understands well the Talismanical Art is able to do any thing in Nature to work wonders and miracles and to delight himself with any kind of sport when he pleaseth After these passages I saw another Philosopher very well skilled in this curious Art bring before Sevarminas threescore Lions roaring with an hundred Bears twenty wild Horses two hundred Mastiffs thirty Leopards forty wild Bulls which he caused first to cry every one according to his custom and nature then the Philosopher forced them to dance whiles he played upon a musical Instrument and they performed this as exactly as if they had been taught on purpose but when he saw his time he set them all together by the ears the Dogs the Lions and the Bears every one pitched upon his Enemy and began a pleasant Fight which lasted two full hours with a great deal of variety of sport which caused Sevarminas and all his Court ost-times to laugh heartily When he hath a desire to take any such diversion he sends for some of these men skilled in the Talismanical Art and they answer his expectations in all things and bring before him whom and what they please We returned our thanks to this worthy Philosopher for his great pains He answered that he was glad to give us any delight and that if we would visit him at some other more convenient time he would shew us some more of his skill in acting greater wonders than what we had seen but that he had done this only to divert us for the present because he saw that we could not stay with him long but if we would see more wonderful things that we should do well to come to him some morning and to spend a whole day with him and that then he would shew us what we had never seen nor never should see but by his and his Companions means We returned him our thanks again for his great kindness and then departed with Ziribabdas who led us next to see the Treasury of the Church which is a large Room joyning to the Porch all arched above with six Windows on the top the Walls were of Diamant niched with Saphirs and Emeralds in it were Chests and Coffers full of the rarest things in Nature offered to the service of the great God by the Citizens of Sevarinde We beheld with admiration the rare workmanship the curious things and the Excellencies that had been there laid up by many Ages and never made use of Some Pictures were upon the Walls of this Treasury of an admirable hand Ziribabdas told us that the Painter was an European cast upon their Coasts by a storm at Sea and that he lived and dyed in that Country and that the Father of Sevarminas had such an affection for him that he gave him a beautiful young Virgin to Wife one of the most considerable of his Court and gave him an Estate to live on having made him a Citizen of Sevarinde and that he lived there fifty years till he was an old man leaving behind him many children Girls and Boys to perpetuate his name amongst the Sevarites His name was Simeon van Zurich a Dutch man who had a great skill in Swimming for when he was cast away all the Ships company was lost but only him they were at a distance from the shore and could not so well swim or were devoured by the fishes It was his fortune to be carried stark naked on the Coast of the Sevarites in an Island full of Ladies of Pleasure who had been banished thither for their incontinency As soon as it was day he found himself surrounded by a whole Troop of the female Sex who had a great delight to see him and came to draw him into the Country but when he saw no men he was afraid to venture amongst them this caused him to swim up the River into the Land in the sight of these beautiful Creatures that accompanied on the shore and often made signs to him to land and go no further but he continued on till he landed amongst the innocent Sevarambi who cloathed and brought him to their King He was by him entertained courteously and nobly and provided for the rest of his days When we had taken notice of the Treasury and of all the great Rarities that are in it we marched into the Church or Temple again to see the excellent Workmanship the Carving and rare things that adorn this excellent place Ziribabdas caused us to take notice of three Partitions in the Temple the one which is at the higher end is only for their Priests and their King the second is for their Nobles the third is for all sorts of persons promiscuously without exception By that time we had seen all this the night drew on apace which caused us to withdraw towards our Lodgings Zidi Parabas led me and Sermodas went with Maurice our other Companions followed us to our Lodgings We took our leaves of the generous and civil Ziribabdas the Chief Priest of that stately and glorious Cathedral-Temple of Sevarinde and thanked him heartily for his great courtesie shewed to us When we came to our Lodgings we found our Supper ready and we were no less prepared for it but Zidi Parabas returned to the Palace to give Sevarminas an account of his Commission and of our Walk promising to return to us the next day Sermodas my self and Companions supped that night together the Musick playing all the while we were eating After Supper we had good store of rare Wines brought to us which we received and made good use of but as we understood that the Sevarites hate Drunkards and drunkenness I advised all my Companions to drink moderately for fear of giving an offence to those noble people They followed my advice and after an hour or two's discourse with Sermodas we went to our beds where we had been the night before Sermodas brought us into the Chamber and then bid us good night telling us that he would call us up the next day and shew us some other diversions as pleasant as those of the day before We thanked him and told him that we should be ready to wait upon him and that we had seen so many wonders already that we thought that we could never see any more at those words he departed smiling The next morning Zidi Parabas and Sermodas with twenty more Gentlemen of the Kings Court came to attend upon us Sermodas only entring the room the rest stayed in a Chamber hard by till we were dressed As soon as we were ready two Fellows with Flutes in their hands ready to play saluted us offering to conduct us to the company that stayed for us they marched before us making most curious Musick till we came to the company A grave Signior of them stood with Zidi Parabas and told us that we must that day ride with Sevarminas into the Country and that he had sent them to call upon us for that purpose Sermodas had caused some
having expelled the darkness of the Night and dissipated the thickness of the Fog we saw that our Vessel stuck upon a Bank near the shore of a great Island or Continent The discovery of this Land turned our despair into hopes for although it was unknown to us and we could not tell what good or bad fortune we should have in it Yet any Land was then welcome to men who had during many days been so miserably tossed upon the water betwixt life and death hopes and despair About Noon the weather grew very clear and hot the Sun over-powring the Mist and Fog and the Wind abating much of his violence so that the Sea did by degrees lose much of his rage and agitation In the Afternoon about three a Clock it Ebbed from the shore and left our Ship with less than five foot of water upon a kind of a muddy Sand where she stuck very fast The place where she stuck was not above a Musket shot from a pretty high but accessible shore whither we resolved to remove our selves and our goods whatever should come on 't and in order to it our Long-boat was let down and twelve of our stoutest men were sent ashore well armed to discover the Country and to chuse a place near the Sea where we might encamp with some safety without going far from our Ship As soon as they were landed they carefully viewed the Country from the top of a rising ground not far from the shore but saw neither Houses nor Inhabitants nor any signs of either the Country being but a Sandy barren Land where grew nothing but bushes and little shrubs wild and savage They could see neither River nor Brook in the parts they had discovered and not having time to make a farther search that day nor counting it prudence to venture any farther into so unknown a place they came back again to the Ship three hours after their landing The next Morning we sent them ashore again with provisions and order to send the Boat back again to fetch our People by degrees and likewise our Provisions and Goods which were all whole by Gods mercy without any the least damage All these Orders were executed with great care and diligence so that the day after our being cast upon the Bank we got all ashore with a good part of our Provisions and Goods most useful and necessary The first who landed pitched the Camp on the side of a rising ground near the Sea over against our Vessel which could cover us on the Land side from being seen by any body that should come towards the shore and afforded us a convenient station for a Sentinel to discover a good way round about Thither did we by degrees carry our goods leaving in the Ship but ten or twelve men to keep her till we could tow her off upon high water if it was possible or dispose of her otherwise One of the first things we did so soon as we were landed was to call a Council to advise what order we should take for our mutual preservation It was presently resolved that we should keep for the present upon the Land the same order and discipline we kept at Sea till such times we should think fit to alter it so after this resolution it was agreed we should humble our selves before God Almighty to give him most hearty thanks for preserving our lives and goods in so special a manner and to implore his divine assistance for the future in a place altogether unknown to us and where we might fall into the hands of some barbarous people or starve there for want of Provisions if he in his mercy did not provide for us as he had done heretofore After this Resolution and humiliation our Officers divided our People into three equal parts whereof two were ordered incessantly to work about the Camp in drawing of a Trench to secure us from any sudden invasion and the others were imployed in discovering the Country and fetching in Wood and such kind of supplies Those who were left aboard the Ship had orders to see what condition she was in and what could be done with her After an exact examination they found that her Keel was broke by the violent shock she gave against the Sand and that she stuck so fast in it that it was impossible to tow her off if she were never so sound so that they thought the best way was to take her in pieces and build a Pinnace or two out of her ruines to sent to Batavia with all speed and diligence That Counsel was approved of and the fittest men for that purpose were employed for the execution of it with all diligence The parties that were sent to discover durst not venture far in the Plain for fear of some danger or ill accident till such a time that the Camp was better fortified and the Guns carried thither from the Ship They brought in only Wood and some kind of wild Berries of which they found great quantities upon the bushes and shrubs of the place some spreading along the shore found a very great plenty of Oysters Muscles and other Shell fish which did not only refresh our People but did also much save our Provisions which upon examination we found could not hold out above two Months according to the ordinary allowance The consideration whereof made us think of some way to husband it which could be but by getting and saving In the first place we used all diligence to get our Nets and Hooks ready for we had found that the Sea thereabouts was very full of fish we fed as much as we could upon the Berries of the Plain and upon the Shell fish of the shore and on the other side we shortned every ones allowance and reduced it to eight ounces a day of the Ships Provisions But our greatest want was sweet water for although we had made a Well in the Trench that afforded as much of it as we could use yet it was somewhat brackish and ungrateful by reason of the nearness of the Sea Our adventurers made every day some new discovery and having gone so far as almost Ten Miles about the Camp without finding any the least sign that the Country was inhabited grew every day bolder and bolder They saw no living Creature in all this sandy Plain but some Snakes a kind of a Rat almost as big as a Rabbet and some kind of Birds like wild Pigeons but somewhat bigger who fed upon the Berries we have made mention of They killed some of them with their Guns and brought them to the Camp where after trial they were found to be very good meat especially the Birds These new discoveries made us a little remiss in our Fortifications and we contented our selves by drawing a small Trench about our Camp casting up the Earth inwardly and thought it was enough in a place where we found no Inhabitants We planted some Guns upon the most convenient places and setting all
thoughts of fear aside dreaded nothing so much as hunger and the injuries we might receive from the weather which we were not yet acquainted with for it had proved very temperate since our Landing upon that Coast where we had been fourteen days before our Pinnace could be perfected But about the seventeenth day she was ready to put to Sea with Provision for Eight men for six weeks time which was as much as ever we could spare Now there arose great strife amongst the Seamen about the sending of the Pinnace to Battavia for few would venture on that Voyage yet it was necessary that some should go Whereupon it was agreed that a number of the best Seamen should be taken out of the whole Crue and that they should cast Lots among themselves to determine the difference which was done accordingly The Lot fell upon the Master himself upon a Seaman called Prince and six more whose names I have forgotten They seeing it was the will of Fortune that they should go submitted to it joyfully and after having agreed upon a Signal we should give them to find us out if ever they should come again with relief and taking their leave of the Company they went aboard the Pinnace and with a good Land Gale sailed to the Eastward till they were out of our sight We made publick Prayers for their prosperity with many sighs and tears trusting in Gods goodness and mercy The same day we advised among our selves what kind of Government we should keep as most convenient for our present Condition for some of our Officers being gone in the Pinnace our Sea Discipline was somewhat altered neither did we judge it proper for the Land upon better consideration The business was debated Pro and Con but after some contestation it was agreed that we should live in a Military Discipline under a Captain General And other inferiour Officers which together should compose a Soveraign Council of War with Authority to direct and order every thing absolutely Now the question was whom we should chuse of all the Company All were inclined to defer that honour to Van de Nuits my Friend as being the Person of most eminent quality among them and who had the greatest concern in the Ship but he modestly excused himself alledging that he was young and unexperienced in Military Affairs and therefore not fit for such Command and that it was necessary in such an occasion to make choice of a Person of riper years and greater experience in that kind than himself was who never was a Souldier Then observing some trouble and irresolutions in their faces he went on in this manner Gentlemen I give you many thanks for the esteem and good will you shew towards me and wish heartily I were worthy of it and capable of this Command But since I cannot be your General my self give me leave to recommend one to you who is very fit for that Imployment having been a Commander in Europe in two several Armies and a great Traveller in most parts of the Christian World You know his Person and I dare say you do all love and esteem of him as I do although he is not so well known to you as he is to me who have had long experience of his probity and good Conduct Then poynting to me he said The Person I mean is Captain Siden to whose Command and Authority I will readily submit if you please to chuse him for our General This unexpected Speech and the looks of the Company who all turned their eyes upon me put me somewhat out of Countenance but being soon come to my self I answered That his recommendation proceeded more out of affection and love than out of any knowledge of either merit or good Conduct in me that I was a Foreigner among them and born in a Country far from Holland and that I thought there were many in the Company far more capable of that Command than I was and therefore desired to be excused chusing rather to obey my betters than to use any Authority over them I had no sooner ended my Speech but one Swart a stout and active fellow who never went out of my company in all the discoveries we had made in the Country took me up somewhat briskly and said Sir All these excuses will not serve your turn and if Mr. Van de Nuits counsel and mine be taken you shall be our General whether you will or no for besides what he hath worthily spoken of you all the Company and I particularly know that since we were cast upon this Land you have shewed your self most active and industrious for the common good and preservation of all and are therefore most fit to command us We are Seamen and Traders altogether ignorant of Military Discipline which you alone can teach us here since there is no body among us that understands it and who is so well qualified as your self upon which consideration I declare that you are the only sit person to command us and that I will submit to no mans command but yours This blunt Fellows Speech which he pronounced with a strong and loud voice did so affect the minds of the Company already disposed by Van de Nuits recommendation that all with one voice cried out Captain Siden must be our General When I saw I could not avoid the taking of this Command I made sign for silence and spake to them in this manner Gentlemen Since you force me to accept of this Command I accept it with thanks to you all and do heartily wish your choice may prove to your advantage and satisfaction But that all things may be done in good order and carried on vigorously I beg a few things of you which if you please to grant me I will do my best endeavour to preserve you from all danger and to keep you in that Civil Discipline and Society which may best conduce to the Publick Good The first thing I beg That every man here will take an Oath to obey mine and the Councils Authority without any repugnancy upon pain of such punishments as we shall think fit to inflict upon them The second is That I may have the priviledge of chusing the Principal Officers to be elected and they to bear such Commands and Offices as I shall bestow upon them for the time In the third place I beg That in Council my single Vote may pass for three Votes Lastly That I or my Deputy may have a Negative Voice in all Publick deliberations All these Priviledges and Prerogatives were presently granted me and I was saluted by all the Multitude in the quality of their General and had a Tent larger than ordinary set up in the middle of the Camp for the first Badge of my Authority I lay in it that night with Van de Nuits and had his advice in several things which were afterwards put in execution The next day we called all our People together and in their presence I made
Van de Nuits Over-seer General of all the Goods and Provisions we had or should hereafter have Swart Captain of the Artillery Arms and Ammunitions of War Maurice an expert and active Seaman Admiral of our Fleet which was to consist of a Long-boat a little Boat and another Pinnace we were a making out of the pieces of our broken Ship Morton an English man who had been a Serjeant in the Low Countries I made Captain of the Eldest Company De Haes a sober and vigilant fellow was made second Captain one Van Sluis third Captain one de Bosch fourth Captain and one Brown Major General I gave all these men leave to chuse their inferiour Officers with my approbation which they did accordingly I had two Servants with me the one called Devese who had been my Serjeant in Catalonia a stout and understanding fellow sober and trusty who had served me ever since I left the Wars and followed my fortune every where him I made my Lieutenant General and the other named Tursi my Secretary Our Officers being all chosen we numbred our People and found we were three hundred and seven Men three Boys and seventy four Women all in good health for although there were many of them sick when they first landed they were all well again in less than a Weeks time which was no small argument of the healthiness of the Country I distributed all these into four parts and gave Maurice six and twenty of the best Seamen and the three Boys to man his Navy Swart had thirty for his Artillery I disposed two hundred men into four Companies and Van de Nuits had all the rest to attend him and take Orders of him in the Camp or out of the Camp We had two Trumpetters which used to say Prayers in the Ship besides their Office of Trumpetting I took one of them and gave Van de Nuits the other and they both were confirmed in both their imployments after the Dutch fashion All our Affairs being so ordered and setled in the Evening I called our Superiour Officers together and told them that before our Provisions were all spent we should go about by Sea and Land to discover the Country and endeavour to get some fresh Provision as likewise to discover some fitter place for a Camp than that we were in where in a short time all things would grow scarce and where we had not so much as good water That my opinion was we should send several Parties of men well Armed to make new discoveries and go farther into the Country than we had gone yet They readily assented to my Proposals and told me they were ready to obey my Orders Whereupon I commanded Maurice to man his two Boats and to send them all along the Coasts as far as they could conveniently go the one on the right side of the Camp and the other on the left I ordered Morton to take twenty men out of his Company and to go all along the shore on the left hand De Haes was commanded to take thirty out of his and to go through the middle of the Country and I my self drew forty men out of the two other Companies and left my Lieutenant to command in the Camp in my absence We all took three days Provision and good store of Powder and Bullets with Swords and half Pikes and I commanded all my men to be ready early in the Morning and to wait for further Orders which they did accordingly The next day which was the twentieth since the first day of our Landing and from which we shall hereafter reckon as our principal Epoche all my men were ready by break of day and came to receive my Commands which were the same I had given the night before with this Addition only That if they should meet with any thing considerable they should presently send advice thereof to the Camp I likewise gave Orders to Morton to keep with the Boat as near as he could and to come every night to the shore to joyn with the Boats-Crew before Sun setting I my self intending to keep the same Method with Maurice As soon as these Orders were given we went our several ways all full of hopes and alacrity I marched my men in Rank and File and I divided them into three Parties the first that had the Van was composed of six Musketteers and a Corporal the second of twelve and a Serjeant I my self brought up the Rear We marched within Musket shot distance one from another in that manner as near the shore as we could that we might be within sight of our Boat The Sea was very calm and the Weather very still though something hot At noon the Boat came to us at a place where we stood near the shore and there we took some rest and refreshment for the space of two hours All the Country we came upon for ten or twelve Miles was much like to that about our Camp and we did not so much as find a Brook or a Spring in all our way all being dry Sands and nothing growing upon them but Bushes and Thorns After we had taken some rest we marched five Miles beyond the place where we had halted and there the ground began to grow more unequal and to rise here and there into small Hills Two Miles farther we found a Brook of sweet water which gave us no small occasion of joy chiefly when we saw that a little farther up in the Country there was some small plots of green Trees upon the Banks of the Brook there we halted again and made Signs to our Boat to come to us which they did immediately coming into the Brook with the Tide and finding it was a very good Harbour for such a Vessel as theirs they rowed up a Mile into the Land till they came to a plot of green trees where we pitched our Camp for that night Maurice brought us some Fish he had taken in the Sea and some Oysters and other Shell fish We strook fire went to Supper an hour before night and then to sleep keeping a good Guard about us and hiding our fire with green Boughs we fixed in the ground round about it lest it should be seen at a distance The next day early in the morning I sent three of my men back again to the Camp to give them notice of the Brook and the Trees we had found and to tell them we intended to proceed farther But before we removed from that place I sent five men up the Brook to discover more of the Country They came back two hours after and told us that the Country above was a little more Hilly than below but dry and barren and like that which lay towards our Camp Our Boat fell down towards the Sea after these men were come with this account and had carried us over the Brook which was deep and not fordable unless we went two or three Miles higher When we had got over we marched on along
refreshing our selves and admiring all the Excellencies before our eyes and the Divine Beauty of those incarnate Angels the Women of that place At the first they saluted us with a short Speech to this purpose in their own Language which was immediately interpreted to us by a stander by in Spanish Welcome noble Strangers to our City of Sevarinde let not your misfortunes and losses grieve you the great Being of Beings hath sent you to discover what I understand was never known to your World You shall see by experience the Generosity and brave minds of the Sevarambi We rejoyce to have an occasion of imitating our bountiful God and express our Liberalities to his Creatures and our kindness to men though of another World and Parentage This brings me and my Companions into this place and at this time to mitigate your sorrows and cause you to forget your shipwrack and calamity With these words he made a grave bow and nodded to the rest of his Comrades and immediately the Musick began to play so sweetly that we reckoned our selves in Heaven and not upon Earth This Sport continued about two hours with an interruption of other Sports We tasted there also some of the most delicious Wines of the World they grow not as ours upon shrubs and short stumps but upon great Trees as high as the Cedar and Oak-trees neither have they any trouble with them to manure or cut them for the Wine-tree brings forth of its own accord plentifully In an Orchard of these kinds of Trees about the compass of an Acre they have sometimes ten Tun of this rare Wine as clear as Crystal but so extraordinary strong and pleasant that the Vin de la Cindad of Paris nor the Rhenish nor Frontiniack nor Florence nor Canary nor any other sorts of Wine of Asia or Europe are to be compared to this Divine Nectar which so refreshes Nature and strengthens the body that the oldest persons in that Country seem to be but young Their age is discoverable only by their grey hairs and long beards which they are not to cut by the Law of the Land That evening Sevarminas sent us a Messenger to know of our welfare advising us to prepare our selves for the next morning to wait upon him for he was very desirous to see us Sermodas had been with him and had given him an account of us and of our behaviour since our landing in Sporumbè and our entrance in Sevarambé At his return to us after Supper we desired him to give us an exact account of the extent of the Dominions of his King Sevarminas and of the further most bounds of his Empire In answer to your request said Sermodas to us I must tell you That we have now a Prince called Sevarminas lineally descended from our wise Law-giver Sevarias this is the seventh thousand five hundred and ninth King who hath since that time reigned in this Land His Government between the Rivers are threescore and five Principalities the chief are Rostaki in the West Shafstati on the North towards the Pacifick Sea Roblati on the East and Manasti on the South These are the four principal Parts of the Kingdom commanded by four chief Officers who are to have an inspection over the other lesser Divisions These wait upon Sevarminas and are of his Privy Council The other Chieftains are to reside in their several Principalities and take care to do Justice and punish all Offenders with Banishment to their several places appointed for their retreat Besides these Jurisdictions within the Rivers there are several other places belonging to Sevarminas which acknowledge him for their Supreme Lord but they are full of all banished men Offenders of the Law and Malefactors There is the Province of the Sporvi which you have seen already commanded by the Noble Albicormas the next to us is the Island of the Fornicators whom these Sevarambi cannot endure These all appear with their rotten Noses and poysoned Faces so that they are ashamed to shew themselves amongst perfect men They live in Woods and dark Caves men and women promiscuously without any regard to their honesty which they have had no care to preserve They have an ill-favour'd old Hag for their Governess a filthy Bawd named Brustana Their Country affords them many good things so that they live without much labour but are so deformed and infectious that none dares venture amongst them who hath any regard to the safety of his own person or Honour When amongst the Sevarites any either man or woman breaks the Law by any such fleshly liberty they are immediately sent over and landed there from whence they cannot possibly return because there is no Boat dares carry them from thence In this place they have a freedom to do what they list and to please themselves with the choice of persons of their own disposition and temper without any restraint The next Province is that of the Knaves a cunning sort of men who are all upon catches continually plotting the mischief of others When there is the least suspicion of any such person in a Province of the Sevarites they never leave till they have found him out and sent him to this place where he is commanded by Marabo when any excels in Knavery he is there promoted in his Court to Offices of Honour and Trust These have the largest and best Province belonging to Sevarminas beyond the River for they are numerous and increase daily in number of men and in Lands towards the South They dispossessed another Generation of covetous Rascals who had been banished from among the Sevarambi and had laid great improvement upon their Lands having built many good Towns and Cities When the Knaves their Neighbours had understood it they caught it from them and drove them out of it by a Trick sending the Covetous to live in their Country empty of Inhabitants The next is the Province of disorderly persons troubled with the distempers of discontent fury ambition and other Vices Sevarminas is forced to keep a Guard upon their Borders and to place next to them the stoutest and most warlike souls for fear of a sudden irruption There are thirteen other large Provinces filled with other kind of men but I forbear to speak of them till I shall give you an account of an attempt which the bordering Provinces made once to dispossess King Sevarminas of his Throne and to seize upon the Territories of the unspotted Sevarites who were forced to arm themselves and drive those disorderly Villains into their own Nests where they are now confined Since that time care hath been taken to build such Walls and Forts as that they cannot now easily pass over to trouble the Peace of the Sevarites I had almost forgotten to speak of the large Province of Fools which lies directly South from Sevarindé If any person by a mischance becomes crack-brain'd or distemper'd with any kind of folly he is condemned to be transported to the Island of
Cracos where he is to spend all his days in what Exercises please him best The Country affords him all Necessaries without pains therefore the Fools lead a pleasant life in the Woods and Medows Before we go out of the Kingdom I will said Sermodas beg leave of Sevarminas to have a Guard and visit the Provinces of Knaves and Fools where you shall see such Tricks and Sports as you never saw the like And if you desire to visit any other part of the Kingdom I will desire leave from our mighty King who will take care to provide for your safety in going and coming For though in this happy Paradise there is nothing of evil all things are answerable to the excellent and kind nature of the Inhabitants yet round about the Borders in the adjoyning Islands and Provinces there is as much Disturbance War Tumult and Unquietness as in any part of your Northern World for the Sevarambi have a Law to send thither all those persons who desire to cause any alteration in their Government or Manners or who live not according to the strict Rules which they have received from their Forefathers and which by no means they will be perswaded to change Some of these banished men after a certain number of years and a visible sign of Reformation have leave to return and to be admitted again amongst the Sevarambi but others are so unquiet and unruly that they are a trouble to themselves and all that are concerned with them Therefore our Princes and Governors will not admit them again for fear they should relapse into the same evils and disturb this Kingdom which for many thousand years hath continued in peace and prosperity without alteration by the excellent Laws of our Great and wise Sevarias the first Monarch of this happy Land Hence it is that we never have any change of chief Governours or Governments every one knows his duty his place and abilities and is fully satisfied with the advantages that he expects from thence Here is no oppression nor violence the least inclination of that unnatural disposition sends men away to the Borders to prevent future mischiefs Neither have the Sevarites that wicked custom of coining Money and buying and selling all things with money the root of all Northern evils They will not admit of any such weed to grow in this Land but things are exchanged for one another And you have seen since your entrance there is so great an abundance of all good things that men must be lovers of wickedness that can be evil in the midst of such a plenty of goodness where it overflows But I must tell you said Sermodas of one thing more which causeth us to continue in peace we are not subject to the wicked attempts and temptations of any evil Spirit as you are in the Northern World Those dangerous Imps care not to visit this Southern part for they have been so often caught in the snares here that they dread the very sight of the Sevarites or of their Country You I understand in the Northern parts lay most of your miscarriages at the Devils door who hath a room in many of your habitations and a dwelling in every place and corner but we are altogether free from his company and temptations Sometimes it is true he sends some loose Devils to debauch a few indiscreet persons but then we send them away immediately to their proper places with the Fiend in their company But said Maurice how can you keep the Devils out of your Land They fly in the empty Air and go by night as well as by day Sermodas answered Our eyes are better than yours but the Sevarites of all men have the most refined senses They can see when the Spirits come amongst them for this purpose there is a constant Guard kept in all the usual Roads upon the Borders of the Sevarites four hundred Conspirers if I may so call them are kept in constant Pay to drive away the Devil with Spells when he ventures to approach upon the Borders They have a particular Art to command the evil Spirits which no man knows but themselves It is true some of the peeping and crasty Rascals creep into this Land through by ways out of the usual Roads but when the Sevarites catch them they torment them sufficiently and deal with them as with Spies without any compassion of them so that they seldom return to this place again but by their cruel entertainment they keep all their other Comrades from entring in amongst the Sevarambi I know that in your Countries you have not that care nor vigilancy of your selves for your own good Hence it is that all sorts of Devils have so great an interest in your parts and that you can scarce stir without meeting one or many in your way Besides this Country between the Rivers bears an aromatick Tree which the Devils cannot endure for it sends up into the Air such a strong smell that they are ready to choke when they draw near to a place where it grows and you shall see that the Inhabitants have been advised by their wise Sevarias to plant one in every Garden and side of their Houses The Tree is named Crassarabi and bears a leaf like a Palm-leaf but is full of prickles as a Thorn and Bramble-bush The Sevarites have this way to torture the poor Devils that unhappily fall into their hands they tye them with a Cord invisible to you but visible to them answerable to the substance of the Devils which is airy and then bind them to this Tree where they slash them with a Rod cut out of the branches which causes them to howl most dreadfully We may chance to give you a sight of this action if you travel into the Country towards the Borders Another way they have to plague and imprison them by making Gun-powder for when the Devils come into a Land they always draw to that place where there is the greatest noise and disturbance for there they imagine they may make a good interest Now there is no greater noise in this Land than this of the Gun-powder which we make not as you do in Europe but with a wheel as you may see if you travel into the Land Sometimes therefore it happens that the silliest of them prying too near into the work either to understand the Art or to know what the Sevarites are doing they are many times caught by their ears and I have known half a dozen wound into a grain of Gun-powder and imprisoned so close that they could not possibly get away till the powder took fire The best and strongest powder hath always some of these airy Beings shut up This causeth the destruction that follows when Gun-powder takes fire for then the Devils being released break out with a vengeance and tear in pieces all that dare stand in their way The Sevarites have many other ways to punish them for the insolences and wickednesses which they have committed
bring to light These were the last words of the dying Gentleman who a few hours after gave up his Soul to God and who according to his Friends testimony was a very sober discreet and worthy Person After his Death his Heir examined the Papers and found they were written for the most part in Latine the rest in French Italian and Provencal the diversity of which Languages put him to a great deal of trouble for he did not understand them all neither was he willing to trust the Writings into Strangers hands These difficulties together with the confusion of the Wars that followed and several troublesome Affairs were the reason why he kept this History concealed all this while not knowing whom to trust it with But being come from Holland into England since the Peace was proclaimed betwixt the two Nations and having contracted some acquaintance and friendship with me he did me the favour a while ago to intrust me with his Papers and desired my assistance in putting them into an orderly method I perused them and found the matter therein contained so extraordinary and wonderful that I was never at rest till I had disposed them into a good order and contexture which I at last effected not without much labour and pains with the Gentlemans help and counsel Now we were a while uncertain in what Language we should publish this History he being inclined to do it in Latine or French But at last I prevailed with him and perswaded him to let me Print it in English taking the whole task upon my self But before we proceeded in that design I was desirous to enquire after the truth of this discovery some other way and told him it were very material to send into Holland to know of the Officers of the Admiralties there whether any such Ship as the Golden Dragon herein mentioned was at any time gone from thence for Batavia To which he readily answered he had satisfied himself therein and found upon examination that a Vessel of that name was gone from the Texel at the time herein expressed with all the other Circumstances But this was not enough to satisfie me because I had nothing but his bare Affirmation I therefore went to Mr. Van Dam Advocate to the East-India Company But this could not be done because the Dutch Gentleman was then in Flanders whereupon he intreated him to write to him and desire him to give the best account he could of it which he readily consented to and having sent a Letter to his Friend concerning this matter received the following answer which we have faithfully translated out of French and inserted it here SIR ACcording to your desire and for your Friends satisfaction I shall tell you that when I was at Batavia in the year 1659 a Dutch Seaman named Prince hearing that I had been near the South-Continent told me that some years before I do not remember how many nor at what height he was cast away in a new Ship called the Green or Golden Dragon which carried a great deal of Money designed for Batavia and about four hundred people who for the most part had got into the said Land and kept there the same Discipline they had at Sea That having entrenched themselves with what they had saved and among the rest most of their Victuals they made a new Pinnace out of the broken pieces of their Ship casting Lots for eight men whereof this Seaman was one to go to Batavia to inform the General of the Holland Company of their disaster to the end he might send Ships to fetch those who had been cast away That Pinnace being come to Batavia with much ado The said General dispatched presently a Frigot which being come to that Coast they sent their long Boat ashore with many men who landed at the place and height to them described before but found no body there They ranged along that Coast till they lost their Boat and some of their men through the badness of the weather which that Coast is very subject to and so returned to Batavia without effecting any thing The General sent a second Frigot which likewise came back with no better success than the former People speak differently of that Country some saying that in the Inland there are People of a great Stature others that they are little and subtile and that they carry those they can catch into the inner parts of the Land along with them I was like to have landed there but as through Gods special favour a sudden calm in the night saved us from being cast away soon after a sudden storm made us alter our minds of landing there and we thought our selves happy to get to Sea again This is all I can tell you of this business Your Friends may hear more of this Ship from those who belong to the East-India Company General Maetsuycker was then and is still General in Batavia but I had this account only of the Seaman above mentioned The Land of this Country is reddish and barren and the Coasts as if they were enchanted by reason of frequent storms which hinder much those who will land there And that is the reason why the aforesaid Frigots lost their Boats and men They could not land every where and this Seaman is of opinion they could not find the right place I remain Bridges Oct. 28. 1672. Your most humble Servant Th. S. This is the true Copy of the Letter sent to this French Gentleman who has given me the Original and I have it still in my possession He added That the Savoyard took a Copy of it and told him that he himself had made great enquiry after a Gentleman of his Country who was said to have gone in this Ship That the same Gentleman had been a great Traveller and had left an Estate near Nice de Provence where he was born and that his Kindred not having heard from him for many years were much troubled to know what was become of him All these things are in my opinion very strong Arguments to establish the truth of this History since they agree so well with the History it self in all the Circumstances of Time Place and Person and are attested by so many credible Witnesses which are yet alive for the most part and who living in several places not knowing one another and having no interest in the publishing of this Story cannot rationally be suspected to have all joyned together to give credit to a Fictitious Narration But I leave the Reader to the liberty of using his own Judgment and content my self with shewing the Reasons which have been able to convince mine I wish that those who shall read this most delightful and admirable Relation may reap some profit out of it either in point of Pleasure or Utility it being a very ingenious Piece and the most perfect model of Government I ever read or heard of in my life D. V. The History of the Sevarites or Sevarambi MY
them before they could come near had fired at them and the report of their Guns had so frighted those Monsters that they ran into the water with more haste than they were come out of it That seeing the danger there was along that River by reason of these or other fierce Creatures they might meet with and having no Provision to go on any further in a Country where they could get nothing but some Shell-fish and those only upon the Sea-shore they thought they should proceed no farther but come back again the same way they were gone according to my Command of not staying longer without some special reason De Haes told me he had marched twenty Miles the first day through a Sandy Plain directly to the Southward That at night they were come to a little Hill full of Heath where they lay till next morning That when the Sun began to shine they saw a very great Mist five or six Miles beyond their Post which clearing up by degrees as they marched towards it they discovered a great Pool or Lake of standing water which could be no less than ten Miles Diameter That being come near this Lake they had seen abundance of Reeds and Rushes growing about the shore and an infinite number of Water-Fowl that flew from place to place and made a very great noise in their flight That they had gone a good way about this Lake before they could come to touch the water by reason of the Marshy and Muddy ground about it where they could not march without danger of sinking till they came to a Sandy place near a Hill somewhat higher than that they lay upon the night before That having got to the top of it from whence they had a very large prospect round about they could discover nothing but a large Heath and at great distance towards the South a long Row of very high Mountains which stood like a Wall and reached from East to West as far as they could see That after this discovery they being afraid of wanting Victuals were returned to the Camp on the third day according to my Command I found by these relations that I had had far better luck than these two Captains and we were all the more encouraged to go to the new Camp on the Eastward that we saw it had such conveniences as we could not find any where else and that all our hopes lay on that side The next morning I called a Council where I propounded our removal to the green Vale. It was embraced presently and ordered that we should transport our People and Goods thither by degrees beginning with those which were most necessary and easie to carry The New Pinnace we were making was almost finished and would be ready in four or five days more and fit to transport our Guns Casks and other Lumber In the mean while we used both our Boats to remove our Provisions and sent many of our People by Land with such Axes Nails Spades and other Implements of that kind as we had there The Major went with the first Party my Lieutenant with the second and when I saw that most of our People and Goods were removed to the new Camp and that the Pinnace was ready I sent her loaded with diverse things and travelled thither my self by Land I omitted to tell you that Maurice had doubled the Cape in his second Voyage without any danger by reason of the calmness of the Sea and the stilness of the weather which was clear and serene without any Rain or great Wind above six weeks after our Landing and so temperate that we felt neither heat not cold in the first Month except about noon at which time the Sun was something hot grew hotter every day as it drew nearer to us and brought the Spring about August For in those Countries it begins then contrary to our Parts where the Summer ends at that time Maurice told me that at the head of the Cape he had found many small rocky Islands which lay together very thick as far as a great one that lay at the very mouth of the Bay and defended it from the fury of the Waves he was of opinion that it would prove an excellent Harbour for Ships if the passage into it was not too difficult or too shallow for great Vessels by reason of the many Rocks that lay between the Cape and the great Island which divided and sheltered the Bay from the main Ocean Well Maurice said I to him when we have removed all our Goods and People and they are settled in the new Camp we shall have time enough to discover those Islands and I will leave the discovery of them to your care and industry In less than twelve days after the first discovery of the Vale we had transported all our People and Goods from the old Camp to the new which in my absence Van de Nuits and other Officers named Sidenberge That name obtained so in two or three days time that it was impossible afterwards to change it Our men partly by my order or of their own accords made several good Huts along the Brook side upon a piece of Ground almost a Mile long which abutted to the Bay on the East side of the Cape Wood we had plenty enough upon the place and our Fishermen took so much Fish in the Bay that we knew not what to do with it for want of salt to season or smoak it But Maurice quickly supplied us with that for being gone upon some of those Rocks which lay at the mouth of the Bay he found there as much of it as would serve the whole Company twenty years if we should be so long in that place That Salt was naturally made by the water of the Sea which in great storms being slung upon those Rocks filled some hollow places in them where the heat of the Sun did afterwards turn it into Salt There were every day great Parties sent into the Woods to discover and hunt the Deer of which many Herds were found up and down and many of them killed by our men We saw every day multitudes of Water-fowl fly over the Bay which made us judge that they had some particular haunt there Maurice with his new Pinnace and his Longboat ventured every day further and further into the Bay and in the Islands and made several good discoveries He found a place near the great Island where grew abundance of Reeds and Rushes and thither it was that an infinite number of Sea-fowl of al sorts did repair He found another place where there came many green Turtles to lay their Eggs upon the Sand from whence we might draw the greatest part of our subsistance In fine we found so many things to shift withal that we were certain never to want Victuals if we should live there a thousand years The greatest want we were sensible of was that of Powder for though we had saved a good quantity of it yet that was
into the Temple in a triumphing manner and being come to the Altar laid down their Garlands upon it consecrating them to the Deity to the Sun their King and to their Country which is represented by the Statue I spake of before After this Consecration they went out dancing at the sound of the merry Tunes the Instruments played till they came to their homes This Festival lasted three whole days with a general joy and merriment throughout the whole Town Now our time was come to leave the City of Sporundè and to march to Sevarindè Sermodas gave us warning of it the day before we went and carried me Van de Nuits and Maurice to Albicormas to take our leave of him We went together to his house which we found to be a noble and stately Palace though much inferiour to the City Palace both in bigness and state He received us very kindly and told us that the day following we must take our Journey to Sevarindè to wait upon Sevarminas Then he asked us how we liked Sporundè and the Ceremonies we had seen in the celebration of the Osparénibon We answered We liked every thing even to admiration You have seen nothing yet and you are going to a place as far above this as the Sun is above the Moon I will not too much prepossess your minds with the glory of it knowing experience will teach you more than I can tell you Sermodas is to be your Guide he will be very tender of you and I admonish you to take his Counsel in every thing and to carry your selves so prudently that the great Sevarminas may love and cherish you as heartily as I have done Then he kissed us in the forehead and bid us farewell The next morning early we were carried to the Waterside on the West part of the City where we found several great Barges ready to receive us Sermodas brought me and three or four of my men into an indifferent big one but rarely carved gilt and painted Our other men and women were distributed into other Vessels and in that manner we rowed up the River which running through a very flat and Champain Country flowed down very slowly We saw along the Banks of it several great buildings like those we had seen below the City We had many Rowers who relieved one another from time to time so we went up with great speed and never stopped till we came to an indifferent great City called Sporumè about thirty miles above Sporundè We were expected there at that day and so we found great numbers of people upon the Key who came out to see us land A little before our Barge came to the City a Vessel full of several Officers cloathed like those of Sporundè came to meet us and some of them leaping into our Barge expressed a great deal of respect to Sermodas and much civility to us We went ashore with them where stayed for us the Governour of the place called Psarkimbas Sermodas and he embraced one another and had some discourse together after which he kindly saluted us and bid us welcom into the Country in the Latine Tongue Then addressing himself to me embracing me and kissing me in the Forehead he said he would be glad to have a little private discourse with me sometime of the next day I answered I was at his command after which we followed him into the City which we found to be built much after the manner of Sporundè and about half as big as it standing in a fine and fruitful soyl the best manured and tilled we had ever seen before We were received and used in this place as at Sporundè without any great difference and stayed there all the day following not observing any thing remarkable in it but the exemplary punishment which in the afternoon was inflicted upon fourteen Malefactors in this manner They were taken out of Prison fast tied together with Ropes and divided into three parts In the first were six men who as we were told had been condemned to ten years punishment some for Murther and others for committing Adultery In the second were five young women whereof two were condemned to suffer punishment during seven years to satisfie the Law and afterwards so long as their Husbands pleased and this was for having lain with other men The three others were condemned to suffer three years punishment for having been debauched before their Osparenibon was come or the time of their marrying which is at the eighteenth year of their age In the third were the three young men who debauched these maids and they were to suffer the like punishment and at last marry them They were carried from the Prison to the Palace Gate where stood a great multitude of people to see the execution These poor Prisoners were stript of all their cloaths from their shoulders to the middle of their bodies and we saw their naked skins very plainly I remember that one of the women who had committed Adultery was a very proper and lusty woman not above one or two and twenty years of age She had a very beautiful face black eyes brown hair and a delicate clear skin But her breasts which we saw quite naked were the loveliest I ever beheld This was the first time she was brought to her punishment so that her shame was extraordinary Tears trickled down her cheeks in great abundance and these instead of taking off from her natural beauty did on the contrary so much add to it that I never admired any thing like this beautiful Criminal Admirarion produced love and pity joyning with those two Passions did so move the hearts of all the Spectators that there was hardly any ingenious Person who was not moved to an extreme compassion But their pity was turned to a kind of generous indignation when they considered that within a few moments all these divine Charms were to be soiled and prophaned by the cruel stripes of a barbarous Executioner Yet this was an act of justice ordained by the Laws against a Crime which among those people is look'd upon as one of the greatest so there was no means to save this lovely Person from the rigour of the Law and the Officer had already lifted up his scourge and was going to strike when of a sudden her Husband running through the croud cried with a loud voice Hold hold hold All the Spectators and the Officers themselves hearing this voice were much surprized and turned their eyes on the side from which they heard the voice come suspending the execution till they knew what this mans meaning was He came to them almost out of breath as having with much ado passed through the crowd and addressing his Speech to the chief Officer said pointing at his Wife Sir I am that miserable womans Husband and therefore much concerned in this Execution Before she receive her punishment I desire to speak something to her in your presence after which you will know more
wicked Spirit who hath been so bold as to send in such troublesom creatures into their Land For this purpose I saw upon four corners of the great Church a great Giant of black Marble holding in his right hand a pair of Rams horns as they appeared to me but in truth it was nothing but a Talisman to keep off the Devils and evil Spirits from their Meeting-place and holy Assembles In his left hand he held a Book open of white Marble in which some Characters were graven as I was told which the Devils cannot endure to see and therefore keep at a distance from such places Besides these Learned in Talismanical Figures have the Art to make those Talismans as have an influence not only upon bodies corporeal but also upon the subtle Spirits of the Air and will bind them to a good Behaviour or drive them with vengeance off from the place or else so benum their senses that they can neither stir nor move but are as so many mazed creatures without life or motion when they come within such a compass For that purpose I saw upon the top of the Temple a great Eagle of Gold standing with its wings abroad on the highest Pinacle of the Temple which Ziribabdas told me was nothing but a Talisman made to drive away all subtle Spirits of the Air or to hinder their malicious intents in that Sacred place and amongst the people of the City He told me that they have some persons so well acquainted with that Art that they can work wonders and do any Miracle by their Talismans kill and make alive cure distempers benum the minds and senses of men draw together thousands of creatures and birds and make them perform any action that may be named I intreated Ziribabdas to let me see some of the skill of these Learned men in this Art I importuned him so much that he went into one of the Closets from the Gallery and fetched to us a grave Signior about an hundred years of age with a long beard reaching down to his knees and a pair of large whiskers each near a foot long He saluted me very gravely and led me into a private Closet which belonged to him out of it there was a way and a door into a stone-Balcony of a red transparent stone with several Bosses or Apples of Gold He had several curious Inventions Talismans and other things of a wonderful Art One thing he took in hand about the bigness of a Bushel having several handles to it the substance as I thought was of Crystal it had several large holes in the midst I could see many birds all without motion till the grave Philosopher whose name was Zidi Mufti pulled a string and set them all in a motion then did we hear the chirping of all manner of birds so pleasantly that we stood in a maze and wondered but much more when we saw all the birds of the Air that can be named flying a pace towards us into the Philosophers Closet there were Eagles Cormorants Magpies Crows Vulturs Jack-daws Kites Sparrows Falcons c. I numbered above a thousand which in less than a quarter of an hour came into the Closet and perched upon the Balcony and upon the Gallery When Zidi Mufti saw them all come he played another tune and all these Birds began to dance two and two and chirp according to their kind very pleasantly This sport lasted about an hour with such a variety of action that we could have wished it might have lasted longer At the conclusion the Philosopher dismissed them neither at that time did any of them injure one another but were as quiet and harmless as if there had been no enmity between them When they were gone he took the Image of a man made in Wax but shewing all his privy parts backwards and with it he marched to the Balcony where he sate up and spoke two or three hard words to the best of my remembrance they were these Bomralok Kostraborab Abrolakar Bourakabou Branbastrokobar Abrovora Birikabu and immediately there came a company of men and women of the Sevarites that danced all naked before us in a beautiful Green whiles he held the Image in that place they were not able to depart from thence but continued playing and dancing and sporting with one another above an hour shewing such antick tricks as I never saw the like for all this they were not dishonest but immediately as soon as the Image disappeared every one of them departed and run away but whiles the Image stood still they were neither ashamed nor could they stir from the place so great a power these Talismans have upon the minds of men as well as the bodies of beasts and birds 'T is an Art which can give as much delight as profit to those that understand it well for they can perform those things in Nature that are most wonderful and advantageous to the life of man In the first Ages of the World this Art was generally known amongst the Learned and when I saw how perfect the Sevarites were in it I wished with all my heart that we had but some insight into the same Art and skill for the good of our Country but our ignorance would slander such knowledges and think it to be Magick if we did not understand the depth of it nor the causes that such men set a work for many wonderful effects are to be produced by the inferiour causes which are secret and hid to the most part of men for such is our natural unskilfulness that we know not the hundredth part of those things that we may easily attain to This Learned Philosopher gave me another diversion he fetched his Instrument for that purpose and caused such musical Sounds and Voices to be in the Air round about us at a distance that we began to hang between fear and pleasure When Ziribabdas saw a change in our countenance he desired us to be contented and assured us that we should receive no harm The noise and voices continued half an hour not in the Instrument but at a distance and with such a variety of Sounds that I could never imagine what it was For whiles he stayed upon the Balcony he turned the Instrument round with a little wheel which was in the inside but this had the power by the Talismanical Art to cause in the Air such shrieks crys hollowings and sometimes such curious and melodious voices that we were ravished and struck into admiration We desired to know what it was that made that noise in the Air the Philosopher told us that they were airy Spirits which this Talisman had the power to attract and to oblige to break out into those shrieks and crys This caused us to wonder the more that this corporeal Instrument which seemed to have nothing but material should draw together on a sudden such powerful Spirits and oblige them to give sport to men I concluded from these Examples that he that
Smuriamnas hath done mischief I restore thee not only to thy Fathers Estate but likewise to his Authority and Command Take heed that thou followest not thy Fathers Example let not thy Glory puff thee up with pride nor thy Power cause thee to act contrary to Reason and Law remember that there is a punishment for evil doers as there are rewards for the just behave thy self with that discretion and moderation that thou mayst have the commendation rather than the condemnation of thy Country-men that thou mayst deserve well from me and them This Clemency and Justice made Sevarminas to be praised in all parts amongst the Sevarites for thereby all persons were obliged and thereby secured from such like violences and the noble Family of Smuriamnas continued in its Splendour and Glory only a rotten Member was taken out of the way for the Publick good After this piece of Justice we remained there about a month which Sevarminas spent in regulating all those things-that were amiss in the Government of Smuriamnas through his ill Management of Affairs Afterwards he left there the new Governor Suricolis to do Justice in his absence commanding him to be impartial in all his publick Actions and to abstain from the Vices unto which his Father was inclinable which cast him into the dangerous precipice of destruction We departed from thence with the blessings and good wishes of all the Inhabitants and in three days we returned to Sevarinde where our coming was expected with much impatience for in the Kings absence that City could not be governed well by any other person Some disorders therefore had happened which the Viceroy could not pacifie without the Kings Authority and Presence The whole City met us at two miles from the place and in a most beautiful order marched along with us into Sevarinde I continued in the City about half a year which I spent in inquiring after the Conveniencies of the Country the Sea-Ports the Commodities and Riches that it brings forth that I might give that information to my Country-men which might benefit them in future Ages after my return to my own Country for we were in expectation of a Ship from Batavia whither we had again sent some of our men with a Vessel which we had recovered amongst the Sporvi to desire the Governor of Batavia to send a Ship that might convey away our Goods and persons But whiles I stayed there a young Lady of Sevarinde who had lost her Husband by death fell in love with Maurice and often treated us very nobly in her house Manrice was no Sevarite and could not refrain from some amorous embrances which the Lady gladly accepted of for it was not lawful by the Law of the Sevarites to match with any other generation But to cover their actions the Lady had made use of the skill of the Philosophers to keep down the Tumors in her skin and body and to paint Maurices face and hands which hindered their secret correspondency from being known abroad I must needs confess that Maurices happiness caused me to look abroad and see whether I could meet with the same Fortune For that purpose I walked about the City often early and late to see what I should by chance meet with About a month before our departure from Sevarinde a young Gentlewoman who had Father and Mother and never knew a man invited me into a Garden where she was alone in the Spanish Tongue I was glad of this opportunity we walked therefore several turns together talking of divers matters at last she opened her mind to me in this manner Sir I understand by your countenance that you are a Stranger our King Sevarminas hath a great esteem for you as well as my Father and Mother we have often talked of you and your religious behaviour since your coming into our Country we shall therefore be glad to be acquainted with you for in my Fathers name I will bid you welcome and will assure you that he will give you a kind reception for he is a Merchant and conveys Commodities from City to City amongst the Sevarites Sir modesty will not give me leave to tell you more of my mind but when we shall be better acquainted I hope With these words she broke off with a modest blush upon her Cheeks The young Woman was most beautiful and was cloathed in white Silk with a Girdle of pure Gold all beset with precious Stones about her middle She inquired whether I were not married in my own Country I assured her that I was not upon this she confessed her amorous inclinations for me but withal told me that every thing must be performed in due time and that she would not precipitate the business but wished me to ask her Fathers consent assuring me that she would willingly leave all to live and dye with a man of that sweet temper and disposition that I was of Her loving Complements I answered with Caresses and assured her that I should think my self happy in her injoyment We spent some time together to begin our acquaintance and to inform ourselves of one anothers Conditions and Estate but the night obliged me to leave her for that time and return to my Lodgings When I gave Maurice an account of all particulars he advised me not to neglect the offer but to visit her in her Fathers house for himself and his Lady he told me that he was resolved to carry her with him to Batavia where he intended to live and dye with her and though Women amongst the Sevarites are forbidden Goods and that it is not lawful to transport them to other Countries he was perswaded by the means of friends with Sevarminas to get that liberty and priviledge which was never granted to any before This discourse and his hopes made me conceive the same I went therefore often to see the young Lady who entertained me and my Companions very courteously as well as her Father and Mother After several Visits I opened the matter to the Parents in their Daughters absence they made some difficulty because of the Laws of the Country and my inclinations to return into my own Country But when I told them that we had Plantations in Batavia not far from thence and that I would live and dye with her there they began to yield to my request in case Sevarminas would dispense with the Law of the Land and suffer me to carry her away This I told them that I would endeavour to obtain from his goodness I cannot give an exact account of all our pleasant meetings of the rare things she discovered to me of the delightful Walks and other things which pass all imagination But certainly her company and sweet Conversation made me spend my time with great contentment In order to our Marriage when the Portion was agreed upon I caused Zidi Parabas and Ziribabdas my two intimate Friends to open the business to King Sevarminas that we might have his approbation
look upon them and for all Posterity to reverence and respect them By this Honour the succeeding Kings were the more incouraged to do good and abstain from all blame they are the more animated to deserve well from their Generation and to invent something to advantage their People We walked about to see all the Rarities of this Royal Sepulchre which exceeded in glory the richest and stateliest Palaces of our European Emperours and Kings To speak of the rare Jewels of the Gold and precious Stones and of the excellent things that were never brought over nor seen in our World I should be endless for here in every place there are red yellow white and other transparent Stones of rare Vertues not known to us in Europe Orient Pearls as big as Walnuts are as ordinary as Pebble-stones in our Country The common people polish them and hang them in strings about their Windows but they seldom wear them because they have rarer and more glorious things to put about their necks and bodies as Ornaments than these things which for want of a name I omit Ziribabdas shewed me next the Gallery of their sacred Hieroglyphicks which is one of the rarest things of the World The Gallery is about half a mile long joyning to the Temple standing upon an Arch under which are beautiful Walks and Closets for the Learned Students in all Arts and Sciences to spend their time and imploy themselves in their searches into the Mysteries of Nature The Wall is of a white transparent stone as clear as Crystal and the Gallery is paved with Diamant stones square at every six foot is a great large Window of Crystal and the top is covered and arched over with Saphyr stone Emeralds Chrysolytes Rubies Jaspers Beryls and other precious Stones not known to us are without number about in the Walls This Gallery was built in the year 3406. after the Creation of the World by King Murabormati a great Philosopher and a Learned Student of Natures Mysteries In these Walls he caused the Rules of all sorts of Sciences and the Principles of all manner of Arts to be ingraven in black in the white stone of the Walls not in Characters but in Figures and dark Enigmes and Representations Here I beheld the shapes of all manner of Creatures of this and our World in all kind of postures and actions of life put here to represent the sacred Mysteries thereby signified to the understanding Reader In this Gallery were several hundred Learned Students beholding and searching into the directions that were given them by these Hieroglyphicks And in some Closets near adjoyning were several companies of men discoursing and disputing about those things which were represented upon the Wall We were introduced amongst them to look and sit with them and observe their grave postures and mien but for their Learned Lectures and excellent Discourses we understood nothing only Sermodas told us that here were all the Wits and Learned men of the Sevarites gathered together and that for their better understanding of all manner of Sciences and to perpetuate Learning and free it from forgetfulness they had in the Gallery the Rules and Axioms of all Arts with all the Definitions and other matters of any moment needful to be known in relation to any Skill or Science and that when any Student doubted of any matter in these Closets the great Doctors were met to direct and teach the ignorant and improve all Arts and Sciences and that by degrees as they improved Learning by new Discoveries they were always engraven upon the Walls after a serious and judicial Examination of the Learned Doctors and their Approbation of such invented things and Rules which Hieroglyphicks were graven with the names of their Authors for a perpetual Memory We walked three or four turns in the Gallery and saw such variety and number of new Objects and Representations that I have often wondered how any one man can have that vast memory to give an interpretation to all those things of different shapes and to comprehend all the Mysteries of such Enigmes In some places of the Gallery the Wall was covered over with Plates of Silver and the Hieroglyphicks were of Gold but generally they were in black upon a white clear stone and so hard that though as I was informed by Zidi Parabas and the Priest some of the Hieroglyphicks have been there put above a thousand years ago yet appear as fresh as if they had been graven but yesterday At the end of the Gallery are two large Cabinets of a curious workmanship and rare stone of a reddish colour most beautiful to the eye curiously cut and graven The Cabinets are full of Pictures and Images of all sorts of Creatures which serve the Learned in their Contemplations here are also a great many Skeletons of many Animals with all manner of rare things which are to be found in this wonderful Country Here I saw a great Saphire stone about the bigness of a Goose in which the Heavens and the Earth were represented very lively to the eye In an Emerald about the bigness of a mans head I found in one side all manner of Birds graven with the finger of Nature and in the other all sorts of Beasts I saw several other precious Stones one having the Image of a Man another of a Horse another of a Woman another of a Camel another of an Eagle another of a River another of a Fish another of other Creatures so curiously engraven that no Artist could mend Natures work These stones were useful not only to satisfie mens curiosity and please the sight of the Learned but also to teach them several things concerning those creatures which were thereby intimated to them We found several Learned men observing those things and viewing them with leisure For that purpose are several Seats for them to sit down and contemplate Here I saw also many Talismans an Art altogether lost in Europe and not to be recovered but from the Learning of the Sevarites for Zidi Parabas shewed me a round stone hollow within wherein I saw through many parts of it transparent a perpetual motion of Trees Woods wild Beasts and many Animals which he told me was but a Talisman made to direct such as are Learned in this Art how to make others for the same purpose Some are so skilful that with a Talisman they will kill any beast or creature at a mile distance but as the Sevarites are not for the destruction of creatures but for their preservation they never make use of this Art to do mischief but save and comfort such creatures as are decaying and to put life into those that are dead Only the venemous creatures and noisom Flies if by the procurement of any evil-spirited such are introduced into the Country then the Philosophers have an Art to make such a Talisman as will not only destroy the Flies and disarm the beast of his poysonous and ill qualities but severely punish the