fronts the North and at the end of the Court there is a Portico supported by six Pillars by which they enter into the Mosque which is covered with a very large Dome The Mosque of Hasan having one less on each side they are all three covered with lead Its Founder was a Basha called Hasan who at his death left money to build that Mosque and his own Tomb. The Basha's Serraglio Going forward we came to a place of the Street where on the left hand stands the Basha's Serraglio which seems pretty enough Over the Gate there is a Pavillion in form of a Pyramid but it is onely of Earth and not faced it is the appartment of the Basha's Kiaya and the Castle is on the right hand The Serraglio gate or of Bazar Espahi The Castle of Damascus The Gate called Bab-Espahi or Bab-Bazar-Espahi is in this place We entered the Town and went along by the Castle which was on our left hand the Ditch wherein there is Water being betwixt us That Castle serves for a Wall to the Town on that side and it reaches almost to the Gate of Paboutches it is a large square well built fabrick of Free-stone Table cut the Walls of it are very high and at certain distances there are large high square Towers built as the rest are and very near one another Having walked all along that side we went along the second side which serves also for a Wall to the Town There we saw a stone-Chain made of a single Stone though it consists of several Links cut one within another it is fastened very high to the Wall There was another Chain longer than this but six years agoe it was broken down by foul Weather and fell into the Ditch From thence we passed by the Gate of the Castle where we saw some Cannon that defend the entry of it then we went to the Market-place of Paboutches Two Mosques formerly Churches and having crossed it we went through little Streets to one where there are two Mosques in which are the Sepulchres of some Kings of Damascus having been formerly the Churches of the Christians There is no seeing into one of them but we looked into the other through lovely Grates of well polished Steel This Mosque is compleatly round and covered with a lovely Dome of Free-stone in which there are several Windows all round it is faced in the inside with Marble of various Colours from the Pavement to the height of three fathome or thereabouts and from thence up to the Windows there are several fair Paints of Churches and Trees after the Mosaick way In the middle of the Mosque there are two Tombs one by another upon a Floor of Marble raised about a Foot and a half high These Tombs are of Cedar-wood very well wrought they are about four or five Foot high and ridged They say that the one contains the Body of King Daer who being a Christian turned Turk and persecuted the Christians cruelly and the Turks affirm that no Candle nor Lamp can be kept lighted there it is certain that both times I past that way I saw none Near to these Tombs there are some Alcorans chained to desks of the same matter the Tombs are of and though all the times I passed that way I saw no body at them yet I imagine there are men hired to read the Alcoran for the Souls of these Kings according to the Custome of the great Lords of the Mahometan Religion who commonly at their death leave great Estates for performing such Prayers The great Mosque of Damascus Having considered this Mosque as much as we could we came to another which is called the great Mosque I took several turns about it to see it by the doors which were open for a Christian dares not set foot within it nor stand at the door neither Some Turks offered indeed to take me in with a Turkish Turban on my head but I would not embrace that offer for had I been known I must have died since by God's Assistance I would not renounce my Faith. On the West-side they enter that Mosque by two great brazen Gates near four fathom high which are very well wrought and full of odd Figures in the middle of each of them there is a Chalice well cut By the doors I saw the breadth of that Mosque which may be about eighteen fathom it hath two ranges of large thick Pillars of grey Marble of the Corinthian Order which divide it into three Isles and of all these Pillars each two support an Arch over which are two little Arches separated by small Pillars which look much like Windows The Pavement is all of lovely stones that shine like Lookinglass That great Mosque which reaches from East to West is covered with a sharp ridged wooden Roof and hath a very large Dome in the middle but on the Noth-side at the place where that Dome is largest there are little arched Windows all round and from these Windows three or four foot higher which is also their height it is faced with green Stone glazed which makes a lovely object to the sight and the rest is rough cast with Lime On each side of the Front of the Mosque there is a square Steeple with Windows like to ours but the higher and larger is on the East-side and they say it was made when that Church was first built which since hath been converted into a Mosque The Turks affirm that Jesus is to return into this World by that Steeple There is a third Steeple behind the Dome The Steeple of the Messias which is diametrically opposite to that of the Messias and this last is round and hath been built by the Turks aswell as the other less square one One Night of the Ramadan I went upon the Terrass-walks to the Windows of that Mosque which are made like the Windows of our Churches and have panes of glass set in Plaister which are wrought into Figures I looked in through a quarry of one of these Windows from whence I saw the end of the Mosque which I could not through the others because on the outside they have wire Lettices There by the Lamp-light I perceived in the Keblay which is exposed to the South a hole grated over with gilt Iron The head of St. Zachary wherein they say the Head of St. Zachary is kept I could see no more of the Ornaments except the Lamps which are in great Number and the Pillars I mentioned Besides the two ranges of Pillars which are in the Body of the Mosque to the Number of six and thirty eighteen to each rank there are at least threescore more aswell in the Court as at the Portico's which make the Entrys into the Court. Take this account of what I could observe of that Court its Porches and of all the outside of the Mosque having taken several turns round it On the West-side there are three Brazen Gates embelished with
in time of Divine Worship that by the sight of them the Devotion of the men might not be disturbed Constantine's Tomb. There is a Tomb to be seen there which the Turks say is the Tomb of Constantine and a stone also upon which as they believe our Lady washed our Lords Linnen and they bear great reverence to it Heretofore this Church was painted all over A Stone reverenced after the Mosaical way and some pieces of it are still to be seen as Crosses and Images which the Turks did not half deface when they endeavoured to rub them out for they suffer no Images On the outside of this Church Minarets there are four Minarets or Steeples very high and slender yet one may go up to the top of them they have several stories of Balconies all round them from whence the Muezins call to prayers This Church with the appurtenances of it was heretetofore much bigger than it is at present the Turks having cut off a great deal from it and it has served them for a pattern to build their Mosques by Close by the back of this Church in a litte street not far from its entry are two large and thick Pillars where they say Justice was heretofore administred others say that there were three of them and that upon each Constantine caused a brazen Cross to be erected and that upon every Cross one of these words Jesus Christ Surmounts was engraven in large Greek Characters Near to that place there is an old Tower where the Grand Signior's Beasts are kept there I saw Lyons Wolves Foxes Leopards a spotted Lynx Loup-cervier the skin of a Giraffe and other rare Animals Santa Sophia being the Model for all the fair Mosques of Constantinople wherein there are seven Royal ones that of Solymania Solymania is very like to it it is a great Mosque full of Lamps at the end of which there is a little Chappel or Turbe Solyman's Coffin and in it the Coffin that holds the body of Sultan Solyman the Founder of that Mosque this Coffin stands upon a Carpet spread upon the ground which was brought from Medina and over it there is a Pall brought from Mecha which Town is represented upon the Pall. At one end of the Coffin there is Turban to which are fastened two Herons tops enrich'd with precious stones and about it are many Tapers and Lamps burning with several Alcorans chained that they may not be stoln and that people may read them for the salvation of the defuncts Soul and indeed there are men there at all times reading the Alcoran who are hired to do it for the Grand Signiors take care to leave a fund for continual Prayers to be said for them after their death Near to this Chapel there is another in the middle whereof is the body of a Sultana whom Solyman loved extremely and the body also of a Son of Selim the son of Solyman the Second This Mosque hath a most lovely Cloyster with Bagnios and Fountains The New Mosque A fair Portico The new Mosque built by Sultan Achmet is one of the fairest and most magnificent in Constantinople The entry into it is through a large Court that leads to a Portico which hath a gallery covered in length by nine Domes and in breadth by six supported by marble Pillars and leaded then you enter as into a square Cloyster having many necessary houses about it Necessary Houses about the Mosque And Water near them with each a cock that gives water for purifying those that have done their needs there according to the custom of the Turks and there is also a lovely Fountain in the middle of the Cloyster the Mosque joyns to this Cloyster and the door of it is in it It is a very great Mosque and hath a stately Dome and it is full of Lamps and curiosities in glass balls of which one for instance contains a little galley well rigg'd another the model of the Mosque in wood and the rest a great many pretty knacks of that nature at the back of this Mosque there is a Turbe where are the bodies of Sultan Achmet and his children upon their Coffins there is a great Chiaoux Cap a big wax Taper standing by each of them and alwaies somebody there praying for the rest of their souls The chief entry into that Mosque is in the Atmeidan Mosque of Sultan Mehemmet Mosque of Selim Mosque of Chabzadeb Mosque of Bajazet Poor Scholars maintained at the Charge of the Mosque There are besides several other fair Mosques in Constantinople as the Mosque of Sultan Mehemmet near the angle at the end of the Port that of Sultan Selim a little more remote from it that which is called Chabzadeh Mesdgidi that 's to say the Kings Sons Mosque because a son of Solyman built it near the Oda of the Janisaries And the Mosque built by Bajazet near to the old Seraglio All these Mosques have hospitals and schools where a great many poor schollars who have not means of their own to keep them are maintained and educated CHAP. XVII Of the Hyppodrome the Pillars and Obelisks of Constantinople IN former times there were a great many fair Statues Obelisks and Pillars in Constantinople but they have been all so ruined that there are but a few of them remaining The ancient Hyppodrome is still to be seen and of the same dimensions as it was formerly of it is a very large square longer than broad Hyppodrome Atmeidan which was called Hyppodrome because horses were exercised to run there and the Turks still exercise them there daily and call it the Atmeidan which is as much as to say the place or field of horses in the middle of this place there is an Obelisk pretty entire An Obelisk marked with hieroglyphick Letters and some steps from thence a pretty high pillar A Pillar of three Serpents all made of Stones layd one upon another without any ciment A little further towards the end of the Square there is a Pillar made of three brazen serpents twisted together the heads of which at some distance from one another make the capital of the pillar Mahomet the second having taken Constantinople with the blow of a Zagaye or Mace of Arms beat off the under jaw of one of those heads Talisman against Serpents and some say that this pillar being placed there for a Talisman against serpents that breach is the cause that serpents have come there since which before they did not however they do hurt because say they the pillar is still in being there There are two other fair pillars in the Town the one very ancient Historical Pillar called the Historical Pillar because all round from the bottom to the top it is full of figures in bas relief like those of Antoninus and Trajan at Rome and it is said to be the History of an Expedition of Arcadius who erected it and put his Statue
there was no Guardian there attended by all the Monks and Pilgrims that were in the Convent making us sit down on a Couch of crimson Velvet washed the Feet of us four one after another in Water full of Roses then kissed them as after him did all his Monks singing in the mean time many Hymns and Anthems When this Ceremony was over they gave to each of us a white Wax-taper which they told us we should carefully keep because they carried great Indulgences with them and then we made a Procession about the Cloyster singing Te Deum laudamus to thank God for the favour he had shew'd us in bringing us sound and safe to that Holy Place They made us perform the Stations at three Altars to wit at the High Altar dedicated to the Holy Ghost at the Altar of our Lord's Supper and at the Altar of our Lord 's appearing after his Resurrection to the Apostle St. Thomas singing at every one of these Altars the proper Hymns for the places CHAP. XXXVII The first visiting of the Dolorous Way and other Holy Places I Shall not much enlarge in describing the Holy Places because I can say nothing of them but what hath been already said by so many who have visited them and especially by Monsieur Opdan who hath lately published a Book wherein all the Holy Places are very well and as fully as they can be described I shall therefore only speak of them as a Traveller and observe them in the order I saw them in The day we arrived we stirred not out of the Convent but next day after the thirteenth of April which was the Saturday before Palm-Sunday we went out of the Convent about eight of the clock in the morning The Judgement-Gate in Jerusalem with the Father who takes care of the Pilgrims to begin our Visites of the Holy Places and first we passed near to the Judgment-Gate through which our Saviour went out bearing his Cross when he went to Mount Calvary and it is called the Judgment-Gate because those that were condemned to Death went out of the City by it to the place of Execution at present it is within the City Having advanced a few steps we saw on our right hand the House of Veronica The House of Veronica who seeing our Saviour coming loaded with his Cross and his Face besmeared with Sweat and Spittle went out of her House and having made way through the Croud took a white Veil off of her Head and therewith wiped our Lord's Face who in testimony of his thankfulness for that charitable office left the Image of his Holy Face stamped upon her Veil which is shewn in St. Peter's at Rome four times a year There are four Steps up to the Door of this House Next to that on the right hand is the House of the Rich Glutton then on the left The House of the Rich Glutton the place where our Saviour said to the Women of Jerusalem who wept Weep not for me but for you and your Children A little after is the place where Simon the Cyrenean helpt our Lord to carry his Cross when he fell down under that heavy burthen Then on the right hand is the place of the Blessed Virgin 's Trance who fainted away when she saw our Lord bearing his Cross and so spightfully used Proceeding on our way about an hundred paces farther we passed under the Arch upon which Pilate set our Lord saying Behold the man it is a large Arch reaching from one side of the street to the other The Arch of Ecce Homo This Arch hath two Windows that look into the street which are separated only by a little Marble Pillar Under these Windows is this Inscription Tolle Tolle Crucifige eum Beyond that Arch at the end of a street on the left hand is the Palace of Herod where our Lord was cloathed with a white Robe in derision and sent back to Pilate with whom Herod being formerly at variance was that day reconciled Leaving that street on the left hand after a few steps you come to the Palace of Pilate on the right hand The Palace of Pilate which is at present inhabited by the Basha The Stairs of that Palace are to be seen at Rome near to St. John de Latran being sent thither by St. Helen they are at present called Scala Sancta because our Lord ascended them Scala Sancta when he was led before Pilate and came down again the same Stairs to go before Herod then being sent back by Herod he went them up again and afterwards descended them when he went to execution In place of that Stair-case there is another of eleven steps which are now sufficient because since that time the Street is much raised by the Ruines Having gone up these eleven steps you come into a Court and turning to the Left Hand you enter into the Basha's Kitchin which is the place where Pilate washed his Hands in that Kitchin there is a Window that looks into the Court or open place that is before the Temple of Salomon from that Window we saw the Front of the said Temple at one end of the Court there are several Arches that make a lovely Porch before the Door of the said Temple supported by several fair Pillars There is a hole in that Kitchin which serves at present to lay Coals in and is thought to have been the Prison into which our Lord was put Heretofore there was a passage from this Palace to the Arch of Behold the Man that we mentioned before Coming out of the Palace we went over to the other side of the Street into a Chappel called the Place of Flagellation The place of Flagellation because our Saviour was Scourged there the Turks make use of it at present for a Stable In that place ends according to the way we went or rather begins the Dolorous Way which reaches from the House of Pilate to Mount Calvary about a Mile in length Having seen these things to avoid the heat we resolved to see the most distant places before the Sun were too high and therefore went out by St. Stephen's Gate anciently called Porta Gregis Porta Gregis or the Sheep-Gate without which we saw the place where the Blessed Virgin let her Girdle fall to St. Thomas when he saw her Body and Soul carried up to Heaven then we went up to the Mount of Olives Mount of Olives in the middle whereof is the place where our Lord wept over Jerusalem foreseeing its future Ruine The truth is one has a very good view of it from that place and may at leisure there consider all the external beauties of the Temple of Salomon as also the Church of the Presentation of our Lady which joyns the said Temple and is magnificently built Here it was that the Blessed Virgin was by her Father and Mother presented to the good Widdows who lived near to the Temple and taught young
another and spread abundance of Fire They also burnt divers Pots full of Powder from which large flakes of Artificial Lightning glanced up in the Air and all this while Squibs and Serpents flew about in vast numbers and with them many Fire-lances in which was a great deal of Camphire that yielded a whitish dazling flame These Fire-works play'd almost an hour and when they were over the main business was performed The Maid was married in her Fathers House by a Moula and about two of the Clock in the Morning was conducted upon an Elephant to her Husbands Lodgings The Wedding There were a great many Dancers Tumblers Dancers Juglers and players at sleight of Hand in the open places but they acted nothing as I could see but what was dull and yet I was advantageously placed in Windows to examin their play being desirous to see if what was told of their dexterity was true but I found nothing extraordinary in it and I should have had a bad Opinion of the Indian Dances if I had not met with nimbler afterwards in my Travels there The first time I saw Hermaphrodites was there Hermaphrodites It was easie to distinguish them for seeing there is a great number in that Town and all over the Indies I was enform'd before hand that for a mark to know them by they were oblig'd under pain of Correction to wear upon their Heads a Turban like Men though they go in the habit of Women CHAP. XIII Of Burying-places and the Burning of Dead Bodies THe Burying-places of Surrat are without the Town Burying-places about three or four hundred Paces from Baroche-Gate The Catholicks have their own apart and so have the English and Dutch The Sepulchres of the English and Dutch. as well as some Religious Indians The English and Dutch adorn their Graves with Pyramids of Brick whitened over with Lime and whilst I was there there was one a building for a Dutch Commander which was to cost eight thousand Livres The Sepulchre of a Dutch drinker Amongst the rest there is one of a great drinker who had been banished to the Indies by the States General and who is said to have been Kinsman of the Prince of Orange They have raised a Monument for him as for other Persons of note but to let the World see that he could drink stoutly on the top of his Pyramid there is a large Stone-cup and one below at each corner of his Tomb and hard by each Cup there is the Figure of a Suger-loaf When the Dutch have a mind to divert themselves at that Monument they make God knows how many Ragoes in these Cups and with other less Cups drink or eat what they have prepared in the great ones The Tombs of the Religious Gentils The Religious Gentils have their Tombs about two thousand Paces beyond the Dutch Burying-place They are square and made of Plaister they are about two or three Foot high and two Foot broad covered some with a Dome and others with a Pyramid of Plaister somewhat more than three Foot high on the one side there is a little Window through which one may see the top of the Grave and because there are two Soles of Feet cut upon them some have believ'd that the Vartias were interred with the Head down and the Feet upwards but having enform'd my self as to that I learnt that there was no such thing and that the Bodies are laid in their Graves after the ordinary manner The place where Bodies are burnt The place where the Banians burn their dead Bodies is by the River-side beyond the Burying-places and when they are consumed the Ashes are left there on design that they may be carried away by the Tapty because they look upon it as a Sacred River They believe that it contributes much to the Salvation of the Soul of the deceased to burn his Body immediately after his Death because as they say his Soul suffers after the separation from the Body till it be burnt It is true that if they are in a place where there is no Wood they tye a Stone to the dead Body and throw it into the Water and their Religion allows them to bury it if there be neither Water nor Wood but they are still perswaded that the Soul is much happier when the Body hath been burnt They burn not the Bodies of Children that die before they are two Years old because they are as yet innocent nor do they burn the Bodies of the Vartias nor Jogues who are a kind of Dervishes because they follow the rite of Madeo Madeo who is one of their great Saints and who ordered the Bodies to be interred CHAP. XIV Of diverse Curiosities at Surrat A fair Well TOwards the English Burying-place there is a great Well a Banian made it for the convenience of Travellers and it is of an oblong-square Figure like the Well of Amedabad which I have described There are over it diverse thin Brick-Arches at some Feet distance one from another Several Stairs go down to it and the Light enters by the spaces that are between the Arches so that one may see very clearly from the top to the bottom On the outside there is the Figure of a Red-face but the Features are not to be distinguished The Indians say that it is the Pagod of Madeo and the Gentils pay a great Dovotion to it Daman-gate Towards Daman-gate where the loveliest Walk in all the Countrey begins there is a Reservatory much esteemed That Gate is covered and encompassed with the branches of a lovely War which the Portuguese call the Tree of Roots that furnishes the pleasantest Resting-place imaginable to all that go to the Tanquie A lovely Tanquie This great Reservatory of Water hath six Angles the side of every Angle is an hundred Paces long and the whole at least a Musket-shot in diametre The bottom is paved with large Free-stone and there are Steps almost all round in form of an Amphitheatre reaching from the brim to the bottom of the Bason they are each of them half a Foot high and are of lovely Free-stone that hath been brought from about Cambaye where there are no Steps there is a sloaping descent to the Bason and there are three places made for Beasts to water at In the middle of this Reservatory there is a Stone-Building about three Fathom every way to which they go up by two little Stair-cases A Building in the middle of the Tanquie In this place they go to divert themselves and take the fresh Air but they must go to it in Boat. The great Bason is filled with Rain-water in the season when the Rains fall for after it hath run through the Fields where it makes a kind of a great Chanal over which they have been obliged to make Bridges it stops in a place enclosed within Walls from whence it passes into the Tanquie through three round holes which
Turks go to the House-of-office they put the left foot foremost to the end the Angel who registers their sins may leave them first and when they come out they set the right foot before that the Angel who writes down their good works may have them first under protection They also believe that after a man is buried the Soul returns to the Body and that two very terrible Angels come into the grave the one called Munkir Munkir Guanequir and the other Guanequir who take him by the head and make him kneel and that for that reason they leave a tuft of Hair on the crown of their head The examination of the Dead so soon as they are in the grave that the Angels who make them kneel may take hold of it After that the Angels examine him in this manner Who is thy God thy Religion and Prophet And he answers thus My God is the true God my Religion is the true Religion and my Prophet is Mahomet But if that Man find himself to be guilty and being afraid of their tortures shall say You are my God and my Prophet and it is in You that I believe at such an Answer these Angels smite him with a Mace of fire and depart and the earth squeezes the poor wretch so hard that his Mothers milk comes running out at his nose The state of the Wicked after death After that come two other Angels bringing an ugly creature with them that represents his sins and bad deeds changed into that form then opening a window they depart into Hell and the Man remains there with that ugly creature being continually tormented with the sight of it and the common miseries of the damned until the Day of Judgment when both go to Hell together But if he hath lived well and made the first answer above mentioned The state of the Good after death they bring him a lovely creature which represents his good actions changed into that form then the Angels opening a window go away to Paradise and the lovely creature remains which gives him a great deal of content and stays with him until the Day of Judgment when both are received into Paradise Another state of Souls after death Others say that if he make a bad answer one of these Angels gives him such a rap with a mace of Iron on the head that he beats him down seven fathom deep into the ground and the other pulls him out with an iron hook and then the first begins to strike again and so continue the one striking down and the other pulling up till the Day of Judgment And that if he answer well two white Angels shall keep him company till the Day of Judgment Whereby it appears they believe that Souls go neither to Heaven nor Hell till the Day of Judgment CHAP. XXXI Of the Beasts that shall enter into Paradise THE Turks as we said before admit of a Paradise but they believe much more than we do for they believe that not only the good Musulmans shall enter into it but also certain Beasts and Fowl Beasts in Paradise which are these that follow The first is the Camel of the Prophet Saleh the second the Ram that Abraham sacraficed Moses's Cow Salomon's Ant the Queen of Sheba's Parret the Ass of Ezra the Whale of Jonas a little Dog which they call Kitmer and the Camel of Mahomet But we must know what it is that made these Beasts to merit Paradise for they tell tales of them The Camel of Saleb And first of the Camel of Saleh This Saleh was a Prophet before the time of Mahomet in great esteem among the Arabians Persians and Turks who going to convert the Infidels in Persia and other Places they prayed him to work a Miracle which he granted them and made a Camel that had been killed by one named Chudar Chudar to come alive out of a Rock this Camel they say is still alive and the cry of it is heard at present by all who pass that way but that when Camels go that way they beat Timbrels discharge their Muskets and make a great noise for fear the Camels should hear this cry for if they heard it they would not stir Abraham's Ram is that which the Angel Gabriel brought to that Patriarch Abraham's Ram. and which he sacraficed in place of his Son Isaac when God commanded him to do it for a tryal of his Faith. That which they call the Cow of Moses The Cow of Moses is the Red Cow whose Ashes were mingled with the Water of Purification Salomon was the Greatest King that ever was for all Creatures obey'd him and brought him Presents amongst others an Ant brought him a Locust which it had dragg'd along by main force Salomon's Ant. Salomon perceiving that the Ant had brought a thing bigger than itself accepted of the Present and preferred it before all other Creatures The Parret or Hoope of the Queen of Sheba as some others will have it The Parret of the Queen of Sheba was the Messenger that carried and brought her news of Salomon Ezra the Prophet being in dispute with Infidels concerning the Resurrection he prayed to God to shew them some Miracle that might make them believe it immediately his Ass that was dead and rotten many years before rose again Ezra's Ass at which the People were converted and believed Jonas's Whale is also to go to Paradise because it cast out Jonas upon dry-land There was a King who persecuted all that served God at his Court now there were four Men Of four Sleepers faithful Servants of God who having consulted together fled and hid themselves in a Cave and as they were upon the way a little Dog followed them but when they perceived it one of them threw a stone at it and broke one of its legs immediately thereupon the Dog asked them Why have you broken my leg They answered Because you follow us and seeing we are going to serve God whom we love and fear by your means we may be apprehended and destroyed The little Dog Kitmer The Dog replied If you love God I love you and I pray you take me along with you which they did and went to the Cave where they remained with the Dog which lying under the door cried Hou that in Arabick signifies him that is to say God. There they stayed the space of three hundred threescore and twelve years and then awaking sent one of their number to the Town to buy Bread this Man coming to a Baker with his old Money was apprehended and carried before a Magistrate who questioning him where he had got that Money he related the whole affair and was then brought before the King who wondered much at the matter and went with his People to the Cave to see the rest This Man who served for a Guide coming near to the Cave prayed the King to let him go before to acquaint his
they believe that that was the night that Mahomet Ascended up to Heaven upon the Alboraoh as he mentions in the Alcoran Thursday the fourth of the Moon of Regeb they have Prayers in their Mosques till Midnight and then return home and Feast This Festival is because of the Ramadan which comes two Months after on all these Festivals and during the whole Ramadan the Minarets of the Mosques are as I said deck'd with Lamps which being contrived in several Figures when they are Lighted make a vary pretty show CHAP. XXXVI Of what renders the Turks Vnclean and of their Ablutions THE third Command of the Turks concerns Prayer Ablutions of the Turks but because they never say their Prayers till first they wash we must say somewhat of their Ablutions The Turks have two kinds of Ablutions the one is called Gousl and is a general Washing of the whole Body The other is termed Abdest and is the Ablution they commonly make before they begin their Prayers Of the Abdest for they never go to Prayers till first they have used the Abdest at least or both the Gousl and Abdest if it be needful Of the Gousl wherefore there are commonly near the Mosques Baths for the Gousl and Fountains for the Abdest There is also an Ablution that they perform after that they have done their Needs which is a kind of Abdest but they only wash their Hands They are obliged to use the Gousl after they have lain with their Wives or after Nocturnal Pollution or when Urine or any other unclean thing hath fallen upon them and therefore when they make Water they squat down like Women least any drop of it should fall upon them or their Cloaths for they think that that which pollutes their Bodies or Cloaths pollutes also their Souls as also by washing the Body they think they wash the Soul. After they have made Water they rub the Yard against a Stone to fetch off any thing that might remain and defile them by falling upon their Cloaths When they do their Needs they make not use of Paper as I have said but having eased themselves they make all clean with their Fingers that they dip into Water and then wash their Hands which they never fail to do after they have done their Needs nay and after they have made Water too wherefore there is always a Pot full of Water in their Houses of Office The Neatness of the Turks and they carry two Handkerchiefs at their girdle to dry their Hands after they have washed This cleanliness is in so great repute with them and they are so fearful least they should defile themselves with their Excrements that they take care that even their Sucking Children in Swadling Cloaths do not defile themselves and for that end they swadle them not as we do A Cradle after the Turkish fashion but put them into Cradles which have a Hole in the middle much about the place where the Child's Buttocks lie and leave always the Breech of it naked upon the Hole to the end that when it does its Business the Excrement may fall into a Pot just under the hole of the Cradle and for making of Water they have little Pipe of Box-wood crooked at one end and shaped like Tobacco-Pipes these Pipes are three Inches long and as big as ones Finger some have the Boul or Hole at the great end round and serve for Boys into which the Yard is put and fastned with some strings the others are of an Oval bore at the great end and serve for the Girls who have them tied to their Bellies and the small end passing betwixt their Thighs conveys the Urine by the hole of the Cradle into the Pot underneath without spoiling of any thing and so they spoil not so much Linnen as Children in Christendom do Now to continue the order of their Ablutions they are obliged to make the Abdest immediately after Prayers as they are to wash their Hands immediately after they have done their Needs or handled any thing that 's unclean and if they be in a place where they cannot find Water they may make use of Sand or Earth in stead of Water not only for the Abdest but the Gousl also and the washing of the Hands and that Ablution will be good The Abdest is performed in this manner First The way of doing the Abdest Turning the Face towards Mecha they wash their Hands three times from the Fingers end to the Wrist Secondly They wash the Mouth three times and make clean their Teeth with a Brush Thirdly They wash the Nose three times and suck Water up out of their Hands into their Nostrils Fourthly With their two Hands they throw Water three times upon the Face Fifthly They wash three times their right Arm from the Wrist to the Elbow and then the left Sixthly They rub the Head with the Thumb and first Finger of the right Hand from the Brow to the Pole. Seventhly With the same Finger and Thumb they wash the Ears within and without Eighthly they wash the Feet three times beginning at the Toes and going no higher than the Instep and with the right Foot first and then the left But if they have washed their Feet in the Morning before they put on their Stockins they pull them not off again but only wet the Hand and then with the aforesaid Finger and Thumb wash over the Paboutches from the Toes to the Instep beginning always with the right and then the left and do so every time that it is necessary from Morning to Night that is to say they pull not off their Stockins all day long But if their Stockins have a hole big enough for three Fingers they ought to pull them off They say that God commanded them to wash the Face but once the Hands and Arms as often to rub the Head as has been mentioned before and to wash the Feet up to the Instep God being unwilling to overcharge Man but that Mahomet added the two other times for fear they might neglect it The difference which they put betwixt that time which God commanded and the two times of Mahomet is that they call the first Fars and those of Mahomet Sunnet Mahomet ordained then that they should wash their Hands three times from the Wrist to the Fingers ends that they should use a Brush to make clean their Teeth that they should wash their Mouth three times that they should throw Water three times upon their Face with their two Hands that they should spend no more time in making clean one part than another but that they should make haste that they should wash their Ears with the same Water wherewith they washed the Head having a firm resolution to wash themselves and saying aloud or to themselves I am resolved to make my self clean That they should begin at the right side and with the Toes in washing of the Feet and the Fingers in washing the Hands and that whilst
Orange-Water two Baskets full of Pomegranates two of Limons two of Water-Melons two of Mezingianes or Violet-Naveurs one of Grapes one of Grass half a dozen of Pidgeons a dozen of Pullets and three Sheep Next day his Kiaya or Lieutenant had likewise the usual Present brought to him which was but one half of the abovementioned Provisions They expected two Bashas more within a short time and these Bashas caused People to be often Bastonadoed as they went along the Streets when they were out of Humour but for all that no sooner were they Lodged but the whole Trouble was over CHAP. LXV Of the Isle of Patino HAving said enough of Chio Patino I shall here make a little digression from my Travels and relate what I have learned of some Islles of the Archipelago where I have not been as well by what has been told me as by a memoire that hath come to my hands And in the first place I shall speak of the Isle of Pathmos which though small is nevertheless Illustrious Pathmos as being the place to which St. John the Evangelist was Banished and where he wrote the Revelation This Isle called anciently Pathmos and at present Patino and Palmosa is eighteen miles in circuit Palmosa and has in it but one well Built little Town with a Castle in the middle of it called the Monastery of St. John where two hundred Greek Monks live who carefully keep in their Church a Body shut up in a case which they say is the Body of St. John what ever they think who doubt whether he be as yet Dead or not There are about three thousand Souls in this Isle who have much ado to live Three thousand Souls in Pathmos The Grott where the Apocalypse was written called Theoskeposti the Land being very dry and all Rockie In it is the Grotto where St. John wrote the Apocalypse which Grotto by the Greeks is called Theoskeposti that is to say in vulgar Greek covered by God. The Inhabitants of this place relate a pretty ridiculous story of St. John and that is that the Devil went to Tempt St. John in that Grotto which is but half a mile from the Sea and as far from the Town bidding him go and swim and that St. John made answer to the Devil do thou first throw thy self into the Sea and I 'll follow thee which the Devil did and was immediately changed into a Stone The figure of a Devil at Pathmos of the same Figure that he had when he threw himself into the Sea And that Stone is to be seen to this day being but one step from the Land. No Turk lives in this Island they are Christians that bear rule there yet they pay Tribute to the Grand Signior And the Corsars put into this Island to careen and take fresh Water CHAP. LXVI Of the Isle of Nixia THE Isle of Nixia heretofore called Naxus is sixscore miles in circuit Nixia In latter times before it was possessed by the Turks it carried the title of a Dutchy The Families of Sanudi and Somarigi Venetians in Nixia and at present it has among its Inhabitants several noble Families descended of the said Dukes who were the Sanudi Somarigi Venetians and others The Fields of this Isle are most fruitful in all things and chiefly a certain Valley called Darmilla wherein are eighteen Villages The Inhabitants of this Isle make plenty of Wine which they send to Alexandria Smyrna and Chio as likewise very good Cheese for they have many Cows Sheep and Goats Not far from the Town near the Sea are the Salt-pits and a Pond which the Town letts out to farme they Fish in it but two Months in the Year to wit August and September There are great quantities of Eels taken also in a Valley called Plichi that is full of Marshes which are always supplied with Water from greaâ— Springs that run into it There are very thick Woods also in it with Rocks and solitary Dens where there are a great many tall Stags Catching of Partridges with an Ass and there the Gentlemen go a Hunting with the Cady who governs the Island the Peasants catch Partridges with an Ass in this manner Late in the Evening the Peasant goes and joggs the Partridges to know where they Sleep then he pitches a Net where he thinks convenient and afterwards puts himself under the belly of his Ass which is trained to the sport and thus both stalking along together the Peasant with a switch drives the Partridges into the Net where they are caught and this sport is the better because Partridges are very Plentiful there There are besides other Valleys with Water-springs in them that turn Mills for the use of the People There are several Monasteries in this Island one of which ought to be very Ancient for it is built in form of a Tower upon a Hill. There is another called Fanaromeni Fanaromeni dedicated to the Virgin because a Picture of the Virgin was found in that Place which is held in great Veneration and called Faneromeni it is not long since that Monastery was built and contains threescore and ten Rooms or Chambers besides those that are under Ground the Church is small but well built and beautified It is served by ten Monks all Countrey Clowns who have no Learning and not only there but over all the Isles of the Archipelago they are so ignorant that it may be said of them Ignoto Deo and it is impossible but that Vice must reign where People are so ignorant of the commands of God and where there is so much Idleness and Drunkenness Threscore miles from the Town there is a Tower and another Church also dedicated to the Virgin named Tagia in that place there is a Spring of as good Water as can be desired and a Monk and some Shepherds live there the people of the Island often go thither out of Devotion and not without much Pain because of the troublesome Hills and Valleys that are in the way About six miles from thence near the Sea overagainst the Isle of Nicaria there is to be seen upon a very steep and rugged Mountain The Castle of Apollo some ruines of the Castle of Apollo and it is a wonder how they could carry up Stones to Build it The wall is eight hand breadth thick it is not carried on to the Sea on the East-side because there is no going up to it on that side but by a very dangerous place but on the South East and South-side it is built of Stone and Bitumen down to the Sea. In that Castle there are several Houses and Cisterns for Water In the neighbourhood of it are four little Towns very well Inhabited In these Quarters there are also many Goat-heards that keep Goats and the Hills are full of an Herb which Mathiolus calls Ledum The Ledum of Mathiolus Kissaros an Herb. Laudanum a Gum. Darmilla Strongyle Palace of Bacchus and
where it is used for dying red and several Bags of Tobacco for neither the Indian nor Persian Tobacco is good for any thing and cannot be taken but with a Bottle full of water through which the smoak passes before it come at the Mouth so that they who carry good Tabacco to the Indies make a great profit of it we took on Board also several Chests of Schiras Wine and our Franks of the Ships Company carried some Bags of Nuts of which they hoped to make at least fifty per cent Bags of Nuts but you must take notice that this is a Commodity proper only for those who have not above twenty Piastres to lay out in Trading and pay no Freight such as the inferiour Officers or Sea-men for every Officer and Sea-man may put on Board so many Bags Freight free according to the Office he discharges in the Ship. Besides all these Goods there came on Board so many people with their Chests Jarrs and other luggage and such a quantity of Pullets Goats and Kids for in that Climate it is the best and wholesomest meat the Mutton there being good for nothing A great clutter in the Ship. that the Ship was thwackt full above and below Decks and so pestered that one had much a do to stir Many more Goods were offered to be put on Board but the Captain refused them having no more spare room With all this clutter and confusion we had the vexatious humour of the Captain to suffer who was so imperious and haughty The Captain a hasty man. that the least triffle offended him and he was continually quarrelling with one or other of the three Franks who were Officers in the Ship though they never gave him a word again when the fancy took him in the Head he would break out into such extravagancies of rage that he would fall a Cursing and abusing the first Man that stood in his way and sometimes he would challenge all the Ship to fight him when he came to Surrat adding that he was an Italian yes that he was He would suffer no body to say any thing to him and to hear him vapour there was no Man greater than he he had many debates with the Soubrescart at whom he had a great Pique as with the rest of the Armenians also sometimes he was so enflamed with rage that no less would serve his turn than to go a shoar and leave the Ship but then considering on it better he would burn her or run her against a Rock All the Armenians were to have their Heads broken nay more than that he was resolved to come some time or other and take all the Ships on those Seas and a hundred such extravagancies that blew away with the Wind the Pilot had no easie task of it for he could not endure that he should give his Opinion thinking it an indignity that any Man should seem to know more than himself When he was in all his rage no body made him answer no more than if he had been a Mad-man and indeed it was commonly the Shiras Wine or Congo Brandy that raised all this huff and din. When he was at a stand whom to fall soul on he turned to the Merchants that came last on Board who had their Goods in some place upon the Deck not knowing where else to put them he would tell them that he must have so much mony to suffer their Goods to lye in such a place or else threaten to throw them over Board if they told him that they had payed so much to the Soubrescart and that they knew not where to lye he shewed them little Cabins but he would have so much mony for the hire of them that no body would take them The truth is he was not altogether in the wrong as to this last point for they suffer not commonly Goods to lye upon the Deck because they hinder the working of the Ship and as for the Cabins it is usual to let them at a very dear rate in Indian Ships because of the many Passengers they have commonly on Board An hundred and sixteen souls on Board We were in all an hundred and sixteen on Board of whom about fourscore were Passengers all Armenians except the Sieur Manuel Mendez and his Company my Man and I. A Cabin five Foot long two Foot wide and three Foot high was let for a Toman and a half during the Voyage to Surrat and the Boat was let for fourscore Abassis It is the Custom that so soon as the Ship is out at Sea the Boat is halled in and lashed to Midships betwixt the Main-Mast and Fore-Mast Cabins belonging to the Captain In short all know that there are some Cabins which belong to the Captain as also all the Deck and those who would accommodate themselves there must pay for it especially when there is a Soubrescart on the Ship who takes the mony for the passage What a Passenger is furnished with for which you are allowed no more but Salt Water and Wood and these two last too are given out every day by Measure but you must hire a place to lye and be in from the Captain or some of the Officers of the Ship who have Cabins and have no share of the mony that you pay for your passage These things are all but triffles and have but little relation to the Voyage yet I thought it might not be a miss to mention them to shew how much Ships are commonly pestered in that passage for it is to be concluded that it is the same thing on Board all other Ships A Moorish or Mahometan Ship. nay in Moorish Ships the accommodation is worse where you have no Cabins and where Christians are used like Dogs only the noise is not so great there because commonly in them the Master has absolute command and is not so great a Fool as ours was The greatest inconvenience Men endure on Board these Ships is the want of water for though every one has no more allowed him but two measures a day to drink boil his Victuals water his Poultry c. each of which measures containing three Pints or there abouts and every Horse eight measures nevertheless it is many times wanting and then happy is he that hath a Jarr Care was taken to fill our two Cisterns and all our Casks with the best water that is drank at Congo and these Cisterns held sixteen Hogsheads a piece Monday the sixth of December a West Wind coming in with the New-Moon the Ship Masulipatan made Sail in the morning without firing a Gun and all day long such as were to go with us were coming on Board until five a Clock in the evening when we weighed made Sail and Steered away South We were then in five Fathom water and about half an hour after six we found six Fathom About seven a Clock the Wind veered about to North-West and we stood away South South-East Half an
Covillis as also the Hammer-men such as Goldsmiths Armorers Smiths and Masons They who work in Wood as Carpenters Joyners and Bill-men are all of one Caste Publick Wenches Tumblers Vaulters Dancers and Baladins are of another And it is the same with Taylors and other Sheers-men with Coach-makers and Sadlers The Bengiara Bengiara who are Carriers Painters and in a word all other Trades-men The least esteemed of all the eighty four Tribes are the Piriaves and the Der or Halalcour because of their nastiness and they who touch them Der. think themselves unclean The Periaves are employed in taking off Periaves and carrying away the Skins of Beasts and some of them are Curriers The Halalcour are the Gold-finders of the Towns Halalcour they make clean the publick and private Houses of Office and are payed for it Monthly they feed on all sort of Meats prohibited or not prohibited they eat others leavings without considering what Religion or Caste they are of And that 's the reason why those who only speak Persian in the Indies call them Halalcour that 's to say He that takes the liberty to eat what he pleases or according to others He that eats what he has honestly got And they who approve this last Application say that heretofore the Halalcour were called Haramcour eaters of prohibited Meats But that a King one day hearing his Courtiers Jear them because of their nasty Trade said to them Since these People gain their Bread better than you who are lazy lubbards their name of Haramcour ought to be given to you Haramcour or Halalcour and to them that of Halalcour And that they have retained that name Baraguy White and Red colours on the Forehead There is a Caste of Gentiles called Baraguy who damn the yellow Colour and who in the Morning put white on their Fore-head contrary to the custom of the other Castes who have red put there by the Bramens When a Gentile is Painted with this Red he bows his Head three times and lifts his joyned hands thrice up to his Fore-head and then presents the Bramen with Rice and a Cocos All the Castes or Tribes go to their Devotions at the same time but they adore what Idol they please without addressing themselves solely to him to whom the Temple is dedicated unless their Devotion invite them to do so in so much that some carry their Idols along with them when they know that he whom they Worship is not there None of these Gentiles marry out of their own Tribe The alliance of the Gentiles A Bramen marries the Daughter of another Bramen a Raspoute the Daughter of a Raspoute a Halalcour the Daughter of a Halalcour a Painter of a Painter and so of the rest The subordination of Tribes The eighty four Tribes observe among themselves an Order of Subordination The Banians yield to the Courmis the Courmis to the Raspoutes or Catrys and these as all the rest do to the Bramens and so the Bramens are the chief and most dignified of the Gentiles And therefore it is that a Bramen would think himself prophaned if he had eaten with a Gentile of another Caste than his own though those of all other Castes may eat in his House And so it is with the other Tribes in relation to their inferiours Brahmanes Gymnosophists The Bramens who are properly the Brahmanes or Sages of the Ancient Indians and the Gymnosophists of Porphyrius are the Priests and Doctors of the Heathen in India Besides Theologie which they profess they understand Astrology Arithmetick and Medicine but they who are actually Physicians pay yearly a certain Tribute to their Caste because Physick ought not to be their Profession All these Gentiles have a respect for the Bramens and they believe them in all things because they have been always told that God sent the four Bets to them Bets or Books of Religion which are the Books of their Religion and that they are the keepers of them Philosophers Several of these Doctors apply themselves to Philosophy and love not to appear so extravagant as the rest in ther Belief When a Christian speaks to them of their God Ram Ram a God of the Gentiles whom the Gentiles Worship they maintain not that he is God and only say that he was a great King whose Sanctity and good Offices that he did to Men have procured him a more particular Communion with God than other Saints have and that so they shew him much more reverence And if one speak to them of the Adoration of Idols they answer that they Worship them not that their intention is always fixed upon God The Adoration of Idols that they only honour them because they put them in mind of the Saint whom they represent that one must not heed the ignorance of the Common People who form to themselves a thousand idle fancies their Imaginations being always stuffed with Errors and Superstitions and that when one would be informed of a Religion he ought to consult those that are knowing in it The Belief of the understanding Indians That it is true the ignorant believe that many great Men under whose shape God hath made himself known are Gods but that for their part they believe no such thing and that if God hath been pleased to Act so it was only to facilitate the Salvation of Men and to condescend to the capacity and humour of every Nation Upon this Principle they believe that every Man may be saved in his Religion and Sect provided he exactly follow the way which God hath set before him and that he will be damned if he take another Course They make no doubt but that their Religion is the first of all Religions The Indians believe that their Religion is the first of all that it was Established in the days of Adam and preserved in Noah They believe Heaven and Hell but they affirm that none shall enter there before the Universal Judgment They say also that no body ought to find fault with them for the honour they shew to the Cow that they prefer her before other Animals only because she furnishes them more Food by means of her Milk Respect to the Cow. than all the rest put together and that she brings forth the Ox which is so useful to the World seeing he makes it subsist by his Labour and feeds Men by his Pains The Bramens believe the Metempsychosis or Transmigration of Souls into New Bodies more or less noble Metempsychosis according to the merit of their Actions which they have done in their Life-time And many of the other Castes follow that Opinion of Pythagoras Pythagoras They believe that every Soul must thus make many Transmigrations but they determine not the number and therefore there are some who kill no Beast and never kindle Fire nor light Candle for fear some Butterflie should burn it self thereat It being possible