Tubal so strongly affirming what they said that they obtained belief And the Duke shortly after went with a parcel of Musketeers and subdued them easily they having no offensive Weapons but only Slings They Worshiped the Son and Moon fed upon nothing that had life but had good store of excellent Fruits Roots and Springs of Water wherewith Nature was well contented And though their Language was not altogether understood yet many of their Words were purely Basquish Reduced in this Discovery to Christianity but easily discernable from all other Spaniards by their tawny Complexions occasioned by the reverberation of the Sun-beams from the Rocky Mountains wherewith on all sides they are encompassed The People must necessarily have been some remnant of the ancient Spaniards who hid themselves amongst the Mountains for fear of the Romans Their Language and Idolatry speak them to be such For had they either fled from the Goths or Moors there had been found some Cross or other Monument of Christianity as in other places or some such mixture in their Speech as would have savoured somewhat of the ancient Romans The Duke of Alva by whose means this Valley was discover'd was the same who out of Vanity had himself call'd an whole Army composed of one sole Person The other States of the King of Spain are near France part of Flanders In Italy the Dutchy of Milan Final Orbitelle the protection of Piombin of Portolongon The Kingdoms of Naples of Sicily of Sardinia Oran Marsalquivir Melille Pennon de Velez Ceuta along the Coasts of Barbary upon the Mediterranean the Isle of Pantaralee The greatest part of America Several Islands and Places in the East and West-Indies Portugal POrtugal is a Kingdom ancient for above five hundred years in the Western part of Spain where was formerly Lusitania In all probability this Name of Portugal came from that of Porto a Town considerable for its Commerce and from that of Cale a small Place near it It is from the South to the North about a hundred and twenty Leagues in length in breadth five and twenty thirty and sometimes fifty It s Situation upon the Ocean and the experience of its Inhabitants in point of Navigation has given occasion to them to make Conquests in the four parts of the World and principally in the East-Indies Their Conquests have been in above five thousand Leagues of Coast in Brasil in Africa and Asia All their Places were near the Sea for they had no other design than that of rendring themselves Masters of Commerce True it is that during the War they were oblig'd to sustain against Spain for eight and twenty years together and by reason of the great Garrisons they were oblig'd to keep in those parts against the Hollanders whom they have nevertheless drove entirely out of Brasil they made but small profit and this moved them to give some places to the English by the Marriage of the Infanta of Portugal with Charles the Second King of England The Portugal Provinces have all their peculiar Commodities they afford among other things Lemons and excellent Oranges They have Mines the Greeks and Romans went to seek in Portugal the Gold which the Portuguese go to seek in the Indies They are so populous principally towards the Sea as that there are reckoned above six hundred Cities or priviledged Burroughs and above four thousand Parishes The Roman Catholick Religion is only receiv'd in this Kingdom those who are of the Jewish Race have been constrained to be baptized and are now known under the Name of New Christians There are three Arch-bishopricks Lisbon Braga and Evora ten Bishopricks The Arch-bishopricks of Lisbon and Evora have each of 'em full two hundred thousand Livers yearly Income Inquisitions are at Lisbon at Coimbre at Evora the Assembly of the Cortes or Parliaments at Lisbon at Porto Twenty seven Places have Generalities which they call Comarques and Almoxarifats The Order of Christ which resides at Tomar is the most considerable of the Kingdom the Kings are the Masters and Heads of it for on this Order depend all the Foreign Conquests Its Knights wear the Red and White Cross in the Middle whereas those of Avis wear it green those of St. James red These have their Residence at Palmella near Setuval The Revenue of the Kingdom without reckoning that of the Indies is said to exceed ten Millions of Livers I can hardly believe what the Portugals say that their King Don Sebastian was at the Charge of a Million of Gold upon the Harness of a Horse that the Trappings of the European Ladies were only the remains of those of Portugal In the Year 1640. this Kingdom withdrew it self from its Obedience to the King of Spain Then was admired the Great Secresie that was kept in that Affair among above two hundred persons for above a Year together The principal Motives of this Resolution were the Permission which his Catholick Majesty gave to others than to the Portugals of trading to the East-Indies the Tribute of the fifth that was proclaim'd in the Year 1636. by which the Government exacted five in the hundred of all the Revenues and Merchandizes in the Kingdom The Duke of Braganza was proclaimed King under the Name of John the Fourth This Prince reigned sixteen Years and had for his Successour Alphonso the Sixth who was deposed in 1667. His Marriage having been declared null Pedro his Brother married the Queen was made Regent of the Kingdom and made Peace with Spain The Conspiracy in the Year 1673. against this Prince obliged him to have the King fetch'd back from the Terzera and put into the Fortress of Sintra near Lisbon About two Years since a Marriage was concerted betwixt the Infanta and Victor Ame Duke of Savoy but that Match is now wholly broke off and a new Treaty now on foot for the same purpose with the Prince of Tuscany This Kingdom contains six Provinces which are as many general Governments Entre Doaro and Minho Tralos-Montes Beyra Estremadura Alen-Teyo and Algarve Entre Douro and Minho is the most delicious and so populous that in the space of eighteen Leagues in length and twelve in breadth it has above a hundred and thirty Monasteries well rented fourteen hundred and sixteen Parishes five thousand Fountains of Spring-Water two hundred Bridges of Stone and six Sea-Ports Some call it the Marrow and the Delight of Spain Porto a City of four thousand Housholds drives a great Trade Bragra is renowned for the holding of several Councils by the Pretension of its Archbishop who styles himself Primate of the Spains Tralos-Montes has Minerals with the City of Braganza the Capital of a Dutchy of forty thousand Ducates Revenue wherein there are full fifty small Cities and other Lands which make the Duke of Braganza thrice Marquis seven times a Count and several times a Lord. The Princes of that Name now in possession of the Crown remain'd commonly at Villa Viciosa and had the Prerogative to the Exclusion of
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
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
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
Revenue It is now an Elective Empire wherein is a vast number of Sovereign States of which the Emperour is the chief The Laws of this Empire do allow of three Religions the Roman Catholick the Lutheran and Evangelical and the Calvinist or Reformed Nevertheless there be several other Sects tho' the Germans do almost all follow the belief of their Princes Germany has this advantage that it is in the midst of Europe and serves for the Seat of the Empire the Emperor governs it by the means of Diets which are much like Parliaments The principal Articles of the Government are contained in the Golden Bull which treats of the Election of the King of the Romans of the Duty of Electors of their Priviledges of the Authority of the Emperor of the means of preserving the Repose and Peace in the Empire This Bull is a small Book whose Original written in Parchment contains four and twenty Leaves and thirty Chapters It has a great round Seal of pure Gold fasten'd to strings of yellow and red Silk It has on the one side the Portrait of Charles the Fourth on the other a Castle with two Towers with these Words Aurea Roma The Election of the Emperor ought to be made at Francfort upon the Mein but this was not observed in the late Elections Besides the Assemblies which concern the Affairs of the Empire in general there be three sorts of 'em those of the Electors for the chusing of the Emperor those of the Deputies whereto the Emperor sends his Commissioner those of the Circles like to the Assemblies of the States of our great Provinces There be ten Circles in the Empire those of Austria of Bavaria of Suabia of Alsatia or of the High Rhine the Electoral or of the Low Rhine of Westphalia of High Saxony of Low Saxony of Franconia of Burgundy this last is no longer Convened Each Circle has an Ecclesiastick and a Secular Director who preside together in the Assemblies two or three Circles may assemble when one of 'em is attacked from abroad or disturbed with intestine troubles The Empire is much the same with that of the Romans tho' it does not comprehend so great an extent of Land the Princes or States whereof it is composed are of five forts the Emperor now of the House of Austria the Electors the Ecclesiastick Princes the Secular Princes and the Free Towns In the General Dyets there be three Bodies that of the Electors that of the Princes that of the Imperial Cities There are reckoned to be above three hundred Sovereignties in Germany who acknowledge the Emperor no farther than homage and in Resort The Dominions of the House of Austria be of three sorts those of Austria which are Hereditary to it those of Bohemia where it has the same Right those of Hungary which it has by Election The Emperor does commonly obtain either his Son or his Brother or his nearest Relation to be chosen King of Hungary in his Life-time afterwards has him Crowned King of Bohemia and if he finds any disposition has him Elected King of the Romans that is to say his perpetual Vicar and presumptive Successor to the Empire Without the Revenue of his Hereditary Countries the Emperor would not have wherewith to maintain a very considerable Train he does not possess any Land under the Title of Imperial Majesty His Principal Rights are the Erection and Investiture of Fiefs the granting of Priviledges the Right of Legitimation He may make Laws give Safe-Guards establish Posts make Parliaments compose Universities erect Burroughs into Cities create Offices puts Towns into the Ban of the Empire In short he may make Kings Dukes Marquesses and has the Superiority over all the Princes of the Empire who upon this account pay him a great respect The Electors are to the number of eight the Arch-Bishop of Mayence the Arch-Bishop of Treves the Arch-Bishop of Cologne the King of Bohemia the Duke of Bavaria the Duke of Saxony the Marquess of Brandenbourg the Prince Palatine These Electors Chuse and Crown the Emperor the Pope confirms this Election and Coronation Four Voices are sufficient to raise any one to the Imperial Dignity and at present the King of Bohemia has only his Session in the Election The Secular Electors may nominate themselves The Lands or their Electorates cannot be dismembred In the House of Saxony the Electorate is for the eldest alone who shares the other Seigniories with his Brothers The Elector of Brandenboug is the most Potent and possesses the most Land of all those Princes his States are above two hundred German Leagues in length for the most part separated from one another yet a Courier may go from one end to another and always lye upon this Electors Land The Ecclesiastick Princes are of several sorts the Arch-Bishop of Salzbourg the Grand Master of the Teutonick Order several Bishops and other great Prelates Abbots Abbesses who have no Voice but in Body These Princes are almost all absolute over the Temporality of their Benefices and Christendom has no Prelates so Potent as they are The Election of most of their Dignities belongs to the Chapters without the Popes or Emperors being to concern themselves therein As Germany is divided for Religion there remain some Lutheran Bishops who have the Title of Bishops until that they have Contracted Marriage and when they are Married they are called Administrators Among the secular Princes are the Arch-Duke of Austria the Princes of the Electoral Houses some Dukes Marquesses and Land-Graves There be also Counts and Barons who differ little but in Name and who have immediate Dependency on the Empire They have Session in Body which has four Voices in the States of the Empire they have each their own in their particular Assemblies several amongst them Coin Monies Nobles there be in Suevia or Schwaben in Franconia in the Land of the Rhine who are absolute over their Lands as the greatest Lords of the Empire are over theirs Several Principalities of Germany are often possess'd by one sole Prince and sometimes one Principality alone belongs there to several The youngest Brothers have almost the same Titles with the eldest The Free Towns which are as many small Republicks be principally of two sorts Imperial and Anseatick The Imperial have the Eagle of the Empire in their Arms either whole or divided have Right to send to the Diet where their Body has two Voices they are considered upon the Bank of Suevia and upon the Bank of the Rhine Thus are they divided by reason of the Benches where the Deputies of those Cities have their Seats The Deputy of the City of Cologne holds the first Rank of the Bench of the Rhine that of Ratisbon has the first place of that of Suevia Some have Noble Families by which they are Governed others have a Popular Government The Hans-Towns are Confederated together for the mutually succouring one another upon occasion against their Enemies for maintaining the Liberty of the Commerce for
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
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
and the most populous by reason of the conveniency of trade Some Sea-men call Barbary the Coast of Africk from the Streight of Gibraltar as far as Cap-Blanc which is at twenty Degrees of Northern Latitude The Romans Sarazens Vandals Arabians Moors and Turks who have been consecutively the Lords of the Barbary we treat of have given very different Names to its Towns The Turkish Emperour sways over the greatest portion of it The Kings of Fez and Morocco possess what is most towards the West The Spaniards Portuguese and English have Towns upon the Coast which elsewhere shall be enumerated Susaon Couco Labes are little States which maintain themselves in the Mountains Salley Tituan Algier Tunis and Tripoli are Towns belonging to Corsairs the three last under the Protection of the Grand Seignior who sends Bashaws thither but they have not much authority The French have the Bastion of France and Genoveses the Isle of Tabarca which they keep for the bringing thence the Merchandize of the Countrey which consists in Barks Corn Hides Corral which is of three sorts red white and black The Portuguese were the first that made Conquests in Africa and had it not been for the design they entertain'd of carrying their Arms into the East-Indies from which they expected more advantage they would undoubtedly have made Progresses there much more considerable by reason of the Divisions which were at that time in the Kingdoms of Fez and Morocco There are chiefly seen in Barbary Africans or Bereberes who are called Barbaresques and most commonly Moors Also there are Arabians who came thither about the Year 999 of three Broods These last live in the open Field by Adarous which are Communities compos'd of several Families call'd Baraques where they have commonly a hundred or two hundred Tents disposed around they esteem themselves much more Noble than those who inhabit the Towns and cultivate the Earth nor do they take any care but of their Herds and Flocks or to make Incursions into the Mountains the Moors apply themselves particularly to Commerce Amongst some of their Customs 't is observ'd they are at excessive charges in their Nuptials as the Christians are in their Law-Suits and the Jews in their Passeovers They cause themselves to be buryed in those places where no Body was enterred before that when they rise again they may not be puzzled to know and distinguish their Members from those of others They were used to crucifie their Criminals but since they took notice that the Christians have a respect for Crosses and that a great Drought once happened during some Executions which nevertheless was followed with some Rains after that the Crosses were taken away they attributed this blessing to Mahomet and order'd that for the future Criminals should either be Hang'd or Beheaded They make five Quarters of their Sheep by reason of their extraordinary large Tails nevertheless they often cause them to be roasted whole nay and served so upon the Table too Barbary comprehends several Kiugdoms which have Cities of the same Name Marocco Fez Tremisen Algier Tunis Tripoli and Barcar The Kingdom of Morocco is upon the Ocean which goes under the Name of the Atlantick Sea 'T is full of Mountains excessive high and alwayes covered with Snow It s King styles himself Emperour of Barbary and Morocco King of Fez of Suz and Tafilet Lord of Dara of Gago c. He takes also the Title of Grand Cherif of Mahomet and Successour of his Family This Name of Cherif shows That his Predecessours made use of the pretence of Religion in their Establishment they were also called Amiiel-Momins and by corruption Miramomoulins that is to say Emperours of the Faithful The City of Morocco formerly longer and more populous than it is at present has upon its Royal Palace three or four Golden Apples esteemed at more than two hundred thousand Crowns which are said to be Enchanted because they cannot be taken from the place where they are The Land about it affords Grapes as big as Pullets Eggs and Goats hair which serves to make fine Chamlets Morocco and Safi have Consuls of Europeans for the maintaining the Priviledges there of their several Nations Mazagan is a Fortress of which the Portuguese have made use for the bringing the open Country under Contribution after the examples of the Arabians The little Island of Mogodor five miles from the Continent has a Castle with a Garrison for the security of some Mines of Gold and Silver which are in its Neighbourhood The Kingdom of Fez is fruitful by reason of its Rivers It has four sorts of Land Mountains Valleys Plains and Sea-Coasts the City of Fez which passes in Africa for the seat of the Western Court is the best the finest and and most populous of all Barbary with a Famous University and a Library in which there are above two thousand Manuscripts 'T is said to have above fourscore Gates a hundred thousand Houses two hundred Hospitals thirty two Suburbs and a great number of Temples and Mosques whereof one alone is half a Mile round There is the Old and New Fez this the abode of the Prince and the other accompanied with a Fortress It is near the River of Cebu which has towards its source a very extraordinary Bridge for it is raised a hundred and fifty Fathoms out of the Water and is only a kind of Pannier of Sea-Rushes capable of holding eight or ten Persons This same Pannier is hung up betwixt two Ropes which turn upon two Pulleys fasten'd to the two ends of two Wooden Posts which are upon the Rocks of each side the Valley Salley is a Nest of Corsairs who have alwayes several Pyrate Ships Rubat opposite to Salley was Built after the Model of Morocco and has an Aqueduct of above 12000 Paces Alcazar is known by the Battels of 1578 wherein dyed three Kings one of whom was Sebastian King of Portugal Anafi or Anfa a ruin'd Town with a Castle of the Arabians is thought by the Moors to be an Enchanted Place where are still as they say the Treasures of their first Emperour Tremisen or Telensin is a great City belonging to the Turk seven or eight Leagues distant from the Sea The Town of Argiers is one of the best Inhabited and the Richest of all Africk by means of the Pyracies which the Inhabitants Exercise upon the Ocean and Mediterranean Sea It has full fifteen thousand Houses twelve or fifteen thousand Gardens in its Neighbourhood the Christian Slaves are there to the number of thirty or forty thousand Cardinal Ximenes said That if Argiers could be taken Money enough might be found there to Conquer all Africa Amongst the Tents which are out of the Town there is that of the beautiful Cava the Daughter of Count Julian de la Betica who first caused the Moors to pass over into Spain to revenge himself by their means of King Roderic The Emperour Charles the Fifth had the disatisfaction of seeing the finest Fleet
reason there having been reckoned above five hundred and seventy It s extent from the South to the North is about seventy Leagues Its breadth thirty somewhere more somewhere less according as it is bounded either by the Mountains of Arabia or by Jordan What is there call'd the Desart is so stiled in that it has not all the fertility that is found in the Countreys which are near it It s modern Division is into three Principalities Sayd Cossaria and Gaza Two Governments are under the Bashaw of Damascus Jerusalem and Naplouse Jerusalem tho' fallen from its ancient Lustre still preserves those places which Jesus Christ was pleas'd to honour with his presence It has been famous for the bigness beauty and riches of its Temple for its Kings for its High-Priests and for other particularities It was ruined by Nebuchadnezzar by Vespasian and Titus These two last saw the Death of Eleven hundred thousand Persons There are eight Nations of Christians who are rank'd in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Roman Catholicks the Maronites the Greeks the Armenians the Syrians or Jacobites the Copties or Aegyptians and the Georgians One of the Gates of the City called the Eye of a Needle has given occasion to the Proverb that a Camel may as soon pass through the Eye of a Needle as a Rich man enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Nazareth is the place where the Saviour of the World was conceived Bethlem that where he was born There are an infinite number of rare things to be remark'd upon these Cities of the Holy Land The misfortune is that they are hardly any longer to be known Some Islands in the Mediterranean Sea belong to the Turks whereof that of Cyprus is the greatest It has the Title of a Kingdom and formerly contained nine Nicosia is the Capital City of the Island Famagusta the Principal Sea-Port This Famagusta was the last place which the Venetians defended there against the Turks who took it at last after a Siege of seventy dayes and above a hundred and forty thousand Shot made against the Town The Grotto of the seven Sleepers is near the City of Baffo In an Abbey near Limisso they keep Cats brought up to the hunting of Serpents after which they return back thither at the ringing of a Bell. The Isle of Rhodes is famous for the ancient abode of the Knights of the same Name who were constrained to yield it to the Turk in the Year 1522 For the Colossus of the Sun which was so prodigious that few persons could embrace the thumb of it Great Ships passed easily with full Sails between its Leggs When the Sarazens caused the Copper of it to be carried into Aegypt they found it to load above nine hundred Camels The Isles of Chio and Metilin are in the Archipelago Chio one of the most fertile and most delicious in the World produces excellent Fruits Malmsy Wine and particularly Mastick It has the High and Low Town and in both are reckoned above twenty thousand Mortals They are almost all Christians Greeks and Latins and there is not a place under the Turk where the Christians have more freedom Metelin affords excellent Wines And the Nightingales are said to sing more melodiously there than elsewhere It s ancient Inhabitants have had the reputation of being very expert Mariners In the last Age the famous Barberossa who is said to have been a Native of this Island rendred himself formidable to all Christendom Patmos or Palmosa is known for the Exile and the Grotto of St. John the Evangelist The Isle of Lango under the Name of Cos has passed for the native Countrey of Hippocrates and Appelles The enviers of Hippocrates attribute all his knowledge to Medicinal Receipts which were brought into the Temple of Aesculapius Apelles observ'd proportion in his Pictures whereas Zeuxis made them greater than Nature for the giving them Majesty The Inhabitants of Lango are said to have found out the first use of Silk-Worms Not far from thence there is a little Island called Caloiero which is almost impregnable It is only a steep Rock where the Monks and those who inhabit it draw up their Boats after them with Ropes Georgia UNder the Name of Georgia we bring Mingrelia Gurgistan Zuiria and Circassia Provinces where the ancient Romans were not able to establish their Empire by reason of the sharpness of the Mountains known by the Ancients under the Name of Caucasus celebrated in the fable of Prometheus All these Provinces lie between the Black and Caspian Seas which are thought to communicate with one another because they have Fish of the same kinds and that those Territories which lie between both seem to have a superficies of but little depth principally when they go on Horse-back there From thence they transport Silk Stuffs Wax Honey Little Money is made use of most of the Georgians being so poor that they often sell their Children to have wherewith to subsist on An Inhabitant has been known there to exchange his Mother for a Turkish Horse that was to his mind There are in Georgia several Christians and some Mahometans The true Natives have a peculiar tongue Several amongst them are free some have their Kings others acknowledge either the Turk or the Persian according to the necessity of their affairs Those who obey the Turk have great Priviledges in his Dominions they pay him but a very inconsiderable Tribute may enter armed and with displayed Ensigns into Jerusalem Teflis has a particular King who owns Allegigiance to him of Persia Derbent often disputed by the Turks and the Persians is in the Passage that is called the Port of Iron these are the Remnants of the Caspian Ports that are seen upon Mount Barmach with some Springs of Medicinal Oyl The Tartars of Dagestan who are near it are commanded by the Schemkal a Prince whose Dignity depends on fate when he is dead those who pretend to have his Place assemble around and a Priest cafts a Golden Apple in the midst of them which makes him Prince it touches for they don't scramble for Sovereignty Mingrelia otherwise Imereti and Basciaciuch lies near the Black Sea at the place where that Sea receives the Faze which contrary to other Rivers has fresh waters above and salt below In the Countrey about Faze Pheasants were first of all had There are caught several other sorts of Birds especially Crows and Jackdaws In the Year 1642 those Birds eat a prodigious quantity of Herrings which the Sea had cast upon the Coast to the height of a foot and half There are White Bears which prove that those Creatures form a particular sort of Bears Mingrelia upon the Eastern part of the Black Sea is the ancient Colches famous for the Amour of Jason and Medea and the coming thither of the Argonautes to sharpe the Golden Fleece This Fleece when the Metaphor is shorn off is thought by the wise to have consisted in the Mines of Gold or else in the
Ships which were bound from Sues to Aden unload there for the avoiding the dangerous Passages of the Streight of Bebel-Mandel Persia PErsia bears the Name of one of its ancient Provinces that is now called Fars It 's one of the most considerable Kingdoms of Asia by reason of the Riches of its principal Towns and the Union of its Forces it is more fertil and populous than Turkey its Inhabitants the most civil and the best polished of all the Mahometans There is more politickness and more refined Wits than in Turkey They love good order and justice and favour Strangers Its Rivers which have this particular of having neither Pike nor Eel are not Navigable They commonly go under the Name either of their Cities or their Colours They furnish the conveniency for the making of Channels for the watering the Lands they become smaller the nearer they come to the Sea and sometimes are entirely dryed up by the Diversions that are made of them The Neighbourhood of the Sea of Bassera and that of the Caspian is more fertil and more temperate than the Inland Countreys which have Desarts and Mountains where it seldom rains for which cause the Fruit-trees receive no Water but at the Foot and Root This Kingdom is one of the most Ancient Monarchies of the World the Assyrians Medes Persians and Parthians have begun their Empires here The Policy of this Kingdom is in great esteem the Government easie supportable to the Persians and to Strangers There is no talk of Robbers the Rights of Hospitality are so regularly observ'd that the King will have all Foreigners to be reputed as his Guests The Name of Scha is bestow'd on the Kings of Persia the Vulgar attribute to them that of Sophi which is a proper Name They were formerly call'd Great Kings and Kings of kings principally when they had Vanquished the Grecians The Name of Sultan which in Turkey signifies King in Persia only signifies the Governour of a Town The Persians have alwayes had their Sovereign in great estimation Still at this day they think to confirm a thing much more strongly by the name of their King than by that of God perhaps after the Mode of those of Achem in the Isle of Sumatra who say that God is afar off and the King near at hand The Riches of the ancient Persian Kings have been immense as may be seen by the Treasures which Alexander the Great found in the Coffers of Darius Scha-Sefi one of the late Monarchs had for common service 7200 Marks in Vessels of Gold Herbert says that in his time there has been seen in Asharat for the service of Scha-Abbas Vessels of Gold and others to the value of 260 Millions of Livers The Persians are well proportion'd have little experience in the Art of Navigation tho' they be near the Sea When the Portugals would have drove them from Ormus they had recourse to the Ships of the English Their Women are in great esteem through all Asia for their Beauty their Horses for their agility their Camels for strength In the Countrey they have a saying Bread of Yesde-Kast Wine of Schiras Women of Yesde Their Religion is Mahometan of the Sect of Hali the King allows that the Carmelites the Augustins the Capuchins the Jesuits have their Houses and Churches in this capital City Ispahan where the Superiours of those Houses perform the Function of Ambassadours for Christian Princes of the Roman Communion The Persian Tongue is so sweet and soft that it is in little use but amongst the Women and Poets the King and Persons of Condition commonly make use of the Turkish Language Persia is as a Go-between to the Turks and Europeans for the Commerce of the Indies It furnishes the finest Silk-stuffs and the best Tapestries that are seen Cloaths of Gold Bezoar Manna Rhubarb Rose-Water Turquoises which are taken at the Mountain of Phirouskou four Leagues from Meschet a City renowned for the Pilgrimages of the Mahometans of Persia The Silk of Chorasan is very fine that of Kilan somewhat courser There are Fields of Salt some Mines of Copper Iron and Steel in Chorasan of Lead in Kirman Gold and Silver is imported from abroad as well as Wood. The greatest Trade is droven to Bagdad for Turkey to Gombru for the Indies The Kings of Persia do allow of Commerce upon their Coasts but suffer not any Fortresses to be made there the Mogul the Emperour of China and other Eastern Kings take the same course in their Dominions They have powerful Neighbours of the Turk and the Mogul The strength of their State consists principally in its situation there being high Mountains and great Desarts in its neighbourhood Ismael Sophi had three hundred thousand Men in Arms against Selim Emperour of the Turks the ancient Kings had sometimes Armies of seven or eight hundred thousand Men. The usual Armies now-a-days are of fifty or sixty thousand Horse besides thirty thousand that are kept upon the Frontiers this number would be much greater if we reckon'd all those who go to the Army The Persians wear the Red Turbant wherefore they are called Keselbas the Tartars of Giagatay wear it green that of the Turks is white and that of the Grecians blew Their Soldiers are of four sorts Fuzeliers Slaves Keselbas Life-guard-men all Troopers There is a great antipathy between the Persians and Turks Those who observe that antipathy amongst the Nations of the World say that it is between the Chineses and Japoneses betwixt the Armenians and Nestorians between the Arabians and Abyssins between the French and Spaniards betwixt the Italians and Greeks between the Germans and Polanders between the Danes and Swedes between the Muscovites and Tartars between the English and Scotch between the Irish and Welch betwixt the Hurons and Iroquins Nations of Canada Here follows the enumeration of the Provinces of Persia according to the most receiv'd Relations Arak Fars Chusistan Adherbeitzan Iran or Karabach Schirwan Kilan Teberestan or Mesanderan Chorasan Sablestan Sirestan Kirman Tzisire and Diarbeck These two last are between the Euphrates and Tigris and belong to the Turk The Governours are called Chans or Cans sometimes Sultans The City of Ispaham the abode of the King of Persia is one of the greatest of all Asia compos'd of four Cities it is likewise one of the finest if we consider its stately Palaces delicious Gardens spacious Market-place rich Bazars Exchanges or publick places which make the Inhabitants call it the half of the World The Arabians who have no P in their Alphabet call it Isfaham There is a remarkable Tower upon the King's Stables all built with Goats heads and other wild Animals which were taken in one Royal Match of Hunting Caswin or Casbin is esteemed the ancient Ecbatana where the King of Media dwelt where Parmenio was killed and Ephestion died whose Funerals cost above twelve thousand Talents that is twelve thousand times six hundred Crowns Schiras is near the Ruins of the ancient Persepolis which was
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
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
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
the midst of the Low Countries has four Cities the Capitals of as many Quarters Bruxels Louvain Breda Boisleduc Bruxels is very populous the abode of a Prince or Governour whose Palace is very spacious Its Chanel which leads to Antwerp is one of the finest Works of the Country with prodigious Sluces which have cost immens Sums As well as at Avignon some of its Publick Edifices are to the number of seven The Church of St. Gudule is one of the finest of the Country The Neighbourhood of the Forest of Soignes furnishes its Inhabitants with Game for hunting Louvain which some make to pass for the Capital of Brabant is one of the greatest Cities of Europe with a famous University which gives occasion to the By-word That it is a City of Scholars as Bruxels is a City of Courtiers Antwerp a City of Merchants Mechelin a City of Advocates and Lawyers by reason of its Parliament Tillemont was taken by force in the Year 1655. by the French and Hollanders Breda belongs to the Prince of Orange and Hertoghen-Bosch or Bois-le-Duc to the States General of the Vnited Provinces as do also Berghen-op-Zoom and the Grave All these Places are well fortified Bois-le-Duc is so extraordinary strong by reason of its Marshes that it pass'd for Impregnable before it was taken upon which account they were us'd to say in Holland out of Raillery I will pay you when Bois-le-Duc is became a Beggar that is to say never The Brabanzon pretends the Priviledge of deliberating nothing out of the Limits of their Country The Marquisate of the Holy Empire has this Name from its Site upon the ancient bounds of France and the Empire whither the Emperour sent Governours who were call'd Marquesses There is only the City of Antwerp one of the best and most pleasant of the Netherlands the Emperour Charles the Fifth call'd it his Sunday or Holy-day Town the importance of its Situation has occasioned the making sumptuous Fortifications which consist of ten great Bastions and one of the strongest Cittadels of Europe flank'd with five regular Bastions fac'd with Brick and hewed Stones This Cittadel was built towards the higher part of the River rather than towards the lower that it might command the Town and receive Succours from the Country subject to its Prince the Duke of Alva who had made it plac'd his Statue therein which has since been taken away The Jesuits in Antwerp have a Church all of Marble look'd upon as one of the finest in the World Formerly above two hundred thousand persons were reckoned in this Town and about two thousand five hundred Ships upon the Scheld But the Inhabitants of this place do not now drive that great Trade they did since the Hollanders have seiz'd upon the Avenues of their River The City of Mechelin is the Residence of the States or Parliament of the Catholick Provinces of the King of Spain It s Barony is very small the Women of Mechlin being ready to lye in are said to cause themselves to be carried upon the Lands of Brabant that so their Children may enjoy the Priviledge of the Brabantins Namur is a Town of importance by reason of its passage over the Meuse at the place where it receives the Sambre from hence they transport Marble Ardoise Pit-Coal Charle-Roy upon the Sambre is one of the best Fortresses in the Netherlands Limbourg has only the Town of the same Name which is in any consideration with a strong Castle upon a Rock The French King made the Conquest of it in the Year 1675. but was bound to restore it to the King of Spain by the Peace of Nimmeghen The Bishoprick of Liege owes subjection to its Bishop as well in Spirituals as Temporals the Inhabitants gave it formerly the Name of Grace He is Elected by the Chapter his Residence was formerly at Tongres and Mastricht This Country is of a great Extent with several places lying within the Marches of the neighbouring Provinces Liege is a trading Town and as they say the Paradise of the Ecclesiasticks It was observ'd in the Year 1131. that there were amongst the Canons of its Cathedral Church nine Sons of Kings fourteen Sons of Dukes nine and twenty Sons of Counts and seven Sons of Barons 'T is very populous notwithstanding it was ruin'd by the last Duke of Burgundy When the ancient Priviledges subsisted there it had thirty two Trades and a Body of two and twenty Burgesses composed of Ecclesiasticks of Nobles and of the third Estate or Commonalty these twenty two were call'd most Honoured Lords and had the principal direction of Affairs The Elector of Cologn its Prince caus'd a Cittadel to be built here which was demolish'd by the French in the time of the late Wars The Town of Spa is known to us for its Medicinal Water Mastricht for its Fortifications and for the famous Sieges it has sustain'd It is made up of two Towns Mastricht reckoned to belong to the Duke of Brabant Wick of the Appurtenances to the Bishoprick of Liege The Peace of Nimmeghen has resetled the Hollanders in possession of Mastricht Cambresis is near France The City of Cambray has a good Cittadel the guard whereof was only confided to natural Spaniards when their King was Master thereof It has a Clock singularly wrought by the hand of a Shepherd and furnishes extraordinary fine Linnen or Cambrick Since the Year 1595. the Kings of Spain have attributed to themselves the Tempoporal Jurisdiction of Cambray the Emperours did not contradict them in this matter because they are of the same Family and the Arch-bishops had to no purpose solicited the re-establishment of their Right those Prelates style themselves Arch bishops and Dukes of Cambray Counts of Cambresis Princes of the Holy Empire tho' commonly they have neither Session nor Voice in the Diets In the Year 1677. the French King commanding his Army in person made himself Master of the Town and Cittadel of Cambray which were confirm'd to him by the Peace of Nimmeghen Lorrain LOrrain is a Country with the Title of Dutchy considerable for several advantages particularly for its situation between Champagne French-Luxembourg the Palatinate of the Rhine Franche-Comte all these Provinces are possess'd by the French except the Palatinate It brings forth plentifully all the Conveniencies of Life unless it be Oyl It has Jasper and stuff for the making of Drinking and Looking-glasses The Lorrainers are bigotted Catholicks There are reckoned three Bailiwicks that of Nancy Vaudrevange and Vauge where is Mirecourt Under the general Name of Lorrain may be comprehended the Dutchy of Bar which is of a double kind there is Barrois Royal on this side the Meuse and Barrois Ducal beyond the same River several Territories adjacent the Bishopricks of Metz Toul Verdun formerly Principalities of the Empire Imperial Towns of the same Name which since the Reign of French Henry the Second have own'd Subjection to the Crown of France It is to be noted that these Bishops are
Neuchatel Wallangery Biel Geneva Mulhausen Rotweil The six first Protestants and Rotweil Catholick Geneva is the best Fortified of all the Burghers or Citizens keep a very exact Guard for the preservation of their Liberty and that of Religion which is Reformed In the Year 1663. the French King obtain'd freedom for the Catholicks to say Mass in that Town where it had not been Celebrated in this Age. The Lake of Geneva is crossed by the Rhosne which mixeth not with its Waters there sometimes arise Tempests even in clear fair Weather because it abutts at the foot of the Mountains In the Country it s said that Julius Caesar caused his Treasures to be cast into this Lake when he was pursued by the Switzers hitherto they have been sought for to no purpose Savoy THis Country formerly the abode of the Allobroges is said to have been called Savoy after one of its Princes had drove away the Robbers It is full of Mountains which we generally call the Alpes tho' several Branches there have their peculiar Names Mount Cenis and the lesser St. Bernard make the two principal Passages for Italy 'T is very cold in these parts the Inhabitants by reason of their drinking the Snow-water are subject to the Goitre which is a swelling of the Throat proceeding from the crudity of that Water Nevertheless there are several Places in this Country both very pleasant and very fertile The Mountains have Marmotes which are seldom seen elsewhere they are great Rats who have short Legs rugged Hair the Mouth and Ears of a Squirrel four Teeth long and cutting they sleep full six Months of the Year without taking in any Food or Nourishment Savoy is reckon'd for the Principal and most Noble Dutchy of Christendom It 's certain that its Dukes have had Alliances with all that 's Royal in Europe After the Houses of England and France that of Savoy is one of the most ancient Ame the eighth had reason to say that he had Princes to his Vassals Most of the Gentlemen of his Dominions come from the Emperours of the East and West from the Kings of Italy from the Princes of Morea from the Counts of Geneva The Power of the Dukes of Savoy is so much the more considerable in that they are Masters of several Passages from France into Italy by the possession of Piedmont of the County of Niece and other Seigneuries Under Savoy is comprehended Genevois Choblais Faussigni Tarentaise Maurienne part of Bugey Chambri is the Capital of the Dutchy and the Seat of a Parliament Montmelion is the strongest in it with a Cittadel which covers the head of almost an inaccessible Mountain where the Keys of Savoy are said to be kept Anneci is the Residence of the Bishop of Geneva Ripaille was the retreat of Felix the Fourth before and after his Pontificate This Prince liv'd there with his Friends in such a disapplication from Affairs that since People say Faire Ripaille when they are merry and without disquiet Italy AMong the Authors who have written concerning Italy few there are but represent it as the most beautiful best and most delicious Country in the World Its situation towards the midst of the temperate Zone affords it all these advantages It is commonly compared to a Boot the figure whereof it does really resemble lying between the Mediterranean-Sea and the Gulph of Venice The Alpes which Livy calls the Walls of Italy and Rome are at those places where it touches France Savoy Suisserland Germany the Appennine Mountain runs quite through it The Po Adige Tiber and Arne are the greatest Rivers of this Country There is not one in the World observ'd in so short a course to have so much encrease as the Po and which is so inconvenient by its over-flowings notwithstanding the Dikes that have been raised for prevention The People of Italy are polite dextrous subtile and prudent extream in their Manners they were formerly Masters of the most considerable Empire that has been seen since the Creation of the World And now stand possess'd of the chiefest Dignity of the Roman-Catholick Church They obey divers Princes who are all Papists but very different in Power and Interests We are oblig'd to the Italians for the Discovery of the New World Columbus was a Genouese Americus Vespucius a Florentine The Cities of Italy are so much the more beautiful and better built in that the Nobility have commonly their abode in ' em Their Churches and other Edifices are adorned with excellent Pictures for which reason the Men and Houses are said to be all painted The Italian Tongue is deriv'd from the Latin Tuscan is received in the Court of Rome and amongst the well-bred people Their way of reckoning the Hours is very different from ours they regulating it according to the Sun 's setting then they count four and twenty Hours and at the entrance of the Night they begin to reckon the Hours of a New Day Insomuch that the number of the Hours at Noon rises and falls according to the Seasons tho' there are always four and twenty Hours for the Civil Day that is for the Day and Night together For Example On the twelfth day of August at Noon which we reckon twelve a Clock the Italians reckon seventeen and so what remains to finish the Civil Day of four and twenty Hours comprehends seven Hours which make up just the time which the Sun employs that day the twelfth of August since the Hour of Noon unto its setting The Sovereign Princes of Italy are the Pope the King of Spain who possess almost half of it the Duke of Savoy the great Duke of Florence the Republick of Genoa the Duke of Mantua the Duke of Modena the Duke of Parma the Bishop of Trent the Republick of Lucca The other Princes are call'd Petty by reason of the small extent of their Dominions The Republick of Venice is independent most of the other States depend either on the Church or the Empire for some Fiefs The Quality of Duke is in Italy more considerable than of Prince bating in the Territories of the King of Spain There are so many Archbishopricks and Bishopricks that the Kingdom of Naples alone has more than all France hath the truth is most of 'em have not so good a Revenue as our Country Curates Italy is divided into three great parts the High which may be called Lombardy the Middle and the Low According to this division there is found in the High Piemont Montferrat Milantz the Coast of Genoa Parmezan Modenois Mantouan the Domain of Venice Trentin The State of the Church Tuscany Lucquois are in the Middle the Kingdom of Naples possesses the rest There is a fourth part if we may add the Isles thereto Piemont according to the saying of a Piemontin is a City of three hundred Miles in compass One and the same Land produces Corn Wine and Fruits Turin the abode of the Dukes of Savoy is a lovely Town accompanied with a strong Cittadel It
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