Maronites that have lived long before in these Mountains with whom he hath lately renewed the old Confederacy again as I know very well and their Patriarch himself was with him before I was called to cure him of his Distemper He also leaveth no Stone unturned to get in with others and to make them his Confederates so he hath already secured to himself the Syrians which are also Christians yet not without gross Errors by paying to them a yearly Pension These speak also Arabick and are very like unto them in Shape Manners Fashion and Cloaths and I sound two of them among our Seamen that confirmed this to me After we had gone on a great while and were passed by the Point of the Promontory of Baruti which extendeth it self far into the Sea our Ship-Master who was a Turk and understood the Arabian Language shewed me a Village lying beyond it called Burgi and told me that that was also inhabited altogether by Harani Quibir that is great Robbers and Murtherers as they always call these People But I being better informed before-hand I prayed by my self that God would be pleased to let the poor Slaves that live in hard Servitude under the Turks who were these they call Harani and I do not at all question but they would soon take their Refuge to them to make themselves free of their Servitude as those might easily do that live about these Countries in Syria We saw also upon the Shoar some ancient Towers and among them chiefly two which are renewed again wherein the Trusci keep Watches to observe the Pirates but the others whereof there are a great many not above a League distant from one another are for the greatest part by Age decayed Some say that they were formerly built by the potent Emperors that if any Nation should rise up in Rebellion they might immediately give notice thereof to Constantinople These gave notice before Guns were invented in the Night by a flaming Fire and by Day-time by a great Smoak And they still keep to this in many places altho Guns are now invented In the Afternoon we were becalmed and so our Journey went on but slowly we saw late at Night a small Village called Carniola upon the height and soon after at the Foot of the high Mount of Libanus Southward of the City of Sidon by the Inhabitants still called Scida which is not very great but as far as I could see very well built and defended by two Castles one whereof is situated towards the North on a high Rock the other on a little Hill Those that are going to Saphet which is a Days Journey distant from it land there Before we could reach it Night befel us and brought contrary Winds which hindered us so much that we could hardly reach the glorious and rich Town of Tyrus now by the Inhabitants called Sur which lieth in a manner close to it until the next Morning This is still pretty large and lieth on a Rock in the Sea about Five hundred Paces distant from the Shoar of Phenicia In former Ages Alexander the Great did besiege it for Seven Months and during the Siege he filled up the Streight of the Sea and did join it to the Continent and after he had taken it he laid it into Ashes so that Punishment was inflicted on the Inhabitants which the Prophet Esaias denounced against them Four hundred years before On the Confines of Tirus and Sidon that Cananean Woman came to Christ on behalf of her Daughter that was possessed of an unclean Spirit whereof the Lord seeing her Faith did deliver her immediately Just before it we heard a great noise of large running Springs which rise within the Country with so great a vehemency that they drive several Mills Within a large distance from thence we saw a very fine new House called Nacora Two Miles farther near Mount Saron within Southward we saw a large Village called Sib without it in the Sea round about were several Banks and Rocks behind which we hid our selves the Wind being contrary and staid for a more favourable one in the mean while some of our Men got out among the Rocks to catch Fish and to find Oisters where they also gathered so much Sea-salt that they filled up a great Sack with it Between this and Mount Carmelo which are Eight Leagues distant and run out a great way into the Seas lieth almost in the middle thereof as it were in a Half Moon the famous Town of Acon anciently called Ptolemais on a high Rocky Shoar which some years ago when Baldewin the Brother of Gotefrid first and Guidon after him did possess themselves of the Holy Land was not without great Loss of many Men taken by them from Saladine King of the Saracens in Aegypt which had after some obtained Victories surrendered it self again a second time after a long Siege This Town hath very good Fields of a fertil Soil about it and is at this time together with the Land of Promise and others to the great grief of the Christians subjected under the Yoak and Slavery of the Turkish Emperor The next Day the Wind favouring us we hoisted up our Sails and got out at Sea with less danger to get before the Point of the Mountain but our Design was frustrated for about Noon a contrary Wind arose which did not only hinder us in our Course but violently drove us back again so that we were forced to have recourse to our old Shelter behind the Rocks again After Midnight when it began to be calm and another Wind arose we put out two hours before Break of Day and went all along the Shoar towards the Town Hayphe formerly called Caypha or Porphyria Four Leagues beyond Acon lying just within Mount Carmel where on the Evening when we came very near it several Frigats came out of all sides to surround us As soon as the Master of our Ship perceived them he did not like it wherefore he let fall his Sails and exhorted his Men to ply their Oars warmly to get clear of them When they saw they could not reach us they left their Design and went back but we landed without on that Mount Carmelo to put out again in the Night This Mountain is very high and famous in Scripture for we read in the Third Book of the Kings and the Eighteenth Chapter that the holy Prophet Elias called before him upon the Hill the People of Israel the Four hundred and Fifty of Baal's Priests and and the Four hundred of Hayns to chide them for their Idolatry where also God heard him and consumed his Sacrifice by Fire that came down from Heaven but the Priests of Baal were not only not heard by their Idols but kill'd as Idolaters near the River Kison and also in the Fifth of the Epistle of James that after the Heavens had been lock'd up for the space of three years and a half Elias did pray to God on this same Mount and the
the Christians that came ashore lest they should go up to Mecha and Medina to ransack and burn them Cap. Walter Payton in the year 1613 found great Hospitality and Ingenuity in some Ports of Arabia Felix nearer the Persian Gulf especially at Doffar a very good Road for Ships and a fair City where the Arabians presented his Crew with Bullocks Sheep Hens Goats Sugar-Canes Plantans and Coco's This Cape stands in 16 degrees 38 min. of N. Lat. and is free from the Turkish Yoke Capt. Edward Heyns anchored before Moha or Mocha in Arabia Felix An. Dom. 1618. the Governour sent him as Presents a young Bullock two Goats Mangoes Limes Cucumbers Water Melons Quinces Rack made of Rice c. He went freely ashore and found it a very neat populous and flourishing Town built of Brick and Stone curiously plaister'd over like Paris two Stories high with flat Roofs and Terrasses on the top whereon they build Summer-houses with Canes and Matts wherein they sleep and receive the fresh Breefes in the great heats They excus'd the Cruelty to Sir H. Middleton laying it on the cruel Governor at that time Of the Ways and Roads between Egypt and Ethiopia IN the month of October an Ambassador of Ethiopia came to Caire with several Presents for the Grand Signior and among others an Ass that had a most delicate Skin if it was natural for I will not vouch for that since I did not examine it This Ass had a black List down the Back and the rest of its Body was all begirt with white and tawny streaks a finger broad a piece The Head of it was extraordinarily long striped and partly coloured as the rest of the Body Its Ears like a Buffles were very wide at the end and black yellow and white Its Legs streaked just like the Body not long ways but round the Leg in fashion of a Garter down to the Foot and all in so good proportion and symetry that no Lynx could be more exactly spotted nor any Skin of a Tyger so pretty this may be the Zembra The Ambassador had two more such Asses which dyed by the way but he brought their Skins with him to be presented to the Grand Signior with the live one He had also several little black Slaves of Nubia and other Countries confining on Ethiopia Civet and other costly things for his Present These little Blacks serve to look after the Women in the Seraglio after that they are gelded The Ambassador was an old man and had the end of his Nose part of the upper and under Lip cut off but was otherwise a shapely man and of a very good presence He was cloathed after the Cophtish fashion wearing a Turban like them and spoke very good Italian which gave me the opportunity of conversing with him He told me his name was Michael that he was a Native of Tripoly in Syria and that he had made three or four Voyages into Christendom That eighteen months before he had parted from Gontar the Capital City of Ethiopia and was so long retarded by the way because of the contrary Winds he met with on the Red Sea by which he came That of an hundred Persons whom he had brought with him of his own Servants and the Slaves he was to present to the Grand Signior thirty or forty were dead If he had come by Land he had not been so long by the way for from Gontar to Schouaquen it is about six weeks Journey and from Schouaquen to Caire forty or fifty days by Camels but he could not take that way because of his Train He told me many things relating to the Kingdom of Ethiopia which I shall here give the Reader an account of But first of the ways of passing out of Egypt into Ethiopia The Merchants setting out from Grand Caire are carried up the Nile against the Stream as far as Monfallot and thence travelling in Caravans first come to Siint and so in order to the following Towns Wack three days Journey Meks two days Scheb three Sellim three Moschu five Dungala five accounted the Metropolis of Nubia then they come into the Kingdom of Sennar From Dungala they travel to Kshabi three days Journey Korti three more Trere three Gerry one Helfage one Arbatg three Sennar four From Sennar in fourteen days they arrive at the Confines of Habessinia the Entrance is called Tshelga The passage by Sea is various for the Merchants embark in several Ports on the Red Sea as Suesso Gidda Alcossir and so coast it to Suaquena and Matzua The safest way of travelling into the Kingdom of Prester John is with some Metropolitan or Ambassador Some land at Baylar a Port belonging to the King of Dengala in amity with the Habessins but the Journey thence by Land is tedious and infested by the Gallons 'T is but three months travel by Land from Grand Caire to Gontar the chief City of Ethiopia Of Ethiopia By Michael of Tripoly Ambassador from the Habessine Emperor to the Grand Signior EThiopia or the Country of the Abyssins called in Arabick Abesch from whence comes the word Abyssin is a great Empire being above seven months travel in circuit On the East side it is bordered by the Red Sea and Zanguebar on the South with Zeila Avousa Naria c. On the West by the Country of the Negros and Nubia and on the North with the Country of Nubia and Bugia because to come from Ethiopia into Egypt one must cross Nubia down the Nile About an hundred years ago Greyu Mahomet King of Zeila of which the Inhabitants are all Moors invaded Ethiopia and forced the King to save himself on a Mountain from whence he sent to demand assistance of the King of Portugal who immediately sent it him but hardly was he who commanded these Auxiliaries enter'd the Country when he resolved to return back again finding that they ate raw Flesh there However his Brother Don Christopher had more Courage and would not return without doing some Exploit He marched up into the Country with about Three hundred Musqueteers fought vanquished and killed the Moorish King and then re-established the lawful King of Ethiopia For reward of which Service the King of Ethiopia gave Lands and Estates to all the Portuguese that stayed within his Dominions and their Offspring are still in that Country The Father of this present King was a Catholick but he dying some thirty odd years ago the Queen his Wife who was a great Enemy to the Jesuits and no Catholick and who suffer'd impatiently that they should govern as they pleased the late King her Husband wrought upon her Son that succeeded him to persecute all the Roman Catholicks in such a manner that the Jesuits were obliged to make their escape and he put to death all the Capucins whom he found Since that time three Capucins more were put to death at Schouaken for the King of Ethiopia knowing that they had a mind to come into his Kingdom sent to the
Shillings that was bigger than an Hungarian Bullock Thus much I had to relate of Bagdet its Situation Trade and strange Plants so much as I could find and see at that improper time Being that I expected daily Company to go with me to Aleppo again by the way of several Towns and not straight through the sandy Wildernesses a Persian that I got acquainted withal in the mean while did inform me that the Sophi King of Persia had several Unicorns at Samarcand which he kept there and also in two Islands Alc and Tylos which lay from Samarcand nine Days Journey further towards the East near Spaam some Griffins by them called Alera which were sent him out of Africa from Prester-John They are a great deal bigger and higher have a red coloured Head a bearded Bill and a Neck over-grown with Feathers a thick Body black Wings like unto an Eagle and a long Tail like a Lion and Feet like a Dragon they are very eager for Flesh while they are yet young the King taketh them along with him and goeth often thither for Sport and Pleasures sake but as they grow up and strong he hath them chained about their Necks very strongly I did believe this the sooner because he could also tell me what Trees and Fruit grow there and chiefly those whereof Theophrastus maketh mention and out of him Pliny He also gave me an Account besides these of others that grow out of Persia in several places as of the Tree Palla which Theophrastus and Pliny mention which the Wise men did eat in the Eastern Countries and of the Musa of the Arabians whereof the former bear delicate sweet-tasted and very wholesome Fruit by them called Wac which are round reddish and as big as the Indian Melons But whether this be the noble Fruit Mangas whereof Clusius maketh mention in his History of Indian Plants which for Goodness sake is carried over Sea into Persia I leave to the learned to decide But the Musa which is as aforesaid also common in Syria beareth a great deal smaller Fruit which is smooth yellowish and bended almost like unto Citruls in shape These are also of a sweetish taste and therefore the pleasanter to eat but are very unwholesome so that Alexander the Great was forced to forbid his Souldiers to eat of them The same Persian did also inform me of the Poysonous Fruit Persea which is still known to them by the Name of Sepha which they esteem very little and also the Peaches called Het which are not so poysonous as some say as the above-mentioned for they esteem the Kernels thereof to be good wholesome Physick But yet that they are not esteemed by them the chief Reason is that they perswade themselves that Nimrod who was a great Magician or Necromancer poysoned them by his Black-Art and that since that time they could not be eaten wherefore they have not been esteemed ever since This I thought convenient to mention rather for the sake of those that have a mind to travel that if one or more of them should go into these Countries they might have occasion to make a more accurate enquiry after these things CHAP. IX Which way I came in my return from Bagdet through Assyria the Confines of Persia and the Province of the Curters to the Town Carcuch Capril c. and at length to the River Tigris to Mossel that Famous Town which was formerly called Nineve WHen hindered in my Travels for several weighty Reasons I was forced to go back again I looked up my Goods as I was advised by my good Friend the Christian whereof I made mention here before and fitted my self for my Journey I got for my Companions three Jews one whereof came down the Euphrates with me the others came from Ormutz for I could get no others to travel with me to Aleppo We set out on the 16th of December of the 74th Year for Carcuch distant Six Days Journey in the Confines of Media on the other side of the River Tigris which is still called by them in their Language Hidekel By the way we first saw some well-tilled Fields and above us on the River Tigris some Villages so that I could not but think I should meet with a Country that had plenty of Corn Must and Honey c. as it was commended by the the Arch-koob bearer of the King of Assyria and compared even with the Land of Promise but the further we went the greater grew the Wildernesses so that we were forced to lodge all Night in the Fields The next Morning there appeared a great way off more little Villages belonging to the King of Persia But we went on through the Desarts and my Fellow Travellers told me that they extend themselves to Persia and Media where we lost our way and came in the Evening into a Bog which hindered us so much that I because their Sabbath began whereon according to their Laws they must not travel was forced to stay there with them all Night long in it and also the next Day in great Showers of Rain not without great Inconveniency and Trouble During our staying there I look'd about me for some Plants but found none because they did but first begin to sprout but in the moist Places some wild Galengal with great round Roots by the Inhabitants called Soedt and by both Latines and Grecians Cyperus The 19th Day after we were not without trouble got out of the Mire our way extended its self still further through desolate Places and Desarts I thought of Julian that impious Roman Emperour and of his Army which when it went against the Persians and was very numerous over the River Tigris near to Ctesiphon he was by an Ancient Persian that was a Prisoner decoyed into these Desarts where he was beaten and routed by the Persians In this great Fight when the Emperour himself was mortally wounded he took up as Nicephorus and Eusebius say a handfull of Blood and flung into the Air yielded the Victory and said Then Galilean so he called Christ in whom he at first believed and afterwards denied and persecuted thou hast beaten and conquered me After we had lived for several Days very hardly in the Desarts and spent our time in Misery we came on the 20th by Scherb a Village over an Ascent into another more fruitful and well tilled Country situated on the Confines of Persia and for the most part inhabited by them which we could conjecture by the common Language Now though travelling through the Confines uses commonly to be very dangerous yet I thank God we met with none so that we without any Stop or Hinderance reached that Night the 21st of December to Schilb a curious Village where we rested all Night and refreshed our selves From thence we went on through large and fruitful Valleys but I found nothing for it was but just at the beginning of plowing time that was worthy to be mentioned for the Plants did but just begin
St. Paul That a Priest shall be a Husband of one Wife They give the Lords Supper to Young and Old alike in Leavened Bread in both kinds and they confess their Sins like unto the Jacobites to no body but only God The Portuguese that go to the Indies know them very well and love them for being good Soldiers and are glad if they will live among them and go out and in with them CHAP. XVIII Of the MARONITES BEsides all these there is also a sort of Christians who first after Maro the Heretick were called Maronites who believed that their is but one Nature Understanding and Work in Christ according to the Opinion of Macharius the Heretick whom he followeth diligently but since they have by degrees left this and are returned to the Popish Religion again And although they are still of it yet they give the Sacrament in both kinds to the Lay-men as almost all other Nations do according to the Words of the Institution of our Lord Christ In all other Points they follow the Roman Religion more than any other Nation Their Priests wear over their Clothes black hair Vestments They live for the most part in Syria but chiefly upon the Promontory of Mount Libanus where upon they have a Monastery within a days Journey of Tripoli called our Ladies which is situated underneath a large Rock wherein their Patriarch dwelleth whom they respect very much and kiss his Hands with their Knees bended c. whereof I have made mention here before The Patriarchs are still to this day chosen by the Commons and afterwards confirmed by the Pope and so this when he after the Decease of his Predecessor came into a Dispute with one of his Competitors concerning the Election did presently unknown to his Adversary go to Rome and so obtained in person the Patriarchal Seat from the Pope The Common People are in their Shape and Habits so like unto the Surians and their Neighbours the Arabians that except by their Turbants none can know them from each other They are a Couragious and War-like People very well provided with Guns and other Arms as well as their Confederates the Trusci And because they are not subject nor pay any Contribution unto the Turkish Sultan therefore they still keep their Bells and other Priviledges They speak the Arabian Language and their Books are also written as many as I could see of them in their Churches with Arabian Characters or Letters which they always kiss with great reverence when they take them up or lay them down according to the Custom of all other Eastern People or Nations as well Heathens as Christians They keep a very severe Order and never Eat Flesh and on their Fasts neither Butter nor Eggs but live upon Fruits as Beans Pease French-Beans and such other common Victuals But yet if any Merchants or Pilgrims come from Tripoli or any other places they let them want neither for Meat nor Drink nay they shew themselves to every body so benevolent as I have found it three several times and civil that one would wish to stay some time with them These live not continually in the Temple of Mount Calvaria but go often thither on Pilgrimages CHAP. XIX Of the Latinists or Papists THE Latinists or Papists living at Jerusalem in the often before-named Temple are Friers of the Order of the Lesser Franciscans they chiefly possess the Holy Sepulcher of our Lord Jesus Christ which they keep in very good order and read their Hora's diligently wherefore their Father stileth himself Guardian of the Holy Sepulcher and Mount Sion Besides this they are possessed of more Holy Places as at Bethlehem the Stable wherein our dear Lord Christ did lye in the Manger with the Ox and the Ass In the Mountains of Judea the Temple of St. John the Baptist In Bethania the Sepulcher wherein Lazarus had lain four days when Christ raised him from the Dead and here and there many others These as all know are dispersed in a great many places and Kingdoms nay almost through all the World Their Head is the Pope of Rome who pretends to be the Vicegerent of Christ and taketh upon himself so much Power as to prescribe to all Men Laws according to his own pleasure which Christendom finds every day to its great grief Wherefore in the mean while they are grown into so many Divisions Idolatry and Ceremonies that they out-do quite all the before-named Nations But being that they are in these our times so very well described that thanks to God they are very well known to every body therefore I forbear to write more of them and will only before I conclude make mention of these Brethren that live at Jerusalem only in a few Points and say that these that live in the Monastery at Jerusalem are about 20 in number more or less according as they go and come and among them are Spaniards Italians French-men and Germans c. that commonly are sent thither by Kings and Princes but being that they have more Churches and places in and without Jerusalem to provide for their Father Guardian distributeth them sends some to Bethlehem to look after the Manger of Christ others upon the Hills of Judea to the Mount of Olives and towards Bethania c. but before all others always two and two into the Temple of Mount Calvaria to stay there for 14 days together But being that the Temple is always Lock'd up that the Priests that are within it may not want for Food as well as others that are with them therefore three holes one bigger than the other are made in the great Door of the Church that through them all Necessaries of Meat and Drink may be conveyed to them These that are thus Locked up in the Temple do but look diligently after the Holy Sepulchre and Read their Hora's with Singing and Praying and to look after the Lamps but chiefly those that hang in the Sepulchre of Christ to illuminate it There are about twenty of these Lamps one better and clearer than the other they belong for the most part to great Persons as Kings and Princes whereof they have their Yearly Revenue that is sent them by their Brethren but chiefly from Italy and the Italian Princes and the most Catholick King of Spain But from Germany England and also now Cyprus the Isle since it hath been taken by the Turks they complain they have nothing as they had in former Ages and the Most Christian King of France doth also already begin to forget them which they have found some years since and the number of the Pilgrims doth also decrease which formerly used to flock thither in great numbers and sometimes to reward them besides Meat and Drink very Nobly which they find very prejudicial to them seeing they have no Revenues of any other Lands or the like They receive the Pilgrims that come in to them very kindly and treat them very well with Meat and Drink and shew
for of those 6 Gallies that met us in Liesena but two could make our Harbour because they were not strong enough for the Wind although they used their utmost force in Rowing the rest were forced to go back again and to shelter themselves behind the outward Islands Into the same Harbour was also just before us run in to shun the ill Weather a Yatcht that had about eleven Men on Board they did Pump out the Water that was run in and dry their Sails upon the Land by which we did conjecture that they also had not been in small danger We did send some of our Men on Board of them to know who they were and they answer'd us That they had Letters from the Great Sultan to their Masters the Venetians concerning a Peace that was agreed upon which their Envoy at Constantinople had sent by Land to Cattaro one of their Towns where they were delivered up to them to carry them to Venice with all possible speed After this great Storm was over we went on again in our Voyage By the way I saw nothing worth mentioning but now and then a Village where sometimes if convenient we Landed and staid there all Night In one of them I found a great deal of Saffron which was very like unto that of Vienna both in look and goodness So at length we came to the large and very deep Golfo Carnaro by which within lieth the Town Segna where the Windy-Country endeth and the hister-Hister-Land beginneth This Golfo is about 100 Miles long and 30 broad so that in clear Weather one may see very well over it but it is very dangerous to sail over it and because of its great motion it is easily discern'd from the Sea from without over this we came God be thanked very well and Landed at Rovigna a small Town situated on a high Rock This belongeth as well as others thereabout as Pola Parentza c. to the Venetians from whence to Venice we have still about 100 Miles But being that it is very dangerous to go from thence with large and Loaden Ships to Venice therefore that Republick doth keep there always several Experienc'd Pilots to prevent further mischief that do nothing else but conduct the Ships that arrive in Histria safely thither And these do not easily put off unless they have very good mild and clear Weather which was the occasion that our Ship did tarry there so that we all except the Seamen which we left in the Ship behind went into a Barge on the 14th day of January late and went all Night long to Venice where we all safely arrived the 15th of the same Month about Noon At my arrival I met with some very good Friends and Acquaintance with whom I stayed for several days to refresh and rest my self after the great Hardships I had endured and Dangers I had passed After they had made me very welcome and shewn unto me all kindness and civility and I had rested my self sufficiently I resolved to Travel with a Venetian Post into Germany again so we Travell'd together from thence to Treviso Trent Botzan Inspruck Amberga c. whereabouts I found my Cousin Hans Widholtz and George Hindermayer Botzen Riding by him who kept me all that Night with them in their Inn so at length I arrived on the 12th day of February 1576 at Augsburg my dear Native Country to the great Rejoycing of my dear Parents and Relations which I all found in indifferent good Health I thank the Almighty Merciful and Good God that is one in his Essence and three in Persons for all his Mercies he hath bestowed upon me in all my great Dangers and Necessities both by Sea and Land for his dear Son Jesus Christ his sake Praise Glory and Thanks be to him for ever and ever Amen FINIS A COLLECTION Of Curious TRAVELS AND VOYAGES c. The Second Tome A COLLECTION OF Curious Travels and Voyages The Second Tome CONTAINING Observations made by several Learned and Famous Men in their Journeys through the Levant viz. the Isle of Candy Greece Aegypt Asia minor c. by Monsieur Belon Prosper Alpinus Dr. Huntingdon Mr. Vernon Sir George Wheeler Dr. Smith Mr. Greaves Father Vansleb and others To which are added Two Itineraries to Mecha and into Aethiopio Curious TRAVELS AND VOYAGES c. TOME II. CHAP. I. Mr. Belon 's Remarks in the Island of Crete or Candy THE Roots of Mount Ida called now by the Natives Psiloriti extend to both the Shores of the Island When I was at the top I not only saw under me all Candy but some adjacent-Islands as Milo Cerigo c. The Snow lies all the year long on this Hill whilst the Plains underneath are extreamly scorch'd and burnt up 'T is so cold that the Shepherds cannot inhabit it in the Summer-time but are forced every night to descend and leave their Flocks of Goats and Sheep feeding This Mountain on one side abounds with pleasant Springs Woods many sorts of Trees Shrubs and Herbs as Maples Ilices or Holme-Oaks Arbutus and Adrachne Alaterni Cisti Labdaniferi Firrs Cypress Chamaelea Thymelea Oxycedrus Nerion or Oleander with a white Flower Olive-trees Vines many Legumes and Pulse Near and round this famous Mountain Ida are found Salvia Pomifera which is carried to all the Markets Caper Shrubs Mandragora Mas foemina two kinds of Paeony with a white Flower Tragium seu Androsaemum foetidum Leontopetalum Melilotus vera Odorata Trifolium Moenianthe perhaps our Palustre Heliocryson which grows so thick as to cover and shelter the Hares Staechas Citrina two kinds of Tragacanth which yield no Gum in this Island Staphis agria common up and down Coris a sort of Hypericum with Leaves like Heath or Tamarisk grows plentifully the Root hath an ungrateful taste and vomited me The Anagyris stinks so upon the Roads that it makes the Head ach and scarce any Animal will touch it Tithymalus Dendroides Thapsia Ferula Libanotis and Seseli abound Agriomelea frutex a sort of Sorbus or Cotonaster a fourth Species of Aristolochia different from those three describ'd by the Ancients 't is scandent like a Smilax The Coccus Baphica or Kermes is found plentifully here upon an Ilex the Shepherds and Boys gather it in June separate the red Animalcules from the Vesicle or Excrescence by Sieves and form them into Balls very gently for sale for if they are squeez'd or press'd they dissolve and the colour perishes The Dictamnus grows only between the Fissures of the Rocks but the Pseudo dictamnus in other places Lotus Arbor Zizyphus or Jujube Scolymus Chrysanthemos called commonly Ascolimbros whose milky Root and young Leaves make a common Dish Tithymalus Myrsinites and Paralius in the mountainous and maritine places as also a Gnaphalium candicans littoreum and a wild Brassica Chamaesyce and Soldanella a Dracunculus with an Ivy-leaf the Halimus makes their common Hedges up and down the Island the tops are edulous Agnus Castus Sedum
would have been more and have encreased if the Towns that lie above it on the Euphrates and Tigris and chiefly Mossel which formerly went by the Name of Nineve had not sent them great Supplies as did also those of Carahemit c. which Supply they have also almost always at any other time occasion for for their cultivated Grounds are chiefly in Mesopotamia where they have almost none at all so that there groweth not enough to maintain themselves wherefore the two Rivers are very necessary to them not only to provide them with Victuals as Corn Wine Fruit c. but also to bring to them all sorts of Merchandices whereof many Ship-loads are brought in daily So that in this Town there is a great Deposition of Merchandices by reason of its commodious Situation which are brought thither by Sea as well as by Land from several Parts chiefly from Natolia Syria Armenia Constantinople Haleppo Damascus c. to carry them further into the Indies Persia c. So it happened that during the time I was there on the 2d Day of December in 74. there arrived 25 Ships with Spice and other precious Drugs here which came over Sea from the Indies by the way of Ormutz to Balsara a Town belonging to the Grand Turk situated on the Frontiers the furthest that he hath South-Eastwards within Six Days Journey from hence where they load their Goods into small Vessels and so bring them to Bagdet which Journey as some say taketh them up Forty Days Seeing that the Passage both by Water and Land belongeth both to the King of Arabia and Sophi of Persia which also have their Towns and Forts on their Confines which might easily be stopt up by them yet that notwithstanding all this they may keep good Correspondence with one another they keep Pigeons chiefly at Balsara which in case of necessity might soon be sent back again with Letters to Bagdet When loaden Ships arrive at Bagdet the Merchants chiefly those that bring Spice to carry through the Desarts into Turky have their peculiar places in the open Fields without the Town Cresiphon where each of them fixeth his Tents to put his Spices underneath in Sacks to keep them there safe until they have a mind to break up in whole Caravans so that at a distance one would rather believe that Soldiers were lodged in them than Merchants and rather look for Arms than Merchants Goods And so I thought my self before I came so near that I could smell them Some of these Merchants that came with the same Ships came directly to our Camp and among the rest a Jeweller which brought with him several precious Stones viz. Diamonds Chalcedonies which make incomparable Hafts to Daggers Rubies Topazes Sapphirs c. the two first whereof he had procured in Camboya and most of the rest in the Island of Zeylan whereof he shew'd us several very fine ones The Merchants bring these along with them in great Caravans and keep them very close and private that they may not be found out at the Custom-Houses and be taken away from them which the Bashaws do constantly endeavour with all their Might and Power For the Turks do not love that Precious Stones should cost them Money for they are extraordinarily covetous wherefore you find but a few among them but if they can have them without cost after the aforesaid manner they love them dearly and keep them in great Esteem In the room of them other Stones are sent into the Indies again Corals Emralds which are bought best in Aegypt Saffron Chermes-berries and several Sorts of Fruit as Cibebs Dates which are there so pliable and Soft that you may pack them together in great lumps as they do Tamarinds Figs Almonds and many others which I cannot now remember and also several Sorts of Silks and Turkish Handkerchiefs But above all fine Horses whereof they send Abundance into the Indies by the way of Persia but more by the way of Ormutz wherefore the King of Portugal received yearly a good Sum of Money for Custom viz. Forty Ducats for each which the Merchants pay very freely because that those that import Horses as I am informed pay but half Duty for their other Goods at the Custom-Houses and sell them besides with good Profit Some of these Horses are also sent because of their Beauty and Goodness into Syria Natolia and to us into Europe where they are sold or presented to Princes and other great Persons of Quality They feed there Horses in these Countries chiefly with Barly and Straw so as it is broke by their Threshing-Waggons which they hang about their Heads in Sacks as they do also about Asses rather than give it them in Mangers as we do For want of Straw they sometimes litter them with a fine loose Earth which they afterward throw by in heaps to make it clean again to serve another time When among other Merchants Christians arrive from our Countries at Ormutz which happeneth very seldom all those of them that have been any ways afflicted by Turks Arabians or Jews must appear before some certain Officers of the King of Portugal appointed for that purpose and make their Complaints to them of what hath happened to them or what Damage they have suffered or received and in Case they should omit any thing they are themselves severely punished If then it appeareth that one of them hath been cheated of his Money immediately some Merchants of the same Nation although innocent and knowing nothing of it are flung into Prison where they must remain until they have made Satisfaction to the utmost Farthing and are besides severely punished for an Example to others that they may take warning But if a Christian should be murthered and they come to know of it then Three or Four of them more or less according to the Manner of the Fact must suffer and lose their Lives for every Christian From thence it cometh when Merchants of many Nations are going into a Ship in order to go to the Indies by the Way of Ormutz where they must land upon Penalty of Confiscation of all their Goods that when first they put off they look strangely upon one another and take great notice of or mind one another much and say very little or nothing not making themselves known fearing that something may be had against them and this endureth so long untill they are gone half the way then they begin to be acquainted Further I understood that the King of Portugal's Governour in the Indies hath already to make himself strong and the more able for a War made several of the chiefest and powerfullest Indians Knights or Noblemen to the Number of 5000 and hath sent many Jesuits to reform these Countries to propagate their Religion and to institute there the Spanish Inquisition The Indians are lank in Body brown in their Colour well shaped and of a very good Understanding Wherefore Persons of Quality and Merchants love to buy them
it away upon a Stranger or else I have a Garden and God giveth me Flowers in it is it not reasonable that I should enjoy them rather than a Stranger c. they make use of a great many of these and the like Expressions They also keep a Yearly Feast with their Wives which then they change one with the other as they please Else they are not given to stealing killing or any such like Crimes because they want for nothing but if any be taken that hath thus transgressed he is executed immediately So they live in Peace together and care not for any other Monarch The End of the Second Part. THE THIRD PART OF Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff 's TRAVELS INTO THE Eastern Countries Wherein is chiefly Treated of the Land of Promise the City of Jerusalem and also of several Opinions Beliefs and Errors of the Turks and Christians CHAP. I. A Short Description of his Departure from Tripoli a Town of Phenicia in Syria and how he went from thence to Joppa AFter my Return to Tripoli when I found my self near to the Confines of Canaan the Land of Promise promised and given to the Israelites by the Lord of Zebaoth and considered that our long before promised Messias Lord and Saviour of the Gentiles was there according to the Prophecies of the Prophets born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary and by the Jews suffered the shameful Death of Crucifixion at Jerusalem on the Mount of Calvaria and afterwards was laid in the New Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea that was cut out of a Rock c. I found in me a great desire to see these and other the like holy Places Not that I thought still to find there Christ our Lord as the two young Men Peter and John and the three Maries did but to exercise my outward Senses in the Contemplation thereof that I might the more fervently consider with my inward ones his bitter Passion Death Resurrection and Ascension and to appropriate to my self and to apprehend the better and to make my own by Faith and firm Confidence Christ our Lord himself together with his Heavenly Gifts and Treasures as he has manifested himself in the Holy Scriptures wherefore I was fully resolved to look out for Fellow-Travellers to accompany me in this Journey before I returned home again I staid not long in quest of Company but quickly met with four Pilgrims that came out of the Low Countries that had the same intention there also came to us a Grecian Monk of the Order of the Carmelites whom I knew before when he lived with his Master that I cured of a very dangerous Distemper and desired to go in company with us So we agreed together and bespoke a small Turkish Vessel with eight Oars by them called Caramusala whereof there were many in the Harbour that wait constantly for Travellers Goods and Provision to be carried into the Neighbouring Towns and Provinces vix to Antiochia Caramania anciently called Cilicia Cyprus Baruthi Caramania or quite into Egypt We bought some Bisquets Cibets Eggs Cheese Pompions which the Arabians call Baticcas Margeropfel Oranges good Wine c. which we had occasion of for our Journey of which as much as would last us eight days for the Ship-Masters do not willingly land chiefly with Pilgrims because of the great Customs the Roguish Turks demand unjustly from us Christians every where until we arrive at our designed Stations After we had thus fitted our selves and got a good Wind we went aboard the Ship on the Seventh of September in the Year 1575 and put off and came before Night to the Point Capugio to the Village Aniffe anciently called Neuphrus which was in former Ages very well Fortified as still appeareth by some Remainders to this Day This Village is pretty big but every where open that one might easily take it with a handful of Men it is situated on the Foot of Mount Libanus which is very high there and reacheth unto the Sea It is chiefly inhabited by Maronites as are also many more Villages of this Mountain chiefly those that lie in Valleys towards Aleppo where I have inned many times when I went through it and was very kindly received they keep very good Wine by them which the Turks know very well and come there very often for it altho they are forbidden by the Laws of their Mahumetan Alcoran to satisfie their Desire These Maronites are Christians and speak the Arabian Language and have their Patriarchs which are first chosen by the People and then confirmed by the Pope After we had went on from thence very well all Night long all along the steep mountainous Shore and had made the utmost Point of the Promontory of Baruthi we saw in the morning a far off that famous Town lying behind it where formerly great Commerce has been drove well fortified with strong Towers towards the Sea and surrounded with fruitful Orchards and Vineyards In this and also in more adjacent Towns and Villages live a very War-like People called Trusci very nimble and expert in shooting with Guns and Bows and call themselves the posterity of the ancient French Men which took and possessed many years agon under Godfrid and Baldwin Jerusalem and all the Land of Promise They are still a Free People to this Day and not subject unto the Great Sultan as others are wherefore he hath many times attempted to bring them under his Yoak And in order thereunto he did send in the Year 1574 last past a great Army consisting of Two hundred thousand Horse and Foot to subdue them but what harm he did them I have already mentioned in the precedent part of this Journal They are very willing to accommodate and serve Outlandish Christians as Germans French Men and Italians whereof they make no Difference and to take them up into their Habitations and to shew them all Civility and Kindness nay and what is more to assist them according to their utmost Power against the Common Enemy of Christendom as we have formerly found indeed before Cyprus was taken by the Turks for after they were informed that some Italian Gallies were to arrive to make an Incursion into the adjacent Towns and Places chiefly to plunder Tripoli they raised Seven thousand Men very well armed to help them and to come to their Assistance some of which did then appear and shew themselves on the Frontiers but finding that their Gallies did not arrive they also returned home again and left their Design unaccomplished The Trusci have a Head called Ermin Macksur that is a judicious Man and a very experienced Soldier whom they acknowledge to be their Supreme Governour and are obedient to him he liveth in a Castle on the bottom of the Mountain not far from the Town we went by he taketh great pains chiefly now after the Turkish War and maketh great Provision to keep the Country in Peace and Security He also keepeth good Correspondence with the Neighbouring People chiefly the
Lord heard him and let Rain fall down upon the dry and barren Earth From this Mountain the presumed holy Order of the Carmelites taketh its Name which was first there endu'd with several Priviledges by Pope Innocent the Third and Albert the Patriarch of Jerusalem in the Year 1205 and afterwards when they were encreased to a great number under pretence of greater Holiness confirmed by the Name of the Brothers of our Lady by Pope Honorius the Third in the Year 1226. These pretend to be Followers of the Doctrine of Cyrillus wear daily black girded Coats and over it when they say Mass white Monks Habit. Some years ago without doubt have a great many of this Order lived here about as still to this day doth appear by their Cloisters and Churches which by Age are so mightily decay'd that they are left deserted and uninhabited This Mountain is also round about towards the Sea Coast very bare and rough that we may very well say with the holy Prophet Amos That the Pastures of the Herdsmen shall look miserably and the top of the Mountain dry up The Town Hayphe lieth at the bottom of the Mount Carmelo is pretty large but very ill Built and the Houses are so decay'd that half of it is not fit to be Inhabited Salidinus King of the Saracens who in his time carried on long and heavy Wars against the Christians and was almost hardly able to resist them caused the Walls of it and also that of Caesarea in Palestina and others of less strength to be pull'd down that his Enemies might not find any place of Reception against him Out of this Port as we are afterwards informed was a little time before taken away a pretty large and richly Loaden Ship by some Pirates which vexed the Inhabitants very much and being that the Christians chiefly were suspected by them they had a great desire to revenge it upon them again so that we had not our Master been very honest should have suffer'd for the loss they had sustained After we had lain there at Anchor till after Midnight not without danger as you must imagine our Master made haste to get out to Sea although it was very calm in hopes to get good Weather After they had wrought very hard a good Wind arose behind us towards the Morning and drove us along so that we got soon about and passed the Point of the Mountain and saw the Country of the other side which was above on the height so Pleasant Green and Shady that there in a Village resides a Turkish Sangiach for Pleasure sake Not far from thence lieth the Castle of the Pilgrims in the Sea by the Inhabitants call'd Altlit where most of them touch that take their way through Galilaea and Nazareth to Jerusalem This hath been in former Ages so well Fortify'd with Walls and Bastions that it was thought to be Impregnable but now it is on two sides towards the Sea so demolish'd and destroy'd that one may very reasonably guess that it hath been formerly taken by Storm The Wind still increasing more and more we went on with such a swiftness that although two little Ships persued us towards Morning yet they were forced to leave us and so we soon passed the Castle and came towards Dor three Leagues distance from thence it lieth near Mount Carmel in the Country of Phoenicia as Josephus testifieth and it is so decay'd that there is nothing more extant than a large and high Tower which the Inhabitants still call Dortaite In this Country when the Jews took Canaan the Land of Promise they let the Inhabitants remain as you may read in the first Chapter of the Judges At a League distance from thence you see the Ancient and Famous Town Caesarea of Palestine situated on the Sea on a high Bank which King Herod did renew and call'd it after the Emperor Caesarea which still to this day among the Turks and Moors retaineth its ancient Name Kaesarie In this Town did live the Pious Centurion Cornelius who was Baptiz'd there with his whole Family by Peter the Apostle who was called thither from the Town Joppe There did also live Philip the Evangelist one of the seven Deacons into whose House the Holy Apostle Paul did go and staid there some days where also the Prophet Agabus did foretel him That he was to be made a Prisoner at Jerusalem Now although this Town in those days was very well built as one may still see by the important and stately Antiquities that are still remaining there yet now in our times it is in Walls and Buildings so mightily decay'd that it is hardly fit to be Inhabited much less to be Defended or to make any Resistance And for all that it is still pretty large but so lonesom and depopulated that we could hardly see any body in the large and broad Streets thereof as we passed by For some Leagues before or about it I saw nothing remarkable only a Turkish Mosque or Church in the height upon a hilly shore where tbey meet to Worship their Mahumet When the Evening broke in we had still 10 Leagues to Sail to the Port or Harbor of Joppe where the Pilgrims use to go ashore to Travel by Land to Jerusalem yet the Wind drove us on with such a force that we got into it two hours after Sun-set CHAP. II. A short Relation of my Travels by Land from the Harbor of Joppe to the City of Jerusalem IN the Morning early as soon as the day did appear which was the 13th day of September 1575 we got on shore and dispatched immediately some to the Town of Rama two Leagues distant from thence to get us a safe Conduct or Pass from the Sangiach and to bring along with them some Mockeri or Ass-driving Carriers to provide us Carriage to Jerusalem In the mean while we stay'd upon the high Rocky shore where the Town Joppe did stand formerly which at this time was so Demolish'd that there was not one House to be found where the Pilgrims at their arrival could shelter themselves save only three large Vaults which went very deep into the Hill and extended themselves towards the Sea Into these are sometimes the Pilgrims let in but being that at that time a great deal of Corn was laid up there whereunto they still daily added on purpose to supply Constantinople during the scarcity it was forbidden that any Body should be let in The Town Joppe by the Inhabitants call'd Japha is by its old Name very well known to us by the Books of the Prophets and Apostles c. where we Read That the Prophet Jonas when the Lord bid him to Preach to the Ninevites Desolation and Destruction for fear did retire thither and there took Ship where he was thrown out into the Seas in the great Storm and Tempest and swallow'd up by a great Fish and after he had been there for three Days and Nights he was vomited out again And we
give us demonstration thereof If I say this worldly Jerusalem because of its unbelieving Inhabitants that would not acknowledge the Blessed Messias nor adhere to his Doctrine to their Salvation is quite rooted out and instead thereof the way of the Heavenly Jerusalem opened to us Heathens by the holy Apostles How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation This way to our Lord Christ hath for many years past been shewed us sincerely by the Ministers of the holy Word of God but we do not only not much care for it but seek rather other by ways that lead us to Idolatry Sin and Vices nay to our utter ruine Wherefore it is to be feared that if we do not repeat in time and return to God again that he will come upon us with his wrath as he hath already begun and deliver us up into the Hands of our Adversaries that we may fall by their Swords as Ezekiel doth threaten us in his Thirty ninth Chapter and to punish us according to the Deserts of our Sins Wherefore we ought to lay to heart the terrible Example of the Jews and turn from our evil ways that we may avoid the Punishments that befel them We see that those who were formerly the People of God are now come to be so blind and full of Errors and of so depraved a Life that there is hardly any like them to be found even among the Infidels and Impious Wherefore they are by all Men despised and hated chiefly by the Turks which hate them more than any other Nation so that they would not let them live among them if the Turkish Emperor had not for a great Sum of Money given them a peculiar freedom And besides all this now adays their Towns and Countries are inhabited by Turks Moors and Arabians that do not love to till or cultivate the Ground but will rather starve than take pains to get a good Livelihood by their Hand-Labour And although the Country about Jerusalem is very rocky rough stony and ill managed yet notwithstanding they will not endeavour to mend and improve it but find out the fruitful Lands that are here and there and over-run the Country like Grashoppers so that you may observe it yearly to decay more and more Seeing then that there is but little Tillage about the City therefore the product of the Earth there is but very small so that they must have almost all Necessaries brought them from other places The Town of Jerusalem which is still pretty large but very ill built hath within its Walls which the Turkish Emperor caused to be built about Twenty Years ago large places that lie desolated and are so full of Stones and Rocks that one can hardly walk in them The Gardens even those that are within the City and are but ill managed are surrounded with Mud Walls not above Four Foot high so that one may climb over them without any difficulty These are washed down again by Rain in a very little time so that they want mending continually Their Habitations are also little and and low have Clay-Walls and many of them are decayed some lie quite in a heap The Churches of the two Apostles that of St. John and St. Peter are in the same Condition as also the Prison where St. Peter was kept the Habitation of Veronica which the Cordeliers shew us for them and a great many places more In some Streets chiefly near to their Bazar or Exchange are very old Vaults part whereof are decayed and broken part filled up with Dust which runs out into the Streets wherefore chiefly in the Summer the Dust lieth so thick in them that you may see every step in it as in Snow or Sand. All which sheweth that the Turks destroy or ruin more than they build wherefore they are deservedly called Turks that is to say Destroyers The present Town as to the Extent of its Walls is not much less than the old one was wherefore one should admire considering how it is built now how it was possible it should hold so many People as it is said were in it at the time of its Desolation viz. a Million of Men or as Josephus and Eusebius say Three Millions Jerusalem was formerly surrounded with very steep Cliffs deep Ditches and Valleys chiefly on three Sides towards the South East and West so that one could not easily get up to it but only on the North Side where the Town was low lying in a Plain therefore did Titus first attack it in a place near the Village called Scapas Seven Miles distant from it and afterward advanced and took it which the holy Prophet Jeremiah did foretel many years before in the First Chapter and Twelfth Verse saying Out of the North an Evil shall break forth upon all the Inhabitants of the Land These Ditches and Valleys are now quite filled up with the Ruins of the broken Walls and Buildings so that one may go into the Town as into an open Village without any hinderance or pain But when the Grand Signior after he had taken it saw that the Town was open and that the Christian Pilgrims came thither in great numbers from all places and Countries he feared that they might make themselves Masters of it again as they had done some years agone wherefore he ordered it to be surrounded again with new Walls which although they are very high yet they are so thin and slight that they are not able to withstand the least violence But as the Town was anciently built four square so it is now built more round chiefly towards Mount Calvaria which formerly was without the Town but now is Walled in so that you may still see two corners one whereof is towards Galilee where the Gate of that corner is which is still open and almost one of the handsomest through which you go to Nazareth distant three days Journey as also to Caesarea Philippi which is now called Balbec where still are to be seen some very fine Antiquities and also towards Damascus which is six days Journey distant from Jerusalem and from thence 6 days Journey more to Aleppo the greatest Town for Trade in all Syria Jeremiah maketh mention of this Gate in his 31st Chapter and the 38th Verse Behold the days come saith the Lord that the City shall be built to the Lord from the Town of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner And also Zacharias in his 14th Chapter and in the 2d Book of Chronicles the 26th Chapter and 9th Verse It is said Vzzia built Towers in Jerusalem at the Corner-Gate and at the Valley-Gate c. The second corner Mount Zion maketh where it doth end toward the South whereon as also on the Mount Moriah the City is rising towards the North. The old City had twelve Gates as you read in the Revelation The 1st the Fish-gate which was also called the Gate of Hebron because the Road of Hebron went through it which is about seven or eight
hours walking distant from it 2. The Old-Gate 3. The Prison Gate whereof Nehemiah maketh mention in his 12th Chapter through which our Saviour Christ carried his Cross 4. Rayn-Gate 5. The Gate of Ephraim before which St. Stephen was Stoned to Death as you may read in the 2d Book of the Ecclesiastical History in the 1st Chapter 6. The Gate of Benjamin where the holy Prophet Jeremiah was taken and Imprisoned as he saith himself in the 37th Chapter 7. Corner Gate 8. Horse-Gate 9. Valley-Gate through which they went into the Valley of Josaphat 10. Dung Gate through which the Water carried out all the Soil into the Valley of Josaphat and about this River is still to this day a great stink 11. Sheep-Gate 12. Fountain-Gate which is now Walled up The Prophet Nehemiah maketh mention of them in his 3d 8th and 12th Chapter so that it is not needful to say any more These Gates are so mightily decayed that there is not to be seen the least of the old Buildings The Turks have instead of them built others in the New raised Wall but yet not half so many in number whereof some according as the Town is enlarged in some places and contracted in others are displaced others are erected again in the same places according to the Old Streets viz. 1. The Fish-Gate which is still standing towards the West behind Mount Sion and over against Mount Gihon as you may conclude out of the words of the 2d Book of Chronicles in the 33d Chapter and 14th Verse Manasses built a Wall without the City of David on the West-side of Gihon in the Valley even to the entring in at the Fish-Gate This Gate hath its Name because they brought many Fishes from the Sea-side through this Gate into the City So is also still standing on the outside of the Valley Tiropaeon which distinguished the two Mounts Sion and the Temple Mount called Moriah the Gate of the Fountain which hath its Name because it leadeth towards the Fountain of Siloha which Nehemiah in his 2d Chapter Verse 14 calleth the Kings Pool Through this was our dear Lord Christ the true promised Siloha brought a Prisoner bound from the Mount of Olives over the Brook Kidron into the House of Hannas and Caiphas in the upper Town as we read in the 12th Chapter Verse 37. that by the Fountain-Gate they went up to the City of David The same way also the two Disciples Peter and John were sent to bespeak the Paschal Lamb by Christ where they met the Man with the Pitcher of Water The Sheep or Beast-Gate is also still standing by Moriah the Mountain of the Temple which the Turks have taken to themselves and have built on it a Turkish Mosque or Temple because that God Almighty hath done many and great Miracles on this Mount and besides Mahumet did find himself again on this Mount after he had been carried up as his lying Writings tell us through the Heavens before God by the Angel Gabriel Wherefore they take this Mount to be Holy so that none that is not Circumcised and so Unclean dare approach or come near it nor take the nearest way without over the height of the Mount as Nehemiah did as you may see in the before quoted place so that the Christians must take a further way about and from the Gate Siloha go below through the Valley of the Brook Cedron between this and the Mount of Olives to the Beast-Gate which hath its Name because the Beasts that were to be offer'd in the Temple were driven through it Near the Gate you see still the Sheep-pond which is large and deep yet hath but little Water in it wherein the Nathineens used to wash the Beasts and then to give them to the Priests And also immediately within towards the North a Conduit which was the Pool by St. John the Evangelist in the 2d Verse of his 5th Chapter called Bathesda erected by King Ezechia that had five Porches wherein lay a great multitude of impotent folk that waited for the moving of the Water Through this Gate is the straight way over the Brook Cedron by the Mount of Olives toward Bethania down to Jericho on the River Jordan into the Valley of Josaphat wherefore this also being nearer now in these days is called the Valley-gate There is also still the Corner-gate in its old place where the North and East Walls meet on large and high Rocks and 〈◊〉 called still by some the Gate of Naphthali This I thougâ— convenient to say of the City of Jerusalem in the gâ—nerâ— of its Buildings Fruitfulness and adjacent Countries what Famous and Holy Places are within and without the City thereof I intend to treat in particular CHAP. IV. Of Mount Sion and its Holy Places MOunt Sion very famous in holy Scripture hath round about it steep sides high Rocks deep Ditches and Valleys so that it is not easie to climb up to it only on one side towards the North where it buts upon the lower Town so that the Castle and Town of David situated on it was very strong and almost Invincible as you may read in the 48 Psalm vers 2. The joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion on the sides of the north the City of the great King God is known in her places for a refuge for the Kings were assembled c. Seeing then that the Castle and the upper Town Millo vvas so vvell fortified vvith Tovvers and Walls that it vvas not easily to be taken the Jebusites after that Canaan the vvhole Land of Promise together vvith the Tovvn of Jerusalem vvas taken did defend themselves in it against the vvhole force of Israel for a long time although they often attempted to take it and called the Tovvn of Jerusalem after their Name Jebus until the Kingly Prophet David came vvho took it by force and after he had rebuilt the upper Tovvn and joined the Castle vvith it into one Building and surrounded it vvith Walls he called it after his ovvn Name The City of David and kept his Court there and gave also Lodgings to his Hero's and Officers vvhereof Vriah vvas one vvho had his Lodgings near to the Kings Palace vvherein the King vvalking on the Roof of his House savv the fair Bathsheba his Wife and committed Adultery vvith her These their Habitations as they are still built in these Days have instead of Thatch or Tiles plaister'd Roofs so that one may walk on them as you may see here that King David walked on it And also in the Second Chapter of the Book of Joshua where is said That when the Two Spies sent into the Land of Promise to Jericho came into Rahab's House and the King sent to search after them they went at her request up to the Roof of the House where she hid them with the Stalks of Flax which she had laid in order upon the Roof But seeing there is nothing so strong in in this World that is not transitory
must find great Passions within his Breast as you also read in the last Chapter of St. Matthew Verse 8. of the Women where you find these Words And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy This I found also in my Heart and Mind so that it was as if I saw our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Almighty God to humble himself and to become obedient to his Heavenly Father even to Death nay to the Death of the Cross to bring us miserable sinful Men to Rights again and to deliver us clearly from all Debts and Punishments and so to procure us the only and true Indulgences After we had seen Mount Calvaria the Sepulchre of Christ our Lord and other places we went into the Vestiary again to eat our Supper After Supper they led us up into the Gallery which is in the round Building over against the holy Sepulchre to stay there all Night but some of the Eastern Christians sung below in the Church others did grumble together and played with their sweet sounding Cymbals which were made of pure Metal about the bigness of a large Walnut-shell so pleasant Tunes or Musick that I rather looked on them and minded their Musick than slept The next Morning my Comerades after they had been at Confession and received the Sacrament upon Mount Calvaria came to me into the Church again with an intention to go round once more So we saw the holy places once more and at last also the Chapel which we left the day before at the Foot of the Hill on our Left Hand belonging to the Grecians they let us in very willingly because of our Chaplain who was also a Grecian and shewed us in it at the furthest part where it was pretty dark a large and deep Crack of the Rock afterwards also on each side some fine and high Tombs of some Kings viz. that of Gottefrid de Boulion and others which were for some time possessed of the Land of Promise these stand on delicate Columns cut out of curious grey Marble whereon are some Epitaphs which I thought to set down here underneath together with a short Relation when they did take the Land of Promise and the famous City of Jerusalem how long they were possessed of it and how many Kings did succeed one another in it Plants observed by Monsieur Belon to grow about some of the Holy Places Near Jerusalem on the Mounts Hills and Valleys Adrachne seu Arbutus folio non serrato Picea Aria Ilex cocci-glandifera Terebinthus Lentiscus several sorts of Cislus Capparis Spinâ—sa Paliurus or Christ's Thorn Fig-trees Olives Almonds a sort of Wild Peach Jujubes or Zizyphus Esculus or Dwarf-Oak Alaternus White Mulberry for the Silk-Worms the Inhabitants trading a little in Silk and Kermes which they gather from a Holm Oak Sesamum Gossipium seu Xylon Thymbra Marum Origanum Heracleoticum Tragoriganum Salvia Stachys Ruta Sylv. Trifolium Asphaltites a rare fort of Hyâ—scyanâ—us on the Walls of Jerusalem Azadarach Arbor in Palestinâ secundum D. Monconny Between Mount Sinai Mount Oreb and Suez Oenoplia a sort of Zizyphus Arbor Lanigera or Cotton-Tree Glans seu Nux Vnguentaria call'd Balâ—nus Mirepsica Alcanna a Species of Ligustrum of great use and sale for Dying and Colouring Senna Rose of Jericho or Hiericho a sort of Thlaspi Colocynthis Ambrosia or Oak of Cappadocia Some Plants mentioned by Breynius and taken out of Rauwolff's Hort. Sic. or else found in those Countries where Rauwolff Travelled Acaciae similis Mesopotamica minutissimis foliis siliquâ integrâ contortâ crassâ obtusâ sive siliqua Nabathaea nobis Azadirachta foliis ramosis majoribus Syriaca sive vulgaris flore caeruleo maj Perlato falso Sycomorus Italorum Bellon Astergir Rhasis incolis Zenselacht Rauwolff Horminum Syriacum tomentosum foliis Coronopi sive profundè laciniatis Breyn. Horminum rarum foliis laciniatis Rauwolff in Herbar vivo Lapathum Rotundifolium montis Libani semine maximo Breyn. Ribes Arabum Rauwolf Lycium Buxi foliis angustioribus Syriacum Breyn. Lycium Dioscoridis Rauwolff in Herbar Hadhad Arabibus Zaroa incolis montis Libani ejusdem In Syria Palestinâ observavit Rauwolffius Lycium Buxi foliis rotundioribus Syriacum vel Persicum Breyn. Hoc Lycium apud Rauwolffium cum priore confunditur Marrubium villosum Syriacum sive montis Libani Breyn. Melanthium Syriacum minus frutescens latifelium Rutae flore fructu tricapsulari Breyn. Ruta vocaâ—a Harmala J.B. Melilotus minima Syriaca Nephel sive Nephal Ibenbaithar Malasesae Plantago angustifolia minor lanuginosa Syriaca Cretica pediculis capitulis maturiâ—ate ad terram inflexis Breyn. Leontopodium Alpin Exot. Leontopodium Creticum C.B. Plantago angustifolia pâ—niculis Lagopi C.B. Plantago quinquenervia cum globulis albis pilosis J.B. Catanance Dioscoridis Rauwolff in Herbario vivo Satureia frutescens Arabica folio fimbriato hirsuto Breyn. Sathar Arabum Rauwolff Tithymalus vel Tithymalo affinis aphyllos dictus major latifolius flore sanguineo aviculae capitulum repraesentante Breyn. An Planta lactaria Xabra Camarronum Rhasis Rauwolff Jacea maxima Hicrosolymitana Alpin Exot. Marum Syriacum foliis incisis CHAP. IX Here follow some Epitaphs of the Christian Kings of Jerusalem together with a short Relation of their Reigns and mighty Deeds IN the Year of our Lord Christ 1096 when Henry the Fourth was Emperor of the West and Alexius the Grecian Emperor at Constantinople in the East Pope Vrban the Second called a Council at Claremont in France where they consulted together which way the Land of Promise might be delivered again from the Hands of the Infidels Where it was concluded and agreed upon to take the Field in common and for their General they chose Gottefrid de Boulion Count of Bâ—nonia in France Along with him went many Princes Counts and Noblemen viz. Baldwin and Eustachius his Brethren and many more and brought together an Army of Six hundred thousand Foot and One hundred thousand Horse so they went in several Parties through Hâ—gâ—ria Greece c. till they had passed the Hellespâ—nt and came into Asia the Lâ—ss now called Natâ—lia and belonging to the Turks where they joyn'd again and took some Towns to wit Nicea Tarsus and also Antiochia situated in Caelosyria Yet in these Actions were a great many Christians slain by the way others were taken Prisoners some were starved a great many died of Sicknesses that came by changing of the Air in these hot Countries so that in three years time for so long dured this March there were hardly Forty thousand Men as some write left of the aforenamed Sum that did arrive in the Land of Promise These went with their Master and General Gottefrid de Boulion before the City of Jerusalem wherein were a greater number of the Infidels to defend it yet they surrounded the City and took it in a little time and killed a great number of them When they had taken the Town on the 15th Day
of July in the Year 1099 and had reduced it they laid down their Armors and Arms and went to visit the Holy Sepulchre with great Devotion and chose there unanimously their General King of Jerusalem who at their request undertook the Government would not be called King nor Crowned with a Golden Crown in that place where our Saviour that Arch-King had worn one of Thorns After he had obtained this Victory he also subdued some adjacent Towns viz. Joppe called Jassa Porphria situated at the Foot of Mount Carmel by the Arabians and Turks called Hayphe Tiberias and the Consines of Galilea He also overcame with a handful of his Men the Captain of the Sultan who had a great number of Men with him and killed above Thirty thousand of them But as nothing is lasting in human Affairs he died in the Eleventh Month of his Reign and was buried in the above-mentioned Chapel and upon his Tomb-Stone is still to be read this following Epitaph Hic jacet inclitus dux Gottefridus de Boulion qui totam istam terram acquisivit cultui Christiano cujus anima regnet cum Christo Amen After his Decease the Christians unanimously chose his Brother Baldewin King of Jerusalem in his place He overcame with a small number of Men th◠King of Egypt that was Two and twenty thousand strong and killed the greatest part of his Men. And when he died in the Eighteenth Year of his Reign they chose Cousin Baldewin of Burgo the Second of that Name King This was a great Warrior and did many Heroick Deeds with few Men against the Heathens he overcame and took Prisoner Gatzim the Turkish Prince of the Lesser Asia with a great number of Men but soon after in the Fifth Year of his Reign he was beaten in a Battel by the King of the Parthians and carried away Prisoner In the mean time the Venetians and Genoueses came with Two hundred and seventy Ships and dispersed and beat the Armada of the Saracens and sunk many of their Ships and took also the strong Town of Tyrus so that both by Sea and Land there was abundance of Blood shed When the Enemies saw this that they set the King at liberty again in the Eighteent Month of his Imprisonmenth for a Sum of Money after that he did execute in the six following Years of his Reign in order to an Enlargement of his Kingdom many glorious and famous Deeds He overthrew the King of the Ascalonites who was assisted by the Egyptians and fell upon Jerusalem in one single Battel and also beat the King of Damascus in three several ones as you may see by his Epitaph here underneath written Rex Baldewinus Judas alter Machabaeus Spes patriae vigor ecclesiae virtus utriusque Quem formidabant cui dona tributa ferebant Cedar Aegyptus Dan homicida Damascus Proh dolor in modico clauditur hic tumulo In the Year 1131 the Crown was presented to Fulcon Count of Andegavia and Son-in-law to the before-said Baldewin who also obtained several Victories against the Persians and Turks But in his time there arose some Differences among the Christians and some Conspiracies which proved afterwards very disadvantageous to him he lost also Edessa a City in Mesopotamia which King Baldewin the First had conquered before which the Turks took by force from him This King left two Sons Baldewin and Alamric and after he had reigned Eleven Years he fell dead when he hunted a Hare on full speed After him his Son Baldewin the Third was Crowned who also died in the Twenty fourth Year of his Reign after he had fought several Battels and taken some Towns Then his Brother Alamric came to the Crown who was a great Warrior so that he was very fit for this Dignity he obtained many Victories against Sultan Saladin But afterwards when the Scales were turned he died also after his return from Egypt in the Year 1178 his Son Baldewin the Fourth and the Seventh King undertook the Government of the Kingdom in the Thirteenth Year of his Reign This although he was leprous yet he managed his Business very well and defended his Dominions courageously and gloriously against the Infidels And because he would not be married by reason of his Distemper therefore he married his Sister Sibylla to a Marquis of Monteferrato called William She was brought to Bed in the first year of a Son and called him after his Uncle Baldewin But when William died he married her again to Guido of Lusignan Count of Joppe with this condition that after his Decease he should Rule the Kingdom for his Son-in-law and be his Guardian so long until he came at age But he behaving himself very ill in the mean while the King grew so angry with him that he would by no means suffer him to live in his Dominions and ordered another to fill up his place one Raymond a Count of Tripoli Soon after the King died before his Son was quite Twenty Years old and was also buried in the Temple of the holy Sepulchre Within Eight Months after did also die the true Heir of the Crown the Son of Sibylla his Sister and was also buried by the other Kings so that we find still on three several Tomb-Stones that stand close one behind the other viz. Septimus in tumulo puer hic regnum tumulatus Est Baldewinus regum de sanguine natus Quem tulit è mundo sors primae conditionis Vt Paradysiacae loca possideat regionis So by the Incitation of his Mother Guido was proclaimed the last King Raymund the Count of Tripoli was extremely disgusted at this Election being that the Kingdom was already recommended to him wherefore he resolved to go to war with him and that he might be strong enough for him he made a League with Sultan Saladin to his own Grief and Ruine For when the Sultan saw these Differences between them two he raised suddenly a great Army and took Jerusalem and the whole Country by force of Arms. So the Kingdom of Jerusalem after the Christians had been possessed of it Eighty eight Years and Nineteen Days was retaken again by the Infidels not without great Loss and Damage Not long after the Infidels did pull down the Walls of the City turned the Churches into Stables saving the Temple of Solomon and spoiled the holy Sepulchre of our Lord Christ which in all the other Wars did still remain intire so that only one side of the Rock thereof is now to be seen This was done by the Infidels on purpose to shew us the foolish Zeal we have to conquer and visit the holy Grave and City as if Christ were still in it This and other places had been quite demolished also had it not been for the Eastern Christians the Armenians Surians c. which did stop their Fury by giving of them a great Sum of Money and so redeemed it CHAP. X. A Common Account of several sorts of Christians but chiefly of them that are
sooner perceive them in the Ship below because they come up from the depth of the Sea than above Deck After this had continued about a quarter of an hour it was quite over so that it was perfectly calm and the Sea very quiet So our Seamen hoisted up their Sail again and steered towards the Capo del Graeco with an intention to run in still before Sun-set into the Harbour of the Metropolis called Famagusta but before we were aware of it another Wind arose that did send us back again so we stood out at Sea and went on with it so well that we passed the Island that is One hundred and sixty Italian Miles long Not long after the Wind did change and it came to be foul Weather and so contrary to us that we went on but very slowly and we were forced to drive upon the Sea only for several Days until at length we came before the Land of Pamphylia and Lycia which came in sight now and then nearer to the Island of Rhodes then arose a Northerly Wind that helped us into our true Road again and blew so fresh that in a few hours we went by that mountainous Island Scarpanthus and afterwards by Solomons Point of the Isle of Candia out towards the South which is Forty Leagues further and we had been almost quite thrown over into Africa if we had not sheltered our selves under the next Mountains so we got clear of the Noise and Turbulency of the Wind and Sea but instead of that our Ship came so near unto the Shoar of Candia that we feared every moment to have been shipwracked which had certainly befaln us if our Nacchier that manageth the Sails with his Seamen who wrought very hard until they brought the Ship out at Sea again had not had not for two days and nights done their utmost endeavour When we kept thus out at Sea foul Weather befel us again and contrary and rough Winds blew afresh so that it was very dangerous sailing wherefore our Master as well as the Men thought it best to get into a Harbour but finding that it was very dangerous to get in there they went back again to the Island Calderon which lieth not above a German Mile from Candia to land there and to stay for better Weather This Island is small and so rough and sandy within that it cannot be inhabited but yet being full of Bushes those of Candy turn chiefly in the Summer their Cattel into it Here I found a kind of Mandrake with blue Flowers in great quantity and also very many Oxycedri like unto our Juniper Bushes which are almost as high as our Pine-trees When we during this hard Weather were in this Island Calderon for shelter we saw sometimes Clouds in the shape of a Pillar that came down from the Skies to the next Mountaâ—n and so extended themselves sloping down into the next Sea Pliny makes mention also of them in his Forty ninth Chapter of the Second Book When this did touch the Sea it began to suck as it were through a Spout so fiercely that the Water began to move in that place as if it were in a storm so that we could not only hear the Noise but also see the great motion thereof In the beginning it was pretty clear but the longer it remained there the darker it grew until at length it arose up again and ascended into the Skies like unto a thick Cloud Wherefore it may very well be that sometimes Worms Frogs Fungusses Snails Muscles c. may fall down with the Rain chiefly in those places that are near to the Sea for I have my self seen it many times in my Travels between Bononia and Florence on the high Mountains where I have found several of them When the Wind blew fair for us again and we had sufficiently provided our selves with Wood and fresh Water we hoisted up our Sails again and came away and at length not without great labour and changing of the wind we got out before the Island of Candy which is about Two hundred and fifty Italian Leagues long into the open Sea with an intention to go strait away for Venice In the mean time one of our Seamen did catch on a Hook that he had baited with some meat a large Fish by the Latins called Lamia but this Fish being of some hundered Weight in bulk he brought him upon the hook by degrees to the Ship then they fastened a Rope about his Gills and so drew him up very safely When they did cut it open to salt it I found that its Bones were but very small and not harder than a Cartilage They gave us now and then some of it to eat but it was so much salted that we could not eat it so that at last they were forced to leave it Soon after one of the Pilgrims that was a Priest at Lille in Flanders got a Bloody Flux so violently that he was in danger of his life so I took care of him and gave him what Physick I had by me in the Ship When we came to the Island of Cerygo else called Cithera belonging to the Venetians lying near to the Morea from whence Paris took away the Queen of King Menelaus and carried her to Troy upon a sudden a Hurricane arose towards Night with Blowing Thundering and Lightening so that we at several times did despair of our Lives For when the Waves swelled as big as large Rocks and pressed very hard upon our Ship so that they did fling it now on this and then on the the other side again with great violence so that not only our Goods Arms Trunks and Boxes were tumbled up and down in the Ship but that also we were forced to take great care of our selves during this Tempest that we might not tumble over board we were in great danger But how terribly soever this looked in the dark night yet it still increased for in a little-while after the place that held the Cannon Bullets that were near unto the Steerage where I had my Cabin broke open so that the Bullets ran up and down over all the Ship according as she rolled Soon after the beating of the Waves knocked off the Garland that was behind at the outside of the Ship and left some Nails about a Finger thick that held it in the Wood with such a power that one might hear it almost all over the Ship After all this the great Sail was also torn off and fell down into the Sea so that we thought no less than that we were all lost for then the Ship was wholly left to the mercy of the roaring Waves that flung her and tossed her about like a Foot-ball from place to place which you may deduce from thence that the Guardian that held himself fast to the Main Mast upon the Deck was sometimei above a Mans depth under Water so that every moment we expected to be overturned and so drowned Yet in all this Calamity we