's meer depression of Air should be ascribed to her Monthly Revolutions And here one thing may be worthy our Curiosity That after the Seasons of the Heats and Rains the Rivers Indus and Ganges are said to swell their Banks and thereby abundantly to encrease the Bordering Countries where these Rains are less frequent Whence it may be some insight may be had for the Overflows of Egypt which has set so many Wits on the Tenterhooks where it is reported it never rains But in the Countreys near the supposed Sourse of Nile it does to Excess But you who have greater Reading and Leisure to digest these Metaphysical Notions will mightily oblige me to furnish me with your solider Arguments Among which I would intreat you to consider the Variety of the Loadstone in the common Chart For what the incomparably Ingenuous Des Cartes has wrote on that Subject acquiesces only in modest Hypotheticks not any ways informing the Understanding to a clear Apprehension but after he has brought it through the Maze of Probabilities he parts with it at the same Predicament it entred Not to deviate any longer The Tail of the Elephant we are now winding about the South-West part of Ceilon where we have the Tail of the Elephant full in our mouths a Constellation by the Portugals called Rabo del Elephanto known for the breaking up of the Munsoons which is the last Flory this Season makes generally concluding with September which goes out with dismal Storms Yet so good is Providence Water-Snakes as to warn us here when all is obscured by Water-Snakes of our too near approach to the Land which are as sure Presages on the Indian Coasts as the Cape-Birds are there Here the Mountains running East and West The difference on the Malabar Coast the Winds are to the East of the South and to the West of the North else quadrating with those on Coromandel only here in April and May the Winds are variable and then they hasten to leave these Coasts for Persia the Red-Sea and South-Seas or those make in that are to return hither otherwise they run an hazard of losing their Voyage when the South to the South-East Wind is fixed which continues to the latter end of September or beginning of October Then from the North to the North-West sets in again and this Course is observed mostly on all the Indian Shores only some few days different in the beginning and ending which happen to the South and in Lands commonly earlier than to the North and break up later when they are more severe but the Intervals are milder the middle Months clearing up in the day time but from the first setting to the going out towards the North the Sun hardly shews his Face unless a Fortnight after the Full Moon in May and a Fortnight before the Elephanto On the Coast of Surat from Gemini to Libra A Rejoinder of the Seasons This happens in the Sun 's Ecliptick Road. On the Coast of Coromandel from Taurus to Scorpio And thus much may be said in general only the Land and Sea-Breezes in particular on this Coast of Surat and Malabar when the Rains are over keep exactly Land-Breezes from Midnight to Mid-day and Sea-Breezes from the Noon of Day to the Noon of Night Making Land we beheld it all a Flame they burning their Stubble for Soilage Small Birds drove to Sea the Forerunner of the ensuing Rain notwithstanding a King fisher flew aboard us with the flattering Coaks's of Halcyon days but like an unskilful Augur was deservedly reproached with the Ignorance of her own Destiny to dye in Captivity which fatal Necessity made her elect rather than suffer with whole Flocks of little Birds blown from the Main who not able to stem the boisterousness of the Winds were hurried thence to perish in the Sea And now we were begirt with Land the Maldivae Islands lying South Cape Comerin North and by West the Malabar Islands West whose Inhabitants have no relation with those on the Coast whence is brought great quantities of Ambergreece Ceilon c. The Land our Master took for a Malabar Island proved a mistake Land-lock'd betwixt Ceilon and the Cape for by a strong Current we were lock'd in between the Island Ceilon and the North East side of the Cape within that desperate Canal we before described Our Error was first corrected by some Fishermen busy at their Nets Strange colour'd Fishes who brought aboard plenty of Fishes all new to us who never had seen such coloured ones some gilded like Gold others with Vermilion varied by several Intermixtures Whilst we were lost in admiration our Mates found themselves no less at a loss in their accounts when they understood they were drove 30 Leagues to Leeward of the Cape by the broken Portugueze spoken by these Men and that we could not sail much farther than Tutticaree a Portugal Town in time of Yore where they had a Citadel and two famous Churches and before us which was the Lure a Ketch of the Dutch's which we chased for hopes of Prize was sailing to that Port and presently after anchored We were then in seven Fathom Water This is the place where they drag Pearl All along here the Top of Gates is seen above the Clouds The Mountain Gates the Ground beneath it Fair Low and Sandy Tutticaree is now in the hands of the Dutch Tutticarce our danger here running the same Risco with Columbo over-against which it lies we being now in the very Jaws of our Enemies might have here concluded our Voyage had their Fleet been nigh us The next day we were becalmed and thereby carried into the midst of the Stream and although in the Afternoon we had an humming Frisco it ran with such Violence that we lost more than we gained This Mistake cost us a Fortnights time before we could compass the Cape besides Fears and Jealousies both of our falling into the Torrent and our Enemies hands The Cape lanches into the Sea with Three Points running into a Campaign several Miles together till it grows big with Mountains procreating their prodigious Race 400 Leagues severing the Coast of Coromandel and Malabar East and West Latitude 8 deg 50 min. North Longit. 96 deg Eost Cape Comeri The Taprobanum of Pliny over-against the Prâ—montorium Celliacum Cape Comeri CHAP. VI. Views the Malabar and Canatick Coasts up to Bombaim TO prevent the mischief of ingulphing again by the Current A dark Night enlighten'd by Fish we anchored a-nights when a Pitchy Blackness was interposed betwixt us and the Skies and not a Star to be seen The Plebs Squammosa beneath the Surface of the Salt Ocean gathering their little Fry which proved to be Pilchards either by the Repercussion of the Saline Bodies of the Waves which is frequent or by the more apt Position of their Glittering Scales through that Medium to refract the hovering Light benighted in the Atmosphere
the Longitude on which we depend being no less obscure than fallible Besides the Island its self is but a small Rock in the middle of the Main Ocean which cannot be seen far unless in a clear Day but by the Grace of God the 19th of May it lay fair before our eyes like a little Cloud by eight in the Morning from whence are small White Birds floating sometimes on the Sea at other times taking their flight to and from the Island which they stir not far from It is very high Land and may be discerned twenty Leagues off at Sea wherefore we gained not the Harbour till Ten at Night where we silently let go our Anchor neither we nor the Fort saluting one another till next Morning When going ashore the Guns roared and the Governor Mr. John Blackmore received us on the Beech which was stony and troublesome ascending we passed through Rows of Soldiers called to their Arms on this occasion into a Valley surrounded with high Mountains except towards the Sea where stood the Fort and Platform for the great Cannon which reach farther than there is any Anchor-hold so that no Ships can come in or endure their Force without their Leave Notwithstanding which it is yet fresh in memory that the Dutch landing on the backside of the Island gained the Tops of the Hills and invading the Island drove the English from their Fort for all they had two Ships in the Road at the same time which did no farther service than carry off the Inhabitants leaving the Dutch 〈◊〉 Possession till Captain Munday by the King's Command was sent out to retake it that very Year we came out for India which was the very Fleet that set out with us and bore us company to St. Iago which the said Captain retook also by Surprize and added to his good fortune the seizing of Four of their East-India Ships richly laden which after he had left sufficient Strength upon the Island he brought as Trophies of his Victory into England The Island thus reduced The story of the Island and Islanders was governed immediately by the Royal Commission till at the Importunity of the Company his Majesty reinstated the former Colony planted by the Honourable Company and restored them to their first Possessions advising them to be more cautious for the future It is seated in Sixteen Degrees South in the vast Atlantick Ocean distant from Cape Bon Esperanzo Six hundred Leagues placed opportunely for the English in their return to Europe from the East Indies both for Wood Water and fresh Provisions which are comfortable Refreshments these long Voyages those Ships that miss it being in an ill state ready to be eaten up with the Scurvy and most an end make for Barbados in their distress which makes the Company to be at some expence for this benefit supplying them with English Beeves Cows Hogs Turkies Ducks Geese and all manner of Pullen with Tools for Husbandry and a constant Guard of Soldiers The Portugals first found it out as is said by an unhappy Accident one of their great Carracks being cast away here or not able to proceed farther they drew on shore her weather-beaten sides and all the Armory and Tacklin Building with the Timber a Chappel in this Valley from thence called Chappel-Valley and stocked it with Goats Asses Hogs and other Cattel lest any other time they should be under the same misfortune but as their Credit fell in these parts they grew more careless of Futurity and long since deserted it that it became free to the next comer to make his own and now by the Industry of the English it is much improved yielding partly by the goodness of the Soil and the care of the Husbandmen all things necessary for human subsistence to its own Inhabitants and to spare good Cheap to such as need Yet to whet their Diligence and Labour here is a mischievous Virmin sorely vexatious to them which are Wild Rats which infest all their Grounds whereby they can have no Bread-Corn they destroying it all instead whereof they have a large Root very biting when it is Raw so that they will not touch it but being Boiâ—ed it is both nourishing and pleasing and of this they make an intoxicating Liquor called Mobby the Indian Name of this Root is Yaum â—â—t is very troublesome clambering these Hills yet to acquaint my 〈◊〉 with the Country delights I assayed it at top it is something â—â—ener where were many Rural Seats of the Planters Cows grazing Goats seeding their Cottages placed near Rivulets whose next Downfal hurried them into the Sea from these advanced places we discovered Two Sail making in hither which is noticed by the Firing of so many Guns and hoisting of the Flag who proved to be 〈◊〉 Josiah being an heavy Sailer we lost Company about the Cape where keeping off at Sea the Golden Fleece came up with it upon the Hills the Air makes a great difference from the Vallies it being purer above and something harsh by reason of the constant Easterly Blasts which is not so kind to the Fruits on the Mountains as in the Dales The course taken to People the Island is this they indent either as Servants or Soldiers for Five Years with the Company at the expiration of which Term they are free either to go or stay if they stay they have liberty to chuse Twenty Acres of Ground unoccupied as their own proper Portion on which they live and maintain themselves and Families of which Islanders there may be Four hundred English reckoning Men Women and Children A Week being spent Of Ascension and Catching of Tortoises the Success and we coming in first set Sail for Ascension another meer Wart in the Sea being a Barren Rock destitute of all manner of Natures Stores it being an Horrid place without any green thing Plant or Water a meer Cinâ—ercake burnt by the Sun and incrusted by the filth and slime of the Sea-Fowl who both Nest and Roost here Here is no covering or shade from the Heavens more than the Holes or Tops of Rocks no Turf nor Grass but all is scorched by the Sun's heat and here I approve rather than consent to the general Opinion of its having been once a Vulcano or Island of Fire but since no such matters appear for such a subject I shall deem it Fabulous since it would be altogether strange had it e'er been so that no Footsteps of Bitumen Sulphur or Combustible substance should remain which most an end flow from an unexhausted Fountain bred as fast as the Fire can feed upon it otherwise those ancient Fiery Mountains in Italy and elsewhere had many Ages since been consumed and we might have admired them as Poets Fictions handed by Tradition but not have had ocular Demonstration to convince the incredulous Besides the continual confluence of Flocks of Water-Fowl declare they never feared Smoak or Fire here they having paved or pargetted the whole Rock with their Filth
like manner all they have any Commerce with No Act of Hostility either on Shore or in the Road being tollerated without leave first obtained those on Shore being the Pledges forfeited on the breach of Peace Mechlapatan Dierepoint Bar Town The firm Land was plain and nothing elevated beyond the Trees unless Edifices of the European erection CHAP. IV. Takes up our stay at Mechlapatan to our Landing at Fort St. George THE next Morning the Second of the Factory the Chief being at Fort St. George The Treasure set on Shore visited the Admiral and ordered the Treasure to be set on Shore That if the empty Hollander should be so hardy as to face us their small hopes of Plunder might abate their Courage which otherwise might tempt them to attack us with the greater vigour The Boat-men that came for it were of a Sun-burnt Black The Boatmen described with long black Hair tied up in a Clout of Calicut Lawn girt about the Middle with a Sash in their Ears Rings of Gold those that were bare-headed were shorn all to one Lock which carelesly twisted up some have foolishly conceited to be left for Perimel one of their Prophets to hold fast by when he should haul them to Heaven but more truly to preserve them from the Plica Polonica which attends long Hair not cleanly kept and to which these People are incident Among these Peons or Servants to wait on us some more modish than the rest as going in a Garb more Civil Coiling Calicut about their Heads Turbat fashion on their Bodies light Vests underneath long loose Breeches and swadled about the Waist with a Sash offered their Service for a small Pension to execute our Affairs on Shore or wait on us Aboard These spake English and acquainted us how the French had set fire to four Vessels of the Moors and made Prize of four more as they were in this Road not two Months ago that they had constrained some Dutch Factories to run on score to supply their wants with Victuals and other Necessaries whose Credit by these Emergencies and their Cash failing begins to sink Money being here not only the Nerves and Sinews but the Life it self of Trade Being sent for on Shore by the desire of the Factory Landing at Mechlapatan by one of the Country Boats I was landed at Mechlapatan These Boats are as large as one of our Ware-Barges and almost of that Mould sailing with one Sail like them but padling with Paddles instead of Spreads and carry a great Burthen with little trouble outliving either Ship or English Skiff over the Bar. Which by the rapid motion of the Waves driving the Sands into an Head makes a noise as deafning as the Cataracts of Nile and not seldom as difficult a Downfal Over this the Land shuts us up on both sides and the stiller Waters contentedly do part their Streams to embrace the Town Near which a Fort or Blockade if it merit to be called so made of Dirt The Fort and Town hides half a score great Guns under the command of which several Moors Junks ride at Anchor A Bow-shot from whence the Town it self environed with a Mud Wall entrenched with a stinking Moras Chap. IV. and at some time Moated with the Sea creates a spacious Prospect it is of Form oblong Their Bank Solls Their Custom-House Keys Their Private Dwellings or Custom-House Keys where they land are Two but mean and shut only with ordinary Gates at Night The High-streets are broad set forth with high and lofty Buildings the Materials Wood and Plaister beautified without with folding Windows made of Wood and lattised with Rattans entring into Balconies shaded by large Sheds covered with Tiles Within a Square Court to which a stately Gatehouse makes a Passage in the middle whereof a Tank vaulted with a flat Roof above and on it Terras Walks are framed the one to wash in in the heat of the day the other to take the Air in the cool of the day the whole Fabrick intire within its self covered atop Taber-like The poorer of which multitudes are interspersed both in their High-streets and Allies are thatched cast round as Bee Hives and walled with Mud which in the Summers drought often take fire and lay the taller equal with the ground For publick Structures their principal Streets present sundry Mosques Publick Structures one Custom-house one Court of Judicature and that but mean For Places of resort there are three Buzzars or Market-places crowded both with People and Commodities On the North-East a Wooden Bridge The Bridges half a Mile long leading to the Bar Town on the North-West one a Mile Long tending to the English Garden and up the Country Each of which have a Gate-house and a strong Watch at the beginning next the Town Both these are laid over a Sandy Marsh where Droves of People are always thronging The present Incumbents are the Moors Persians Gentiles Sojourners Armenians who maintain their Correspondence over Land Portugals Dutch and English and some few French For the Story of it The Story of this Place and the Kingdom of Gulconda and with it of the Kingdom the Gentues the Portugal Idiom for Gentiles are the Aborigines who enjoyed their freedom till the Moors or Scythian Tartars whether mediately from Persia or immediately from that overflow of Tamerlane into these Parts is not material since they both pretend to the same Extract and that will be fitter declared in another place undermining them took advantage of their Civil Commotions For one Caff or Tribe by the Chief of which they were ruled clashing with another overturned all which that we may the better understand These Tribes were distinguished by their Occupations At first governed by their Tribes espousing therefore Vocations as well as Kindred and thereby as one was a more honourable Calling than the other so they stood upon their Nobility in that Imployment never marrying out of it As the Head were the Brachmines the Ancient Gymnosophists out of whom branched their Priests Physicians and their Learned Men. Next in esteem were the Rashwaws Rashpoots or Souldiers But the most insolent were the Artificers How altered as the Engravers Refiners Goldsmiths Carpenters and the like who behaved themselves not only disrespectfully to their Superiours but tyrannically to those of a viler Rank as the Husbandmen and Labourers Whereupon they jointly conspired their Ruin and with that their own Slavery taking the Moors to their assistance who not only reduced the Usurpers to Composition which was That they should be accounted the Off-scum of the People and as base as the Holencores whom they account so because they Defile themselves by eating any thing and do all servile Offices and not be permitted to ride in a Palenkeen at their Festivals or Nuptials but on Horseback which they count an high Disgrace but they also took the Power into their own hand which though Despotical
the next Morning between two Islands we saw sculking Six Malabar Proes waiting their Booty but making use of their Oars as well as Sails soon outstripped us The Day after we came to an Anchor at Onor Onor the first Land we touched on the Canatick Shore the Land Hilly and Barren which I went to see it is in 13 deg 10 min. North. We passed to it through a narrow Bite which expatiates into a wide Swallow and then thrusts us up the River On the North side a Bow and Arrow Castle overlooks it while it runs peaceably to the Town Where we landed the Dutch had a House and a new Junk lanched with her Colours furl'd One end of the Town stands in an hole over a Rocky Hill stands the other part upon which the Castle with its Stone Wall faces an Heath a great way yet looking asquint on the Under-woods It is built after the exact Rules of Ancient Fortifications with a Drawbridge and a Mâ—at round now a dry Ditch the Castle without Soldiers falling to decay It was built by the Portugals seized by the Canareens by the help of the Dutch between whom and the Portugals the Town of poor Buildings is divided Many of the Natives have receiv'd the Christian Faith Though those that continue in their Paganism are the most impiously Religious of any of the Indians being too too conversant with the Devil The Nairoes have no footing here nor have the Moors much They live in no diffidence of one another nor Strangers of them journeying among them without a Guide in Broad Roads not in By-Paths as in the Nations properly called the Malabars They have well-constituted Laws and observe them obediently From hence we came to Mirja in the same Dominions At Mirja the Protector of Canora came aboard I went to view the Place the Boat that carried me was Brigantine built At the Entry into the Harbour only a Rock withstands the Washes but on the Shore huge craggy Mountains are drawn up for a second Onset all of Black Stone yet somewhat undermined by the beating of the Sea where it works its self into a Syrtes on the other side of which the Fragments of the Town are shelter'd At my Landing one of their Princes was the first that welcomed me ashore who here as well as in Italy scorn not to be Merchants he was seated under a shady Tree on a Carpet spread upon the Sand and his Retinue standing about him he it seems was expecting the Protector of Canara the Raja being in Minority who came anon with his Lords and Guards armed with Swords and Gantlets Partizans adorned with Bells and Feathers as also were the Horses that carried his Luscarry or Army with such Trappings as our finest Team-Horses in England wear He ventured off to Sea to see our Ships His obstreporous Musick he was rowed by a Gang of 36 in a great deal of Pomp his Musick was loud and with the Kettle-drums made a Noise not unlike that our Coopers make on their Hogsheads driving home their Hoops He went aboard two or three Ships who entertained him with their Guns and Chears of their Men presenting him with Scarlet Cloath He is a Gentile as are his Subjects Our Lading here was Pepper Our Lading Salt-Petre and Beetle-Nut for Surat In our way from Mirja we met with a Man of War Pink commission'd from the President for the scowring these Seas which had 22 Guns and seventy odd Men the Name The Revenge Near Carwar is the Island Angediva Fam'd for the Burial of some Hundreds of our Countreymen Carwar was the Chief Port of Visiapour on this Coast Carwar the Chief Port of Visiapour now in the hands of Seva Gi. but a Grand Traytor to that King Seva Gi is now Master of it and the adjacent Countrey as far as Guzerat having well nigh forced our Factory and done other Outrages on us which would ask our Fleet a longer time to require Satisfaction if they were able than they could stay unless they would lose their Passage round the Cape of Good Hope and content themselves to winter at the Mauritius which all Ships that outstay their time are forced to For the Sun being almost at his Southern Solstice at his return he leaves a sharp Winter which we proved and adverse Winds in those Seas they lying without the Tropick which spurs them on for expedition What this Seva Gi is and the reason of his Usurped Power a longer Duration in the Countrey must declare who is every where named with Terror he carrying all before him like a mighty Torrent The Shore is Hilly and indifferent Woody near it Islets are scattered to and again The People partly Moors The People partly Moors partly Gentues partly Gentues under the King of Visiapour who was till this turbulent Seva Gi drove all into a Commotion a perfect Monarch hardly paying the Mogul Tribute when Duccan and Visiapour were united into one Kingdom Hence it is Hilly up to Guzerat though Gates hold on where the Coasts of Guzerat begin and outstretches them Fifteen Leagues to the Norward of Carwar lies Goa Goa the only place of consequence the Portugals retain of their first Discoveries The City lies up the River out of our sight on Shipboard though we could discern the River to be thwacked with small Craft without the Bar a great Carrack unrigg'd and on both sides the River Magnificent Structures The Soil Fat Level and fit for the Share many Miles together the Hills keeping a wide distance from them About two days after we passed Goa The Portugal Armado a Ship with a Portugal Flâ—g at the Main To-Mast Head weathered our Admiral and after seâ— what we were lay by for a Fleet of six more good Ships one 〈◊〉 and half a dozen Proes being their Northern Armado they fitting out one for the South also the one against the Arabs the other against the Malabars The beginning of December the North West Wind blew bitter cold upon us 〈…〉 and would hardly give the Sun leave to be Master in his own home though a Cloud in the day time ever since the Rains cleared up could hardly vapour betwixt him and the Earth At Nights we had hospitable Lights shewed us from the Shore Light-houses to mark out the Rocks which lye very thick along to intrap the unwary Pilot. In 17 deg Rajapour 20 min. North lies Rajapore a French Factory now formerly English Twenty Miles to the Northward Choul Choul a Fortress of the Portugals lay fair in sight And having the Latitude of 18 deg 40 min. North Bombaim opened its self the Tide being spent we came to an Anchor without the Bay not having our Bearings right and December the Eighth we paid our Homage to the Union-Flag flying on the Fort of Bombaim The BAY Is indented a vast Circumference Bombaim in which it is able to contain 1000 of the best Ships in Europe
Scores which none but one of my Profession must pretend to the one relating to the Women and the other to their Fortified Gurs or Castles and if it find your Acceptance it is all the Aim I have and my Pains is thereby sufficiently rewarded Bombaim 1675. Sept. 22. A RELATION OF THE Canatick-Country LETTER IV. CHAP. I. Concerning our Shipping for Carwar of the Factory there the Unsetled Condition of the Place and our coming to Goa SIR THE Pleasure you express on the Receipt of Mine Chap. I. makes me continue your Invited Trouble as truly not enjoying any thing till I know your Sentiments and therefore is it next the quieting your Concern for my Life in so unhealthy a Place I let you know Bombaim is my Station no longer than the President resides there From whence you may perceive I have had Opportunities to expatiate And now the Rains are over The President goes to Surat and Friendship concluded as well between particular Factions as the Dutch the President esteemed no Enemies so formidable as still to exact his Presence on this Island wherefore constituting Mr. Philip Gyffard in his Place he took Shipping in the Fleece for Surat accompanied by the Rainbow New London and East-India Merchant English Ships the Bombaim Merchant and other Country Ships After some time I to Carwar Seva Gi 's Naval Power Curiosity more than Business tempted me to go with the Chief of Carwar that I might see Goa In our Passage at Serapatan to the South of Dan de Rajapore a Strong Castle of Seva Gi 's defended a deep Bay where rode his Navy consisting of 30 Small Ships and Vessels the Admiral wearing a White Flag aloft Arriving at Carwar Letter IV. and the Chief going ashore he was met on the River by the Governor with two Barges and landing was welcomed by the Ordnance of the English House Carwar His Arms have Conquer'd all round Carwar what remains of it is under the New Conquest of Seva Gi being lately with Anchola Pundit Cuderah and Semissar brought under though all of them very Strong Places At which time the English were moulding a Fortification or House of Defence for their own safety when by the Assistance of a Small Pink they defended themselves from all Hostile Mischances and though their Town was wholly laid in Ashes yet they built this their stately Mansion Four-square guarded by Two Bulwarks at the Commanding Corners of the House In the mean while Seva Gi made himself Master of Carwar Castle together with the rest the Inhabitants flying to the Woods and Hills for shelter Thus it continues not without daily disturbance from these Sylvans and Mountaineers the commiserated Subjects of Visiapour who often make an Head and fall upon them by which means the Government is unsetled and the Governors shift from Place to Place Our House stands on a delicate Mead on the Ground of **** Cutteen Esq The Ground our House stands on granted by the King a Cornish Gentleman who had it by grant from the King of Visiapour being impowered by a Claim of his Countrymen to the Right of Trading to the East Indies but long since left off Seated on an Arm of the River surveying a pleasant Island stored with Game The Castle is nearer the Hills and higher up the Streams about a League off the Sea the Hills guard the Plain till they make a Bank against the Ocean Seva in his Government imitates the Moors in this Seva governs by Brachmins appointing a distinct Governor here for Town and Castle and over all these a Commander with a Flying Army who is Superintendent Into Places of Trust and Authority he puts only Brachmins or their Substitutes viz. Pundits a mean cast for Physicians Sfosdars or Centurions Subidars Havaldars Civil Governors Generals or Fighting Bishops of whom truly may be said Privata cuique stimulatio vile decus publicum They are neither for Publick Good or Common Honesty but their own private Interest only They refuse no Base Offices for their own Commodity inviting Merchants to come and trade among them and then rob them or else turmoil them on account of Customs always in a Corner getting more for themselves than their Master yet openly must seem mighty zealous for their Master's Dues So that Trade is unlikely to settle where he hath any thing to do notwithstanding his Country lies all along on the Sea-shore and no Goods can be transported without his Permission unless they go a great way about as we are forced to do It is a General Calamity The hard Usage of Seva Gi 's Subjects and much to be deplored to hear the Complaints of the poor People that remain or are rather compelled to endure the Slavery of Seva Gi The Desies have Land imposed upon them at double the former Rates and if they refuse to accept it on these hard Conditions if Monied Men they are carried to Prison there they are famished almost to death racked and tortured most inhumanly till they confess where it is They have now in Limbo several Brachmins whose Flesh they tear with Pincers heated Red-hot drub them on the Shoulders to extreme Anguish though according to their Law it is forbidden to strike a Brachmin This is the accustomed Sawce all India over the Princes doing the same by the Governors when removed from their Offices to squeeze their ill-got Estates out of them which when they have done it may be they may be employ'd again And after this fashion the Desies deal with the Combies so that the Great Fish prey on the Little as well by Land as by Sea bringing not only them but their Families into Eternal Bondage However Distractions of the Kingdom of Visiapour under the King of Visiapour the Taxations were much milder and they lived with far greater comfort but since the Death of the late King his Son being in Minority and the Kingdom left to a Protector the Nobles who held their Provinces as Feudatories or rather Vassals of him begin to withdraw their Duty Bullul Caun General under the Protector Cowis Caun an Hobsy or Arabian Coffery they being preferred here to Chief Employments which they enter on by the Name of Siddies having but the other day set upon the Protector and assassinated him who was so terrible to Seva Gi 's Men that to render him the more dreadful they speak of his Hobsies after this manner That with their Swords they are able to cut down Man and Horse That greater Commotions than yet have happened are to be expected in this Kingdom not only Seva Gi but the Mogul at this time bidding for the Kingdom Bullul Caun is a good Soldier and a Patan yet as much envied by the Duccan Princes as Cowis Caun was by him whereupon it behoves him to be watchful of their Motions to which Vigilancy adding Expedition he yet keeps them from joining Forces Where leaving him on his Guard I will present you with
at the End whereof sham Zangee an Abassin had built an old Caravan Twenty Miles from Cormoot where we met a Caphala of light Asses going for the Port and here we were obliged to change more of our Camels they being quite tired In this Plain the Heats increased upon us so that we could not touch the Walls but they were like Fire the Winds that should refresh us were ready to inflame us nor was any thing cool but the Water which they had kept in Earthen Vessels dipped in their Wells or Tanks where being drowned they came up shivering cold which was all the Comfort we received here wherefore at Sun set we made for Lhor choaked with Dust and Heat half-way at a new Caravan Ser Raw we encountred three Caphalaes laden with Dry Fruit for the Port This was founded by the Overseer of the Building of the Long-Bridge over the Lake leading to the Gulph who raised himself thereby and begins though covetous in other things to bestow his Mony on these Works having laid the Foundation for another at Sham Zangee From this Place to Lhor the Ground is more Even and fit for Cultivation the Husbandmen having planted their Cottages along the Valley on each side of a gliding Brook here and there beset with Tamerisk Trees About Nine in the Morning we came to Lhor Phor. near Forty Mile from Sham Zaugee The Hollanders have here a neat but small Dwelling whither their Commodore comes sometimes In this we designed to have worm some days away but neither the Heat nor Musquitoes would let us rest long in this City wherefore desiring to fly from these we changed our Camels for Mules that we might make better speed than these slow Animals would endure for these intemperate Seats were too hot for us so that the same Afternoon we mounted and on Horseback saw the remaining part of the City leading us on our Way The Road from Bunder to it is spacious and open through a pleasant Campaign for near Twenty Miles the Mountains observing a modest distance on that side although behind it is begirt with enough for defence at top of which is a notable Seat fit for a Castle being of difficult Access from whence those that approach may hear the Thundring Cannons roar among the Valleys which were most taken from the Portugals in their being beaten out of the Gulph Lhor is a City of an Ancient Date and still retains its Name which for that it was so guarded by Nature that it could not easily be conquered held many Ages the Majesty of a Kingdom but now it is governed by a Puritanical Caun for that he has visited Mahomet's Tomb under the Persian Emperor yet still it extends its self far in its Province reaching almost to Bunder Abassee and has two eminent Ports tending to the Mouth of Euphrates viz. Bunder Congo and Bunder Reek with half the Pearl-fishing divided between the Arab and Persian He is in such Vogue at Court for his Probity that his Neighbour Caun was ordered to submit to his Judgment before whose Tribunal he appeared to answer the Crimes objected to him in his Government However he is not so great a Bigot as to abstract himself wholly from the Pleasures of this World so as to deny himself his Paradise here for his Palaces shew not only studious Contrivances but are Luxurious both for inward Furniture and outward Beauty with which Pleasures he oftner indulges himself than he is at Leisure for Publick Affairs Before his Palaces a Foursquare Piatzo takes in a large Space of Ground with Gates to every Quarter over which his loud Musick are placed either to entertain Strangers or by their Noise to give the Time of the Day at every Three or Four Hours At the Gate entring the Palace is a constant Guard Within are stately Apartments with Lakes and Gardens equal to the Roman Pride in its Age of Wantonness but so much the more to be extoll'd by how much more this Soil is incompatible with the Italian Mold Structurae magnificae undique Latius Extructa visuntur Lucrino Stagna Lacu populosque vitis Evincit altas Tum Violaria Myrtus omnia copia narum Spargentque pometis odorem Fertilibus Frugibusque electis Aurantiorum spissior igneos Excludit ictus arbor foliis Fragrantis Hesperi Poma Auspicij pariens secunda Magnifick Buildings shortly will allow Few Acres of firm Land unto the Plough Now may be seen huge Pools to make Of much more wide Extent than Lucrin Lake The solitary Plane the Vine supplants Nor any Flower sweet Odours breathing wants As Myrtle Roses and the Violet Where the first Owner fertile Date-Trees set The Orange now to Phoebus piercing Eye Through his thick Branches Passage doth deny Besides all these there is an Exchange or Burse full of Wares in the Figure of a Cross reared with polished Stone on a large Area before the Duke's House The Water in use for the common People is chiefly Rain wherefore the Cisterns are more costly than in other Places of the same Figure as at Gombroon only some few are tubilated and built of Mud. Many Merchants possess Princely Edifices in this Town it being a Place of some considerable Trade both Inland and from the several Ports The Earth is productive of Sulphur Brimstone the most refined here whose Chymical Spirit is extracted here and is preferable to any other I never having met with more refined Brimstone they generally distil it per Campanam The Bezoar-Stone is purchased at this Mart The Bezoar-stone its name being said to befound in the Stomach of the Mountain-Goats hereabouts occasioned by some Plant they delight to feed on to which they attribute its Growth On which Subject more may be seen in Bontius Junior's Animadversions on the Second and Sixth Paragraph of Garcius ab Ortâ Whose Words are to this Effect This Stone I find not only to be generated in Persia but also in other Parts of the World and because none as I know of before my self have given the true Etymon or Derivation of this Stone or how it grows hear the Business in a few Words The Persians then call this Stone Pazahar being a Compound of Pa and Zahar the first of which is against the other is Poyson as much as if you should say in Greek Antidoton in English Counter-Poyson It grows after this manner How bred there is a Place in Persia called Stebanon as Bontius writes the Persians Shabanat Three Days Journey beyond Lhor in whose Fields there springs up an Herb like Saffronand Hermodactyls on which the Flocks of Goats or Sheep feed and by their eating thereof these Stones concrete and become an hard Substance but I suspend my Vote whether in the Stomach Reins or Bladder However that Belief may be gained for any of these seeing them halt and complain as much as Men under the same distress would more than incline the most incredulous They are not says he
the George a Ship our Agent had built in this Port I was rowed in one of their Boats till the Wind grew strong enough to Sail These Boats have been in use time out of mind the Keel is made of one piece of Timber and the Planks are sewed together with an high Prow and a low Poop The next Morning we had brought Loft on the left hand of the Island Kismash leaving a Woody Island uninhabited between Kismash and the Main At Noon we came to Bassatu an old ruined Town of the Portugals fronting Congo where we touched till the Turning of the Tide and the Sea-Breeze were forcible enough to deliver us to that Port where were Five Merchant Ships and Two Trading to Mocha for Religion Congo is something better built than Gombroon Come to Congo and has some small Adâ—antage of the Air and is about Twenty Leagues nearer the Mouth of the River Euphrates As upon Land we have observed the Fruit and all things flag for want of Rain A Dearth in the Water as well as on Land so we found the same Cry to respect the Sea for want of frequent Showers the Oysters neither bringing forth nor are any Pearls produced such Influence does common Fame allow the Heavenly Moisture to have in their Generation insomuch that little Choice is to be had and whatever is of any Value is very dear Here is great Plenty of what they call Ketchery a Mixture of all together or Refuse of Rough Yellow and Unequal which they sell by Bushels to the Russians who carry them over Land to Archangelo and disperse them through the Northern Coasts for Ornaments to their Furr Caps which being no Purchase I returned Sailing abreast of Kismash Come again to Bunder Abassee I put in at Loft the chief Place of the Island and loaded with Oysters which were the nearest our English I had yet tasted here are Creyfish Crabs Shrimps Place Soles and Smelts besides Mountains of Salt-fish for Sale From hence Gombroon is furnished with Wood where arriving we saw the Phaenix another English Ship on which before I embark I shall premise somewhat material according to my Promise of Pearls in general The Pearl is a Jewel supposed to be the Geniture of a Shell-fish called Margaritifer The Pearl congealed into a very fair transparent Diaphanous beautiful Stone which is the Partus or Birth of this Fish As concerning their Original and Conception there is some difference among Authors as betwixt Pliny and Anselmus Boetius and between them and Cardanus Pliny saith that they are conceived in Oysters by a certain Maritime Dew which these Fish and so likewise Scollops do at a Set Time of the Year most thirst after and according as the Heavens are more Cloudy or Clear in the time of the taking in of this Dew so they are generated more Fair or Obscure as may be seen in his Book where he speaks of those Pearls called Vnions and of the Shell-fish in which they are found lib. 9. c. 28. But this Opinion of Pliny concerning their Conception is not by Anselmus Boetius thought consentaneous to Truth For saith he I have taken out of these Shell-fish many Margarites and they are generated in the Body of the Creature of the same Humour of which the Shell is formed which Viscous Humour is expelled sometimes not always for the Fabrick of another Shell for whenever this little Creature is ill and hath not strength enough to belch up or expel this Humour which sticketh in the Body it becometh the Rudiments or beginning of the Pearls to which new Humour being added and assimulated into the same Nature by concreting and congealing begets a new Skin or Film for the former Rudiments the continual Addition of which Humour generates an Vnion or Pearl even as Stones are generated in the Gall or Bladder of a Man and after the same manner the Bezoar is generated in the Persian Goat Cardanus lib. 7. de Lapidibus saith It is a Fabulous thing that the Pearl should be generated by the Dew of Heaven seeing the Shell-fishes in which they are conceived have their Residence in the very bottom of the Deep That which is reported of them That they are soft in the Water and grow hard like Coral as soon as they are taken out is not true saith Boetius p. 84. For the first not only common Fame but common Experience avouches for the latter I know not why it may not be as probable as for an Egg newly laid to have the Shell harden'd as soon as dropped into the Air when before in the Ovarium it participated of a Slippery Tough Glewy Substance not otherwise to be supposed to come forth than by endangering the Foetus Vnions are so much the more esteemed It s Adulteration because they cannot easily be adulterated There are fictitious Jewels made of double Glass which being set in Gold Jewellers cannot discern from Pearl except they take them out Some will adulterate them with the Powder of the Shell of the Margarite and others with Chalk covered with Leafs of Silver and then anointed with the White of an Egg. Some adulterate them with the Powder of Pearl mix'd with the White of an Egg and dried and then polished but these will easily be discovered from the True by their Weight and Colour The Vnion is in Hebrew called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Its Names as Job 28. 20. And so the Word Gabish is interpreted by Rabbi Sevi Gerson It is also taken for Margarita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in the Proverbs it is interpreted by Junius Carbunculi Prov. 11. If they be great they are called Vnions because then they are found single in a Shell If they be small they are called Margaritae many of which may be found in one Shell together In Greek they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Latin the great Pearls are called Vniones Margaritae simplicitèr Lucian calleth the Pearl Lapis Erithreus Arrianus Lapis Indicus Statius Erithreus Lapillus Virgil Bacca Bacca Conchea Pliny Vnio Câ—cero Margarita St. Jerom Granum maris rubri and others call it Perla The Germans call it Perlin In Italian Perle In Arabick Indostan Phursistan Sulu The Indians call them Moti in Malabar Mutu Letter V. The Lusitanians call it Aljofar which in Arabic sounds as much as Julfar the Port in Sinu Persico where the most excellent Pearls are caught The kinds of Pearl are no otherwise distinguished The kinds of Pearl but either first from their Greatness or Littleness that is either as they are Vnions or Margarites or Seed-Pearl and secondly as they are of transcendent Purity Beauty and Glory or Cloudy Reddish and so less beautiful The best are found in the Persian Gulph The Places where caught shared between the Persian and Arab they farming the Fishery yearly to those that bid most between the Island Ormus and Byran and were heretofore
no Value or not worth our discourse Goats-wool becomes a thing of serious Controversy therefore it was God's Mercy we were not try'd with Stormy Weather hitherto But now we were dilemma'd not knowing what to wish when the Divine Providence sent us a West North West Gale which after we had measured the whole Coast from Persia round the Bay of Cambaia to Sinda we were drove to Diu where sounding we had Eighteen Fathom Water and bending to the South we were directed a-nights by the Light-houses and at last out-stretching the Flats we fell in with the High-lands of St. John's in India The head-Head-land of Diu is the highest Land there in view the rest of the Ground being low nor is Gates to be seen there it lies in North Latitude 21 deg 10 min. but St. John's in 10 deg being a notable high Peak on the Gaot On the first day of the Year 1978-79 and the last of the Moon the Gusts blowing horribly from Shore we were again drove to Sea till Night and anchored very uneasily while Two the next Morning when the Tide horsed us towards the Shore we not being able otherwise to prevail against the Wind with our Sails but anchoring another whole Night and Day Tollimur in Caelum curvato gurgite idem Subducta ad manes imos descendimus unda By th' rising Waves we 're lifted up on high Descending down we in the deep do lye Where we had remained had we offer'd to unfurl our Sails for the aforementioned Reasons But from our Want there sprang this Commodity our Water being well nigh all spent the Ship was better able to live her Burthen sinking aloft and thereby gave occasion to bear a steadier Poise below while we expected the abating of the Tempest in order to our happy Deliverance which at last permitted us to come more under the Land where struggling every Tide though the Water continued still troubled with foaming Billows yet observing when to gain we passed Surat River's Mouth where rode thirteen Moor Merchant-men and two great Belgians and so came to our desired Haven in Swally-hole on Twelfth-day where I remain Your Humble Servant J. F. Sending you with this the General Account of Persia which I had time to write during almost Forty Days floating upon these Waters which had like to prove as fatal to Us as the great Deluge did once to the Old World in that space of time THE Present State OF PERSIA CHAP. XI Of the various Names Situation and Bounds the Temper of the Air of the Seasons and Winds of the High and Stupendious Mountains their Advantage and Conveniency of the Fruitfulness of the Valleys occasioned by Snow upon the Hills Of the Vegetables Plants and Minerals of their Fowl Four-footed Beasts and Fishes Their Caravans Mosques Hummums Buzzars Houses and Bridges The City Suffahaun proposed as a Patern of their Government PERSIA by Classick Authors is fabled to have its Name from King Perseus Its Names Son of Andromeda it was anciently called Elam by the Hebrews and now by the Inhabitants Phursistan It is sited in the Temperate Zone Situation and Bounds under the Third Fourth Fifth and Sixth Climates In time of Yore the Monarchy of the whole World devolved upon it and which is miraculous is not quite extinguished to this day although the Bounds of the Empire were straitned or enlarged according to the ebbing or flowing of Fortune In its Infancy it was mighty for Nimrod was a Powerful Hunter that is a great Prince and as it grew up it increased in Strength but from the Grand Cyrus to Darius the Mede it seemed to be in the Flower of its Age when it was Mistress of all the Earth which the vast Ocean washes on this side and the Hellespont on the other After the Death of Alexander the Great it was miserably divided by the Contentions of his Captains and long since by the Incursions of the Saracens it has been declining unless where it has healed its self towards those Parts bordering on India by which means it has not lost much of its Modern Greatness though the Turks within this Century have forced the Low Countries of Babylon and Mesopotamia which the Persians were as willing to resign as they to take they being a continual Charge to defend and no Advantage to the Persians but rather an unnecessary Trouble On which Reflections there is nothing forbids but that with the Judicious Boterus we may state its Limits between the Caspian Sea the Persian Gulph the Lake Stoke with the Rivers Oxus and Tigris and the Bay and Kingdom of Cambaia which Tract contains in it from East to West more than Twenty Degrees and from North to South above Eighteen whereby the Days are prolonged or shortned three Hours Under this Account is to be reckoned the greater part of Georgia with the Islands in either Seas It is distinguished into Provinces the exact Number whereof as divided at present they as often changing Names as Governors I have not been certainly informed Quintus Curtius erred something when he said Temperance of the Air. Regio non alia in tota Asiâ salubrior habetur temperatum Coelum hinc perpetuum jugum opacum et umbrosum quod Aestas laevat illinc Mare adjunctum quod modico tepore terras fovet There is not a Region in all Asia esteemed healthier the Air being temperate on this hand the Heaven is shaded and the Vales defended by the Tops of Mountains which qualifies the Heat on the other surrounded with Seas and Rivers which by a friendly Warmth cherish the Land for that Places near the Tropicks make some Exceptions where in the Summer they endure great Heat not only from the nearness of the Sun because we often observe strange differences to happen in the same Climate but from the Sands and Sulphurous Exhalations steaming from the Mountains which are impregnated herewith whenas Reason persuades the Time must be hotter than in other Seasons of the Year As also in the Midland Country the Cause holds good for its intense Coldness in Winter and almost through every Quarter at Nights the Penury of Vapours where the Earth is Rocky and Mountainous the Rivers are scarce and small the Snows lye undissolved nor are there any Woods of that Bigness to hinder the freedom of the Blasts descending pure upon the Vales On which account immoderate Driness invades the Mediterranean Parts the Air is Serene and Volatile which as it is highly serviceable to the Respiration of all Living Creatures so it mightily contributes to their Preservation as well as Generation Moreover from this Rarity of the Air follows an undeniable Argument of its Frigidity and thence a farther concomitant of its Siccity from all which results a Dry Constitution for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Siccitas humores facit qualitate sicciores Driness of the Air makes the Humours drier which the Inland of Persia enjoys from a Concatenation of Causes both of Heat
and Cold. The whole Region is very fruitful of Barren Mountains High Mountains inclosing the Valleys being Excrescencies of the Mountain Taurus nor can I disbelieve in many places but that the Plains do more than enough abound with Plenty since no Place is unprovided with store of all good things but on the contrary like the Promised Land it overflows What Archiseles relates of the Island Ithica may be applied to this Country 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fragosum esse quidem sed juvencularum optimum nutritorem That it was craggy indeed but an excellent Breeder of Cattel the Sheep it brings forth are prodigiously large trailing Tails after them of the Weight some of them of Thirty Pound full of Fat they being stalled to that pitch that Hogs fed among us with the most Care and Skill cut not thicker than these do especially after Vintage and the Cotton-Harvest when they are turned in to crop the Leafs and tender Branches of the Vine and gather up the scattered Seeds of the Cotton with which they thrive so infinitely that little Flesh is to be seen it all being converted to Suet At other times for want of Pasture they brouze on Shrubs and Thistles spread to and again and in Winter are foddered with Barley-Straw and now and then with a little Barley Their Neat though small are sleek and well-liking whose Milk is very good for present spending but it 's better to make Butter on than Cheese This Country has Goats in Herds Tame ones as well as both Sheep and Goats on the Mountains which are Fierce and Wild producing Bezoar which together with Stags and Antelopes are caught by Hawks instructed for that purpose Their Horses Their Four-footed Beasts though they have degenerated from their Primitive Race inest enim Equis patrum virtus for even in Horses the Virtue of their Sires are communicated to their Breed still are they the best of all the East unless the Arabian be preferred for swifter Coursers and light Horses However for Charging Horses and Stout Warlike Steeds they are valued above all others The Asses though little yet will they amble with a quick Pace over Mountains where Horses cannot pass and those used to Packs are such as no other Nation can equal The Mules and Camels are their over Land Ships by which they transport their Merchandise over all the Earth Hyrcania brings forth Wild Beasts such as Foxes Wolves and Tygres but for want of Dens and Lurking-places and by reason of the untilled and waste Desarts being devoid of Food is less infested with them than other places wherefore in long travelling here they go more unconcerned than in those parts where they are constantly alarmed by them and are forced to be on their Guard lest at unawares they should be surprized they snorting every where securely under the wide Canopy of Heaven and those that set upon the Flocks by chance are easily mastered by the Shepherds Curs which are sharp Biters Wild Fowl both for Wing and Water Wild Fowl are brought forth in great Plenty of all sorts near the Fountain-heads and Inundations of the melted Snow falling not into Channels but overspreading the Bottoms where they dissolve whereby they seldom stretch into Rivers at length but stagnate in the Low Grounds which they wash In which Washes sometimes are spawned Mud-Fish Fishes and such as Fens and Lakes are famous for The Caspian Sea nourishes Salmon Trouts and Sturgion and the Persian Gulph sends abroad much Fish for salting the Rivers are not very full nor are they stocked with great Variety Breadâ—Corn in many places admits a threefold Crop The Valleys made fruitful by the Snow from the Hills and generally without that Toil by Water-Courses as between the Tropicks the Rains in most places bestowing a more welcome Nutriment but more especially from the white Spume of the Celestial Waters with which the Hills are coated all the Seasons of the Year in Winter crusted by Frost in Summer by reason of the Sun's Heat and more exalted Motion thawed thereby constantly distilling on the humble Vales an inexhausted Store as wealthy as what flows from Aemus Tops to enrich the Thessalian Fields Where these Supplies are not so lasting or altogether wanting as nearer the Zodiac there often under Ground a Vault is continued for many Leagues with open Pits at a fit distance to let in the Air and the Water carried deep to keep it from tasting of the Salt Surface after the manner of common Sewers in our great Cities which it would do were not the Wells Mouths left open For Houshold Service Rain-Water is only used In all this Country neither Oats nor Grass are found because longer Time is required to their springing up than either the Intervals of Heat or Cold will grant for no sooner does the Spring enter than the Sun defaces their Verdure by parching up the Blades of either and when Autumn claims Preeminence at its Equinox then no sooner do they peep out than they are nipped by the Recess of the Innate Heat Wherefore no Green Meadows or spangled Fields are here expected but such as are created by indefatigable Labour unless they be hoped to be seen in Vintages or under Groves or Orchards or by Rivulets sides gliding from the declining Hills The first are set generally on Fruitful Ridges of the Eastern Mounts Denique apertos Bacchus amat Colles Virg. Georg. 2. The latter are the frequent Advantages to Villages and the sweet Pleasure of the larger Towns where Trees and Flowers grow up together that the one may yield a safe shelter to the other against the Extremes of Heat or Cold in both whose Prime a fragrant Blandishment conspire no less than to entice the willing Senses But for Elegancy of Culture and choice of Slips I see them not over emulous which Neglect gives just occasion of Wonder since their Worldly Happiness is placed in fine Gardens which no Nation appears to me more to Idolize For Fuel Plants the combustible Heath is more common than flourishing Trees for Timber but for Sallads it yields all that are desirable both Herbs and Roots and some of the most Medicinal Plants are of the Natural Growth of this Country There is an heavy Tax laid upon Tobacco Tobacco though it be the choicest in these Parts To these Blessings for Pleasure Manufactories Necessity and Physick are added others for Profit Gums the most Rich distil every where From Carmania Goats-Wool as much to be prized as Jason's Golden Fleece with which our Hatters know well how to falsify their Bevers and the Natives how more honestly to weave both Cloth and Carpets very fine which they sell at dear Rates The Flocks and courser Wool of their Sheep stand them in some stead they kneading it into Felts for Seamless Coats for the ordinary sort of People for their common wearing and their Skins with the Wool on are both an Ornament and Safeguard against the roughest
Mogâ—â—s Secretary's Reasons to disâ—â—adâ—â—ne Emperor from his persecuting the Heathens he hardly forbears uttering his Mindâ— about his Intention to make all the Heathen Musselmen and told his Chief Scrivan seriously one day That he must lose his Place unless he would be of his Religion To which the subtle Heathen replied Sahab i. e. Sir why will you do more than the Creator ever meant You see hardly two Faces bear exactly the same Features Look farther into the World and behold the variety of Creatures God has made Elephants Tygres Horses Camels Sheep and Oxen of different Figures and Man of a more exalted Composure than the rest whereas had the All-wise Disposer of Things thought it convenient he might have rested contented in one only Form but every one of these in their several Species glorifies their Maker And so it has pleased God to permit Variety of Religions by which Men worship and call upon him nor can they go on in any one against his Will to which whatever is contrary cannot continue and till he make Men to be of one mind in vain does any go about to compel what he has ingrafted in their hearts This rational Discourse kept the Brachmin in his Office but could not quite extinguish his conceived Prejudice against their Superstitions Which he made appear by giving Order to demolish all the Temples and deface the Pagods his Army had possessed themselves of in Asmire the Country of Raja Jessinsin and chiefly Chetore felt in a few days the Overthrow of what many years could not entirely finish most magnificent Marble Structures being levell'd to the ground and laid prostrate to his Rage and Fury A Draught of which City is herâ— inserted being transmitted by an English Gunner in that Service an Eye witness both of its Glory and Destruction A Place by Site invincible had not the Mogul's Commanders Treachery gained on the Faith of an easy Woman who relying on their Mediation neglected the Means of her own Security there being neither Men nor Ammunition to oppose his Entry whereupon they left all open and retreated in disorder from the approaching Foe to Places better provided and inaccessible to any but those who are acquainted with the Recesses Sullying hereby the brave Provocation that drew on her the Emperor's Arms which she might have prevented at first by a mean Compliance or more nobly now by a stout Resistance rather than by a base Flight yield to the Will of a devouring Enemy which not only keeps fast hold by a sufficient â—â—ece but does despite to their Altars and lays waste their Country Gods This shews either want of Conduct or an abject Spirit in the Rashpoots or at least an irresolute Temper in the Ranna who did unadvisedly dare when she was impotent to maintain the Challenge or which is worse she foolishly applied her sell to the Servants when the Master was proud of her Fetters she being a Rare Creature So that the ground of this Quarrel however hypocritically gilded with an Holy War is Love as is demonstrable from the kind Offers left with the Plenipotentiaries towards an Accommodation unless the fordid and unfaithful humour of his Cauns should prompt him to clap up a Peace that he might be more at leisure to ward himself and free his Affairs from such corrupt Ministers What the Cause is though unknown yet that his Forces were withdrawn from following his good Fortune in the midst of his Career against the Infidels appears a Riddle if it be not to carry on the Custom of this Empire never to go through with any Conquest This Year a Drought was feared A Drought feared which the Brachmins interpret a Judgment for the Emperor's persecuting the Gentues which whether it gain credit among all People I cannot tell But that Night and Day a mixed Multitude of all sorts run through the Streets of this City after the Brachmins carrying a Board with Earth upon their Bare-heads and crying Bowo hege panne bes on which old and young make the Chorus to the Precentor sprinkling Water and sowing Rice thereon saying the same after the Brachmin which in English is God give us Water and on this impending Affliction they are very charitable and give great Largesses to the Poor I should have concluded these Remarks here had not a wonderful Sign in the Heavens appeared to call for our Animadversion A Comet which beginning the Twentieth of November disappeared not till the latter end of January which enters on the next Year that within the space of our Europe Fleet may bring you the Rise and Fall of the most prodigious Comet I ever was witness to or it may be the oldest Man alive What makes me the more willing is that I may have your Account over Land whether it was visible in England and what Observations our prying World have made thereon Eleven degrees from the Earth South-East a terrible flaâ—â—ing Torch was seen in the Skies in Capricorn near the Head oâ— Sagittarius darting it's Rays upwards to the Stars at first not above two Ells in a small Stream but day by day as it inclined to the Horizon the Flame grew longer but slenderer it rose first at Three in the Morning and so later and later till the Sun out-shone it and as if it had circled the Globe at last it arose and set at Nights after the Sun was down when we beheld it W. N. W. which was on the Evening of the Twelfth of December and about Seven at Night at first no bigger than a man's hand from its coming forth of the Horizon which thence arose with a mighty Fulgor or shining Light for more than Nine Degrees as big as a Rainbow towards the highest part of the Hemisphere or to speak more truly like a Pillar of Fire whose Basis whether for its tardy rise or the Clouds gathered about the Atmosphere I could not discern till the Seventeenth it setting about Nine of the Clock but after that time it ascended above the Horizon and passing the middle of the Heavens which afore it seemed to enlighten after Seven as it grew higher at lost of its Brightness and Splendour but looked more fiery January the 16th 1680-81 it had attained its Zenith when about the Noon of Night it vanished and so by degrees at last it came to nothing While this was reigning several in the Hole and Buzzar at Swally attested they saw two Moons others of our English-men out a Hunting after Sun-set saw an unusual Star of the bigness of the Sun which must certainly be this fiery Ejaculation striking obliquely upwards being equally thick until its highest part had stretched its self into a Colum. It pointed towards the North and whether it be Meteor Comet or Exhalation it is certainly ominous and since they disclaim its Influence here I wish it may not affect our Europe Kingdoms for says Claudian In caelo nunquam spectatum impune Cometam In Heaven no Comet ever shin'd Which was not
that it seems incorporated with it These Birds are so heedless or fool-hardy Foolish Birds which I cannot tell that they will fly so near as to be struck down with a Cane When I went to Land if such it may be called bating the Sands around the Rocks we could tread no other Ground but on Stones cemented by the Sun's heat all the advantage or pleasure proposed was to stretch our Legs and see the Seamen turn the Turtles or Tortoises which they did anights when they came ashoar to lay their Eggs which these Sands hatch they lying in ambush betwixt them and the Sea and with Hand-spikes casting them on their Back at which they must be yare for they perceiving themselves pursued make towards the Sea and cast a cloud of Sand upon the Assailants with their Feet or Claws they are very big and sometimes as much as Three or Four Men can do to lay them sprawling where as fast as one is conquered they leave it to master 〈◊〉 for they cannot rescue themselves out of that posture so that what they serve thus in the Night they are sure to find them in the Day where they left them and so bring them aboard Ship for their fresh Food the Flesh of some being as much as our little Indiâ—â— Bullocks Of these we gathering for the Four Ships that were behind to 〈◊〉 no time they turned One hundred and twenty whereof Eight and twenty came to our share which without any other subâ—â—stence than three or four times a day throwing Sea-water on them we kept alive above a Month on which the Ship 's Crew fed daily with great eagerness while they lasted dressing their Flesh several ways and besides that these are reckoned the best in the World and to which they fall the more greedily because they are esteemed specifical for the Scurvy Pox or Gout they fancying their whole Mass of Blood to be altered by them and their Flesh to become new and sound again and this Opinion takes the rather because through all the Emunctuaries and especially near the Genitals they see the colâ—â— of their Sweat altered to a nasty yellow Green And indeed to â—peak the truth whether Fancy or real virtue in this sort of Dyet be the cause they continue healthy and lively while they feed thereon and will mightily lament the want of it when spent because they must return again to their salt Meats In catching of these we tarried five Days in which I had time enough to recollect my Thoughts about these Creatures but having already been particular thereon I shall forbear to add more Only the Custom of this place is to leave Letters of what Ships have been here in a great Hollow of a Rock sealed in a Glass Bottle and where the Portugals have erected a Wooden Cross to affix Leaden or Brass Plates Engraven An Example whereof may be this Anno Domini 1677-78 Martij 14. In Nave Aureum Vellus dictâ Joanne North Navarchâ huc appulerunt Edmundus Hallaey Jacobus Clerk ab Insulâ Sanctae Helenae reduces ubi Observationibus coelestibus Annum integrum impenderunt Ascension lies under the Seventh Degree of South Latitude 250 Leagues from St. Helens which we made in a Weeks time from thence with a North-West Course here is little Meridional distance East from England not much more than two Degrees but now we must go more Westward to meet with the Winds and this is just as the Sun is upon his Summers Solstice in our Countries but here quite contrary In the middle of June we came under the Arch of the Aequator Isle of St. Thomas where lies St. Thomas Island and elevating the Arctick Pole six Degrees we met with Storms and some Calms this then was the reason we moved but slowly till the Sun began to be vertical it bringing those Winds with it which were for our turn to wit the North-East Winds which was the Twelfth of July before we had it the last time perpendicular in Twenty Degrees North and an half the next day made us parallel with Surat insomuch that all this while we seem to have done nothing being no farther baâ—ing our Western way than where we set out which would be â—â—ident could we have paffage through the Red-Sea into the Mediterranean but Nature having opposed a small Neck of Land or Sixty Miles has thought fitter to let the unquiet Ramblers go about these vast Coasts than to cut them out a nigher Way â—o â—to long undiscovered Regions The Sixteenth we passed the Northern Tropick into thâ—â— ethperâ—te Zone A bold Act of an Algier Slave where take an account of a desperate Action In the Josiah an English Seaman held in Captivity by the Algerâ—ens had so perfected himself in that durance in the Art of Thieving that nothing could escape him in which being often Apprehended and as often bound with Chains and Ropes they were all too little to hold him fast for he could unty the hardest Knot with his Toes as well as Fingers and was expert at filing or eating ofâ— his Irons But continuing in these Pranks nothing could be safe from him even the Ships-stores were imbezelled by him which touched the Lives of all in the Ship he having several times broken open the Lazeretto from which no Correction could deter him at last assured by a general Consult some punishment was devising for him he unmanacled himself and came before them as they were thinking what to do with him and bidding them Adieu leapt into the Sea at once putting an end to their Consult and his Fear and Fury In Thirty Degrees North we met with Alga or Sea Weed supposed to be brought hither by the rapid Course of the Gulf of Florida which notwithstanding is a great way to the West off us The North-East Winds have been very faint hitherto The Azores whereby we were hindred from meeting with the South West Winds sooner but between 30 and 40 North they enter to purpose that in the beginning of August we left the Western Islands which are called Flandricae or the Azores which lie between the Isles of Corvo and Flores where many place the first Meridian because here is found in these Seas and the parts adjacent that the Magnetique Needle has no declination from the Meridian Line and that it points out North and South exactly which beginning of Longitude Mercator observes in his Tables And now we set our Face directly for England England knowing by our Account we are past these Spots of Earth which those returning from India think themselves obliged to be secure of before they do we having depressed our Longitude West from Ascension Eighteen Degrees take a North-East Course and being past forty Degrees North we take our Fortune both for Wind and Weather sometimes fair sometimes foul sometimes for us sometimes against us till having our Latitude almost compleat we again raised our Longitude within a Degree and half of that of
Covetous Man 138 Fighting with Mountains harder than fighting with Men 171 First-Fruits exacted by the Emperor of Persia 248 Great Fish prey on the little as well on the Land as in the Sea 147 Rotten Fish cause a poysonous Stench 55 Fish and Fowl dedicated to Sacred Uses 259 Flattery odious in a Generous Spirit much encouraged 131 Flesh eaten as we do pernicious in East-India 82. Flesh more eaten on the Island Bombaim in a Month than in Surat in a Year 68. Flesh roasted peculiar to the English Nation 82 Flies cover the Table 30 Flying Fish 4 To Foot it through the City a sign of the greatest Poverty 361 Forbidden to burn the Wives with the dead Husband 109 Force without Counsel of no value 45 Foreign Ministers have a Respect equal to their Privy Counsellors 314 Founders pervicaciously vain-glorious 226 Franciscans touch no Money 150 Fraud performs what Force could not 173 Freemen the most Slaves 86 French bad Neighbours to the English 43 French force St. Thomas from the Moors 42 Friendship not suspicious 168 Frost at Surat 187 Friday set apart for the Moors Worship 95 130 Funnels to let in Wind to the Houses at Gombroon 222 Futurity not regarded 226 G. GAbers the Ancient Persians 265. Their Garb the same as those portray'd on the Walls of Persepolis 266 Instant Gain preferr'd before Glory or future Emolument 65 Ganges what esteem among the Indians 188 Gaot or Mount Sephir crosses the Continent North and South as the Taurus does East and West 124 Gardens idolized 330. Gardens granted by the King's Favour for Diversion 104 Garlick used in Lethargick Distempers 114 137 Garments shaken in token of Innocence 281 Gentiles scruple to kill their Neat yet make no Conscience to work them to death 143 Gentues had rather kill a Man than suffer a Beast to be led to the Stall 155 Geographers reckon Gates or the Gaot Mount Sephir 126 Georgians make the Infantry among the Persians as the Jarâ—zaries do among the Turks 284 359. Are Christians of the Greek Church 284 Gibralter the farthest Point South of all Europe â—â—3 Girls among the Armenians espoused aâ— soon as Christned to prevent the Emperor's Usurpation 276 Gizard of an Hobera good in an Asthma 318 Goa well seated 154 Goats from Carmania sent to endeavour a Breed on St. Helena 325 God infatuates those he will destroy 165 God's Decrees not to be known by us 373 Godliness not only the chief but fundamental of all other Virtues 367 Gold prevails more than Right 382. Gold though it grows not in India yet it stays there 112 Goods ill gotten thrive not 353 Government of India Tyrannical 194. Arbitrary 197. Government of Persia the most Absolute 251. Government of Seva Gi both Tyrannical and Barbarous 152 Governors ought to observe Laws 385 Governors expect large Gratuities to license Heathen Ceremonies 118. Governors of Castles confined within Limits 99 138. Governors in Fee with the Publick Notaries 140 Grandeur of the World momentary 266 Grapes without Stones 242 Greatness of the Portugals expressed by their number of Sumbreroes and Cofferiâ—s 74 Greek Church and Language abominated by the Armenians 283 Groves of Beetle-Nut Trees represent a Place of Worship 40 Gulconda its King how chosen 29. Aw'd by the Mogul 166 Gun cloathed with Scarlet that has made any notable Breach slain any great Soldier or done any extraordinary Feat 177 Gurgulets called so from the sound is made when Water is poured out of them to be drunk as the Indians do without touching it with their Lips 47 H. HAbits of the Armenian Clergy 275 Hands and Feet chief Instruments and so used among the Gentiles 113 Hatmakers adulterate Bevers with Carmania Wool 330 Harbour at Goa a fortunate and well-weigh'd Choice 154 Hawks of Muscovy in great esteem 291 Health not to be impaired but the Mind 〈◊〉 strengthned by a due subjection 280 Heathens admire their Brachmins foretelling Eclypses 109. Heathens in India hold the Antiquities of Pan Ceres and Flora 44. They are polled by the Mâ—gul 117 Heats unhealthy 76. Their ill effect remedied 235 Hâ—rnia Umbilicalis or Navel-Rupture 21 Hills of Red Earth 55 Hing used to correct a Windy Stomach 114. Cakes of Hing 239 Hobsies with their Swords able to cut down Man and Horse 147 Hodges or Pilgrims Holiness makes them proud 369. Lay Burthens on others and exempt themselves 319 Hogs unclean 34 Hollanders only carry Money from Surat 112 Holencores viliâ—ied for eating every thing and doing servile Offices 28 Holidays observed especially Sunday 186 Honesty of the Country People 251 Honours breed Emulation 140. Hopes of Honour being frustrated there can be no desire of Glory 356 Horse intomb'd 158. Horses have the Virtue of their Sires communicated to them 329. Used gently in the East 100. High-mettled 140. Not put to carry Packs Oxen being for that Service 34 118. Horses never gelded or cropped either Ears or Tails 118 Hospitals for Beasts 53 Hot Countries as they are bad for young and lively are good for Women and Old Folks 69 Hottentots mere Barbarians 422 Houses on Wheels 230. Houses of Office none at Goa they doing their Needs a-top of their Houses 156. House of Office kept cleanly 71. A piece of Courtesy to direct Strangers to them 71 Humanity turned into Avarice no Benefit 239 I. St. IAgo Natives thievish and cunning 9 Jasper Antonio Author of the Goa-Stones 149 Ice drank frequently pernicious to most Bodies 311 Idea of Religion as it is true or false so it happens there results a true Piety Superstition or Idolatry 387 Idleness makes Work 345 Jealousy the Overthrow of the Indians 27 Cause of Distraction Page 116 Jenneah the Imperial City of the Duccan Kings 139 Jesuits rich despise Government chief Traders 159 Jews wear a Patch of different Colour only at Lhor where the Caun has been a Pilgrim 277. Jews ripped open on suspicion of eâ—â— practice against the Emperor 315. Jews allow Dispensations to avoid the Inquisition 185 Ignorance the Mother of Devotion 44 Imaum Guardian of Mahomet's Tomb 220 Immunity from Customs granted Musselmen out of a Religious Fit 98 Immuring a Punishment for Robbers in Persia 243 318 Indians paint their Forheads to distinguish their Tribes 32. Idolaters eat only with their own Tribe Ib. Indostan has no Character to express its self in 191 Industry of the Portugals commended 221 Inflammation cured by the Butter of Gourds 242 Influence of the Climate 402 Innkeepers unprovided 341 Inquisidor the Chief Judge always a Dominican 149 Inquisition a terrible Tribunal 148. Called the Holy Office 155 Inquisitiveness into the Affairs of the Banyans revenged with Poyson 85 Intemperance the Cause of short life 69 Interest obliges to be faithful 167 Interloping destructive to the English Trade 86 Interpreters for Europeans are allowed each a Wine-press in Persia 224 Insects generated in every Plant 242 Johanna Natives simple and innocent 19 Their Infants have large Penes 21 Don John de Castro's Virtue Valour and singular Probity