reckoned as many Doors as there be Months and as many Windows as there be days in the year Windsor is a Royal Castle near the Thames where the Ceremonies of the order of the Garter are generally performed Dover is known for its strong Castle for Peoples embarking there for Calice Dunkirk and Ostend for the Neighbourhood of the Downs under whose shelter the Ships that are bound towards the East and towards the South may wait safely for Winds fair for their Voyage Hastings is a place where in the year 1066. William the Conquerour gained a full Victory over Herald the 2d the last Danish King who was killed upon the spot with above sixty thousand of his Men. Portsmouth Southampton Plimouth have very good Ports The Eastern part has this advantage of having London the Capital of all the Realm one of the Greatest Richest and most Populous Cityes in the World by the means of its greatest traffick It s Scituation is upon the River of Thames where it receives the noblest Ships of the Universe its Bridge is three hundred and thirty Paces in length The Pastures and Meads round about would make a most pleasant Prospect and Landskip if the Smoak of Coals which is commonly burnt there did not raise a continual Cloud Norwich is one of the best Cities and most populous of all the Kingdom Yarmouth sees the fishing of Herrings performed in its Neighbourhood where at Michaelmas is held a fair for that purpose Cambridge one of the most famous Universities in the World Harwich a famous Port. The Countrey round about was the abode of the Icenians whose Queen Bodicea put to Death a great number of Romans in the time of Nero and preferred a glorious Death before an Ignominious Slavery Towards the midst of the Realm is Oxford with one of the four most famous Universities of Europe wherein there is thirty three Colledges that of the University has a Library full of very curious Manuscripts unless it be that of the Vatican there be few in the World that have any so fine Gloucester is commonly the appanage of the third Son of the King of Great Brittain It is near the Severn near the Isle of Aldney where was formerly fought a singular Combat between Edmond Ironside King of the English Saxons and Canute the Dane who at length divided the Kingdom between them after having fought a long while without being able to have any advantage over one another Chester is accompanyed with a Sea-Port where People embark for Ireland At Worcester was the Defeat of the Kings Army in the year 1651. by the Rebels York in the Northern part is the second City of the Kingdom and the Title of the Kings second Son Lancaster is a County Palatin famous for its ancient Family The two Houses of York and Lancaster gave a great deal of trouble to England during above a hundred years by the fatal Faction of the White and Red Rose New-Castle and Hull have the conveniency of the Sea The Country about New-Castle is full of Mines which afford Coals so necessary to the Inhabitants of the City of London and the best Crayons of Europe The refusal that was made at Hull of receiving King Charles the 1. was one of the Principal Motives of the War between his Majesty and the Parliamentaryes Barwick and Carlisle have some Fortifications Penrith keeps the round Terrass which is said to have been King Arthurs Table Between Hull and Newcastle there be the Ports of Brilington and Scarborough The Principality of Wales is the Title of the Kings Eldest Son it has few good Cities Bangor was there formerly a famous Abby where above twelve hundred Monks lived on what they earn'd by working Milford is reckoned one of the finest Havens of Europe by reason of its Sinuosities which form as many good Ports The Isle of Anglesey which is near it was the abode of some Druids and the retreat of those who in Great Brittain would not submit to the Romans It is called the Nursing Mother of Wales by reason of its fertility It s City of Aberfrau served formerly for abode to the Kings of North-Wales Of Scotland THis Kingdom is the ancient Caledonia which was called Scotland from the Scots a People who made a sharp War upon the Romans and obliged them to make entrenchments against their Incursions principally under Adrian and under Severus The Name of Albany has been sometimes given to all this Kingdom whereas it is now peculiar to one of its Countys which the Inhabitants call Broad Albiny Some Scotch Authors make the Name of Scotch come from the ancient Scythians for the showing their Predecessours in the Higher Antiquity Scotland is of a cold Temperature its Gulphs Lakes and Mountains hinder its Provinces from being over Fertile The Inhabitants are of the reformed Religion Popery having been there abolish'd under King James the 6th But the many Scots which Sprung up with the Reformation produced there many Troubles and occasioned most of the disorders which in our time we have seen in the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland There be still at this day Phanaticks who call themselves the Sweet Singers of Israel and are retire into the Mountains and into the Woods though they be hardly able to subsist there The Southern Scots live much after the same way as the English the Northern are wedded to the ancient Customs and not over careful of neatness in their Repasts The Scotch Nation has for a long while been in esteem for Valour and Fidelity the most Christiam King St. Lewis and his Successours the French Kings have trusted them with the Guard of their Royal Persons and made allyance with Scotland This Kingdom is now the most ancient in the World it is said to have been above two thousand years hereditary with a Succession of about a hundred and ten Kings The Power and Revenues of the King of Scotland are rendred much more considerabbe since his Majesties Restauration and his re-stablishment in the Power