Conventual Cordeliers and their Church is called St. Francis of the Jacobins who have St. Peters Church of the Jesuits who have St. Benet's Church and of the Capucius who have the Church of St. George By the Sea-side there is the finest Fish-market in the World it is a Street with Fish-mongers shops on both sides who have so great quantity of Fish upon their Stalls that it would surprise a man to see it There one may find all sorts of fresh Fish and at a very cheap rate The Greeks keep many Taverns or Publick Houses in Galata which draw thither many of the Rabble from Constantinople who are very insolent in their drink and very dangerous to be met with Going up from Galata you come to Pera which is likewise separated from Galata by Burying-places it is a kind of a Town where Christian Ambassadors dwell only the Ambassadors of the Emperor King of Poland and Republick of Ragousa having their residence in Constantinople The French Ambassador is very commodiously lodged in Pera having a fair large Palace which is called the Kings House and has on all hands a good Prospect looking one way towards the Serraglio of the Grand Signior over against which it stands upon a higher ground than the Serraglio Pera lying very high The Houses of Pera are handsome and hardly any body lives there but Greeks of Quality From Pera to Tophana there is a great descent and Tophana lies upon the Rivers side over against the Serraglio It is called Tophana that is to say the House of Cannon because it is the place where Guns and other Pieces of Artillery are cast and that gives the name to all that Quarter which is a kind of little Town The Houses of Galata Pera and Tophana are built in so good order that as these places stand some higher and some lower they represent a kind of Amphitheater from whence with ease and pleasure the Port and Sea may be seen CHAP. XXI Of Leander's Tower Scudaret the Princes Isle and the Black Sea. THough the Countrey about Constantinople be not so delightful nor so well peopled Iscodar as in France yet it is not without pleasant Walks you must take a Caique and go to Scudaret called in Turkish Iscodar and it is a good mile over to it You pass by the Tower of Leander which stands betwixt the Serraglio and Scudaret and you may go into it if you please This Tower is built upon a Rock in the Sea and is pretty strong there are several great Guns mounted in it which may batter the Port of Constantinople and the two mouths of the Bosphorus of Thrace and of the Propontis or as they say of the Black and White Seas there is a Well of excellent good fresh Water in this Tower but I cannot tell why they call it Leander's Tower. From thence you go to Scudaret which is a Village in Asia upon the Sea-side over against the Serraglio of Constantinople where the Grand Signior hath a sttately Serraglio and very lovely Gardens A little lower on the same side over against the seven Towers stands Chalcedon a Town anciently Famous and celebrated by the Fourth general Council that was held there but at present it is no more but a pitiful Village The Princes Isle which is four hours going from Constantinople is another Walk where the Air is excellently good though this Isle be not great yet it is very pleasant and contains two little Towns of Greeks The Chanel of the Black Sea is a rare place to take the Air upon this is the Bosphorus of Thrace which coming from the Black Sea to Constantinople enters into the Propontis and mingles its Waters with the White Sea at the broadest place it is about a mile over and is twelve miles in length Going from Tophana towards this Chanel you see to the left-hand on the side of Europe a great many lovely Houses and Gardens when you have entered into the Chanel you have on both sides the most charming and delightful Prospect in the World nothing offering to your view but stately Houses and Gardens full of all sorts of excellent Fruits Upon the side in Asia I saw a very pretty Castle where Sultan Ibrahim the Father of Sultan Mahomet who Reigns at present was hid for the space of twenty years to avoid the Death which Sultan Amurath put his other Brothers to This Castle is covered with many very high Trees that hinder it from being seen which is the reason as those who live there told us that few come to see it Along both the shores there are also a great many good Villages where one may have whatsoever is needful They take in this Chanel great quantities of good Fish of several sorts especially Sword-fish Sword-fish which are great and so called because on their Snout they have a long broad bone like a Sword or rather a Saw there are many Dolphins to be seen there which follow Boats playing and leaping out of the Water Six miles from Constantinople there are two Forts on this Sea the one in Europe and the other in Asia which serve for Prisons for Persons of quality and were built to put a stop to the Cosacks who were it not for that would often come and make Booty even in Constantinople seeing notwithstanding these Forts they sometimes give the alarm to that City In three or four hours time one comes to the end of the Chanel or Bosphorus of Thrace where the Black Sea begins In the middle of this mouth which is very narrow there is a little Isle or rather Rock distant on each hand from the main Land about fifty paces where being come you may go up to the top of it and there see a Pillar of white Marble which is called the Pillar of Pompey because they say it was raised by Pompey in memory of his Victory after that he had overcome Mithridates Close by this Rock and round it there are several others scattered here and there in the Water which many take to be the Cyanean Isles or Symplegades On the main Land of Europe side over against the Rock of Pompey's Pillar there is a Village on the Water-side with a Tower on the top whereof there is a Light for the convenience of Vessels that by mistake they may not run foul of the Rocks and be cast away for that 's a very dangerous Sea and many shipwrecks are made in it every year so that the Greeks call it Maurothalassa that is to say the Black Sea Maurothalassa not because the Waters of it are black but because Storms and Tempests rise on it so suddenly that they cause many losses and though the Weather be never so fair yet Vessels are often surprised there in a moment for besides that this Sea is not very broad there are several Currents in it caused by the Danube Boristhenes Tanais and many other smaller Rivers that discharge their Waters into it which occasion so many Eddies
hundred distant from Chio on the top of this Mount there is a Church dedicated to that Saint This is so high a place that it is always covered with Mists and Snow In the middle of the Mountain there is so large and copious a Spring that it Waters all the Fields about which are fertile and abound in all sorts of Fruits Spartonda In a Wood hard by there is a Village called Spartonda where about fifty Persons only all Shepherds live but it is a delightful place affording good Water Calandre Coronia and excellent Fruits Betwixt the Village of Calandre that stands upon a Hill and Coronia consisting of about an Hundred and fifty scattering Houses there is a Bath of Sulphur by the Sea-side under extraordinary big Oaks this Bath is called Hayasma which signifies Holy or Blessed Water because the Water of it being drank Cures many Diseases but it Kills a great many People too by the violence of its Operation Three Miles from the Sea St. Helenas Town at the farther end of the Island is the Town St. Helena built upon a Rock and containing Two hundred Inhabitants it hath two Churches and a Chappel built just about the middle of the Hill where being hollow there hangs in the middle of it a point of a Rock from which Water contially drops and this Water they also call Hayasma Holy or Blessed Water This Water comes from the Mountain impregnated with Rain-Water or the vapours that rise from a deep Valley underneath where runs a Water that drives some Mills The Inhabitants of this place firmly believe that if a dead Body do not in forty days time corrupt Zorzolacas Hobgoblins it turns to a Hobgoblin which they call Zorzolacas or Nomolacas A dead body whose Ghost wandred about the Village in the Night-time And the Author of the Manuscript from whence I had this says That Travelling that way in the Month of April 1637. he found a Priest reading over a dead Body which he had caused to be raised after it had been fifty days in the Grave and was nevertheless still sound there being no sign of Corruption about it but a Worm that crawled out of the Eye The Priest told the Man who reports this that that Body or rather its Ghost went all Night about the Village knocking at the Doors and calling the People by their Names and that such as made answer died within two or three days after and that the Worm that came out of his Eye was but a Trick of the Devils to make it believed he was rotten This place is about thirty Miles from the City and they are all poor Shepherds that live there The Chappel in the aforesaid Rock is highly esteemed by all the Villages about From thence one goes to Volisso Volisso which is a great Village seated on a Hill with a Castle built by Belisarius General to the Emperour of Constantinople who going somewhere else by Sea was by a Storm forced to put on Shoar in that place in that Castle there is a Church with several Houses and Cisterns the Village contains about Three hundred Houses and about Fifteen hundred Inhabitants with several Churches The Country about it is very Pleasant Spacious and Fruitful and the Inhabitants make Five thousand Weight of Silk yearly with the Money whereof they pay their Tribute They are very vicious and it is thought they lie under a Curse of being almost always destitute of Bread. There is a place Varvariso The transformation of St. Marcella called Varvariso where there is a Church dedicated to St Marcella who as the Inhabitants of that place say was converted into Stone in a Grotto by the Sea-side whither she fled to escape from her Father who would have Defloured her and they say that on the day when the Church celebrates the Festival of that Saint Milk is seen to drop from the Breasts that are on the Rock Panagirio This with them is a solemn Feast which they call Panagirio the Priests singing praises to her all Night long Three Miles from that Village there is a Monastery dedicated to St. John and near to that Monastery is a Village called Fitta Fitta below which there is a great Valley corresponding to the Country about Volisso wherein there is a running Water that drives eight Mills which serves all the Villages about though every Peasant has a Hand-mill in his House wherewith the Women grind the Corn. From thence one goes to Sieronda Sieronda which is a very ancient spacious Tower inhabited by fifty Souls Lecilimiona all Shepherds who have a Church there a little further is the Village of Lecilimiona containing an Hundred and fifty Inhabitants with a Church There begin the Mastick-Trees About two Miles from thence there is a Village called Elata Elata whereof all the Inhabitants are addicted to the taming of Partridges Further on is the Village of Armolia Armolia where all the Earthen Ware that is used in the Island is made it contains about Five hundred Inhabitants and several Churches and lies in a Plain full of Mastick-Trees Over against this Village there is a Castle standing upon a very high Hill and is called Apolieno built by one Nicholas Justiniani in the Year 1440. Apolieno as may be seen upon the Gate of it It is of an Oval Figure with a double Wall and contains Threescore and two Rooms with two Cisterns one of which is Threescore Foot long and Forty Foot broad This Castle is very strong to resist the Corsares and has a Church in the middle of it The Village of Mesta exceeds all the rest in Strength and good Building Mesia it is of a Triangular figure lying in a Plain and containing Three hundred Inhabitants with several Churches About two Miles from thence there is a Harbour called Ayadinamy and another named San Nichita Ayadinamy San Nichita Pirgi this last is nearer the Village of Pirgi than Mesta Pirgi is a great Village with a Tower containing Two thousand Inhabitants and thirty Churches And this being all I had to say of the Villages that are among the Hills I shall now speak of others and first of Calamoty which hath several Churches Calamoty and about Seven hundred Inhabitants but no considerable House Chiny Vessa St. George Flacia Vono Nevita no more than Chiny inhabited by Three hundred People Vessa by Two hundred St. George and Flacia Vono is a great Village with a square Castle it hath about Five hundred Inhabitants and several Churches Over against this Village there is another called Nevita which is very great and hath a very high Tower an hundred Hands broad this place contains Two thousand five hundred Inhabitants and thirty Churches with two Monasteries one of Monks and the other of Nuns Without the Village there is also a Church dedicated to St. Michael the Arch-angel which is mightily crowded with People on that
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
great sounded the Sea at that place and could find no Ground There is nevertheless a little Island called Firesia at the point whereof one may come to an Anchor Firesia and no where else CHAP. LXIX Of the Isles of Policandre Milo Sifanto Thermia Ajora and Scyra Policandre THE Isle of Policandre is eight miles in compass and a pretty pleasant place Three miles from the Sea-side there is a Village of about an hundred Houses inhabited by three hundred Souls one must cross over a Valley and Rocks in going to it and there are no other Houses in the Island In it there are three well built Churches and two Monasteries one of Men and another of Women The Convent of the Monks is very well situated and is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin it hath a little Garden adjoyning to the Church with a Cistern of excellent water and in that Garden there is a Statue without a Head made after the Apostolick way there are others also in the Walls built in among the rest of the stones The other Monastery is for Women who observe no rule or institution but live as Nature teaches them their Church is dedicated to St. John and a Monk says Mass in it on all Sundays and Holy-days The Inhabitants of this Isle pay their Tribute with the Money they raise from Barley Cotton Stuffs and Cheese which they make The Castle stands upon a very high Hill but all the Houses of it are ruinous except a Chapel of St. Michael the Arch-Angel from thence one may see all the Isles of the Archipelago The Inhabitants of this place are honest civil and courteous People especially the Women who are very handsome they live pretty well having very good Bread Fowl Sheep and other things necessary They make no Wine but have it brought them from Santorini which is but thirty miles from it They have no Physicians nor Chyrurgeons nor any sort of Trade The Harbour of this Island is indifferent good but the Mainots and other Corsairs put often in there and lodge a-shore in a Church that stands by the Sea-side Milo. The Isle of Milo is so called from Mylos which in the vulgar Greek signifies a Mill because there are many Windmills in it and because also they bring Mill-stones from thence This Island is thirty six miles about has few Hills in it and is fruitful in all things selling yearly betwixt three and four hundred Tun of Wine and the Inhabitants trade in Candie Venice and other places They have a Mine of Brimstone and much Pumice-stones which are Let out to one of the Inhabitants for fifteen hundred Piastres a year Three miles from the Town there are hot Baths of Sulphur where People come from several places to wash and many recover their health there The Port is six miles long three over and has a good depth of water Two miles from this Port there is a Grotto in form of a large Chamber wherein there is luke-warm water A Bath of hot Water that reaches six miles which gives so much heat that an artificial Bath cannot make one sweat more They say that the water of this Grott has an inrercourse with the Church of St. Constantine that is six miles North of it and to make a proof of this one day they put a Silver Cup into this Bath which they found again in the Fountain of the said Church of St. Constantine In this Isle there is a Town where two thousand five hundred Souls live and an old Castle inhabited by five hundred more The Town stands in a Plain with a Castle in the middle of it but not inhabited They have a Latin Bishop and a Greek Bishop the Latin Cathedral is without the Town dedicated to St. Peter but without any Ornaments and the Latin Bishop celebrates in a Chapel that joyns to one of the Greek Churches this Bishop has a great many Tithes which he divides with the Greek Bishop taking two thirds to himself and giving the Greek the other third The Greek Bishop hath several well built Churches in good repair and many Priests to officiate in them Most of the Inhabitants of this Island are Greeks who live much at their ease are civil but very wicked and perfidious Their Women go in a very ugly dress speak very ill and cannot pronounce the letter L They are very charitable and kind to Strangers The People live here commodiously enough having all things necessary for life but they have no Physicians Chyrurgeons nor any of that Profession There are no Turks in this Island and it is governed by four Deputies of the Town Half a mile from Milo is the Isle called Chimolo or Argentara which hath a good Harbour Chimolo or Argentara and a Village containing about two hundred Souls which was burnt by the Corsairs in the Year 1638. These poor People live in great misery The Isle of Sifanto or Sifano anciently Sifanus is thirty six miles in circuit Sifanto Sifanus and has a Castle upon a Hill with double Walls inhabited by three thousand Souls and there are no other Houses in all the Island unless it be some Countrey-houses of private Men There is no water in this Castle what they have is brought out of the Plain underneath it The Harbour is not good for Barks and therefore they have Ware-houses near the shore where they put their Commodities and then draw the Barks on Land. There is another good Harbour but it is five miles from thence This Isle belonged formerly to the Family of Gozadini as may be seen by an Inscription made in the Year 1450. Family of the Gozadini upon a Marble-Pillar at the entry into the Port. There is upon it a Latin Bishop and a Greek Vicar but the Chapel of the Latin Bishop is little and very poor There is a Monastery of Greeks also built upon a Hill. There is no place of Recreation in this Island nor any other Antiquity but a great Chest of white Marble with Oxes Heads Festons and Fruits upon it This Isle produces not Provisions for above two months in the year and for the rest of the year the Inhabitants provide themselves elsewhere having little Barks for that end which they build upon the place They say that they have a Mine of Lead and a Gold Mine They are very rogues but their Women are very honest and go with their faces covered There are no Trades there but Weavers Shoemakers Joyners and the like The Isle of Thermia is thirty six miles in circuit and so called from Therma Thermia which in the Greek signifies Hot because of the Springs of hot water that are in a Plain there near the Sea from which the sick and indisposed receive much relief The Town contains about three hundred Houses inhabited by about two thousand Souls there are fifteen Greek Churches in it and a Greek Bishop who resides six months of the year at Zia and the other six at Thermia
made now a days as I have seen and have by me so that the Engravers of those times must have been excellent Artists nay it seems to me a doubt whether they might not have had the art of casting or at least softning the Stones for some of them are so little that one has much adoe to finger them and nevertheless they are Engraved to perfection When it rains the Moors search for them among the Ruines and never fail to find some then they come and sell them for a small matter to the Franks Good Asses in Aegypt Christians in Aegypt cannot ride on Horse back through Towns. Asses stand ready in the streets of the Towns of Aegypt but of late they hold them a little dearer because of the emulation of the Franks who come and out bid one another When Strangers go to see these Antiquities they take little Asses which goe very fast and stumble not nay will Gallop too if they be put to it for Christians whether Franks or not cannot ride on Horses through the Towns but in the Country they may if they please The Asses stand ready in the Streets and one has no more to do but to get up they pay no more for a whole Afternoons use of them but seven or eight Pence a piece to wit one half for the Ass and as much for a Moor who follows on Foot and beats and pricks on the Ass now and then to make him go A farther Description of Alexandria the Reader will find in the Second Part. CHAP. III. Of Rossetto AFter I had seen what I thought fit in Alexandria I resolved to go to Rossetto and parted from Alexandria on Saturday Morning the sixth of January with a Janizary whom the French Vice-Consul had given me to accompany me thither Bouquier we passed by Bouquier twenty short miles from Alexandria which is a Castle that defends a Road that is near to it and lodged that night at the Maadie of Alexandria Till you come to the Maadie there is no place to rest in being all a Desart of Sand. This place is called Maadie that is to say Passage because there is a Lake there to be crossed over in a Ferry-Boat with a Rope fastened to both sides of the Water The Maadie is thirty long miles from Alexandria This water is very full of Fish which renders a great Revenue to the Grand Signior There is a little Kervanserai on the other side of this Water where Travellers have a House over head for nothing and may eat and drink if they have brought Provisions along with them There we ate and drank and lay upon the Field-beds that we carried with us Next day being Sunday we set out in the Morning and about noon came to Rossetto Rossetto threescore miles from Alexandria but the miles indeed are short and all along the Sea-side On our way we saw the place where the River of Nile discharges it self into the Sea which is a very dangerous passage for Barks and Saiques Tht mouth of the Nile at Rossetto and close by shoar we saw the wrack of that Saique which stranded the same day that the great Gallion was cast away in the Port of Alexandria as I hinted at before The danger is when the Sea is rough for then it occasions an Eddy with the waters of the River that turns the Vessel round and casts it on shoar where it is sure to be split and none can save themselves by Swimming because of the force of the Waves but the wise make the best shift they can in their Caiques Rossetto Rossetto anciently called Canopus lyes upon a branch of the Nile which falls into the Sea five miles below the Town next to Caire it is reckoned the neatest Town of Aegypt not only because of the lovely Piazza's but also the many fair Hans it contains and yet they daily build new ones there for indeed it is a Town of great Trafick and very pleasant as being all encompassed with lovely Gardens The Houses of Rossetto are all high and well Built it is good living there as in all other places of Aegypt where Victuals are very cheap and wild-fowl especially Water-fowl very plentiful which they catch several ways but the Town hath this Inconvenience that in the Months of July and August they drink no other water but what they have gathered before into fair Cisterns Leaded and made for that purpose because during that time the Sea flows so high that it mingles with the water of the Nile and renders it Brackish The branch of the Nile that runs by this Town makes a Port for Saiques but great Ships cannot come up to it this port is always full of Saiques which come from the Archipelago to Trade in Aegypt The Town is very carefully kept by the Sous-Basha from all Disorders that might happen but besides that Guard there are threescore Men that in the Night-time march up and down to catch Robbers The cunning of the Arabs who rob in Rossetto who are Arabs of the Desarts These Villains strip themselves stark-naked then rub their Bodies over with Oyle that one may not take fast hold of them and in that manner come to the Town where they Steal what they can find and when they are pursued cast themselves into the River and swim over to the other side I made no long stay at Rossetto but knowing that every Tuesday and Friday Barks go off from Rossetto to Caire I waited for the first opportunity that I might go in company with several Barks which is the way to be safe from the Pirates of the Nile and having hired a little Boat only for myself and my Servant that I might be at more ease I parted from Rossetto Friday the nineteenth of January about Noon These Barks are Caiques or ordinary Boats and I had a Tilt or Covering made of Matts in the Stern to keep me from the Sun and the Dew which on the Nile is very cold and piercing It was very bad weather that day however we went on and Wednesday the twenty fourth of January passed the place where the Chanel divides it self into two Branches of which one goes to Rossetto and the other to Damiette The same day in the Evening we came to Boulac which is the Port of Caire though it be half a League from it Boulac Boulac is a pretty big long and narrow Town built upon the side of the Nile and has many Gardens and country Houses about it At Boulac we paid a Piastre a piece to some Jews it being the custome that every Frank the first time he comes to Caire pays a Piastre at Boulac In my Voyage from Rossetto to Caire I observed that all the land upon the Nile sides is excellently good and really Aegypt may be said to be an Earthly Paradise but Inhabited by Devils not only because the Inhabitants are Tawny but also very Vicious great Robbers especially and such as
that go to other places that so they may avoid the heat which is almost insupportable and when the Moon does not shine there are Men who carry Links before the Caravan In all Caravans the Camels are tied tail to tail so that let them but go and there is no trouble of leading them Here I 'll give the Reader an account how many Stages there are betwixt Caire and Mecha how many days they stay in them how many hours travelling there is betwixt them and at what Stages the Waters are sweet or bitter all along the way This little Itinerary I had from a Prince of Tunis An Itinerary from Caire to Mecha who made that Journey whilst I was at Caire From Caire to the Birque it is reckoned four hours Journey there is fresh water there From the Birque to Misana that is to say Cistern ten hours no water there Misana Kalaat Aadgeroud Navatir Raftagara Kalaat el Nahhal Abiar Alaina Sath el Akaba Kalaat el Akaba Dar elHhamar Scharafe Benigateie Magare Chouaib Eyoun el Kaseb Kalaat el Moilah Castel Kalaat Ezlem Istanbel Antir Kalaat el Voudge Ekre Hank Krue Hhawre Nabte Nabathean Arabs Hazire Yanbouh Soucaife Beder Hunein Sibil el Mouhsin Rabij Haramein From Misana to Kalaat Aadgeroud which is to say the Castle of Sand-Pits twelve hours and an half there is bitter water there From the Castle of Aadgeroud to Navatir seven hours and an half no water there From Navatir to Rastagara ten hours no water there and the way bad From Rastagara to Kalaat el Nahhal that is to say the Castle of Palmes fifteen hours there they stay a day and have fresh water From the Castle of Nahhal to Abiar Alaina fourteen hours only bâ—tter water there From Abiar Alaina to Sath el Akaba that is to say the Plain of the Hill fifteen hours no water there From Sath el Akaba to Kalaat el Akaba that is to say the Castle of the Hill that 's upon the side of the red-Red-Sea sixteen hours there they stay two days and an half the way is very bad but they have fresh water From the Castle el Akaba to Darel Hhamar six hours and an half no water there Dar el Hhamar signifies Asses Back and it is like the Mountain in Italy where there is an Inn called Scarga l'asino From Dar el Hhamar to Scharafe Benigateie fourteen hours no water there From Scharafe Benigateie to Magare Chouaib that is to say the Grott of Jethro fourteeen hours fresh water there that is the Countrey of the Midionites From Magare Chouaib to Eyoun el Kaseb fourteen hours and an half fresh water there It was in that place where Jethro's Daughters going to water their Cattel and the Shepherds offering to hinder them Moses protected and defended them against those who would have hindred them to draw water From Eyoun el Kaseb to Kalaat el Moilah which is by the Sea-side fifteen hours there they rest two days and an half and have fresh water From Kalaat el Moilah to Castel eleven hours bitter water there From Castel to Kalaat Ezlem fifteen hours and an half bitter water there From Kalaat Ezlem to Istanbel antir fourteen hours fresh water there From Istanbel antir to Kalaat el Voudge that is to say the Castle of the Face thirteen hours and an half fresh water there From Kalaat el Voudge to Ekre sixteen hours no water there but what is bitter From Ekre to Hank Krue that is to say Gulf twelve hours and an half no water there From Hank Krue going to Hhawre they enter into the Territory of Mecha to Hhawre it is thirteen hours only bitter water there From Hhawre to Nabte fifteen hours fresh water there From thence come the Nabathean Arabs Eurus ad auroram Nabathaeaque regna recessit From Nabte to Hazire thirteen hours and an half no water there From Hazire to Yanbouh that is to say Fountain fourteen hours and an half there they stay two days and an half and have fresh water From Yanbouh to Soucaife thirteen hours no water there From Soucaife to Beder Hunein that is to say the Moon of Hunein eight hours fresh water there Hunein was a Man that shew'd the Moon in his Well From Beder Hunein to Sibil el Mouhsin that is to say the way of Benefaction or Benefit fourteen hours fresh water there From Sibil el Mouhsin to Rabij seventeen hours fresh water there Rabij is a Sacred Place that is to say not to be entered into without being well prepared and purged from all sin Hence it is that there are two places which are called Haramein Sacred Places to wit Mecha and Medina that is to say which are two Holy Places where one should take heed not to set his foot Kawdire Bi r el fan Vadi Fatima Mecha unless he be well washed from all Sin. From Rabij to Kawdire fifteen hours no Water there From Kawdire to Bi r el fan fourteen hours fresh water there From Bi r el fan to Vadi Fatima fourteen hours fresh water there From Vadi Fatima to Mecha six hours CHAP. XVIII Of Mecha THE Musulmans have so great a veneration for Mecha not only because Mahomet was Born there but more especially for the Temple called Kiaabe that is to say square house that they think all who are not Musulmans are unworthy to come there and therefore they suffer them not so much as to come within some days journey of it and if a Christian or any other who were not Mahometan should be apprehended in that Holy Land he would be burned without mercy I never made the journey then but seeing in the conferences that I have had with a great many who have made it I have learned some things relating thereunto I think I may tell what I know especially since no man that I know of hath as yet given us any true relation of it A description of Mecha Kiaabe Mecha is an ancient Town scituated among the Mountains and built all of Stone and Morter in the middle of this Town is the Kiaabe which is a square House surrounded with a wall that hinders people from approaching it there being a void space betwixt the House and the Wall the House is covered with a Dome Within it there is a well of indifferent good Water at least in respect of the other Waters of Mecha which are so bitter that one can hardly drink of them There is besides on the right hand near the door as they enter into that House a black stone as big as a mans Head which they say came down from Heaven A black stone come down from Heaven and that heretofore it was white but that through the Sins of men it became black as it is at present He that first can kiss it at the time when they give one another the Selam after the Prayer of Kouschlouk A great happiness for him that
Places where they could find some fewel not only to warm them but for boyling their Coffee and Mafrouca This was the first time that ever I rode upon a Camel and indeed it made me very weary for their Pack-saddles are so broad that they are very uneasie to ones Legs which must straddle very wide the fatigue of this lasted with me about two days but after that I grew accustomed to it Camels are so well known at present Camels that I think it would be superfluous to give a description of them I shall only say that there are two kinds of them to wit those which are called Camels and those whom they name Dromedaries at least I think they may be ranked under one kind Dromedaries for all the difference that is betwixt them is that the Camels have one bunch of flesh upon their Backs are great and high go constantly at one pace which is fast but hard and travel when they are loaded with seven or eight hundred weight about thirty good leagues a day The Dromedaries have two bunches of flesh on their back shaped naturally like a Saddle are less smaller and lighter than the Camels and are only for carrying of men they have a good soft trott and will travel with ease forty Leagues a day all that one has to do is to sit them well and indeed there are some that tye themselves to them for fear of falling in all things else they are like Camels they have Ears and a short Tail like them a cloven foot and as soft as a Spunge the neck long and hair just like a Camels both kneel when they are loaded and unloaded and then rise as they are bid their Food is the same and both endure thirst well continuing upon occasion five days without drinking however the Camels can abstain longer than the Dromedaries But to return to our Journey we parted from our first Stage Saturday the twenty sixth of January about five a Clock in the morning and during all this Journey Ain el Mouse it was very cold in the mornings until the sun was up Shortly after we found several waters which they call Ain el Mouse that is to say the Wells of Moses there we filled our Borrachios as we did where ever we found fresh water About half an hour after ten we rested and having baited we went forwards about eleven and travelled till six a Clock at night having the red-Red-Sea always on our right hand about half a league wide of us We travelled at such a rate that it would have been all a good Foot man could do to have kept up with us Sunday January the twenty seventh we set out about five a clock in the morning and had not advanced above five hundred paces when passing by the side of a Bush An Arab who who had not eaten in five days time we heard a Voice that called to us and being come to the place we found a poor languishing Arab who told us that he had not eaten a bit for five days we gave him some Victuals and Drink with a provision of Bread for two days more and so went on our way We were not afraid of the Arabs Meeting with Arabs in the Desart whom we met on the way for when we found any they civilly saluted us and departed after we had given them some Bread and Tobacco which they very courteously desired of us for they durst not do us any hurt seeing us guarded by two Scheiks who told them that they had answered for us when we rested in any place to feed some of them came often who having saluted us fell a eating with our Arabs and when none came one of our Arabs cried out as loud as possibly he could That if any body had a mind to eat they might safely come and made this proclamation on all sides so that such as heard the invitation failed not to come with their half-pikes and laying down their Arms fell a feeding together on the Mafrouca of which I shall speak hereafter but there was no necessity of making proclamation at night for so soon as they saw the fire we made they came immediately to see what it meant After we had given that poor famished Arab some Victuals and travelled on in very good way about ten a clock in the morning we entred among the Hills on very stony ground loseing sight of the Sea Antelopes a Beast betwixt a Goat and a Deer Chacales Estridges on these Hills we saw a great many Antelopes and nothing else though there be abundance of wild Beasts in these Desarts as Woolves Bears wild Boars Foxes Hares Chacales and Estridges these are all very common there and all know that the Chacales are engendred of a Dog-Wolf and Bitch-Fox or of a Dog-Fox and Bitch-Wolf As for the Estridges they also live only in the Desarts where some of them are of a prodigious bigness Every one knows how Estridges are shaped which have a neck head and bunch on the Back like Camels with which they agree in many things Deve Cousch so that the Turks call them Deve Cousch that is to say Bird-Camels they go in the Fields always in an even number as two and two or four and four They always beget a Male and a Female and run swifter than a Horse but tire likwise sooner and while they run they throw with their feet the stones that they find with so much force against those that pursue them that if they hit a man they would do him a great deal of hurt I saw one once give a great Dog such a blow with his foot as left him sprawling with his four legs up in the Air. How Estridges are taken When they would catch Estridges an Arab pursues them on Horse-back at first gently and they run away in the same manner but still tiring a little After two or three hours time he rides faster and then when he sees his Fowl almost spent he puts on to a speed and having taken and Killed it he makes a hole in the Throat of it and then having tied streight the neck under the hole three or four of them take hold of it and for some time toss and shake it from side to side just as one would rinse and wash a Barrel when they think it is enough shaken they untie the Throat of it The Eutter or Mantegue of an Estridge and then a great deal of Mantegue or a kind of Butter comes running out at the holes insomuch that they say some of them will yield above twenty pound weight of that stuff for by that shakeing all the flesh of the Creature is dissolved into Mantegue nothing remaining but skin and Bones This would have seemed fabulous to me if several Barbary men had not assured me of it They say that this Mantegue is a very delicious food but very apt to cause a looseness We travelled among these Hills till noon
when we rested in a place where there were a great many fair Trees Near to that is a place where the rain-Rain-water that falls from the Mountains is kept and that water is very good Here it was that the People of Israel came out of the red-Red-Sea having passed it over dry to the ruine and confusion of Pharaoh and all his men who pursued them as may be seen in the Book of Exodus where this place is called Shur Chap. 15. Exod. Chap. 15. Corondel Haman of Pharaon It is at present called Corondel Not far from thence there are hot waters in a Grott which the Arabs call Haman el Pharaon that is to say Pharaon's Bath They tell a thousand stories of it amongst others that if you put four Eggs into it you can take out but three and so many as one puts in there is always one fewer taken out again and that the Devil keeps for himself we did not see that place for our Arabs would not take us to it because it was a little out of the way They say also that over against Corondel the Sea is always Tempestuous about the place where Pharaoh and the Aegyptians were Drowned We parted from thence at one of the clock and continued travelling till seven then we rested in a place where there are Trees also Next day being Monday the twenty eighth of January we set out at four a Clock in the Morning and having passed over several Hills we came into good way again near to the Sea but there is one place to be passed over just by the side of it being white and smooth Rocks where the Camels had much ado to keep from sliding chiefly because they are wet with the Sea-water but that lasts not long we rested at Noon and half an hour after set forwards again and towards the evening entred among Hills where we travelled till six a Clock that we rested in the hollow of a Rock where we spent the Night at that Stage and we could find no wood not to boyl so much as our Coffee Tuesday the twenty ninth of January we parted at five a clock in the Morning and entred into a plain where we travelled till Noon and then having rested a little after one a Clock we marched on over the same Plain until six a Clock at Night and then rested Next day Wednesday the thirtieth of January we parted at four a clock in the Morning and four hours after arrived at Tor about an hour before we came to Tor we found a great many Palm-trees and a well of very bad Water CHAP. XXVI Of Tor and of our arrival at Mount Sinai Tor. TOR is no considerable place nevertheless it has a good harbour for Ships and Galleys This Port is guarded by a little square Castle on the Sea-side with a Tower at each corner and two small Guns on the out-side before the Gate an Aga is Governour of this Castle where none but Turks lodge Near to it there is a Convent of Greeks dedicated to St. Catherine and to the Apparition of God to Moses in the Burning-Bush We delivered the Aga the Letter from the Bey of Suez but because we had no present for him he made no great account of us We lodged in the Convent which is very fair and spacious there we were very well received entertained with the Best and ate Fish of the Red-Sea at that time there were thirty Monks in it We searched for Provisions there but could not find any only the Monks commiserating our condition gave us Olives Dates Onions and a Jar of Brandy which we husbanded as well as we could we stayed a day there because the Monks told us that we needed two Septiers more of Flower so that having bought the Corn and got it ground they baked Bread of one half of it to give our Arabs by the way and upon the Mount and all this they did in a very obliging manner While we were there we bought of these poor Greeks several stone-Mushromes which in that place are got out of the Red-Sea as also small Stone-shrubs or branches of Rock which they call white Coral and many great shells all taken out of the Sea and very pleasant for artificial works But they could not furnish me with any thing of a certain Fish A Sea-man which they call a Sea-man however I got the hand of one since This Fish is taken in the Red-Sea about little Isles that are close by Tor. It is a great strong Fish and hath nothing extraordinary but two hands which are indeed like the hands of a man saving that the Fingers are joined together with a skin like the foot of a Goose but the skin of the Fish is like the skin of a wild Goat or Shamois When they spie that Fish they strike him on the back with Harping-Irons as they do Whales and so kill him They use the skin of it for making Bucklers which are Musquet proof Having payed all and made a Present of some Piastres to the Monks for their kind reception we prepared to be gone but were obliged first to pay a due of twenty eight Maidins a head to wit four for Tor and twenty four for the Mount and all to the use of the Arabs We parted from Tor on Thursday the last of January about eleven a clock in the Fore-noon with a Monk whom they sent with us to shew us the chief Places of the Mount and we payed for a Camel to carry him thither and back again He spoke to us Turkish and Arabick for he understood not a word of Lingua Franca we saw on our way the Garden of the Monks of Tor which is not far from it this Garden is the place which in Holy Scripture is called Elim Elim where when the Israelites went that way there were only seventy Palm-Trees and twelve wells of bitter water which Moses made sweet by casting a piece of Wood into them these Wells are still in being being near one another and most of them within the precincts of the Garden the rest are pretty near they are all hot and are returned again to their first bitterness for I tasted of one of them where People Bath themselves Hamam Mousa which by the Arabs is called Hamam Mousa that is to say the Bath of Moses it is in a little dark Cave there is nothing in that Garden but abundance of Palm-Trees which yield some rent to the Monks but the seventy old Palm-Trees are not there now After we had seen these things we filled our Borrachios with the water of a Well near to that place which belongs to the Monks I told them that it stunk a little and they made answer that they had not Scowered it that year as they used every year to do but withall that it was the best water thereabouts Heretofore they had a Church near to that Well which the Turks Demolished and with the stones of it built the aforesaid
indeed they know not at all how to use them For I know a French Merchant who one time meeting with Arabs they stript him stark naked and before they left him made him shoot off his Fire-lock and Pistols which they suffered him to keep They have also Bucklers made of the Skin of a Fish called the Sea-man They have pretty Horses Arabian Horses that are small but indefatigable and run so fast that they seem to flie where they alight they leave them without making them fast to any thing and these Horses stir not from the place where they have been left The food of the Arabian Horses And indeed when they find them for their purpose they are careful to feed them with Camels Milk Butter Camels flesh dried in the Sun and Wheat all which things make them very strong Those who have any competent Estate keep a Camel to save their Life in time of danger They feed him from a Colt with Camels Milk Butter Camels flesh dried in the Sun and Wheat and give him nothing else to eat which makes them very strong and swift as well as their Horses The Arabs of different Tribes are many times in Wars one with another and the Scheik el Kebir marches at the head of them When one of them kills another in time of peace if the Friends apprehend the Malefactor they carry him before the Scheik el Kebir who condemns him to death or to pay so much to the Relations of the deceased according as they desire it but commonly those of the same Family revenge the death of their Relation and they are so obstinate in their revenge that they 'll keep it an Hundred Years the Mother ever now and then shewing her Children the Bloody Shirt of their Father When any one of them dies he is buried in the same place where he Expired and some Stones put upon his Grave They told me a great many things more of their Customs as among others If an Arab marry a Maid he kills a Camel or two according as he is able to make a Feast and gives so much to the Maid If at any time after a near Relation of the Maids who was absent when the Wedding was made happen to come and be displeased with the Marriage he pays back the Husband what Money he gave to his Kinswoman the Camel which he killed and breaks the Marriage though the Maid be deflowred Though these People be Musulmans yet they make no other Prayers than now and then to say Bismillah that is to say in the Name of God. To conclude they have a wonderful slight in stealing and one of the Scheiks who went with me to Mount Sinai told me that if he pleased he could in the Night-time kill the Bey of Suez in his Bed in spight of all his Guards and though all his Doors were shut And a little before I came to Caire three Arabs contending together which of them was the nimblest Rogue one brag'd that he could steal all that was in the Kitchin of the Basha the other thinking that to be but a small matter said that he would steal the Basha's Signet or Seal and the third offered to do more than they both saying he would kill the Basha in his Bed. The first made a shift to slip into the Kitchin and in the Night-time carried all away not leaving so much as a Skillet the second thronging in among those who one day entred into the place where the Basha was Sealing got pretty near to him and the Basha having sealed something and offering the Seal to some body to hold this Knave stretched out his hand and having received it shortly after disappeared The third went so far that he slid into the Basha's Appartment and entring into his Chamber in the Night-time came to his Beds-side where having drawn his Cangiar his hand was up to have stabbed him when a little Boy who was in the Bed and saw the glittering light of the Cangiar cried out so loud that the Basha starting up avoided the blow Immediately Servants came in and seized the Villain who was next day Empaled for it CHAP. XXXIII Of Suez and the Red-Sea BEing come back to Suez we went and thanked the Bey for his kindness and seeing there was no Caravan ready to set out we had time enough to consider Suez and the Red-Sea This Sea which many think is so called because its Water is Red others more rationally because the Sand of it is Red is no Redder than any other Sea neither in its Water nor Sand only I observed as I went to Mount Sinai some Mountains all over Red upon the sides of it but I believe the reason why it is called Red is That the Translators of the Greek into Latin having in the Greek found the Erythrean Sea have taken that word in Greek for Red not considering that it is the Name of an ancient King called Erythra who hath given his Name to that Sea Erythra which Name reaches a good way beyond the Gulf of Arabia comprehending all the Sea that is betwixt the Eastern Coast of Africa and the Indies See Arrian's Navigation of the Erythrean Sea. This Sea in the holy Scripture is called Yam Souf that is to say the Sea of Rushes because the Banks of it are full of Rushes And the Arabs call it Buhr el Calzem Buhr el Calzem Clysma as if one should say the Sea of Clysma because of the Town named Clysma which was heretofore built at the most Northern point of that Sea which is a Gulf of the Ocean growing narrower and narrower the more Northward it runs and during the space of five days that I kept along the Coast of it in going to Mount Sinai I could not observe it to be any where above eight or nine Miles over This Sea ebbs and flows like the Ocean Two Galleys that belong to Haly Bey Trade on it and many Ships also which for the most part belong to Beys of Aegypt but every Year some of them are lost because being narrow and full of Rocks the Ships want Sea-room It was a Sea of great Trade before the discovery of the way to the East-Indies by the Cape of Good Hope by which the Portuguese English Dutch and others sail now to the Indies and bring us the Drugs Spices Pretious Stones Pearls and many other Commodities which for the most part came formerly only by Aleppo or by the Red-Sea and were unloaded at the Port of Cossir from whence they were carried to the Town of Chana Cossir Chana lying upon the Nile and from thence conveyed down the River to Caire and so to Alexandria Strabo observed this way and passage when he writes that Coptos Coptos where situated a Town of the Thebais the Ruines whereof are still to be seen betwixt Cossir and Chana was a place of Traffick common to the Arabs and Indians There are very good Oysters taken in this Sea as
they may stand in need of and not trust to Suez or Tor for a Camel will carry all I 'm sure for want of that counsel we suffered much and when we came back to Caire were all troubled with a Rheum that fell down upon our Lungs like to have choaked us by reason of the cold icey waters that we were forced to drink upon that Mountain nay our Moor Servant had almost lost his Life by it CHAP. XXXV The Journey from Caire to Gaza BEing recovered from my Journey to Mount Sinai From Caire to Gaza I resolved to travel to Jerusalem and seeing that which most recommends these places to us is the Birth Life and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ I stayed till Lent that I might be there at the time when the Church celebrates the memory of his dolorous Passion There is a Caravan that yearly in Lent goes from Caire to Jerusalem and with the Master of the present years Caravan who was a Christian of the Countrey I made a bargain for eighteen Piastres each Coune and all Caffaires payed to Jerusalem Counes These Counes are Hampiers like Cradles carried upon Camels Backs one on each side but they have a back head and sides like the great Chairs that sick people sit in A man rides in each of these Counes and over them they lay a covering which keeps them both from the Rain and Sun leaving as it were a Window before and behind upon the Camels back We wanted four Counes for we were four in company to wit a Capucin a Provencial my self and my Servant A Clergy man pays less than a Secular but the Capucin payed only sixteen Piastres the Religious not paying so much as the Seculars We had Biskets made for us French Bread Wine in Flasks Rice Lentils and other Lent-Provisions carrying with us a Tent a Pot or Skillet and in short all that was necessary not forgetting Candles Candlestick and Leather-Buckets to draw Water with All this we had carried upon a Camel over and above the Bargain Being thus provided we parted from Caire Saturday the three and twentieth of March at one a Clock after noon every one mounted on his Ass and by four a Clock came to Hhanque Hhanque which is a little Town where the Caravans of Jerusalem make their first Stage There we lay and next day came the whole Caravan consisting of six Score Camels with several Horses Mules and Asses We parted from Hhanque Monday morning the twenty fifth of March and rested without the Town till Noon at which time we set out on our journey Bulbeys and at eight a Clock at night came to ly at Bulbeys we had a tryal then of these Panniers and for my part I was much at my ease for I had under me a good thick quilt and a Pillow and lay at full Length turning my feet sometimes towards the neck and sometimes towards the tail of the Camel though the Camel-drivers kept a heavy clutter crying that I spoil'd their Camel for they would have had me sit after the Turkish manner as all the rest did Next day Tuesday the twenty sixth of March we parted from Bulbeys at one a Clock after Noon and came to lodge at Corede where we arrived at eight in the Evening and we parted from thence next day Wednesday the twenty seventh of March at Noon and at eight a Clock in the Evening we came to Salahia Salabia Tamarisks there are very pleasant Woods of Tamarisks about all these places but though all of them were good Towns and Villages yet we lay abroad in Tents making a little Camp and in the Night-time Guards with Musquets were placed on all the Avenues of the Caravan who suffered none to come in or goe out they are payed for that and it is a very good course to prevent being Robbed Next day Thursday the twenty eighth of March at Noon we parted from Salahia and about ten a Clock at night crossed over a fair Bridge under which runs the Water of the Mediterranean Sea that remains on land when that Sea makes any Inundation so we were told but it is probable it may be the Sirbonite Lake Sirbonite Lake We travelled on till five a Clock in the morning next day when we encamped in a place called Elbir Devedar because of a dirty Well of salt Water that is near to it Bir. for Bi r in Arabick signifies a Well the Beasts are watered there but such as have not provided themselves of fresh Water know what it is to want it at that place We parted from thence the same day Friday the twenty ninth of March about noon and betwixt three and four of the Clock we found upon the Road a Well called Bi r like the former but continued traveling till nine a Clock at night Catie when we arrived at Catie where we rested the next day being Saturday the thirtieth of March because of the Jews who do not travel on Saturday and there being a good many of them in the Caravan they had credit enough with the master of the Caravan to obtain this Catie is a Village where there is indeed a well of water that is not indeed salt but still unpleasant for drinking as being very sweetish but two miles from Catie there is a well of Water which is good after that it hath stood a little at Catie we ate fresh Fish half as long as ones Arm as broad and thick as Carpes and of as good a rellish they did not cost us a Maidin or five farthings a piece Cachef Saturday after noon the Cachef of Catie pressed our Camels th fetch wood from the Sea-side which is but a little way off and they did not come back till the next day Sunday at One a clock in the Morning which hindred us from Parting from Catie till the day after The Cachef of Catie sent for me to shew me some Books he had got a great many Latin and French Books of Physick and Chirurgery that had belonged to a Dutch Chirurgeon who died there some Months before as he was coming from Caire with the Caravan which the Cachef signified by Letter to the French Consul at Caire he told me that he had a Chest full of them he shewed me also holy Sepulchres and other such Relicks of the same Dutch-mans and gave me some of them having afterward treated me with Coffee he asked me wherein he could serve me I thanked him heartily for his civility and being returned to my Tent made up a Box of Raisins Almonds and such other Fruits which are there a great Treat and presented it to him We parted from Catie Monday the first of April at nine a clock in the Morning and four Turks armed with Muskets and Shables waited on us as a guard to Riche because we were afraid to be set upon by the Arabs About two a clock we found a shallow and narrow but very long Pit
full of very white Salt Salt of Rain-water and they assured us that that Salt was made only by the Rain-water the sand of that place having such vertue as being without doubt very Salt and the like is to be seen in Alexandria Birlab We came to Birlab about ten a Clock at night which is a Desart without any Hibitation but hath three wells of Salt-water We set out from thence next day Tuesday the second of April about ten a Clock in the morning and about noon came to a well of good fresh water lately made by a Sangiac of Aegypt for all Travellers Bi r Acat About six a clock at night we arrived at a place called Bi r Acat which is also in the Desart having neither habitation nor water to water Beasts and all these ways are full of Quick-Sands We lay there and parted on Wednesday the third of April about six a clock in the Morning and about one of the clock at noon we found a Well called Sibil el bar Acat newly made by an Aga who passed that way a little before on his Journey to Constantinople Sibil signifies a place where all may have water for God's sake This Well is covered with a Dome supported by four walls of free-stone built square the entry into it is by two Doors over against one another but one must first ascend four or five steps The Cistern is covered all over with free-stone except in two round places big enough to let a Bucket down by which the water is drawn that rises pretty high half a fathom of Rope being sufficient to reach it This Aga left a fond to maintain some Arabs who daily bring thither so many Camels laded with fresh Water which they take at a place near the Sea. Having there made a provision of Water we entered again into the Quick-Sands Riche which lasted as far as Riche where we arrived about four in the Afternoon A quarter of an hour before we got there we were overtaken by a Storm which lasted above thirty hours Riche is a Village not far distant from the Sea it hath a Castle well built of little Rock-Stones as all the Houses are and the Cachef of it as well as he of Zaka depends on the Cachef of Catie Zaka They have so many lovely ancient Marble-Pillars at Riche that their Coffee-Houses and wells are made of them and so are their Burying-places full We parted from Riche Thursday the fourth of April about one a clock at noon having eight Turks with us who guarded us to Cauniones Cauniones for fear of the Arabs An hour after we parted from Riche we found a Sibil of Salt Water We still travelled on through Quick-Sands though it blew very hard Rained Thundered and Lightened and about midnight came to Zaka which is in the Desart without any Habitation but has only three Wells of bad Water and yet the Corsairs come often there to take in fresh Water Friday the fifth of April the Wind after a great deal of Rain calming we parted from Zaka about nine a Clock in the Morning and travelled in good way a little after twelve of the Clock we found three fair Marble-Pillars two standing and one lying along upon the ground and a little after a large Well of good Water where there are Sakis there we began to see a very pleasant Countrey and some Corn-Land sometime after we found a Sibil of bitter Water which is close by Cauniones where we arrived about three in the Afternoon they have so many Marble-Pillars there also that their Coffe-Houses stand all upon such There we began to see abundance of Trees and a great deal of good Meadow ground and indeed both the Cattel and Inhabitants of that Place from the biggest to the least are extreamly Fat. There is a very fair Castle there with a large open place in it The Turks lodge in the Castle where there is a Saki of very good Water and the Moors and Felas live in the Houses without This Castle is commanded by a Muteferaca who has but a small number of Soldiers with him in it he depends immediately on Caire from whence he has his pay and his Soldiers are payed by the Cachef of Catie Cauniones is in Aegypt which here ends We parted from Cauniones on Saturday the sixth of April before five in the Morning guarded by seven or eight Turks of the Place who went with us to Gaza for fear of the Arabs About six a clock we found a Sibil of bitter Water and about seven another better a little after we discovered the Town of Gaza half an hour after eight we found a Bridge under which runs the water of the Meadows which are very spacious and at the end of that Bridge there is a well of good Water the Countrey abounds in fair Cattle and all sorts of Fruit-Trees about an hour after we found two Sibils not far distant from one another and about half an hour after ten we arrived at Gaza where we Encamped near the Castle in a little Burying-place walled about CHAP. XXXVI Of the Cities of Gaza and Rama and our arrival at Jerusalem Gaza THE City of Gaza is about two miles from the Sea and was anciently very Illustrious as may be seen by its Ruines for you have Marble-Pillars every where and I have seen Burying-places there where the Tombs were wholly made of Marble among others there is one enclosed with a wall which belongs to some particular Turkish Family and is full of lovely Sepulchres made of large pieces of excellent Marble which are the remains and evidences of the ancient splendour of that Town It was one of the five Lordships of the Philistins Lordships of the Philistins to which Samson did so much hurt nay and one day carried away upon his Shoulders the Gates of this City and left them upon a little hill at a miles distance The Castle is near the Town and is round with a Tower at each corner four in all it is kept in good order and has but a small circumference but two Iron-Gates Hard by this Castle is the Serraglio of the Basha's Wives and joining to it above some pieces of old wall of a matter so compact that it cannot be broken with a Hammer it is the ruines of the Castle of the Romans The Town is but very little it hath a Bezestein in very good order and a pretty large Greek Church whereof the arched Roof in the middle is supported by two great Pillars of Marble with their Corinshes of the Corinthian order they say that our Lady was three days there when she fled into Aegypt The Armenians have a Church there also Near to the Castle of Gaza behind the Burying-place where we Encamped is the place where the Palace of the Philistins stood which Samson pulled down Smothering himself and all that were within it it is now no more but a heap of
very stony from Jerusalem to the Plain of Jericho where we arrived and encamped about two in the afternoon We took no care to carry with us Tents Victuals nor any other Necessaries in all that Journey for the Monks made it their business to provide us with Horses Victuals and Tents and to shew us all without paying any thing but for our Horses The Town of Jericho is about a quarter of a league from thence Jericho which formerly was a famous City but at present consists only of thirty or forty Brick-Houses inhabited by Arabs These Houses were all forsaken when we went that way because the Arabs had fled for fear of the Turks that went with us Near to these Habitations we saw the House of Zacheus The House of Zacheus about a quarter of a league from the Camp as I said already and then we returned to the Camp. In the Plain of Jericho Roses of Jericho there are Roses of Jericho as they call them but they have not the vertues as many ascribe to them for they blow not unless they be put into water and then they blow in all seasons and at any hour contrary to the Opinion of those who say That they blow not but in Christmas Night and others on all the Festival Days of our Lady with a great many such idle tales I found of them also in the Desarts of Mount Sinai Next day Tuesday the sixteenth of April we set out about three of the clock in the morning and travelled on still in the Plain till about half an hour after five we came to the River of Jordan which is something deep The River of Jordan and perhaps half as broad as the Scine at Paris it is very rapid and the water of it thick because it passes through fat Land but they say it corrupts not The course of Jordan and I filled a Bottle of it to try the experiment but the Corsairs whom I met with threw it into the Sea this River has its source from two Springs towards Mount Libanus called Jor and Dan which joyned together make Jordan It runs from East to South passes through the Sea of Tiberius and loses it self in that nasty and stinking Lake Asphaltites called the Dead-Sea Lake Asphaltites It is very full of Fish and on both sides beset with little thick and pleasant Woods among which thousands of Nightingales warbling all together make a most pleasant delightful and charming Consort Devotions at Jordan Here our Monks quickly erected an Altar upon which they sayed two Masses at the first of which I received the Sacrament but it was very incommodious for it behoved one besides he that Celebrates to hold the Chalice Veil c. Lest the Wind which blew high might overturn and carry them away and another to hide the Tapers lest they should be blown out During that time all the Greeks Cophtes Armenians c. Performed their Devotions also most part go into the Water stark-naked especially the Men and the Women in their Smocks they had of the Water of Jordan poured upon their Heads in memory of our Lords Baptism and washed their Linen in it carrying away Jarrs and Bottles full of Water with Mud and Earth which they took up by the River side not forgetting Sticks which they cut in the adjoining Woods and all to be kept as Relicks This River is rendred Illustrious by many Miracles as having stopt its course to let the Children of Israel pass over The Prophet Elisha passed it over dry-shod upon his Masters Cloak c. I was very desirous we might have gone afterwards to the Dead-Sea but the Turks would not and therefore I shall here relate what I have learn'd of it from those that have been there The Dead-Sea It was in this Sea that the five Cities of the Plain Sodom and Gomorrah c. Were swallowed up The water of it is very clear but extreamly Salt and in some places of it they find Salt as resplendant as Cristial It bears up all who wash in it though they move neither Hand nor Foot as many have found by Experience But I do not at all believe what some say that it bears up only Live things and lets things Inanimate sink to the Bottom nay that if a lighted Candle be plunged into it it will float above But if put out it will sink to the bottom There is no sort of Fish in this Sea by reason of the extraordinary saltness of it which burns like Fire when one tastes of it and when the Fish of the Water Jordan come down so low they return back again against the Stream and such as are carried into it by the Current of the Water dead- The extent of the Dead-Sea immediately Die. This Sea is an hundred miles in length and twenty five over The Land within three Leagues round it is not Cultivated but is white and mingled with Salt and Ashes They say that there are Apple-Trees upon the sides of this Sea which bear very lovely Fruit but within are all full of Ashes In short we must think that there is a heavy Curse of God upon that place seeing it was heretofore so pleasant a Countrey There are many Camels load of Bitumen daily got out of this Lake Return from Jordan Having no liberty then to go see that Sea we parted from the River of Jordan about seven a clock in the Morning and returned back the same way as we came about nine a clock the Musellem who as I said commanded the Convoy halted in the middle of the Plain of Jericho and went into a Tent which was purposely pitched for him then he caused all the Latin Monks to pass by before him The Musellem numbers the Pilgrims who were numbered Then we who were secular Pilgrims passed by also and the Musellem ordered us to be set down eight though we were but six and though the Trucheman said that there was but six of us and offered to make us pass by him again yet nothing would be abated which was an Avanie of twenty Piastres for the Monks An avanie for the Pilgrims Franks for every Secular Frank payes ten Piastres but they pay it in the City because the Convent answers for them after we had been thus mustered we went and Encamped in the same place where we did the day before and having taken some refreshment we went to the Mount of the Quarantine The Mount of forty days Fasting ar forty days Fast not far from thence while the Musellem mustered the rest of the Christians who payed down in ready Money four Bokels and twenty Maidins a Head though the years before they payed no more but three Bokels We parted from the Camp about ten a Clock in the Morning then went to the Mount of Fasting a League distant from the Town of Jericho it is so called because our Lord when he came out of Jordan spent forty days
It is a Town at present almost desolate We lodged in the Convent which is commodious and neat enough being new built for it is but about forty Years since that place came into the hands of the Monks of the Holy Land being given them by the Emir Farir Eddin Thursday the ninth of May we went into the Church where we heard Mass and said our Prayers The place of the Annunciation this Church is on the same place where the Angel Gabriel Annunciated the Mystery of the Incarnation to the Virgin Mary when she was at Prayers so that that Grott was her Oratory you go down to it by seven or eight steps in the Court and by more in the Convent There are two lovely Pillars of greyish Stone in it which were put there by St. Helen one at the very place as they say where the Virgin was when she received that Heavenly Message and the other at the place where the Angel appeared from the lower part of that where the Virgin was there is about two Foot broken off by the Turks so that the rest hangs as it were in the Air sticking to the Vault to which the Capital of it is fastned The Chamber of the Virgin. Even with this Grott is the place of the Virgins Chamber which was by Angels Transported to Loretto so that there are two Nefs one of the Grott and another of the Chamber in the space whereof there is another Rebuilt exactly like that of Loretto It is thirteen paces long and four broad the Chamber and Grott together being also thirteen paces in length We went out of Nazareth the same day May the ninth about three in the Afternoon to go visit the holy places about it And in the first place about three quarters of a League South from Nazareth we saw a great Hill called the Precipice The Precipice which is the place where the Jews would have thrown our Saviour down headlong but He rendering himself invisible to them retreated as they say into a little Cell that looks like a large and deep Nich this Nich is about the middle of the Precipice and heretofore the prints of his Body were to be seen in it In this Nich there is an Altar on which sometimes they say Mass and the ruines of a Chappel still to be seen by it From the top of that Precipice you may see the Town of Naim where our Lord raised the Widows Son from the Dead it lies at the foot of the Hill called Hermon Hermon mentioned in the Psalms Betwixt the Precipice and Nazareth there are some ruines of a Nunnery Our Lady of fear where there was a Church dedicated to our Lady of Fear because they say the holy Virgin following our Lord whom the Jews led to precipitate him and being afraid they might put him to death as she was going fell down in this place and her Knee is very well marked in the Rock The Monks say that they caused a piece of the Rock to be cut off that they might have carried away that Impression but that after they had gone a few steps they could not carry it away Then upon a little Mount about six hundred paces from the Convent they shewed us a great Stone Our Saviour's Table St. Peter's Well called our Lord's Table because they have it by Tradition that our Saviour eat many times upon it with his Apostles Close by it is the Fountain called St. Peter's Well because our Lord returning back to the Town with his Apostles and St. Peter being dry our Saviour made that Well to spring out and the Water is very good After that we entered into the Town which is close by and about five a Clock at Night came to the Convent CHAP. LV. Of the House of the Cananean the Mount of Beatitudes the Mount of the two Fishes and five Loaves the Sea of Tiberias of Mount Tabor and other holy Places NEXT day being Friday the Tenth of May we parted from Nazareth about five a Clock in the Morning and a little after found the Fountain where the Blessed Virgin used to draw Water The Tomb of Jonas and there are some steps to go down to it Then on the left hand we saw the Tomb of Jonas to whom the Turks bear great respect as they do to all the Prophets We saw a print of his Foot on the Rock the same Foot being marked on four places of the Rock at some paces distance from one another We came next to the Well where the Water was drawn which our Lord turned into Wine at the Marriage of Cana. In the Sacristie of the Church of the Eleven Thousand Virgins at Cologne I saw one of the Pots wherein our Saviour wrought that Miracle changing the Water that was in it into so good Wine that the Guests who had not seen the Miracle wrought complained to the Master of the Feast that he brought forth the good Wine last seeing it was the custom to give the good Wine first and the bad last then we went into the House where our Lord wrought this Miracle St. Helen built there a Church with a little Convent where some Monks lived it is still standing but the Moors have changed it into a Mosque however we entred into it Having seen that place we Travelled a pretty while in the Plain where the Apostles pluck'd the Ears of Corn and rubbed them in their hands on the Sabbath-Day The Sea of Galilee Bethulia then from a little height we discovered the Sea of Galilee from whence we also saw Bethulia where Judith killed Holofernes We saw also from that place pretty near the said Sea the top of Mount Libanus all white with Snow and about Ten in the morning we came to the Mount of Beatitudes so called The Mount of Beatitudes because it is the place where our Saviour made to his Apostles the Sermon of Beatitudes we went up to it and after we had heard the Gospel on that subject read by one of our Monks we came down again and continued our Journey The place and stone upon which our Lord blessed the two fishes and five loaves Tiberias and half an Hour after we came to the place where our Lord fed Five thousand men with two Fishes and five Loaves and twelve Baskets full of Fragments remained Having the Gospel read to us we eat in that place upon a Stone upon which they say he blessed the said Fishes and Loaves from thence we went to the Town of Tiberias which is upon the side of the Sea of Tiberias having been restored by Herod and named Tiberias from the name of the Emperour Tiberius We got there about Noon its Ruines and old Demolished Walls demonstrate it to have been a very large place The Walls of it having been ruined a Jewish Widow afterwards built new ones in form of a Fort with its Courtines and Jews lived there until about fifteen Years ago that the
Prayers of the Hermites who at that time lived by it and chiefly of St. Macharius because the Pirats of that Sea much infested them Bahr el Malame it is called Bahr el Malame that is to say Mare Convicii There you may find a great many petrifications of Wood and some Bones converted into Stone which are pretty curious On the side of that Sea to the West The Mountain of Eagles Stones Dgebel el Masque is the Mountain of Eagles Stones called Dgebel el Masque where digging in the Earth and especially in time of heat and drought they find several Eagles Stones of different bigness so called because the Eagles carry them to their Nests to preserve their young ones from Serpents they have many Vertues and the Monks say that there are commonly many Eagles to be seen there You must make as short a stay there as you can for fear of the Arabs From the Mountain of Eagles Stones you go making a Triangle to the fourth Monastery and all the Journey from Ambabichoye to this Monastery Dir el Saydet is performed in one day This Monastery is called Dir el Saydet that is to say the Monastery of our Lady it is very spacious but a little ruinous It hath a fair Church and Garden but the Water is brackish and nevertheless there are more Monks in this Monastery than in the other three because the Revenue of it is greater and they have some Relicks also From this Monastery you go to the Lake of Natron Birquet el Natroun called Birquet el Natroun only two Leagues distant from it this Lake is worth ones Curiosity to see and it looks like a large Pond frozen over upon the Ice whereof a little Snow had fallen It is divided into two the more Northern is made by a Spring that rises out of the Ground though the place of it cannot be observed and the Southern proceeds from a great bubbling Spring the Water being at least a Knee deep which immediately as it springs out of the Earth congeals and makes as it were great pieces of Ice and generally the Natron is made and perfected in a Year by that Water which is reddish There is a red Salt upon it six or seven Fingers thick Natron then a black Natron which is made use of in Aegypt for Lye and last is the Natron much like the first Salt but more solid Higher up there is a little Well of Fresh-water which is called Aain el Goz and a great many Camels come dayly to the Lake to be loaded with that Natron From this Lake you go to another where there is Salt at Whitsontide made in form of a Pyramide Pyramidal Salt. Melhel Mactaoum and therefore is called Pyramidal Salt and in Arabick Melh el Mactaoum From the said Lake you return and Lodge in one of the Monasteries and next day come back to the Nile where you must stay for a passage to Caire or Rossetto if you have not retained the Boat that brought you CHAP. LXXII Of Aegypt the Nile Crocodiles and Sea-Horses AEGypt called by the Hebrews Mis Raim Aegypt Masr and by the Arabs at present Masr and in Turkish Misr is bounded on the East by the Red Sea and the Desarts of Arabia on the South by the Kingdoms of Bugia and Nubia The borders of Aegypt on the West by the Desarts of Lybia and on the North by the Mediterranean Sea. This Country lies so low that the Land cannot be seen till one be just upon it and therefore those that sail to it ought to be upon their Guard. Aegypt has no Ports on the Mediteranean fit for Ships except Alexandria and the Bouquer which is rather a Road than a Port The course of the Nile in Aegypt The River of Nile runs through the length of it and having its Course from South to North discharges it self into the Mediterranean by two mouths upon the sides of which stand two fair Towns to wit Rossetto to the West and Damiette to the East two miles below which it mingles its Waters with the Sea and by that division makes a Triangular Isle in Aegypt This Triangular Island was by the ancient Greeks called Delta because in Figure it resembles the Character Δ. The Delta of Aegypt One side of that Triangle is beat by the Mediterranean Sea on the North and the other two are bounded by the two branches of the Nile which divide at the point of this Triangle so that the three points or angles of this Triangle are the first at the place where the Nile divides it self into two the second at Rossetto and the third at Damiette The first Angle is at an equal distance from the other two to wit from Rossetto and Damiette and from that Angle it is five or six Leagues to Caire so that the Nile has only those two mouths which are Navigable for great Vessels for though there be some others yet they are no more but Rivulets The breadth of the Nile This River is broader than the broadest part of the Seine but it is not very Rapid unless it be at its Cataracts where it falls from so great a height that as they say the noise of it is heard at a very great distance When it overflows it seems to be a little Sea. The water of it is very thick and muddy but they have an Invention to clarifie it For in that Country An invention for clarifying the water of the Nile they make use of great Vessels of white Earth holding about four Buckets full of Water when they are full of Water they rub the inside of the Vessels with three or four Almonds at most until they be dissolved and in the space of a quarter of an Hour the Water becomes very clear and for that end most of those who bring Water to Houses have a Paste of Almonds wherewith they rub the Vessels as I have said After all this Water is so wholesome that it never does any harm though one drink never so much of it because it comes a great way over Land to wit from Ethiopia So that in so long a course and through so hot a Country the Sun has time to Correct it and cleanse it from all Crudities and indeed it is sweated out as fast as one drinks it In short The number of Villages upon the Banks of the Nile they have no other Water to drink in Aegypt and therefore most of the Cities Towns and Villages are upon the sides of the River and there are so many Villages that you no sooner leave one but you find another and all the Houses in them are built of Earth This River abounds not much in Fish and we had but one good Fish of the Nile at Caire which they call Variole and that is rare too Variole Crocodiles but there are a vast number of Crocodiles in it which perhaps is the cause of the scarcity of the
about it all the while with West-north-west and North-winds Our Mates told us that they were always a long time in doubling that Cape and sometimes spent three Weeks about it About five a Clock in the Evening we Sailed betwixt the Isle of Zimbre and an Isle or Rock that is almost mid-way betwixt the Main-land and Zimbre Zimbre Zimbre is Inhabited has convenient Anchorage by it and good Water in it From Zimbre it is but forty Miles to Goletta Having passed Zimbre we stood off from Land intending not to enter Goletta till next day because of the many Flats that are on that Coast Friday night and Saturday morning the eighth of March we had greater gusts of Wind and Rain than before and if we had not doubled the Cape we must have been a long time still before we could have done it considering the Weather that happened afterward During these storms a Moor on board of us died who had been ill of a Bloody Flux almost ever since the beginning of our Voyage and next morning he was thrown over-board At length on Saturday the eighth of March about seven a Clock in the Morning we came into the Port or rather the Road of Goletta for it is not a Harbour but a Road that lies open to the South east Wind and in all Barbary there are but two good Ports to wit Porto Farina Porto Farina Porto Stera Biserta Vtica and Porto Stera The Harbour for the Galleys of Tunis is Biserta a little Town threescore Miles from Tunis Biserta was formerly called Vtica and here it was that Cato killed himself wherefore he was called Cato Vticensis We came to an Anchor near a Point of Land where the Sepulchre of Dido is The Sepulchre of Dido Marabout and a Marabout or Sheick is Interred there So soon as we had dropt Anchor Don Philippo sent ashoar one of his Men who having informed a poor Moor whom he met that Don Philippo was arrived the poor Man ran with all the speed he could to the Town to carry the news to Don Philippo's Mother who was overjoyed thereat and gave him twenty Crowns for a Reward he was no more expected at Tunis and it was thought he was gone back again into Christendom having been absent almost two Years Sunday the ninth of March we went ashoar and when Don Philippo left the Ship they fired fifteen Guns He found several Men on Horse-back and amongst them all his Brothers who were come out to receive him CHAP. LXXXIX Of Goletta and our Arrival at Tunis Goletta GOletta is no more but two Castles whereof the one was built by the Emperour Charles the fifth and the other by Ahmet Dey the Father of Don Philippo who perceiving that the Galleys of Malta came and took ships in the Road without any damage from the Guns of the Castle built this last which is very low and has seven or eight great Gun-holes two foot above the Water by which the Guns play level with the surface of it This Castle is round on the side next the Sea and that of Charles the fifth is almost square Between these two Castles there are three Houses one belonging to the Family of Don Philippo the other to the Bey and the other to Schelebi the Son of Hisouf Dey who is called barely Schelebi because he was Born during the time his Father Reigned When we had refreshed our selves a little in the House of Don Philippo we took Boat and went to Tunis by the Canal or rather Lake which in the beginning is very narrow there being many Canes fixed all round in the bottom of the Water for catching of Fish afterwards it grows very wide It is not commonly above five span deep in Water then it was very shallow and had many dry places in it which with the least Wind are quickly covered and that very high with Water Don Philippo went by Land with his company mounted on a stately Horse that was brought him The first thing we saw upon that Water was a Hill to the left hand very near the Sea-side where there are natural Baths of Water almost boyling hot There is a Bagnio built there and it is called Hamarmulf Hamarmulf Zagouam then a little further on upon the same side they shewed us a high Hill called Zagouam which is a great way from this Lake and a days Journey distant from Tunis there there is a little Town of Tagarins or Andalaous called also Zagouam When the Christians possessed that Countrey there were Aqueducts that brought Water from thence to the City of Carthage at present they are broken but some Arches with the Fountains and Cisterns still remain to be seen As we came near to Tunis we saw a great many Olive-Trees and abundance of other Trees which denote a good Countrey In four hours time we arrived at Tunis though with a little wind they go it many times in two hours but we were many times imbayed By Land it is eighteen miles from Goletta to Tunis If they pleased they might make a good Port at Tunis but then the Town would not be so strong or at least not so secure From the place where you Land it is a mile still to the Town where being arrived we went to lodge at the House of Monsieur Le Vacher a Perisian Priest and Father of the Mission who was then Consul for the French and he received us very Affectionately CHAP. XC Of the Countrey-Houses and other places that are to be seen about Tunis TWO days after our arrival Don Philippo sent for us to shew us a Countrey-House he had half a League from the Town The Countrey about Tunis is full of these Countrey Houses which are built like the Bastides about Marseilles Don Philippo's is very pretty it is built in form of a square Tower and higher than any about it from the Hall to the top of the Tower there are an hundred and eleven steps up and from thence there is an excellent Prospect which discovers on all hands a lovely Plain reaching out of sight full of Olive-Trees In it there is a great Hall open above with covered Galleries round it which have the Roof supported by several Pillars In the middle of this open place there is a great reservatory of Water which serves for several Water-works All this place is adorned with Marble as also all the Halls and Chambers which are beautified with Gold and Azure and very pleasant Plaister-work there being Fountains every where that play when one pleases One should also see the Bardes which are three Houses built by the Bey for his three Sons a League from Tunis This Bey is as it were the Basha's Farmer to whom he gives so much of the Revenue due to the Grand Signior in the Countrey which he gathers and the rest he keeps to himself He was not at that time Bey but Basha and his eldest Son was Bey In these Houses
and amongst others we saw a flight altogether like Francolines save that they have an unpleasant smell though the flesh of them be firm and very good to eat They were so numerous that I think a grain of small shot could not have past through without hitting some of them and they made a Cloud above five hundred paces in length and fifty in breadth About six a Clock we began to have little hills on our right hand which lasted about two hours And we passed near to one out of which they have Sulphur which they purifie and melt into Canes This Sulphur is a very white Earth for we were pretty near that hill which is almost wholely of Sulphur We stopped on the Curdistan shoar two hundred paces from thence about Sun-setting and rested upon the ground by the Water-side some of the Company stayed on board to guard the Kelecks for the Arabs when they see Kelecks many times come swimming and take what they can and then make their escape in the same manner They have besides the cunning when they are swimming to put some branches of trees upon their heads that it may not be thought they are men The water over against these hills is no broader than the length of the Pont Marie at Paris That Night we had a very hot Wind which sometimes brought with it cold gusts also and I observed they were not so strong as the others I was afraid it might have been the Samiel because it blew from that hill of Sulphur Next Morning being Saturday the ninth of August we embarked about break of day Hills of Sulphur We still saw on the side of Mesopotamia some hills of Sulphur which we smelt We met several People Men Women and Girls that crossed the Water stark naked having a Borrachio under each Arm-pit and their baggage on their heads and amongst the rest we saw two Girls who swam over without any help Half an hour after Sun-rising we perceived on the Water-side to the left hand Houses of Arabs several of the Arabs houses square and about two fathom high they were made of Poles and covered with leaves their Cattel were hard by and also their Horses which are always saddled These are their Summer-houses for in the Winter-time they shelter themselves under their Tents of black Goats hair Alyhamam Hot Baths About six a Clock we stopt at a Village called Alyhamam in Mesopotamia there are a great many natural hot Baths there and I make no doubt but these Waters run through Sulphur The People of the Countrey have dugg great Pits in the Earth under little Domes wherein they bath themselves for my own part I thought it enough to wet a finger therein and found it very hot but not scalding Sick people come there from all quarters and are cured but especially Lepers There are a great many always there from Mosul which is but a days Journey of Caravan distant All the Houses of this Village are by the Water-side they are all about two fathom square and the Walls and Roofs are onely of Canes interlaced with branches of Trees we rested there about two hours and then continued our Voyage The Sun that day was several times overcast with Clouds that did us a great kindness after Noon we stopt a little to stay for the other Keleck which was not come up About three a Clock we came to Asiguir Asiguir which is a place where the remains of the Foundation of a Bridge are still to be seen over which the Water runs with so much noise that we heard it half an hour before we came to the place When we were got there we went a shoar on the left hand because there is onely a small passage near Land for the Kelecks and in the Summer-time it is so shallow that many times they are forced to keep in the middle and go over stones that rise to the brim of the Water and make a kind of cascade or fall We all took our Arms to defend us against the Lions which are there in great Numbers amongst little Coppises however we saw none When the Keleck had passed near the shoar the current carried it into the middle of the River so that it could not stop till it came to an Island which is about fifty paces from the main Land and thither we went to it up to the knees in water A little after we had a great many hills to the right hand and on the first of them there is still some remains of a Castle called Top-Calai that 's to say the Castle of Cannons Top-Calai they say it was built by Nimrod as well as that Bridge which he had built for his convenience in going to his Mistress whom he kept on the other side Besides that we saw a great many other hills of Sulphur and one amongst the rest very high the Sulphur whereof appeared very yellow and smelt strong About half an hour after we saw the end of these Mountains and had others on the left hand covered over with Trees A quarter of an hour after we saw on the left hand River of Zarb the place where the River of Zarb falls into the Tigris It 's a great River more than half as broad as the Tigris very rapid and the Water thereof is whitish and cold They say that it comes very far off from the Mountains of Curdistan and is onely snow-Snow-water On the same side about a French League up in the Countrey there is a hill by it self on which are the Ruines of a Castle called Kchaf Kchaf Having passed this place which looks like a little Sea we had constantly to the left hand Woods full of Lions Boars and other wild Beasts We rowed on till the Sun was setting not knowing where to lye because we durst not go a shoar on the side of the Woods for fear of Lions and on the side of Mesopotamia we saw Arabs at length just at Sun-setting we stopt near Woods which are all of Tamarisk and Liquourice and set a guard both against Men and Beasts From Mosul to this place they reckon it two days Journey and a half by Caravan After midnight three Robbers stark naked approached but finding themselves discovered they dived into the water and disappeared nevertheless this gave us a great allarm for they who saw them ran in all haste to the Keleck crying out like men in extreme danger and the rest not knowing what the matter was and thinking that they had a Lion at their heels threw themselves desperately into the Keleck whilst those that were asleep on board awaking at the noise and imagining there was a Lion in the Keleck endeavoured to get out In short so great was the disorder that no man knowing what he did it is a wonder we did not kill one another Sunday the tenth of April about break of day we put forward again and half an hour after past by the foot of a
covering a great pent-house which was made of sticks or laths laid cross ways and two Stores over them upon which they spread a very thin lay of this lime smoothing it with the Trowel Then they put upon this lay three fingers thick of Earth mingled with Straw and wrought into a morter In this which I saw prepared there were four and twenty Ass loads and four men prepared it They were near eleven hours about it and made it up into five Wells or Heaps which remained so for two days before they were used The greatest use they make of this lime mingled with Ashes and Straw Lime for fish Ponds Basons and Fountains is for Fish-ponds Basons of Fountains and other things that are to hold water When that Stuff is well made it lasts above thirty years and is harder than Stone In whitening of their Walls they use no lime but make use of a white Earth which is in small pieces like plaister and immediately dissolves in water This Earth they call Ghilsefid Ghilsefid that 's to say white Earth they dig it out of certain Pits or Quarries of which there are many about Ispahan As to their morter it is usually made of plaister The making of Morter earth and chopped straw all well wrought and incorporated together At Schiras to spare the charges of Ghilsefid they sometimes make use of plaister for whitening their Walls but they have not that bright whiteness which Ghilsefid giveth They cast their Walls pretty often also with a mixture made of Plaister and Earth which they call Zerdghil Zerdghil that 's to say yellow Earth though in reality it be not yellow but rather of a Musk or Cinnamon colour they get it on the River-side and work it in a great Earthen Vessel but they put so little earth in proportion to water that it remains liquid like muddy water or at most like strained Juice and it is altogether of the Colour of that Earth they make use of it to work the Plaister in another Earthen Vessel where they mingle this water with plaister in such a quantity that it be reduced to the thickness of morter which retains the colour of that Earth With this mixture they cast their Walls which at first look all greyish but according as they dry they grow so white that when they are fully dry they seem almost as if they were plaistered over with pure plaister This mixture is used not onely for saving of plaister but also because it holds better than plaister alone and in my opinion looks as well For making of Terrasses they lay as I have said upon the Stores and reeds almost half a foot thick of Earth The way of making Terrasses but which sinks to far less being trampled and tread upon when it is well dried in the Air they lay on more Earth mingled with a like quantity of Straw which they work well together stirring it often that they may better incorporate the Straw with the Earth And when that is well mixt and reduced to the consistence of kennel-dirt they trample it a long while with their feet and spread it very even all over This second lay is commonly about half a foot thick also but being dry is hardly half so thick when it is dry they lay on a third lay like the former so that all being dry it may be about a foot thick All this is held up by a range of broad burnt Bricks or Tiles which is laid all round the Terrass five or six high and level with the Earth in some places they make a little shelving that the rain-Water may run off into wooden Spouts which jet out for conveying it away In this manner I saw two Terrasses made which had in surface each about a fathom and a half square when they laid on the second lay two men wrought at each about an hours time stirring the Earth with shovels and incorporating it with the Straw whilst another man continually poured water upon it the last lay requires the same labour and pains At Schiras Lar and in other hot Countries they have upon the tops of their Houses an invention for catching the fresh Air An invention for having the fresh Air. It is a Wall one or two fathom high and about the same breadth to which at the intervals of about three foot other Walls about three foot broad and as high as the great Wall joyn in right Angles there are several of such on each side of the great Wall and all together support a Roof that covers them The effect of this is that from whatsoever corner the Wind blows it is straitned betwixt three Walls and the Roof over head and so easily descends into the house below by a hole that is made for it CHAP. VI. A Sequel of the Observations of Ispahan Of ARTS LET us go on in speaking of Arts and Trades Artists of Persia since we are insensibly engaged in it The Artists in Persia and all over the Levant use their Feet in working as much as their hands for their Feet serve them for a Loom hold fast and several other Instruments An imposition upon the companies of traydesmen Every Company of crafts men pays the King a certain Summ of Money which is raised upon all the Artists of the several Trades every one of them being assessed according to his incomes They have no Loom for turning as we have but put that which they have a mind to turn upon a Pivot or Spindle and wrap about it a thong of Leather leaving two ends A Boy holds the two ends of this strap and pulls towards him The way of turning wood sometimes the one and sometimes the other and in that fashion makes the piece to turn whilst the other labours whereas with us a single Person does all The use of the wimble Nor are the Wimbles of Carpenters and Joyners so convenient as with us neither They have a long Iron as thick as two of our Wimbles but square and flat at the end like a slice or Spatula yet drawing into a point with a side and edge which way soever they turn it This Iron is in a wooden handle about a foot long and above an inch thick with a weight of lead on the top with that they have a stick with a strap of Leather like a bow but very slack they turn the strap of this bow once about the handle of the Wimble and then leaning the left hand upon the head of the handle and pulling to and fro the bow with the right hand they turn the Wimble They have a most excellent Varnish for Painters Varnish it is made of Sandarack and lintseed Oyl which they mingle together and reduce all into the consistence of an Unguent when they would make use of it they dissolve it with the Oyl of Naphta but for want of the Oyl of Naphta one may use the Spirit of Wine many times
Adjoyning to this Kervanseray there is another very little one through which the same water runs and a little farther there is a third which is bigger but somewhat ruinous This place is five Agatsch from Hhormont We parted from thence Monday the sixth of April half an hour after Midnight at first for above an hour we had very bad stony way but it proved pretty good afterward about two in the Morning we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Berkei Dobend and about four a Clock by another called Dgei Hhon Berkei Dobend Dgei Hhon at break of day we entered into bad way again where we clambered up and down for above an hour among stones and then we found the way better till we came to a covered Kervanseray called Kor Bazirghion Kor Bazirghion that is to say the Merchants Ditch where we arrived about eight a Clock This Kervanseray is of the same bigness as the other where we Lodged the day before it is built much after the same manner having in each Corner three Chambers of which the one which is on the inside is open by Arches on two sides and the other two have their Door without the Kervanseray this place is five Agatsch from Tengbidalan We parted from thence about half an hour after one a Clock in the Morning during a large quarter of an hour we had bad stony way and about half an hour after five we passed by a little covered Kervanseray Berkei Soltouni called Berkei Soltouni about three quarters of an hour after seven we came to such another near to a great Village called Coureston Coureston four Agatsch from Kor Bazirghion we left the Caravan at this place because our Carriers took Camels to finish the Journy with and resolved to Travel only by day and to be four days longer by the way I therefore took a Camel to carry my man and baggage and a guide to shew us the way which from thence to Bender is so difficult that he who hath Travelled it fifty times may lose himself there in so that it is absolutely necessary to take a man of the Country if one would not wander out of the way We parted about eleven a Clock at Night and presently entered into a great sandy Plain which nevertheless is peopled and hath a great many Villages that are to be seen here and there this is occasioned by the abundance of Palm-Trees that this Country is full of the Soil being proper for them though very barren for any thing else About an hour after Midnight we passed by a little covered Kervanseray Dobrike called Dobrike which is an Agatsch and a half from Coureston and a little after we passed over an Aqueduct which is level with the Ground and called Pariabzahed Aly Pariabzahed Aly. this Aqueduct brings water from a Spring at the Foot of the Hills that are to the Left Hand towards the North in digging it was discovered and the water of it is very good Betwixt three and four of the Clock we went over a very high and fair Bridge above three Fathom broad and betwixt seven and eight hundred common Paces long it is well Paved and has a side-Wall on each side about a Foot and a half high under this Bridge runs a River above nine or ten Fathom broad which is heard at a great distance by reason of the noise it makes in its course there is no drinking of the water of it for it is Salt and it discharges it self into the Sea about six hundred Paces from thence Rohhouna The name of that River is Rohhouna that is to say the running River and that is the name they give to all great Rivers it comes from Kermont Pouli Seugh the name of the Bridge is Pouli Seugh that is to say Stone-Bridge or otherwise Pouli Coreston before this River comes to the Bridge it runs by the Foot of the Hills on the Left Hand Northwards and there it begins to be Salt when it comes to this Bridge which indeed is only upon the side of it finding it so runs along the side of it and discharges but part of its water underneath in passing which running under the Arches and finding the Ground lower on the other side of the Bridge falls with great impetuosity and that makes the rumbling noise that is heard at such a distance the rest of the water running along by the Bridge turns afterwards towards the South and loses it self in the Sea. Being over the Bridge we went a long a Causey above two Fathom broad and all Paved about a thousand Paces in length which hath a good Parapet or Breast-Wall about a Foot and a half high Wednesday the eighth of April about six of the Clock in the Morning we came to a covered Kervanseray called Ghetschi Ghetschi six Agatsch from Coureston There is another besides close by which is not covered but like the rest in all things else and a little ruinous There were several Tents of black Goats hair thereabout and as soon as we arrived a great many Women and Girls came out of them to visit us they were cloathed with blew streakâ—d Drawers and a blew Shirt over them their Noses Ears Arms and Feet were full of Silver Copper Bone or Glass-Rings every one of them held an Earthen Porringer full of Yogourt or Sower Milk and a little Vessel full of the same under their Arms and to invite us to buy some of them in our presence dabbed four Fingers and a Thumb into their Budgets and pulled out Butter full of Straws which they mingled with the Milk that was in their Porringers and then poured out more Sower Milk out of the same Borrachy their Husbands are all Fishermen and both men and women are Inhabitants fit for such a Country We parted from that place the same day half an hour after six in the Evening and continued our Journy along the sandy Plain about eight a Clock we passed a narrow streight betwixt little Hills and having kept turning about half a quarter of an hour we found two ways the one to the Left Hand over a pretty high Hill and the other to the Right which hardly appeared we followed this last leaving that to the Left Hand which is very dangerous if we may believe the people of the Country for they would needs persuade us that on that Hill there were Dgius who killed all Passengers by that word Dgius they understand evil Spirits Dgius which they say are of a middle Nature betwixt Angels and Men. This imagination then they have and give it out for a very certan thing that in that Hill there is a Tlisim or Charm by vertue whereof the Dgius prevail Tlisim and that they make Cauldrons there the sound whereof may be heard for they all agree that some men have been there and come safe back again who related all these things but they say that none but such
good very pleasant Destberm Half an hour after five we came to a Lodge of Rahdars which is at the end of the Plain and is called Destberm commonly they make it a Menzil or days Journy from Chadgegih to Destberm because of the trouble of climbing over the Mountain which extreamly tires the Mules There being no water in that place but what is taken out of a beastly open Cistern we gave the Rahdars some Casbeghis and so went on A quarter of an hour after we found a Sepulchre in form of a square Chappel covered with a Dome and pretty near it two Cisterns We went downwards afterwards Chotal Ouscheneck by a very rugged descent called Chotal Ouscheneck in former times it was more rugged and I believe that neither Men nor Beasts could pass it but the Mother of Imam-Couli-Chan Governour of Schiras called Voli Naamet caused the passage to be made as now it is The Rock in many places is cut in the fashion of steps in other places it is Paved and all over where the way is so narrow that Beasts making a false step were in danger of tumbling into a Precipice there is a Parapet made of stone about a Foot and a half high and a Foot thick so that now it is passable though a great way of it one must alight and lead being come to the bottom of that descent for near three quarters of an hour we had very stony way and then came to a lovely Spring of water which spreads so over the Country that with its waters it covers a very large Plain it is called Abghine We saw that water the day before Abghine from Mount Andgira though there be a great Hill betwixt them We passed it at a narrow place upon a Bridge of two Arches which is all ruinous and is called Poul-Abghine Poul-Abghine Having Travelled on two hours and a half more over a barren Plain about half an hour after ten we came to Karzerum six Parasanges and a half from the last Stage Karzerum Karzerum is a Town of many Houses but all so miserable that in our Country the greatest Compliment that could be put upon it would be to call it Bourg or Village because it has a Market-place it depends on the Vizir of Schiras and is Commanded by a Kelonter there are two or three good Kervanserays it it and the water they drink there is brought above half a League from the Town but both in it and the Kervanserays there is water good enough for Beasts and the Kitchin. Here they would have seized our Mules to carry Provisions for the King to Ispahan but the Reverend Father Provincial going to wait upon the Kelonter to represent to him that we were Franks so soon as the Kelonter saw him he ordered that our Mules should not be taken because we were strangers They have a great many Grapes and Melons here and make Wine that may be made use of We parted from Karzerum Friday the second of October at two of the Clock in the Morning and Travelled on still Westwards in very good way Half an hour after four we passed by a sorry Village called Dris Dris where they have no water to drink but what is taken out of a little Lake About six a Clock we passed by a little River that runs in a bottom and there is a way along the side of it we took not that way but leaving both it and the River struck off to the Left Hand by a very stony way about seven a Clock we began to go up Hill in bad way and a quarter of an hour after found a Lodge of Rahdars to whom we made a Present of some Casbeghis and kept on mounting upwards till about eight a Clock and then having descended a little we came into a very even Plain but which produces nothing though there be not one stone in it Having Travelled therein an hour we passed by a Village called Kangh Turkon Kangh Turkon Kamaredge and still kept on in the same Plain till we came to a Village called Kamaredge at the farther end of it This Village is six Parasanges from Karzerum we arrived there half an hour after nine and Lodged in a House that was lent us for some small Gratuity the water we drank there is taken out of a Well close by We parted from that Village Saturday the third of October half an hour after three a Clock in the Morning A little after we passed by a Kervanseray called Kervanseray Khodgia Belfet it is not opened but in the Winter-time Khodgia Belfet when it Rains or Snows the rest of the Year it is shut and no body Lodges in it We continued going Westward but the way was very bad about four a Clock the way was so narrow that only one Mule could pass at a time it lyes betwixt two Hills that are very near one another but it is not above an hundred paces long immediately after we entered into another narrow pass among the Hills where the way is no broader and we went down Hill in very bad way until three quarters of an hour after four there we found a Caravan of several Mules and Camels which were coming from Bender Rik and we met with several others afterward every day Then we went up Hill for about a quarter of an hour and afterwards went down Hill again till six of the Clock in very irksome way and amongst dreadful Precipices being steep black Rocks where one is often forced to alight for fear of tumbling headlong After that we had good way but still amongst Hills until half an hour after six that we found a great broad and deep River Roudchone Bouschavir called Roudchone Bouschavir the water of which tasts a little sweetish the source of it is near the Town called Scheleston Scheleston which is a days Journy from Karzerum Northwards and it loses it self in the Sea towards Bender-Rik we Coasted along it at first in a Plain for the space of an hour and after that mounting during a quarter of an hour we continued our Journy by a flat way for another quarter and then lost fight of the River for the space of half an hour going up Hill all the while until about half an hour after nine we joyned it again and Travelled on along the sides of it an hour and a half in very good way There are many Villages thereabouts and much Cultivated Land some of which bears Tobacco I also saw in several places that fatal Shrub Kerzebreh About ten a Clock we Foarded over a large Brook that falls into the River of Bouschavir Bouschavir Sirt This may very well be the River which Sanson marks in his Map by the name of Sirt we Foarded it again a quarter of an hour after and then five times an end so that in less than half an hours time we crossed it six times having the water always up
midnight we had a fresh Gale from North-West Monday Morning the twelfth of October the Wind slackned very much but changed not and therefore we weighed Anchor at half an hour after eight and standing away South-West we were soon after becalmed Towards Noon we Rowed a little and half an hour after had a breeze from South-West with which we bore away North-West till three in the Afternoon when we entered into the River Caron that comes from the Hills above the Town Souster Caron Souster Khusistan Susa Ahasuerus Coaspes Choasp Tiripari Zeimare which is the Capital Town of Khusistan and was in ancient times the Town of Susa where Ahasuerus held his Court. This River of Caron must be the Coaspes of the Ancients nay they assured me that there is still at present near to the Town of Souster a Hill called Choasp where the River of Caron which Sanson calls Tiripari Tiritiri and Zeimare hath its source but what reason he has for these names I cannot tell since no body could give me any account of them though I have enquired of many who all told me they knew of no such thing On the Right Hand to the West there is an Isle called Dorghestan and on the Left or towards the East Dorghestan Gheban is the Island of Gheban the point whereof is called Mouele and Gheban because all that Country is called Gheban and is the limits of the Kingdom of Bassora on that side In that place to the Left Hand there is a piece of of Palm-Tree-Wood fixed in the Ground to serve for a signal when it his high water not to go beyond it and they call that signal Dgioudoh The Land here on both sides depends on the Basha of Bassora The usual way to Bassora is by Sea to the mouth of Schat-el-Aarab The way to Bassora which they enter and go by water to Bassora but we put in to the River because our Sea-men who had nothing to do at Bassora being only come to take in Dates imposed upon us telling us that we must go to Gheban to take in fresh water and wood which we wanted and that it was also the shortest cut to Bassora but that great Barks went not that way because it was not deep enough which we too easily believed So soon as we were got into the River we came to Anchor in a Fathom water At low water the River at that place is but very little salt and a little higher it is fresh even when it is Flood Being Flood about midnight our men fell to their Oars but Rowed not above an hour and then came to an Anchor The Country about seems to be very good Land it is low even and green on all Hands and we saw many Cows there feeding in the Meadows which look much like the Meadows of Holland Tuesday the thirteenth of October about ten a Clock in the Morning our Sea-men went a shoar and Towed us up till one of the Clock when being over against a Village where there are a great many Palm-Trees we hoisted Sail with a North-West Wind that lasted not long and so came to an Anchor again Our men went a shoar to hear News as they said of Bassora and coming back in the Evening told us that all things were in confusion at Bassora that the Basha was marched with his whole Army towards Bagdad and that all Barks were taken up for Transporting of Soldiers and that therefore they durst go no farther but were resolved to return empty to Bender-Rik This was all false A cheat of the Sea-men and the truth was they had no mind to go any farther designing to take in their Cargoe at the place we were at where there is plenty of Dates and that was the reason they had brought us that way Nevertheless we must pretend to believe all the Knaves told us and try to find another Bark to carry us to Bassora We sent then a servant next day to look for one and he brought us a small thing wherein the men promised in four and twenty hours to carry us to the Town for six Abassis which we gave them These Barks are flat bottomed about a Fathom high one and a half broad and about five Fathom long The Stern is very low but the Head is as high again and draws into a sharp point as the Gondolos of Venice Barks on the River of Caron These Barks are not Caulked but only Pitched over on the outside which they do in the manner following When they are to Pitch a Daneg for so they call that sort of Bark in Arabick ten or twelve paces from the Daneg they make a Furnace of Earth the upper part whereof is made like a Cauldron into that they put the Pitch and the fire underneath and when the Pitch is almost melted but not altogether liquid a man comes with a little wet Shovel in his Hand and another lays some of this Pitch upon it The Pitching of a Daneg and then puts water upon the Pitch which the first carrying to the Daneg and stirring the Pitch with a piece of Wood to which it does not stick he that is working at the Daneg takes the Pitch in his Hand and dawbs it as one would do Plaster upon the Daneg and then with a Rowler which is not altogether round he spreads it upon the Vessel and in that manner Pitches it all over on the outside These Barks are made very strong the sides being about a Foot thick and all the Planks are Nailed with great Nails such as are driven into Gates in France they have likewise a Mast of an indifferent bigness Indeed these Barks make but heavy way especially in the middle of the water where they cannot use a Sail if they have not the Wind in Poop and nevertheless they load them so deep that they are not above half a Foot above water We embarked in one of these Boats about half an hour after three in the Afternoon it was full of a kind of very long green Rushes that have a great point at the end whereof they make very fine mats Our Crew consisted of two Sea-men and a Master the two men Towed us on Land till half an hour after six that we came before a Village to the Left Hand there we cast Anchor our Men unloaded all the Rushes and going afterwards to the Village we we saw no more of them till next day This is a great Village and has a square Castle with eight Towers to wit one at each corner and one in the middle of each side but they are all of Earth and so thin that a double Musket could batter them all down This place is called Koutmian Koutmian that is to say Castle Mian and they make many Danegs there The Country of Gheban reaches from thence to the mouth of the River of Caron and in all that space the Land on both sides the River is called Gheban it
made himself Master of Dgezire Besides that the Basha of Bassora holds in Arabia Foelix the Port El-Catif El-Catif Lehhsa and the Town of Lehhsa which formerly belonged to a Basha Tributary also to the Grand Seignior but twelve years since he took the Port Catif and since that having a mind also to Lehhsa he sent thither an Arab Scheik with many Arabs at whose approach the Basha of Lehhsa fled leaving them a free entry into that Town which they plundered but afterwards the Arab Scheik slighted the Basha of Bassora saying that he had not taken that Town for him but for himself and recalled the Basha of Lehhsa to whom he delivered back the Town in consideration of a sum of mony which that Basha paid him In fine last year one thousand six hundred sixty and four the Basha of Bassora finding the Grand Signior engaged in a War with the Emperour and thinking that the War would be of long continuance in the month of November put on Shipboard an Army which The Basha makes War. as I was assured consisted not of above five or six thousand Men with some Cannon though the News flew into all places that they were seven or eight times so many This Army having Landed at Port Catif and marched from thence to Lehhsa which is but three days Journy distant they presently made themselves Masters of it without any resistance the Basha of Lehhsa being upon their approach fled to Constantinople where he made his complaints to the Grand Signior who presently thereupon ordered the Bashas of Aleppo Orfa Diarbeck Mosul Bagdad and some others to the number of eight to joyn and restore the Basha of Lehhsa to his Government and turn the Basha of Bassora out of all This Basha was not daunted for all that but making a shew as if he intended to be upon his defence and indeed putting himself in a posture to do so he fortified Lehhsa sending thither a great deal of Artillery whilst on the other Hand he sent to the Port to inform the Grand Signior that he ought not to concern himself in his Conquest because he was ready to pay him for his new acquisitions the same Tribute that he formerly received It is certain that if the Turk had not made Peace with the Emperour so soon this Basha would have carried his Conquests farther on thinking of nothing less than to have made himself Master of Mascat Now though this State of Lehhsa comprehend no more but the two Towns Catif and Lehhsa it is nevertheless very considerable and of great extent having a great many good Villages but the principal Riches of that Country consists in the the Traffick of Indian Commodities which are Transported from Mascat to Port Catif from whence they come to Lehhsa Indian Commodities at Mascat and thence are dispersed all over Arabia Foelix and chiefly at Mecha where they sell very well when the Caravans come from all Parts to perform their Devotions there Port Catif is on the main Land in Arabia Foelix over against the Isle of Bahrin by corruption called Bahrem which is only seven Leagues distant from it Catif The Isle of Bahrem though it belong not to the Turk being under the Dominion of the King of Persia This Island is very famous for the Fishing of Pearls there in the months of June July August and September It must needs be great if one may judge of it by the great number of Barks that are employed therein which amount to two or three thousand In the Isle of Bahrin there is a Town and a Fort distant from it a large League and a half Though there be good water in that Town yet the Fishermen take not in fresh water there they find it more commodious to draw it out of the bottom of the Sea Three Springs of fresh water in the Sea. where there are three Springs of good water yet not all in one place but here and there and all above two Leagues distant from the Town Signor Emanuel Mendez Henriquez Agent for the King of Portugal at Congo hath often told me the way how they draw this water which is thus An extraordinary way of drawing fresh water out of the bottom of the Sea. The Barks go near to the place where the Springs are which they know by the bearing of the Island at high water there is two Fathom water in those places but when the Sea is out they have not above three Foot water and many times they are on dry Ground for Bahrem is encompassed with Banks of Sand that run out a great way where there are such flats that Vessels cannot pass them but amongst these Banks there are deep Channels which the Vessels keep and whatsoever storm may blow at Sea the Vessels that are in these Channels are safe and secure When these Barks are come near the Wells they stay till low water and then they plant two Oars in the Sand one on each side of the Well where they intend to water at then they strain a Rope under water from one Oar to the other We must know that upon every one of these Wells the Arabs have always the half of a Jarr to wit the upper half where the mouth is which may be called an Earthen Pipe they put the wider end upon the mouth of the Spring and thrust it down above four inches in the Sand they dawb it besides all round with Plaster and Bitumen that the Salt water may not get in when these half Jars break or are worn out they take care to put another in the place of them after that the Fishermen then have planted the Oars and fastened the Rope a Man goes down into the Sea with a Borrachio stopt and Diving down his Head puts himself under the strained Rope that so the force of the fresh water that gushes out of the Jarr may not raise him up again for it gushes out with great impetuosity and then he claps the mouth of his Borrachio to the mouth of the Jarr which being narrow and opened is immediatly filled with fresh water when it is full he he stops it again and brings it up to the Bark where he empties his fresh water and then goes down again for more till the Bark be supplied This Portuguese Gentleman told me that it was very easie to be done and that he himself had been so curious as to go and fill a Borrachio there Now I am speaking of Bahrem The way of Fishing for Pearls I will here relate the manner of the Pearl Fishing as the same Emanuel Mendez Henriquez who hath been at it told me This Fishing begins about the end of June and lasts till the end of September During this time there are to be seen about Bahrem above two or three thousand Fishermens Barks all Arabs who pay severally a due to the Prince whose Subjects they are for their permission to Fish and besides each Bark pays to
Captain making use of the occasion failed not to tell the Merchants who waited for our Ship that she would not come this year which they believed to be true and went aboard with their mony on his Ship. All this proceeded from the fault of the Vikil that stayed behind at Bassora who detained the Ship in the Harbour a Fortnight longer than he should have done to get on Board some Goods which payed not above an hundred Piastres Freight and in the mean while he lost the Freight of a great deal of Goods and Mony and of many Passengers that were at Carek Congo and Comoron who embarked in the Ships which touched at these Ports before us When we had put a shoar all the Goods and the Man who was to take care of them we weighed Anchor three quarters of an hour after seven making all the Sail we could and Steering away South South-East with a very easie Wind about ten a Clock we were becalmed till midnight when there blew a little Gale at East but as easie as the former and with it we bore away South Next day about two or three a Clock in the morning we Sailed by the Isle of Rischer which was to our Larboard This Island is very near the main Land and makes a little Port which is called Bender-Rischer a days Journy from Bender-Regh and there is a Fort on it which belonged formerly to the Portuguese At break of day we made two Ships on Head of us one of which had put out from Carek five days before us Half an hour after seven we were off of the Isle of Coucher Coucher that was to our Larboard and is a pretty big Island At eight a Clock we got a Head of one of the Ships that had been before us the other which was at some distance put us into some apprehension for a few hours time for by his manner of working he gave us cause to think that he had a mind to be up with us and we were affraid he might be a Corsair but at length he Steered the same Course that we did About ten a Clock we were becalmed Three quarters after twelve the Wind being Southerly we Steered away East A quarter after two we Steered South-East Three quarters after three a Clock the Wind chopping about to South-West we stood away South South-East And thus the Wind being but very easie did nothing but chop and change until the evening that we were becalmed Wednesday the eighteenth of November towards day having an easie Gale from East South-East we Steered our Course South South-West about half an hour after nine it blowing hard from South we bore away West South-West About three quarters of an hour after ten the Wind turned South South-East and we Steered East Half an hour after noon the Wind slackened much and about five a Clock in the evening we were becalmed About half an hour after nine we made a Sail to the Windward of us and another on Head but a great way before us we cast the Lead and found seventeen Fathom water At ten a Clock at night the Wind turned East South-East and blew pretty hard and we Steered away South South-West finding only thirteen Fathom water when we heaved the Lead After midnight we past Cape Verdestan which was to our Larboard This is a very dangerous Cape and one night several Portuguese Ships being Land-lockt there when they thought themselves far enough off of it were cast away We Sailed within three or four Leagues of it and when it was day saw it a Stern of us About half an hour after nine the Wind turned South South-East and we Steered East About noon we saw several Taranquins Half an hour after one the Wind turned South South-West and we bore away South-East We were then off and on Cape Naban to our Larboard Cape Naban and made it but very dimly but coming up more and more towards it we made it very plain and saw along the Sea-side Rocky Hills which seemed to be very steep and at the foot of them a great many Palm-Trees We continued our Course off and on with these Rocks till five a Clock that we saw the end of them at least in this place they run far up into the Land and leave a very level Coast in this low Country is the Village called Naban which gives the name to the Cape Here we cast the Lead and found only seven Fathom water there is but little water all along that Coast and therefore we presently tackt and stood off to the West about ten a Clock at night the Wind turned North-East and we Steered away South South-East Friday the twentieth of November by break of day we made the three Ships that put out the same day with us from Bassora two of which were at a pretty good distance to the Starboard and the other very near a Head of us it was this last which some days before we had taken for a Corsair we made also to our Larboard the Land of Persia but at a great distance A quarter after nine a Clock in the morning having a very easie Gale from North North-West we put out our Main and Fore-Top-Galant-Sail and kept on our Course South South-East in a short time we left all the other Ships a Stern About noon the Wind blew much fresher and about three a Clock we stood away East South-East about five a Clock we took in our Top-Galant-Sails the Mizan and Mizan-Top-Sails because it would have been dangerous to have made so much way in the night-time that was now coming on for we might have run within Land considering that the Wind freshened more and more and we bore away South South-East that we might keep without the Isle of Lara If it had been day we would have Steered our Course betwixt the main Land and that Island but we durst not venture it in the night-time being safer to leave it to the Larboard we made account to have Sailed by that Island about midnight but we saw it not though we had all along light enough to discern a little of the main Land near to which it lyes We concluded then that we had past that Isle of Lara in the night-time but next day we found that we were out in our reckoning Nevertheless seeing we did not find out our mistake till after noon about six a Clock in the morning we Steered away East bearing in towards the Land for fear we might be cast too far to the Leeward of Congo About half an hour after six our Long-Boat that was fastened to the Stern filled full of water and sunk under the surface of the Sea we presently furled all Sails but the Sprit-Sail and three Seamen swam to the Boat to fasten another Rope to it which they held by the end then they went into it and we halled it to the Leeward side of the Ship and took out a little Anchor that was in her this being done our
men attempted to hall her out of the water by one side that she might be emptied by the other but the weight of the water bulged one of her sides and then she overset so that despairing to recover her unless with much labour and the loss of a great deal of time and fearing besides that she might dash against the Hold of the Ship because it was then a very rough Sea they cut the Ropes and let her go though it was near a hundred Piastres loss to the Owner of the Ship This made us lose a whole hours time and in the mean while one of the Ships which the day before was to our Starboard got a Head of us About half an hour after seven in the morning we made Sail with a North Wind. About half an hour after nine we were off of an Island to our Larboard which we took to be Audarvia but we were mistaken About ten a Clock the violence of the Wind began to abate and we Steered away East South-East About two a Clock after-noon we made a little Island to the Larboard very near the main Land and knew it be Audarvia and that the other which we past about half an hour after nine in the morning and took for Audarvia was Lara This Isle of Lara is a little Desart very low place Lara close by the main Land which is the reason that it is not easily discovered it bears nothing unless it be some wild Trees and that too only at one end of it which lyes to the West North-West and was to us the beginning of the Isle as our Course lay it may be known by these Trees It lyes in length from West North-West to East South-East and is threescore and ten Leagues from Carek Audarvia The Isle of Audarvia is in like manner little low and very near the main Land and lyes in length as Lara does from West North-West to East South-East there is good water in this Island and in the middle of it some wild Trees and the Cottages of some Fishermen who come from the main Land to Fish there it being seven or eight Leagues from Lara It is worth the observing that though these two Isles be very near the Land as I have been saying yet they leave a passage betwixt them and the main Land which may admit of Ships because it is very deep water and Ships sometimes shoot that passage The Wind freshning in the afternoon at three quarters of an hour after two a Clock we were got to the farther end of the Island and an hour after made the Isle of Keis to the South-East About half an hour after four we got on Head of the Ship that was before us in the morning and at the same time we were off and on with the hithermost end of the Isle of Keis Keis which was to our Starboard side This Island is about two Leagues and a half from the main Land or three at most and about five Leagues from Audarvia though they reckon it fifteen Leagues from Lara to Keis it reaches in length from West South-West to East North-East and is about five Leagues in Circuit it is very low and flat like the two former but it is inhabited by several people who have Houses dispersed here and there upon it I was told that heretofore the Inhabitants of that Island having killed a Portuguese who had gone a shoar there for some insolence which he had committed sometime after other Portuguese Ships coming thither the Admiral called Roui-Fereyra-Andrada went a shoar upon the Island and taking a Sucking-Child put it into a Mortar and by an unparalelled piece of cruelty A horrid piece of cruelty of a Portuguese made the Father and Mother of the innocent Babe pound it themselves in the Mortar This General was a Devil incarnate and it was his usual way so to revenge himself on the Inhabitants of those Coasts when they had done him any displeasure his name is to this day so terrible unto them that they use it to still their little Children when they cry threatning them with Lowis de Fereyra In the mean time that inhumanity made many forsake the Island that they might not be exposed to such cruel usage nevertheless some abode still and have Cattel there I was told that heretofore there were all sorts of Fruits on this Island but that since the Portuguese have left off to go thither there are no more to be found I was likewise assured that there is excellent water in the North-West and East ends of the Isle About five a Clock in the evening we furled our Mizan Mizan-Top Main-Top and Fore-Top-Sails that we might not make so much way because on this Coast there are places where the water is very shallow About seven a Clock at night we were got off of the other end of the Isle of Keis and then the Wind slackened much half an hour after we came off and on a place of the main Land where the shoar opens towards the East and forms a Gulf in shape of a half Circle and the outmost point of that half Circle is called Gherd All that day we had kept very near the main Land which to that Gulf bears West North-West and East South-East When we were just off the beginning of this Gulf a gentle Gale blowing from East North-East made us to Steer our Course South-East and we made the Land called Gherd to the East South East About ten a Clock at night we stood away South South-East and heaving out the Lead found seventeen Fathom water within a quarter of an hour after the Wind turning North-West we bore away South but because it instantly blew too hard we furled the Main-Sail and Steered South South-East About three quarters after ten we Steered South-East and casting the Lead found fifteen Fathom water Sunday the two and twentieth of November at two a Clock after midnight we were got off of the Isle of Paloro to our Starboard Paloro our Course was then East South-East and having sounded we found thirteen Fathom water whereupon we turned the Ships Head South South-East A quarter after two we heaved the Lead several times and found betwixt six and seven Fathom water Three quarters after two we bore away East South-East and casting the Lead found first fifteen then ten and a little farther only eight Fathom water we had then to the Larboard a Mountain on the main Land Mount Sannas called Sannas Half an hour after five in the morning we had but five Fathom water At six a Clock we found twelve and then we Steered East North-East and at eight a Clock in the morning came before Congo distant from Keis fifteen Leagues by Land and thirty by Sea an hundred from Carek and an hundred and fifty from Bassora from Congo to Comoron it is twenty Leagues by Land and thirty by Sea. We came to an Anchor in the Road a long half League
any flurry of Wind or rough water for the Sea was not at all moved At the same time these Storms began to appear in the Air others began to work in our Captains Head which caused a real Tempest in the Ship. He had drunk several Cups of Brandy which began to heat his Brains however he ordered the Sails to be taken in as it is usual when they see a Storm a comeing but presently after a fancy taking him in the Head that they accused him of timorousness and saying that he had heard some say he was affraid though no body had spoken a word he fell into a sudden rage and to shew that he was a Man of Courage commanded all the Sails high and low to be set again though the Mate prayed him not to do it and that the Sea-men stayed two or three Orders before they obeyed him which incensing him the more he swore that the Sails should stand whatsoever weather blew that he might make those dy for fear that had said he was affraid adding a thousand more impertinent raveings Never did Captain on a Stage shew so many Rodomontadoes and that for several hours during which he tried all the Ships patience without the least word of answer from any Man. At four a Clock the Wind turning West we stood away East South-East Half an hour after four we had a great shower of Rain which soon was over and immediately after the Wind fell a shifting into all the Points till at length it settled at North-East and we bore away East South-East In the mean time all our Sails were abroad except the Main-Top-Galant-Sail which he had likewise caused to be put on but was immediately after taken in About six a Clock the Wind veering about to East we Steered away South South-East At seven a Clock we were more becalmed than before and we turned the Ships Head East and by South Wednesday morning the three and twentieth of December one of our Sea-men took with a Hook a Fish called a Dorado Dorado a Fish which was about two Foot long and four Inches broad from the middle of the Back to the middle of the Belly but not very thick the Skin a long the Back and half way the Sides of it was of a Violet blue and the Belly of a yellowish white but full of little round Violet coloured specks it had along the Back a blue Skin streatched as it were upon little bones or prickles which made it bristle up about an inch and a half high the Eyes of it were large and round under the Gills it had on each side a Fin three Fingers breadth long which stood out very streight and two others under the Throat near one another and another at the Roots and then widening by degrees to the points it had two more of the same fashion near the Tail but it had no Teeth It was very brisk and lively when it was pulled out of the water but as the force of it spent that Skin which before was streatched like a piece of Cloath upright upon the Back of it flagged and fell flat to the Body as well as its Fins They told me that there were some of those Fish a Fathom and a half long that they call them Doradoes that is to say gilt because the ground of their Skin is in some manner of the colour of Gold the English call them Dolphins It is good meat and of easie digestion the Flesh of it is firm and delicate and it feeds on a kind of small flying Fish which being pursued rise out of the water and fly above a Ships length falling sometimes into Ships as one did into ours On Sunday the seven and twentieth of December I handled and considered it at leisure it was shaped like a Herring and seven inches long the Back of it was of a very dark blue and the Belly white on each side it had a Wing almost five inches long and about four inches broad these Wings are only a thin Skin of a very obscure blue colour streatched upon little Nerves or Bones which reach from the side of the Fish to the extremity of the Skin When it is pursued by the Doradoes it leaps out of the Water and flies in the Air so long as the Wings of it are moist and when they dry it falls again into the water When these Wings are dry they fold together like a Fan and that Fishes Wings which I Handled were folded in that manner it is very good to eat We could have no Observation at noon because the Sun was over Clouded and must then be satisfied with our dead reckoning according to which we had made but nine Leagues from noon to noon At eight a Clock at night a Coal of fire fell out of a Tobacco-Pipe into the Gun-Room through the hole of the Whip-staff and by good fortune the two Women slaves of Manuel Mendez who lodged in that place soon perceived it and put it out and then being all in a fright they cried out for help they who had done this were enquired after but in vain for it was impossible to find out the Authors had not God in his great mercy preserved us from the danger of that accident we must all have unfortunately perished Thursday the four and twentieth of December at four of the Clock in the morning there fell a great deal of Rain and it continued showring by intervals with great Thunder-Claps till half an hour after six when the Rain was quite over we had a good Wind from North-West which made us run a League and a half an hour but it was close weather and the Captain ordered to Steer away East whereby we altered our Course and stood in to Land when I asked him the reason of it he told me he was affraid he might find the Wind at East North-East which would force us out from the place to which we were bound but the truth was he had a mind to make the Land that he might know where we were for neither he the mate nor Gunner could tell it At eight a Clock the Wind turned Easterly and we stood away South South-East At nine a Clock it shifted to South-East and we Steered South which was a very bad Course for following it we must have run far below the place whither we were bound About ten a Clock the Wind being got into the South South-East we bore away East but all of a sudden the Wind slackened At noon we had the Wind at South and we Steered away East South-East We could have no Observation this day neither because of Cloudy weather and they found by their dead Reckoning that we had made nine Leagues most of this way we had made since six a Clock in the morning for the eighteen hours before we had advanced but little or nothing at all A quarter after twelve the Wind turned South-West and we Steered our Course North-East but we were presently after becalmed
At two a Clock we had a breeze from North-West and we bore away South-East and by East About six a Clock the Wind slackened much About seven a Clock our Ships Head stood South-East Friday the five and twentieth of December at six a Clock in the morning it blew a West North-West Wind and we steered on our Course still South-East About seven a Clock the Sky was overcast with Clouds which brought Rain with them and we saw some more Spouts at a pretty good distance and a Weather-Gall this Weather-Gall was like a Segment of a Rain-Bow rising from the Horizon about three degrees or if you will it seemed to be three Foot high Sometimes they appear over a Ship and that is commonly a presage of a Tempest and the Portuguese call this Phenomenon an Oxes Eye About eight a Clock it blew a pretty fresh Gale from North but immediately it veered about to North-East and became very weak At noon we were by our Observations in three and twenty degrees two and fifty minutes Latitude and had made from noon to noon thirteen Leagues Then the Captain and Mate made account that we were eight or ten Leagues off of the Land of Sindy and about five and twenty Leagues from Jaquelte for my part by what I could make out by my Map we were twenty Leagues off Malan and to the Southward of Malan and forty Leagues from Sindy and near threescore Leagues from Jaquelte and this agreed with the Gunners Observation but he durst not say any thing for fear of quarelling with the Captain who thought every body ignorant in respect of himself and nevertheless it was found afterwards that he and the Mate were in the mistake About four a Clock the Wind turned East South-East and we Steered North-East About five a Clock we had a great shower of Rain from a thick Cloud over head which being past we had the Wind at South-East and bore away North-East Half an hour after six we had Rain again with Lightning but we were becalmed and turned the Ships Head North-East At seven a Clock the Wind turned South and by East and we bore away East and by South Half an hour after ten we were becalmed but about eleven a Clock had a great flurry which made much noise at first and this made us furl all our Sails but a great shower of Rain soon carried it off and the Sea being smooth we Steered away South-East and by South At midnight we cast the Lead but though they veered out sixty Fathom of Rope yet we had no ground which was like to have made the Captain mad for shame for he believed us to be very near Land and he fell into a Passion with the Mate saying that he had not left importuning him for two days to heave out the Lead We were all night becalmed though at times we had several showers of Rain Saturday the six and twentieth of December about seven a Clock there blew a gentle Gale from East North-East which made us Steer away South-East and by South About half an hour after nine the Wind being all Easterly we stood away South-East then master Manuel Mendez who perceived very well that no body knew where we were advised the Captain to stand in to Land and gratifie the Pilot which highly offended him saying that since they took him for an ignorant blockhead for the future he would only sleep and take his rest and let the Ship go which way she pleased and that to content us he would put back and make the Land at Jasques however this went no farther About ten a Clock the Wind turned East North-East and we stood away South-East At noon the Gunner found by his Observations that we were in twenty three degrees forty five minutes the Captain in twenty three degrees five minutes and the Mate in twenty three fifteen minutes and in four and twenty hours we had only made about six Leagues That day we began to see of those Birds which the Portuguese call Rabo de Junco Rabo de Junco a Fowl. and are a kind of Sea-Mews only they are bigger and have the Tail all of a piece and pointed like a Rush wherefore they are called Rush Tails and they keep upon the water as the Sea-Mews do At one a Clock the Wind slackened and chopped into the East and we Steered South and by East About four a Clock we tackt and stood away North. About half an hour after five the Wind having veered about to East North-East we Steered South-East About half an hour after seven the Wind turned North-East and by East About ten a Clock it was full North-East and we bore away East South-East Sunday morning the seven and twentieth of December at five of the Clock the Wind turned East and by North and we Steered our Course South-East and by South About nine a Clock we bore away South-East because the Wind was at East North-East and blew pretty fresh Our Officers took an Observation at noon and were again of different opinions the Captain had two and twenty degrees fifty two minutes the Mate twenty three and the Gunner three and twenty degrees and two minutes and in twenty four hours we had made fourteen Leagues In the Evening a flying Fish leaped into our Ship. The Wind freshened so much in the night-time that we were obliged to furl our Top Sails Monday noon the twenty eighth of December the Captain found out by his Observation that we were in the Latitude of twenty two degrees eight minutes and the Gunner in twenty two degrees eighteen minutes in four and twenty hours we had made fourteen Leagues That day we saw a great many Weeds or Herbs floating upon the water which the Portuguese call Sargaso Herb Sargaso and that is one sign of being near the Land of the Indies many such are also to be seen towards Brasil The stalk of that Herb is small blackish and as supple as a hair the Leaves of it are long and narrow and a little jagged besides the Leaves it hath a great many small clear and transparent Berries as soft as little Goosberries that stick to the stalk This Herb grows upon the Rocks in the Sea and being torn off by storm it floats upon the water till it be cast a shoar About two in the afternoon the Wind slackened much and therefore we spread our Main-Top and Fore-Top-Sails the Sea which had been very high before growing calm and smooth within a few hours Tuesday morning the nine and twentieth of December about seven a Clock the Wind was at North North-East and we Steered our Course East At noon the Gunner found that we were in one and twenty degrees forty four minutes Latitude and that in the space of twenty four hours we had made thirteen Leagues and a half at midnight we Steered East and by South that we might keep off of the Banks that are towards Diu our Company thinking themselves nearer to
are above four Foot Diametre and hard by there is a kind of Mahometan Chappel This Tanquie was made at the charges of a rich Banian named Gopy Gopy who built it for the publick and heretofore all the Water that was drank in Surrat came from this Reservatory for the five Wells which at present supply the whole Town were not found out till long after it was built It was begun at the same time the Castle was and they say that the one cost as much as the other It is certainly a Work worthy of a King and it may be compared to the fairest that the Romans ever made for publick benefit But seeing the Levantines let all things go to ruine for want of repair it was above six Foot filled with Earth when I saw it and in danger sometime or other to be wholly choaked up if some Charitable Banian be not at the charge of having it cleansed Having viewed that lovely Reservatory The Princesses Garden we went a quarter of a League farther to see the Princesses Garden so called because it belongs to the Great Moguls Sister It is a great Plot of Trees of several kinds as Manguiers Palms Mirabolans Wars Maisa-trees and many other planted in a streight line Amongst the Shrubs I saw the Querzehere or Aacla of which I have treated at large in my Second Part and also the Accaria of Egypt There are in it a great many very fair streight Walks and especially the four wich make a Cross over the Garden and have in the middle a small Canal of Water that is drawn by Oxen out of a Well In the middle of the Garden there is a Building with four Fronts each whereof hath its Divan with a Closet at each corner and before every one of these Divans there is a square Bason full of Water from whence flow the little Brooks which run through the chief Walks After all though that Garden be well contriv'd it is nothing to the gallantry of ours There is nothing to be seen of our Arbours Borders of Flowers nor of the exactness of their Compartments and far less of their Water-works About an hundred or an hundred and fifty Paces from that Garden The War-tree we saw the War-tree in its full extent It is likewise called Ber and the Tree of Banians as also the Tree of Roots because of the facility wherewith the branches that bear large Filaments take Rooting and by consequence produce other branches insomuch that one single Tree is sufficient to fill a great spot of Ground and this I speak of is very large and high affording a most spacious shade It s circuit is round and is fourscore Paces in Diametre which make above thirthy Fathom The Branches that had irregularly taken Root have been so skilfully cut that at present one may without any trouble walk about every where under it The Gentils of India look upon that Tree as Sacred A Sacred Tree and we might easily perceive that at a distance by the Banners which the Banians had planted on the top and highest Branches of it It hath by it a Pagod dedicated to an Idol which they call Mameva and they who are not of their Religion believe it to be a representation of Eve. We found a Bramen sitting there who put some Red Colour upon the Foreheads of those who come to pay their Devotions and received the Presents of Rice or Cocos that they offered him That Pagod is built under the Tree in form of a Grot the outside is painted with diverse Figures representing the Fables of their false Gods and in the Grot there is a Head all over Red. Charity towards Ants. In that place I saw a Man very charitable towards the Ants He carried Flower in a Sack to be distributed amongst them and left a handful every where where he met with any number Whilst we were abroad in the Fields we considered the Soyl of Surrat it is of a very brown Earth and they assured us that it was so very rich that they never dunged it After the Rains they sow their Corn that is after the Month of September and they cut it down after February They plant Sugar-Canes there also Sugar Canes and the way of planting them is to make great Furrows wherein before they lay the Canes they put a great many of the little Fish called Gudgeons Whether these Fish serve to fatten the Earth or that they add some qualitie to the Cane the Indians pretend that without that Manure the Canes would produce nothing that 's good They lay their pieces of Canes over these Fish end to end and from every joint of Cane so interred their Springs a Sugar-cane which they reap in their season The Soyl about Surrat is good for Rice also and there is a great deal sown Manguiers and Palm-trees of all kinds and other sorts of Trees thrive well there and yield great profit The Dutch water their Ground with Well-Water which is drawn by Oxen after the manner described in my Second Part but the Corn-land is never watered because the Dew that falls plentifully in the Mornings is sufficient for it The River of Tapty The River of Tapty is always brackish at Surrat and therefore the Inhabitants make no use of it neither for Drink nor Watering of their Grounds but only for washing their Bodies which they do every Morning as all the other Indians do They make use of Well-water to drink and it is brought in Borrachoes upon Oxen. This River of it self is but little for at High-water it is no broader than half of the River of Seine at Paris Nevertheless it swells so in the Winter-time by the rain-Rain-water that it furiously overflows and makes great havock It has its source in a place called Gehar-Conde in the Mountains of Decan ten Leagues from Brampour It passes by that Town and before it discharge it self into the Sea it Waters several Countries and washes many Towns as last of all it does Surrat At low Water it runs to the Bar but when it flows the Sea commonly advances two Leagues over that Bar and so receives the Water of the Tapty CHAP. XV. The Port of Surrat The Port of Surrat THe Bar of Surrat where Ships come at present is not its true Port at best it can be called but a Road and I had reason to say in the beginning of this Book that it is called the Bar because of the Banks of Sand which hinder Ships from coming farther in The truth is there is so little Water there that though the Vessels be unloaded the ordinary Tides are not sufficient to bring them up and they are obliged to wait a Spring-tide but then they come up to Surrat especially when they want to be careen'd Small Barks come easily up to the Town with the least Tides The true Port of Surrat is Soualy two Leagues from the Bar. Soualy It is distant from the Town
in his shop without his Dagger by his side even when they are at work They are of a subtile and malicious Wit. CHAP. IV. From Messina to Malta WE parted from before Messina Thursday the Twenty fourth of June From Messina to Malta with a contrary Wind so that do what we could with our Oars we were obliged to come to an Anchor again near the Port of Messina three hours after we had weighed from it however we weighed an hour after though the Weather was still the same and the Sea a little rough Friday towards the Evening we came to an Anchor before Agousta but we went not a Shoar Agousta I was told for my comfort that it was no more but a very ordinary Street as indeed it seemed to me to be The Countrey about it produces excellent Wine which has a strong flavour of Violets we weighed Anchor from before that Town next morning being Saturday the Eleventh of June and coasted along before Syracuse called at present by corruption Saragoussa Syracuse Saragoussa the Countrey of Archimedes which was formerly the Metropolis of Sicily The Countrey about Saragoussa produces excellent Muscadine Wine we stopt not before that Town but continued our course with the diversion of Dolphins and Tunnys which leaping out of the water in great numbers followed the Gallies Sunday the Twelfth of June about Six a clock in the Morning we had an East North East Wind which drove us so fast that about Eleven a clock the same Morning we made the Isle of Malta and about Four in the Afternoon entered into the Port of the Town All the Guns were fired from the several Castles of Malta in honour of the Pope who was newly Elected and to salute his Galleys which returned the Salute by several discharges of all their Canons CHAP. V. Of the Isle of Malta THE Isle of Malta lies in the African Sea betwixt Sicily and Tripoly The Situation of the Isle of Malta of Barbary it is Threescore Miles distant from Sicily and an Hundred from Africa in the Latitude of eight and thirty degrees and the Longitude of four and thirty it reaches from East to West twenty miles in length and is about twelve over so that it is threescore miles in compass The ancient Name of this Island was Melita from the Greek word Meli which signifies Honey because it affords good Honey at present it is named Malta from the word Melita though those of Barbary draw the Etymology of it from a Story of theirs They say That heretofore the Moors of Tripoly being divided into two Factions under two Scheiks or Captains and being in continual Wars one with the other those of the weakest side resolved to forsake the Country and go live some where else and that for that end they sent men out to Sea to find some proper place for their Habitation These Men finding the Isle of Malta judged it to be very convenient for them and upon their return their Scheik having asked them if they had found any place they answered in their Language Lakeinadgeire eledia fiel ma ou tah which is to say We have found an Isle where there is Water and Plains and of that ma ou tah they say that by corruption it is called Malta Battus King of Malta There was an ancient King of this Isle called Battus a Rich and Powerful Prince who was a great Friend to Dido Queen of Carthage It was afterwards subjected to the Carthaginians and having been in process of time saccaged and ruined by a Roman Army under the Command of M. Artilius Roger a Norman Prince took Malta from the Saracens Charles the Fifth gives Malta to the Knights of Jerusalem with the Isle of Gozo was since annexed with Sicily to that Empire till being upon its fall it was possessed by the Saracens from whom Roger a Norman Prince Count of Scicily took it in the Year 1090. Since that time it hath always been in the hands of Christians and in the Year 1530 Charles the Fifth gave it and the Isle of Gozo to the Knights of Jerusalem who were wandring up and down for the space of eight years after they had lost Rhodes and have been ever after called Knights of Malta This Island is low being only a white soft Rock very proper for Building and making of Lime but does not long resist the Sea Winds especially the South East Wind that eats it away There is but very little Earth upon the Rock and that stony too so that one would think it could bear nothing at all nevertheless it produces very good Fruit but chiefly Figs which are as good as in Provence and such excellent Melons for the most part white that it is hard to find a bad one amongst them they are at no pains in raising of them they only throw the Seed into the Ground like Corn and take no care to preserve them The Grapes that grow there are excellent to eat but not to make Wine of they have a thick skin and are fleshy like Plumbs within They plant Cotton which thrives very well but sow very little Corn for Sicily furnishes the Maltese with as much as they need The temper of the Air of Malta The Air there is so hot that there is no walking abroad in the Sun and the nights are insupportable in the Summer time not only because of the great heats but also of the Musketoes that are so troublesome there that they put the face in a gore of blood especially of new Comers whom they easily distinguish so that when a Man rises in the morning he looks like one just come out of the Small-pox There is no Winter in this Island nor no need of warming one's self by the fire on the contrary they always drink their Wine with Ice The Air is very thin and wholsom for Old Men who can hardly die but Head-aches are dangerous there and sore Eyes Green Spectacles because of the whiteness of the Earth which makes many Commanders and Kaights to wear green Spectacles though I cannot tell but that the Glass by contracting the beams of the Sun may burn their Eyes There is no venomous Creature upon that Island and none can live there which is a Miracle the Inhabitants ascribe to St. Paul St. Paul much reverenced in Malta to whom they are much devoted and believe that it is an effect of the Benediction which that Saint gave after his Shipwreck when he was attacked by the Viper mentioned in the xxviii of the Acts of the Apostles from which having received no hurt they were so amazed The Earth of St. Pauls Grott that they Believed in God. They give the Earth of the Grott where he was for a Remedy against the stinging of Serpents and other poysons nay against all putrid and malignant Fevers also with better success than the Terra Sigillata as many have found by experience having thereby recovered their
of an Amphitheater being all built one at the back of the roof of another upon the side of the hill and in that manner making ten or twelve ranks so that there are no other streets but the roofs of houses which are flat and joyn to one another insomuch that at one view one may see all the houses of the Town There is a Castle there of a great height which though now it be ruinous was nevertheless so strong that as I was told some years ago Threescore Turks held it out a whole month with two Musquets only against the Venetian Army under the Command of General Thomas Morosini and yielded not till they came to want water This Island which in ancient times was called Ceos and Cea Ceos Cea and is said to have been heretofore part of the Isle of Negropont is shaped like a Horse-shoe and is fifty mile in circumferece the soil of it is pretty good producing Corn Wine Grass and a great many other good things its harbour is full of Fish which we often made tryal of with our Nets The Inhabitants pay yearly in Caradge or Tribute three thousand four hundred Piastres to the Turks and two thousand six hundred to the Venetians besides the extortions and robberies they meet with so that the Inhabitants being thereby ruined and oppressed many of them are forced to forsake their houses and country The Women are Apparelled in a fashion that seems to be rude and clownish but which becomes tall women very well They have coats that reach down to their knees and of them six or seven one over another which make them look very bigg their smock appearing half a foot lower they wear white cloth stockins and on their head a kind of veil that also covers their Breasts which they turn as they please After all the Inhabitants of this Island are good people and deserve to be pitied because of the miseries they suffer both from Christians and Turks CHAP. XIII Of the Isle of Andra and of our Ships running a ground TVesday the Sixtenth of November the wind being a little abated we put out about eight of the clock at night hoping to find the wind fair at Sea but Wednesday morning the seventeenth of November it blew so strong a North Wind that we were obliged to bear away to Isle of Andra Isle of Andra. where we came to an Anchor at two in the afternoon We found five Venetian ships there who so soon as they understood from us that there was some suspition of a Plague in Malta they discharged us from having any communication with them or those of the Island Though this prohibition hindred me from getting any knowledge of this Isle by my own means yet I shall here relate what I learnt of it from those who have been upon it as also from a manuscript Relation that hath come into my hands since The Isle of Andra in ancient time Andros is threescore miles from Zia it is fourscore miles in circuit and is reckoned the most fertile Island of all the Archipelago as indeed it is so in all things especially in Silk wherein the Inhabitants who are about six thousand souls Trade at Chio and other Places with Backs that are made in Andra and make forty thousand Piastres profit of it a year It hath a Town near the Sea which contains not above two hundred Houses the Port of it is pretty good and the South Wind blows a thwart it there is an uninhabited Castle still to be seen upon a little Rock in the Sea hard by it There are besides sixty Villages scattered here and there in several places of the Island of which the most considerable are Arni and Amolacos Arni Amolacos that are inhabited by the Arnantes or Albanians to the number of twelve hundred souls all of the Greek Church and differing in Language and Customs a rude sort of People any without discipline Near to these Villages there is a Monastry of an hundred Monks called Tagia built in form of a Fort with a Church very well adorned though small and served by these Monks who live in extreme ignorance They entertain Travellers all the while they stay there and when they depart they give them Provisions to carry them home to their own Countrey for they have great Revenues There are besides six other little Monasteries with a few Religious in them There is a great number of Greek Churches in the Island which are all under the government and discipline of a Greek Bishop The Latins have also a Bishop there who on Corpus Christi-day carries the Holy Sacrament in Procession all over the Town at which there is a great concourse of People both Greeks and Latins and when the Bishop passes along the streets all the people prostrate themselves spread Carpets Flowers Herbs and other odoriferous things and lye so thick upon the ground that the Bishop cannot pass without treading upon them The Cathedral of the Bishop of the Latin Church is dedicated to the Apostle St. Andrew it is pretty neat but hath no great Revenue There are six Churches besides in the Town of which there is one dedicated to St. Bernard and held by the Capucines who ease the Bishop very much by their Preaching hearing Confessions and by their School to which all the Greek Children come nay some are sent thither from Athens to learn. The Turks have the disposal of the Temporal Affairs and there are several Families of them upon the Island who are very uneasie Neighbours to the Greeks and Latins There is a very pleasant Valley in this Island called by the Inhabitants Menites with plenty of fresh Springs and Fruit-trees in it besides about forty Mills that grind Corn for the People of the Town and circumjacent Villages which is very commodious The Water which drives these Mills comes from a Spring in a Church called Madonna del cumulo and this Water runs in Brooks through the Valley and under Trees fallen of themselves so that they seem to have been bent so artificially and indeed a Painter cannot represent a more lovely and pleasant Valley in Landskip In the Plain at the end of this Valley the Jesuites have a Garden full of Fruit-trees of all sorts which render them a considerable Revenue yearly There they have their House and their Church called St. Veneranda This Island might be called very lovely if the Houses of it were better built and the Air good but it is very bad and so is the Water of the Town The Inhabitants of the Isle of Andra are civil and their Language is more literal than the Language of the other Greeks their Women are Chast and speak well but their Aparrel is very unbecoming The Inhabitants of the Town are not very laborious love good chear and diversions but the Peasants are more industrious they make very white wicker Baskets which are used all over the Archipelago As to their Food they eat sometimes Goats flesh
on the top you may go up to the top by a winding stair-case that is within it Burnt Pillar The other is called the burnt pillar because it is all black having been scorched by a fire that broke out in some adjoyning houses which spoil'd it so much that they have been forced to gird it about with great bars of Iron to keep it tight and hinder it from falling it is of eight pieces of Porphyrian Marble which were so well joyned together before that fire that it appeared to be but one single Stone and indeed the seams were hid and covered by Lawrel-branches cut upon them but at present they are easily seen CHAP. XVIII Of the Grand Signior's Serraglio THe Serraglio of the Grand Signior is the first thing that one sees in coming to Constantinople by Sea it affords a very pleasant Prospect Serraglio because of the Gardens on the Water-side but the Architecture of the Fabrick is nothing at all magnificent it is on the contrary very plain in respect of what the Palace of so powerful a Prince ought to be Serrai and Serraglio Serrai in Turkish signifies a Palace and the Franks by corruption call it Serraglio taking it it seems only for the Appartment where the Women are shut up as if they derived that word from the French Serrer or the Italian Serrar which signifies to close or shut but the word is Turkish and signifies a Palace and the Grand Signiors is called Serrai or Serraglio by excellence It is built in the place where in ancient times Byzantium stood upon the Hill of Sandimitri Hill of Sandrimitri which is a point of the main land looking to the Chanal of the Black Sea The Lodgings are upon the top of the Hill and the Gardens below This Palace is three miles about The bigness of the Serraglio and is of a triangular Figure of which two sides are upon the Sea enclosed within the Town Walls and betwixt the Walls and the Sea there is a little rising Key but no body dares go there especially on the side of the Port before he be past the Serraglio the third side is separated from the Town by good Walls fortified with several Towers as well as those to the Sea side in which Towers there are always some Aadgemoglans in Sentinel Aadgemoglans These Aadgemoglans are the refuse of the tribute Children out of whom they chuse the more witty and dextrous and instruct them in order to be advanced to places and those who have fewest parts are employed in mean and clownish imployments as to be Gardners Grooms and such like On the side of the Port over against Galata there is a Kionsk or Pavillion upon the Key Kionsk not raised very high from the ground it is supported by several Marble Pillars and there the Grand Signior comes often to take the Air at this place he takes water when he intends to divert himself in his Galiot upon the Sea. On the other side of the Serraglio towards the Sea and the seven Bowers Another Kiousk there is another kind of Pavillion pretty high where the Prince often diverts himself also it is built upon Arches and below it upon the Wall there are marks of Crosses the Greeks say that it was formerly a Church There is also a Fountain there where those of that Nation go on the day of the Transfiguration The Ceremony of the Greeks on the day of Transfiguration and make the Sick drink the Water of it burying them in the Sand about up to the Neck and immediately after uncovering them again and many who are very well in health do the like The Grand Signior is that day commonly at his Window where he diverts himself with the pranks they play without being seen Near to that place there is a great Window out of which those who are strangled in the Serraglio are thrown into the Sea in the night-time and as many Guns are fired as there are Bodies thrown out a great many pieces of Cannon lye there upon the shoar unmounted This Palace hath many Gates to the water-side but they are only for the Grand Signior and some of the Serraglio The chief Gate of the Serraglio the chief Gate of it looks towards Santa Sophia which is near by That being the Common Gate is guarded by Capidgis it opens into a very spacious Court where at first you see to the right Hand the Infirmerie whither they carry the sick of the Serraglio in a little close Chariot The Infirmerie of the Serraglio drawn by two men when they see that Chariot every one steps aside to make way for it even the Grand Signior if he happen'd to meet it would do so Dgebehane A little farther to the left Hand is the Dgebehane or Magazine of Cuirasses covered with Lead Vestry of Santa Sophia Second Gate of the Serraglio that building was heretofore the Vestry of Santa Sophia which shews how big a Church it has been in its time From that Court you go to the second which is not fo big as the former and is in a square extending two hundred paces every way all round it there is a Gallery in form of a Cloyster supported by several Marble Pillars and covered with Lead At the back of that Gallery to the right Hand there are nine Domes ranging from one end of the Court to the other all covered with Lead and these are the Kitchins The Kitchins of the Serraglio Stables to the left Hand at the back of the Gallery also is the Stable where none but the Horses which are for the Grand Signiors own Sadle stand the other Stables being towards the Sea along that side of the Serraglio which looks to the Propontis none but the Grand Signior enters this second Court on Horseback all others alight without at the Gate of this The Janisaries draw up in this Court under the Gallery to the right and the Horse to the left The Fountain of the Serraglio In the middle of it there is a most lovely Fountain shadowed over with several Sycamore Trees and Cypresses and near to this Fountain the Grand Signior caused heretofore the Heads of the Bashaws and other persons of Quality to be cut off At the end of this Court on the left Hand is the Hall where the Divan sits and on the right a door which gives entry into the Serraglio but that entry is only allowed to those who have orders to come that way so then since I had no call and this place being all mysterie I shall not attempt to speak of it The Fabrick of the Serraglio The Fabrick of this Serraglio by what one can see of it on the outside is no ways regular all that is to be seen are but separated Appartments in form of Domes so that there is nothing to be distinguished and one cannot tell what to make of it The Grand Signior lodges in this
the more honourable with the Turks The more honourable side because it is the Sword-side so that he who is on the right-hand has the Sword under the hand of him whom he would honour When a Turk walks with a Christian he will not willingly give him the left hand and it is very easie to make them agree as to that point for seeing with us the right hand is the more honourable both of them are in the place of honour CHAP. XXIII Of Baths or Bagnios THE Turks make great use of Bathing both for keeping their bodies neat and clean and for their healths sake For that purpose they have many fair Bagnios in their Towns and the sorriest Village that is Bagnios has at least a Bagnio they are all made after the same fashion and there is no difference but that some are bigger and more adorned with marble than others I 'll describe that which is at Tophana near to a fair Mosque as being one of the loveliest that I have seen You enter into a large square Hall A Description of Bagnios about twenty paces in length and of a very high roof all round this Hall there are Mastabez or benches of stone against the wall above a fathom broad Mastabez and half as high which are all covered with mats so soon as you come they spread you out a large napkin which they call Fouta upon the said benches Fouta where you sit down and lay your cloaths after you have stript In the middle of this Hall there is a great Fountain with a large Bason of marble for washing the Linnen that hath been used and when they are washed they are hung up to dry upon poles which are on high all round the Hall When you have sate down upon the napkin which they have spread for you they bring you another to put before you which you tie over your shirt before you pull it off lest you should show what ought not to be seen which would be a great crime that covers you behind and before from the girdle down to the knees Having pull'd off your shirt you put it with your cloaths in the napkin you sate upon leaving them there without fear that any body will touch them for the Bagnios are places of liberty and security as though they were sacred and there is no cheat ever committed in them for if any were the Master of the Bagnio would be obliged to make good what was lost or embeziled After you are stript you enter by a little door into a small room somewhat hot and from thence by another door into the great Hall which is very hot All these Halls are made with Domes having little glass windows to let in the light This great hot Hall is of a Pentagone figure each side being supported by two Pillars of white marble on each side there is a marble edging or rising about half a foot high and in the middle of that in the floor about two foot from the wall there is a little Bason of white marble two foot broad and over it a cock of warm water and a hands breadth above this cock another cock for cold water so that you mingle them as you please then you take large copper Cups which are alwaies ready for that use and with them throw upon yourself as much water as you have a mind In this Hall also there is a large stone-Fat full of hot water whereinto you may go if you please but that is not safe because a great many Rogues who have several diseases go into it though the water be often changed but if you be sure that no body has as yet been in it you may wash yourself there So soon as you enter into that great Hall you sit down upon the flat floor which is all of marble heated by Furnaces underneath then comes a Servant stark naked except those parts which modesty requires to be covered the Servants of the Bagnio are always so that they may be in readiness to wait upon those that come and making you lye out at length upon your back he puts his knees upon your belly and breast and embracing you very streight makes all the bones of your body arms and legs crack again to stretch and soften the sinews then laying you upon your belly he does the like on your back treading upon it so that he often makes you kiss the ground after that having shaved your chin and under the arm-pits he gives you a rasor to shave yourself every where else and you go into one of the little chambers that are made in the intervals betwixt the sides and being there you take off your napkin and hang it upon the door that so every one that sees it may know there is some body within which will hinder them from coming in and there you may shave yourself at your leisure If you be afraid that you may hurt yourself with a Razor they give you a bit of Paste The way of using Rusma made of a certain mineral called Rusma beat into a powder and with lime and water made up into a Paste which they apply to the parts where they would have the hair fetcht off and in less than half a quarter of an hour all the hair falls off with the Paste by throwing hot water upon it They know when it is time to throw on water by trying if the hair comes off with the Paste for if it be left too long sticking on the place after it had eaten off the hair it would corrode the flesh Rusma is a mineral like to the rust or dross of Iron What Rusma is it is much in use in Turky and sold in so great quantities that the Custom of it yields the Grand Signior a considerable Revenue In Malta they use instead of Rusma Orpiment which they mingle with lime for the same use Having taken off the hair and put your napkin about you again you return into the great Hall where you sweat as long as you please then comes a Servant with a Purse of black Camlet into which he puts his hand and rubs your body so hard all over that he clears all the filth from your skin yet without hurting you then he takes a lock of Silk with a bit of Soap in it and therewith rubs and soaps you all over after which he throws a great deal of water upon your body and washes your head also if you please with Soap Having done so he goes and brings you a dry napkin which you put about you in the place of the wet one then you return into the Hall where you left your cloaths where sitting down he pours water upon your feet to wash off the filth that you may have got in coming and after that he brings you hot and dry napkins wherewith you rub and dry your skin and when you cloaths are on again and you have seen yourself in a
Looking-glass that another holds to you you have no more to do but to pay and be gone The common price of the Bagnio is two Aspres to the Master and they who would be well served give as much to the Man. These Bagnios are very commodious and I believe the frequent use they make of them preserves them from many diseases The poorest person that is Man or Woman goes at least once a week to the Bagnio There are Bagnios whither the Men go one day and the Women another others whither the Men go in the morning and the Women afternoon and others again solely for Women When the Women are there they are served by Women and it is a capital crime for any Man of whatsoever religion or quality he be to enter into the Bagnio where the Women are The modesty of the Turks It is also a great crime but punishable only by shame or some Bastonadoes at most to show ones privy Parts or to look upon another Person 's These Bagnios are heated underneath and Lords of high quality have them in their houses for their own and Wives uses CHAP. XXIV Of the Turks way of Eating Drinking and Lying THe Turks make no sumptuous Feasts and it is never heard in Turkie that a man hath undone himself by House-keeping a small matter contents them and a good Cook in that Country would have but a very bad Trade of it The Turkish food What Pilau is for indeed they are all Cooks there and they have no Sauces but what one may learn to make at first sight Their most usual food is that which they call Pilau This Pilau is Rice put into a Pot with a Pullet a piece of Mutton and Beef or only one of these and for want of Meat with Butter and when the Rice has boyl'd a little they take it off putting it into a large dish with a great deal of Pepper upon it and sometimes Saffron to make it look yellow When it is eating time Soffra the Turks Table they spread upon the ground a Carpet of Turky Leather which they call Soffra upon which they set the Pilau and Meat and breaking the Bread into pieces they distribute it all round then they squat down upon their heels like Taylors about the Soffra and all make use of one blew Napkin that is long enough to go round the Soffra then having said Bismillah that is to say In the name of God Bismillah which to them is instead of Benedicite they eat their Pilau with wooden Spoons a foot long making a scruple to eat in Gold or Silver and nevertheless the Grand Signior has Dishes of Gold Plate as we shall shew hereafter When they have no Spoons they make an easie shift without them putting the Pilau with one hand into the other and so carrying it to their mouth When they come to the Meat one of the company with his Hands tears it to pieces using no Knife for that and then every one takes what they have a mind to They are at no trouble for the Beef and Mutton for before it be drest they cut it into small pieces whether for roasting or boyling They drink not commonly in time of meal but when they have eaten they rise and fill their bellies full of Water then they give God Thanks by a Handillah that is to say God be praised Having thus made an end of their meal they wash their hands for they wash not before they sit down to eat but only when they rise from it Their usual Drink is Water many of them also drink Wine The Turks Drink The Turks are not forbid to drink Wine and though Wine seems to be Prohibited by the Alcoran yet the good-fellows say that it is no more but an advice or council and not a precept However they drink it not publickly unless it be the Janizaries and other Desperadoes that stand in awe of no Man when they fall to drinking they drink a great deal and if they can have it for nothing they 'll drink till they fall a sleep again if they be let alone saying that it is no greater sin to drink ten quarts than one cup full they never mingle Water with it and laugh at Christians for doing so as a thing that seems altogether ridiculous to them In the Countrey about Constantinople and all over the Archipelago they have plenty of good Wine They have besides another Liquor which they call Boza Boza made of Barley or Millet and tasts somewhat like our Beer but not so pleasantly I tasted of it once but found it to be very bad and none but the meaner sort of people drink it because it is very cheap This Drink makes them drunk but they have another which they use very commonly they call it Coffee Coffee and drink of it all hours in the day This Liquor is made of a Berry that we shall mention hereafter They roast or parch it in a Fire-shovel or such like iron instrument then they peel it and beat it into powder and when they have a mind to drink of it they take a copper Pot made purposely which they call Ibrick Ibrick and having filled it with Water make it boyl when it boyls they put in this Powder to the proportion of a good spoonful for three Dishes or Cups full of Water and having let all boyl together they snatch it quickly off of the fire or stir it else it would run all over for it rises very fast Having thus boyl'd ten or twelve wambles they pour it out into China Dishes which they set upon a Trencher of painted Wood and so bring it to you scalding hot and so you must drink it but at several sips else it is not good This Liquor is bitter and black and has a kind of a burnt taste They all drink it sipping for fear of scalding themselves Coffee-bane so that being in a Coffee-hane so they call the place where they sell it ready made one hears a pretty pleasant kind of sippling musick The virtues of Coffee This Liquor is good to hinder vapours from rising up from the stomach to the head and by consequence to cure the Head-ach and for the same reason it keeps one from sleeping When Merchants have many Letters to write and intend to do it in the night-time in the Evening they take a dish or two of Coffee It is good also to comfort the Stomach and helps Digestion In short in the Turks opinion it is good against all Maladies and certainly it hath at least as much virtue as is attributed to Tea As to its taste by that time a man hath drank twice he is accustomed to it and finds it no longer unpleasant Some put Cloves to it some Cardamom-seed called in Latine Cardamomum minus which they call Cacoule and others Sugar but that mixture which renders it more agreeable to the palate makes it less wholsom and useful There
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
they wash they should say these words Bis millah el azem ve ellem doullillah allahdin islam Things unlawful when they wash That 's to say In the Name of the great God and praise to God the God of the Musulman Faith. When they wash there are some things unlawful which they call Meschreh as to wipe the Nose with the right Hand to wash any part oftner than thrice to wash with water heated in the Sun and to throw the water strong upon the Face There are many things also that render the Abdest unprofitable so that when any of these things happen they must begin it again Things that render them unclean And though they were not to pray yet after one of these they must wash their Hands or else they are unclean they are these If they happen to break Wind upwards or downwards if any blood or nastiness come out of their Body if they happen to Vomit fall into Passion faint away be Drunk laugh in time of Prayer embrace a Woman and touch any naked part of her to sleep during Prayer And indeed if any one fall asleep in time of Prayer the rest who are washed and prepared to pray will have a care not to awaken him for by doing so they would be unclean as well as he to be touched by a Dog or any other unclean Beast all these accidents evacuate the Abdest it must be renewed again before they begin their Prayers CHAP. XXXVII Of the form of their Mosques and their Prayers The form of the Mosques HAving spoken of their Ablutions some thing must be said of the form of their Mosques before I treat of their Prayers Their Mosques are called Mesdgid from whence the word Mosque hath been corrupted they are also called Dgemii that is to say place of Assembly These Mosques on the outside are like our Churches they have close by the side of them a Tower or Minaret and sometimes two four or six according to the stateliness of their Fabricks and these Minarets have a Balcony all round on the top Minarets The use they make of these Minarets is that at the hour of Prayer a Muezim goes up to the top of the Minaret and calls to Prayers The inside of the Mosques is very plain nothing to be seen but the four bare Walls on which the Name of God is written and in one of the Walls their is as it were a Niche which they call Keble that is to say the place to which they turn when they Pray This Niche in all the Mosques of Turkie is on the South Wall because when they pray they ought to turn towards Mecha Of the Keble which is to the South in respect of Turkie heretofore their Keble was towards the Temple of Salomon in Jerusalem to which they were to turn when they Prayed but Mahomet changed it in the second year of the Hegyra and put it on the side of Mecha which they have ever since observed They have also in their Mosque a piece of Stuff that has served at Mecha and a Pulpit where an Imam sometimes Preaches The floor of the Mosque is covered with Mats The hours of the Turks Prayers that the People may not be incommoded at Prayers They have Prayers five times a day the first is at break of day which they call Sabahnamaz the second at Noon which they call Oilehnamaz the third betwixt three and four of the Clock in the Afternoon which they call Quindinamaz the fourth at Sun setting which they call Akschamnamaz the fifth an hour after Night is in which they call Yatbinamaz On Friday which is their Sunday they have Prayers also at Nine a Clock in the Morning which they call Couschloucnamazi to which all goe and after that they may Work and open their Shops but most part Rest and make Merry that day which they call Dgiuma en hiun that is to say the day of Congregation When the hour of any of these Prayers is come for they whose business it is to mind that have for that end Hour-glasses and besides are regulated by the Sun when it shines a Muezim who is he that calls to Prayers goes up to a Minaret at every Mosque and stopping his Ears with his Fingers he sings and crys these words with all his force Allah ekber The words which the Muezims sing on the top of the Minarets allah ekber allah ekber eschadou in la illah illallah eschadou in Mahomet resoul allah hi alle sallatt hi alle fellat allah ekber allah ekber allah ekber allah ekber la illah illallah which is to say God is great God is great God is great God is great shew that there is but one God shew that Mahomet is his Prophet come and present your selves to the mercy of God and ask forgiveness of your Sins God is great God is great God is great God is great there is no other God but God he crys the same words towards the four Corners of the World beginning at the South and ending at the West Whilst he is crying every one does the Abdest and then all go to the Mosque They who cannot go to the Mosque say their Prayers at Home Being come to the Mosque Entring into the Mosques they leave their Shoes all leave their Paboutches or Shoes at the door and such as are afraid that they may be changed take them off their Feet and carry them with them in their Hand When they are entred they make a bow to the Keble then take their place and wait till the Imam which signifies Prelate begins their Prayer by these words Allah ekber that is to say God is great then they that are present say softly or aloud if they please I will imitate that Imam in what he doeth and they do all that he does And first The manner of the Turks Praying they put their hands upon their Shoulders and say Allah ekber then laying their Hands one over another upon the Navil they say some Prayers softly to themselves and at the end of every one prostrate themselves upon the Ground and say Allah ekber They are no longer prostrate than they can say a short Prayer then they rise and so prostrate themselves again several times If they pray in private they say to themselves I am going to say the Prayers appointed for the time which they name and pray as if they were in the Mosque They say the same Prayers every day only they repeat them more or less according to the Days When they lay their Hands upon their Shoulders the meaning of it is That they have quitted all Worldly Things and that they are in the presence of God. When they prostrate themselves that signifies that they adore God. At the Sabahnamaz when they pray How many Prostrations the Turks make they prostrate themselves eight times at Noon twenty times at the Quindy sixteen times at the Akschamnamaz ten times and at the Yatsinamaz twenty
shall not speak of them I will only tell what I had from an Itchoglan newly come out of the Serraglio that the Grand Signior is served at his Meals in China which is more valuable then Purcelane or Terra Sigillata that is reckoned to be good against Poyson The Grand Signior's Dishes He hath also a great many covered dishes of beaten Gold each dish with its cover weighing twelve or thirteen Marks These Dishes were presented to him by Kilidge Hali Basha a Renegado native of Messina after the Pillage and Robberies that he committed in Calabria where he took great Booty Now though with them it be a sin to eat in Gold or Silver yet he makes use of both and the Queen Mother of the Grand Signior is served in forty Silver plate dishes But at extraordinary Feasts which are kept in the Gardens or Summer-Houses they are served in Basons of Purcelane or Terra Sigillata as the Ambassadours are also when they are feasted in the Hall of the Divan before they have their Audience of the Grand Signior When he eats he speaks to no body The Grand Signior never speaks at Dinner but makes himself be understood by Signs to the mute Buffoons who are very expert at that having a very singular method in it and there is nothing but what they can express by Signs These Buffoons are always playing some foolish Tricks amongst themselves to make him Laugh He never beats his Brains about Business Care of Affairs but refers the whole management of Affairs to his Ministers who give him a Summary Account of them on certain days of the Week Not but that there have been some who have taken the Care upon themselves ordering their Ministers to act according to their Directions Sultan Amurat though a very debauched Prince always minded his Affairs and Sultan Mahomet who Reigns at present and traces the Footsteps of his Uncle Amurat loves Business very well too When the Grand Signior is weary of staying in his Serraglio he goes and takes the Air upon the Water and sometimes by Land but not often because his Ministers do what they can to hinder him from that least Petitions may be presented to the Grand Signior against them For such as cannot have Justice of them expect till the Grand Signior be abroad in the Streets and when he passes by they put their Petition on the end of a Cane which they hold up as high as they can which the Grand Signior perceiving sends for it and has it brought to him The truth is the Ministers are not well pleased he should be informed of Affairs by any but themselves I have several times seen the present Grand Signior abroad but the first time that I saw him I was told that for at least a Year before he had not been out of his Serraglio The Grand Signior's going abroad out of the Serraglio When he goes abroad by Land it is either with small Attendance or in Pomp I have seen both as I shall afterwards relate When he goes by Water he has always few Attendance his Galiotte comes to the Kieusk of the Serraglio which is on the Water-side over against Galata and entring with a very small Retinue he goes to Scudaret or the black-Black-Sea to take the Air. This is a most rich Galiotte guilt all over and adorned with many counterfeit Stones It hath four and twenty Benches that is to say four and twenty Oars on each side Bostangis Rowers each rowed by two Bostangis who have only a Shirt over their Breeches or rather Drawers they have scarlet Caps shaped like a Sugar-Loaf such as all the Bostangis wear being half an Ell high and they who serve on this occasion are the Favorites of the Bostangi Basha The advantage of the Rowers Those that Row on the right side are all the Sons of Christians made Turks who may arise to the dignity of Bostangi Basha to which Office those that Row on the left hand who are the Sons of Turks and commonly of Asia can never aspire And the greatest reward that they can hope for when they come out of the Serraglio is to have fourscore Aspres a day in Pay whereas those on the right side after they have discharged the Office of Bostangi Basha may be Agas of the Janizaries nay even Bashas or Governours of Provinces If any of these Bostangis chance to break an Oar in Rowing the Grand Signior gives him according to his Liberality a handful of Aspres or a handful of Chequins as an encouragement for plying his Business with so much strength In the time of Sultan Solyman three Chequins was the ordinary reward but at present it is not limited However it is not by strength but rather slight that they break their Oars and many times they break them half off before the Grand Signior come on board his Galiotte and then easily do the rest as they Row. The Bostangi Basha sits at the Helm and steers the Galiotte and at that time has opportunity enough to discourse with the Grand Signior at his ease The Grand Signior goes through the City in Disguise Besides these ways of going Abroad the Grand Signior goes sometimes through the City in Disguise and without Attendance as a private Man to see if his Orders be punctually observed And he at present who seems in all his Actions to imitate his Uncle Sultan Amurat went abroad almost every day in Disguise whilst I was at Constantinople having however some Men following him at a little distance and amongst the rest an Executioner And by the way he caused many Heads to flie off both in Constantinople and Galata which kept all things in better order The Christians were very glad that he Disguised himself so for that was the cause that no body durst molest or abuse them Sometimes he would go to a Bakers Shop and buy Bread and sometimes to a Butchers for a little Meat And one day a Butcher offering to sell him Meat above the rate which he had set he made a sign to the Executioner who presently cut off the Butchers Head. Prohibition of Tobacco But it was chiefly for Tobacco that he made many Heads to flie He caused two Men in one day to be Beheaded in the Streets of Constantinople because they were smoaking Tobacco He had prohibited it some days before because as it was said when he was passing along the Street where Turks were smoaking Tobacco the smoak had got up into his Nose But I rather think that it was in imitation of his Uncle Sultan Amurat who did all he could to hinder it so long as he lived He caused some to be Hanged with a Pipe through their Nose others with Tobacco hanging about their Neck and never pardoned any for that I believe that the chief reason why Sultan Amurath prohibited Tobacco was because of the Fires that do so much mischief in Constantinople when they happen which most commonly are
and lyes just before it yet there are always a great many Saiques there going or coming from Constantinople Metelin and other places of the Archipelago and Aegypt The Galleys of the Beys commonly Winter there A little without the Harbour and about a Pistol-shot from the Mole there is a small Church in the Sea called St. Nicholas which serves for a Light-house and Signal aswel by day as by night for Vessels that would put into the Harbour because the entry into it is pretty narrow there being great Rocks on the side of it almost to the height of the water CHAP. LXII Of the Mastick-Trees The Monastery of Niamoni and the School of Homer BEing curious to see the Trees that yield Mastick Mastick-Tree which is gathered no where but in this Island I got a Janizary from the Master of the Custome-house and went with the Vice-Consul to Calimacha Calimacha which is one of the chief Villages of the Island There are two Gates to enter it of which one that was built four hundred years ago is still in good repair it is of no use at present and is always open There are six Greek Churches in this Village and about thirty round it with a Convent of Nuns This place is very well peopled and when I went there there were in it as I was told three hundred and forty eight Men who paid the Karadge all married for those who are unmarried pay no Karadge in that place Near to this Town there are threescore Mastick-Trees which I went to see they are Lentisks crooked like Vines and creeping upon the ground Dioscorides affirms that they yield Mastick in several other places but still acknowledges that the Mastick that grows elsewhere is rarer and not so good as that of Chio for having it they prick these Trees in the Months of August and September and the Mastick Mastick which is their Gumm sweating out by the holes they have made in the Bark runs down the Tree and falls upon the ground where it congeals into flat pieces which some time after they gather then dry them in the Sun and afterwards range and shake them in a Ranging-sive to separate the dust from them which so sticks to the faces of those that handle the Sive that they cannot get it off but by rubbing their faces with Oyl There are two and twenty Villages that have Mastick-Trees and among them all they have an hundred thousand of them for which they yearly pay to the Grand Signior three hundred Chests of Mastick which make seven and twenty thousand Oques at fourscore and ten Oques the Chest and every Oque contains four hundred Drachms In raising all this Mastick every one of the Villages where it grows is assessed at so many Oques according as they have more or fewer Trees for they know within a little how much every Tree can yield and seeing all years are not alike good or bad for all the quarters where they grow they who gather more than they are to pay sell to those who have not gathered so much as their Tax comes to at the rate of threescore Aspres the Oque for they assist one another as much as they can else they would be obliged to buy of the Master of the Custome-house at the rate of two Piastres the Oque Afterwards they sell what they have over to the Customer at the price of threescore Aspres the Oque A great monopoly of Mastick which turns to good acount to him for they are not suffered to sell to any but the Master of the Customs who sells it afterwards for an hundred and fourscore Aspres or two Piastres the Oque there being none but he in Chio that can sell any because it is a Commodity that belongs to the Grand Signior as the Terra Sigillata Terra Sigillata Terra Lemnia or Terra Lemnia is and for that reason they have Waiters upon all the Avenues of the places where the Trees grow who live in little houses purposely built for them and search all that come or go that way to see if they have any Mastick about them and that so strctly that my Janizary told me that once they had found a good piece about a Woman which she had hid in her most privy parts Whosoeever are taken stealing of Mastick are without remission sent to the Galleys This Mastick is a whitish Gumm of a very good scent The use of Mastick made use of in the composition of many Oyntments but the Greeks spend a great deal of in chewing and the Women and Girls more who use it so frequently that they are never without a piece of Mastick in their mouth That makes them spit much and they say it whitens their teeth and renders their breath sweet They put it also into their bread to make it more delicate and when upon my departure from Chio I made provision of Bisket I had little ones with Mastick made for me which were recommended to me as an excellent thing to drink a mornings draught with Niamoni Having seen the Masticks I took my way to Niamoni which is a Convent of Greek Calloyers some miles distant from Callimacha but the Way is very bad for there is nothing but up hill and down hill all over the island and this Convent stands among Woods and Rocks Being come there we went first to the Church that is fair and spacious and dedicated to Niamoni which in the vulgar Greek signifiies the Only Virgin This Church was built upon occasion of the miraculous finding of an Image and they relate the matter in this manner All the Countrey thereabouts was covered over with very thick Woods where lived many Hermites or Religious who observed one and the same rule these good Fathers saw a Light every night in the middle of the Woods and when they went towards the place to see what it was and were come pretty near they saw no more of it which strangely surprised them In fine this having continued a long while and they having several times discoursed together about it they resolved to set the Wood on fire in all parts and having done accordingly all the Trees were burnt but one on which they found an Image of the Virgin Constantine Monomachus Immediately they deputed some of their number to go to Constantine Monomachus Emperour of Constantinople who having related the Miracle to him he promised to build a Church there but being expelled the Empire shortly after he renewed to them his promise of building a Church in that place if God would be so gracious as to restore him to his Throne And indeed he was as good as his word The Church of Niamoni for recovering again the Empire he built it about the the Year of our Lord 1050. This Church is adorned with a great many pieces of Marble and Porphyry sent thither by that Emperour from Constantinople and among others there are two and
Heretofore there was a Latin Bishop there but he having gone out of the Island the Albanians usurped all there being no Inventory nor other Writing to be found There is nothing remarkable in it but the afore-mentioned Baths though there be a Castle there and a pretty big Village called Mesi Mesi This Island is almost all a Plain has few Trees and yet it is fruitful and abundant in all things The Inhabitants are honest people and trade in Stuffs Thread and other Commodities raising thereby Money to pay their Tribute Turkish Money passes not there but only the Coyn of Venice so as in several other such Isles except Naxia Andro and Seyra where Turkish Money goes The Women of Thermia are vertuous handsome and wear a neat dress The People live pretty well there and a Cady commands with four Procurators chosen among the Citizens of the Town Ajora is a little Isle eighteen miles about it depends on the Isle of Scyra Ajora whose Inhabitants keep some Shepherds there to look after their Sheep There are four Churches in it where Divine-Service is performed but once a year to wit at Easter and then the Shepherds Communicate It is not at all cultivated because the Corsairs carry off the Oxen and sometimes the Sheep also The Isle of Scyra which in the vulgar Greek signifies Signora or Mistress Scyra is so called because by its height it commands all the other Isles being almost in the middle of them It is thirty six miles in circuit a dry Soyl bears few Trees and nevertheless abounds in all things having plenty of Provisions Flesh Fish and Venison The Water they use is brought from a Spring a little wide of the Town and is very good They have no Villages of any consequence only some scattering Houses in the Countrey The Inhabitans of this Isle are much given to devotion and chiefly the Women who are very silly There is much hatred and envy always among them which arises from the oppression they daily suffer from the Turks and their common poverty They are almost all Latins and have several Churches the Cathedral standing on the top of the Town dedicated to St. George and served by several Priests who have a Latin Bishop for their Superiour that lives on his Revenue and Tithes But there are some of these Churches in so bad order that they look more like Ware-houses than Churches The Capucins in spight of the Hereticks and Schismaticks bring many into the Church by their constant Preaching They Catechise there and instruct the young Children who have a very quick wit and are apt to learn. They often hear Confessions and their Church which is dedicated to St. John was built at the charge of the Publick There is another Church also dedicated to the Virgin and served by the Religious of the Order of St. Dominick Six miles from the Town there is a little Garden where there are some stocks of Orange-Trees and some Springs with a Chapel dedicated to the Virgin and some Hermite commonly lives there They have no places of Curiosity nor Walks CHAP. LXX Of the Isles of Samos and Nicaria AFter I had long waited for a Passage to Aegyt an occcasion at length offered of a great Saique bound for Rossetto Saiques These Saiques are like great Barks having a round hulk and a very big and high Main-mast They carry great Cargoes of Goods but they sail not fast unless they be before the Wind or rather they sail no otherwise for they cannot go upon a Wind. The Greeks make use of no other Vessels for trading both in the White and Black Seas and that 's the reason there are so many of them though the Christian Corsairs pick up several of them now and then I spake to the Master of this Saique who was a Janizary and he promised to give me notice when the weather was fair to set out but that I might be the more at ease I hired the Pursers Cabin in the top of the Poop which was so little that when my Man and I turn'd in there was not half a foot of room to spare I then bestir'd my self speedily to make my provisions not forgetting a Capot for my self and another for my Man. A Capot is a certain Field-garment Capot lined through with the same stuff it is made of and shaped like a Wastcoat reaching down to the knee there are sleeves for the arms and a hood fastened to it for the head All the Sea-men have Capots and it seems to me to be so necessary an Implement not only for Sea-men but for all that travel by Sea that I cannot see how in a long Voyage one can be without it In case of necessity it will serve for a Quilt and Coverlet With a Capot you may sit down and lye where you please and without it you would pitch all your cloaths rain or blow you may walk abroad in the air with your Capot and within a Capot you need neither fear wet nor cold I found so much good in this Garment and have received so many Services from it that I thought I could not but here say something in praise of it Being then provided with all things necessary for a pretty long Voyage though they gave me hopes that in eight or ten days time I should be in Aegypt I went on board on Wednesday the Fifteenth of November Departure from Chio. about three a clock in the Afternoon and an hour after we set out of the Port of Chio with a North-wind We made not much way that day Thursday morning the sixteenth of November the wind ceased leaving us before the Isle of Samos Samos which is threescore miles from Chio. This is a very barren Island by what I could perceive but is famous for having been the Native Countrey of Pythagoras Pythagoras Polycrates Sibylla of Samos Nicaria Icaria that great Philosopher of Polycrates so much renowned for his good fortune and of a Sibyl It is fourscore miles in circuit Pretty near and over against Samos is the Isle of Nicaria called in ancient times Icaria from Icarus the Son of Doedalus It is in figure long the Land of it very dry and all high Rocks wherein are the Houses of the Inhabitants who may make in all three thousand Souls very poor and ill clad They are much addicted to Swimming and fishing up Sponges from the bottom of the Sea or the Goods of Ships that have been cast away and Batchelours are not married in this Island unless they can dive at least eight fathom deep into the water and of this they must give proof So that when a Papas or any other of the richest men of the Island would marry his Daughter To whom the Maids are married at Nicaria he pitches upon a day whereon he promises his Daughter to the best Swimmer and the day being come the young Men strip themselves stark naked before all the People the Maid
herself being present and throw themselves into the water where he that stays longest under obtains the Maid in Marriage These are a sort of People that seem to be Fish rather than Men. They pay the Grand Signior their Tribute in Sponges and from them all Turkie is furnished This Isle hath no Haven for great Vessels but only for small Barks wherein they go to Chio and sell Honey Wax White-wine as clear as water which comes away by Urine as soon at it is drank and such like Commodities Their Vineyards are here and there among the Rocks But the World is turned topsie-turvie in this Island for the Women are the Mistresses there So soon as the Husband is arrived from any place the Wife goes to the Sea-side and takes the Oars and other implements and carries them home after which the Husband disposes of nothing without her leave In the time of the Emperours of Constantinople Persons of Quality that deserved Banishment were sent to this Island the Inhabitants whereof are well-shaped and strong But to return to Sea again we did what lay in our power to pass that Island and take Harbour at Stanchio but a South-east wind blowing soon after hindred us from that and though we beat and tack'd to and agen till the evening we gained no ground so that we resolved to turn back again and did so an hour before night finding that the South-east wind began to blow fresher and fresher In the Night-time we had much Lightning However while I was attentively considering Samos I saw a light on shore A Light which no body kindles which seem'd to me to be a Candle and having ask'd an honest Roman Catholick of Chio with whom I had made friendship what it was He made me answer That that Light was seen every night in the same place that having past that way ten or twelve times in the night-time he had always seen it that nevertheless there was neither House nor Tree there that many had gone oftentimes in search of it but could never find it seeing it very well at a distance but losing sight of it assoon as they came near and that about the place where the Light is seen there is an ancient Christian Church all ruinous which makes people think that there is some Mystery in it I thought the man had jeer'd me when he told me all these things and therefore I went to the Captain 's Cabin where having asked him the same question though he was a Turk he told me the same things the honest Chiot did who was Patron of the Saique and a Greek which made me more attentively consider that Light I ey'd it for the space of an hour and it seemed to me to be about two hundred paces from the Sea-side on that part of the Island which looks Westward opposite to the Isle of Nacaria or Nicaria I saw it rise and fall like a Candle and I remember that the Monks of Niamoni of the Isle of Chio told me just such another thing concerning the Foundation of their Church Having well considered that Light I went to sleep about eleven of the clock and the wind blew fresher about midnight with so thick a darkness that one could not see six steps on head and in the mean time we were in a dangerous place betwixt Samos and Nicaria so that we had cause to fear the Saique might run foul of one of these two places There fell afterward a great deal of rain but such strong gusts of wind with it as gave the Sea-men enough to do and besides that we had great claps of Thunder which doubling horribly betwixt these Islands made with the beating of the waves a fearful noise In the mean time the Ship made much water which created no small trouble to the Sea-men who had already their hands full on 't Another danger threatned us besides for they had left the Caique in the Sea towed at the Saiques stern which being forced by the violence of the wind knock'd its head so hard against the Saique that it might have started a plank and sunk her down to rights many Vessels being lost so even in the Port nevertheless their was no hoisting of it up though it had strucken so often against the Saique that all the Head of it was broken and the Saique was so slippery that there was no holding on her so that at several times three Men fell into the Sea but Ropes being quickly thrown out to them they were drawn up again At length came day but with it so thick a Fog that it was more than three Hours after before we could see Land. We afterward discovered Chio about ten a Clock in the Morning and put into Harbour the same day being Friday the seventeenth of November a little after Noon Our Captain perceiving the Weather to be contrary to us Scala Nuova or Couschadasi proposed to go and Anchor in the Port of Scala Nuova which the Turks call Couschadasi and I earnestly desired it because then I might have gone to Ephesus which is but half a days Journey from it but some Chiots told him that it was dangerous entring into the Port of Scala Nuova at that time But indeed I think it was that they had rather wait for fair Weather at home in their own Town than in another place So soon as I was come to Chio I failed not to speak to our Vice-Consul of the Light I had seen in the Isle of Samos and he told me all the same that the rest did and that he himself with some others had gone in search thereof but that as they drew nigh they always lost sight of it CHAP. LXXI Of Stanchio and Bodrou WE waited with great Impatience for fair Weather at Chio nevertheless the South-East Wind continued blowing till Tuesday the Twenty eighth of November when with day a North-Wind arose we let not slip the occasion for being got on Board we put out the same day about Four a Clock in the Afternoon and Wednesday the Twenty ninth of November past by Samos about Midnight In the Morning the Wind abated a little and nevertheless about One of the Clock we arrived at Stanchio Stanchio or Isola Longa. otherwise called Isola Longa Fourscore and ten Miles from Samos and came to an Anchor to take in Fresh-Water We who were Christians went not a Shoar because there were Eight hundred Spahis lately arrived to defend that Island against the Venetians and seeing these Blades play'd the Devil and all putting their Horses into the Churches of the Greeks they would certainly have abused us being then extreamly Exasperated against all Franks This Island called heretofore Coos Coos Lango and named at present by the Turks Stanchio and by the Franks Lango or Isola Longa is Seventy Miles in Circuit and is very Fruitful especially in good Wine the Country seems to be pleasant enough and upon the Port by the Sea-side there is a Castle that
short of the Town We stay'd still there all Sunday the one and twentieth of December and then in the night-time the wind turning North blew so hard that our Vessel was very much tossed Monday the first day of the Year 1657. the wind abating a little about eleven a clock we weighed standing in towards the Harbour of the Galleys where half an hour after we came to an anchor There we were informed that a great Gallion was cast away in the Port of Alexandria which belonged to two Turkish Merchants and had a great deal of Goods on board to wit Flax Coffee and Sugar to the value of a hundred and fifty Thousand Piastres Not but that the Port is good enough but they said that there was negligence in the case and that the Cables were old and not look'd to for eleven months that the Gallion was in the Port so that they were rotten in the water This Gallion rode with four Anchors abroad yet one night a little before day all the Cables broke much at the same time which the company that were on board perceiving fired two Guns for assistance but no help being given them about break of day she split upon a Rock all the men that were on board were saved except a Turkish Merchant who would not be saved saying that he would not leave his Goods that were in the Gallion and indeed he perished with the Ship which was so broken to pieces that in an hours time there was no more to be seen of her Nevertheless help might have been given them seeing notwithstanding the storm Caiques went and came and all that was to be done was but to carry them a Cable or two All the Goods that were saved of a Cargoe worth an hundred and fifty Thousand Piastres was no more but a little Flax which they took up floating upon the water and which I afterwards saw spread abroad to dry She was the fairest Gallion that ever the Turks built exceeding even the Sultana taken some years since by the Knights of Malta which was so high that the Main-masts heads of the Galleys of Malta did not reach up to her side I was told that this was another-guess Gallion and that her stern was higher than the Main-top-mast head of our Saique which nevertheless was one of the largest of the kind She was built at Constantinople and cost eight and thirty Thousand Piastres her burthen was fifteen hundred Tun but she was now grown old she had on board forty Guns and would carry three thousand Men nay the first Voyage she made from Constantinople she had two thousand and one hundred Persons on board Nevertheless the Sea at this time was so enraged that not satisfied with this great booty it carried its fury farther and cast away a Saique in the mouth of the Nile in which two and forty Men were drowned but thanks be to God we were at Rhodes during that Tempest The End of the First Book TRAVELS INTO THE LEVANT PART I. BOOK II. CHAP. I. Of Alexandria IN the former Book I gave an Account of our arrival at Alexandria after a tedious Voyage which is commonly performed from Chio in seven or eight days time And now being in Alexandria I stay'd some days for fair weather that I might go with the Saique to Rossetto but perceiving that the wind changed not and that probably it might be a months time before the Saique could get to Rossetto I brought my things a-shore and resolved to go thither by Land. Before my departure I saw all that is worth the seeing in Alexandria This Town called by the Turks Skenderia Alexandria or Skenderia heretofore so lovely rich and famous a place is at present so ruined that it is no more the same there is nothing to be seen in it but ruined Houses cast one upon another and the heaps of Rubbish and Stones which are on all hands are higher than the Houses The French are lodged there in a Fondick which is a great House like a Han. There are other Fondicks also for the English Dutch Venetians and others and they pay no House-rent on the contrary the Consuls receive Money from the Grand Signior yearly to keep them in necessary repair These Fondicks are every evening shut up and the Keys of them carried to the Aga of the Castle who takes care to send them back every next morning They are also shut and so is the Water-gate every Friday during the Noon-Prayer as the Castle-gate is at Caire and also in all places of the Turkish Empire where there are Franks because they say they have a Prophesie which threatens that the Franks are to become Masters of them on a Friday during the Noon-Prayer Hardly any thing of the ancient Alexandria remains standing but the Walls and some Buildings toward the Fondick of the French which are almost ruined for the Buildings that are now towards the shore are not ancient but have been built by the Turks as may be easily seen by the Fabrick being all low ill-contriv'd Houses This Town hath three Ports the first of which called the Old Harbour is pretty large but few Vessels put into it because the entry is difficult there are two Castles to defend it one on each side and both well kept The other two Ports are higher up and separated one from another by a little Island heretofore farther off from the main Land than it is at present and anciently called the Pharos It is at present joyned to the main Land by a Stone-bridge of some Arches under which the water passes This Isle runs out a great way in Meo in the middle of it there is a large square Tower Farillon where the Grand Signior's Powder is kept At the end of the same Isle there is a good Castle called Farillon that stands in the same place where the heretofore so renowned Pharos stood which was reckoned One of the Seven Wonders of the World this which is now in the place of it is neat enough and well provided with Artillery and a Garison of three hundred Soldiers commanded by a Muteferaca but it hath no other water than that of the Nile which is brought into it from without upon Camels The first of the two Ports divided by the Pharos is the Harbour of the Galleys and the other is the Great Port or New Harbour the mouth whereof is on the one side defended by the Farillon and on the other side by another little Castle at its entry which is not so good as the Farillon however it is kept by several Soldiers and these two Castles easily succour one another Both these Ports are very dangerous because of the Stones and Rocks that are in them and there is need of a good Pilot to bring Vessels in The Great Port lyes much open to the North-east and North winds The Harbour of the Galleys is the safer of the two but it hath no great depth of water and indeed as
I have already said it serves only for Galleys The Custome-house of Alexandria on which that of Rossetto depends is upon the side of the Great Port Muhezin It is let out to a Turk who therefore is called Multezin or Farmer and pays the Grand Signior three hundred Purses a year which make two hundred twenty seven thousand two hundred threescore and twelve Piastres fourscore Maidins Nevertheless he is at no trouble about it for he discharges the office by a Jew to whom he gives a Purse yearly which makes five and twenty thousand Maidins The Jew who hath this employment Maalem is called Maalem and hath other Jews under him he is Powerful and by his intrigues can do service or injury to a great many Seing the Custome-house is kept by Jews there is nothing to be done there on Saturday because it is their Sabbath and yet no Vessel can load or unload unless the Custome-house be open There is another Custome-house on the right hand as you go from the Fondick of the French towards the shore pretty near the Water-gate and is called the Old Custome-house it is now above four hundred paces from the Sea though heretofore the water beat against the Walls of it Some Janizaries are still there at the door and exact something of all Goods that pass that so they may not lose their Rights There are in Alexandria two little Mounts made of Ruines heaped together and one of them may very well be seen from the French Fondick it hath a little square Tower on the top where a Man always stands Sentinel and puts out a Flag assoon as he sees any Sail and every Vessel that comes into the Port pays somewhat for the keeping of that Guard. Alexandria depends on the Beglerbey or Basha of Aegypt who has his Residence at Caire and in Alexandria there is an Aga that represents his Person and Commands there There is also a Great Cady or Moulla who hath other Cadies under him There are also two Sous-Bashas one of the Town and the other of the Sea. All the Agas of the Castles of Alexandria depend also on the Basha of Aegypt who puts in and out whom he pleases CHAP. II. Of the Walls of Alexandria the Pillar of Pompey and other Antiquities I Said before that Alexandria is so ruined that many Strangers ask where it is when they are in the middle of it yet there are such fair remains to be found among the Ruines Fine Antiquities of Alexandria as easily shew that this hath been a most rich and stately Town One of the finest things that are to be seen there are the Walls which though ruined are still so magnificent that one must needs confess they have been matchless nay a good part of them are still entire and they must needs have been strong Built to last so long These Walls have false Brayes and are flanked with great square Towers The walls of Alexandria about two hundred paces distant from one another and there is a little one betwixt every two of them they are so neatly contrived that there are stately Casemates underneath which may serve for Gallery's and Walks I had a very earnest desire to go into one of these Towers Magnificent Towers of the walls of Alexandria that I might observe all the beauty of them but as yet I durst not for fear of an Avanie or Fine but being one day with another French man in the old Custome-house which is only an open place without any Building and finding a Turk there who seemed to be good natured we prayed him to lead us into the Towers of the old Walls near to that place which he very willingly condescended to do we went into two of these Towers then which are all alike in each Tower below there is a large square Hall the Vault whereof is supported by great Pillars of Thebaick Stone there are a great many Chambers above and over all a large platform above twenty Paces square in short all these Towers were so many Palaces able to contain two hundred men a piece The Walls are several foot thick and every where Port-holes in them in every one of these Towers there are several Cisterns so that each of them required an Army to take them All the ancient Town was encompassed with these lovely Walls every way fortified by such Towers of which most part are ruined at present though those we went into were pretty entire there is danger in going to see them for the Turks finding Franks there take occasion to amerce them saying they are Spies or some such thing and then nothing but Money can bring them off so that they pay dear enough for their Curiositie When I went thither there was a French man with me who was so apprehensive of being surprized that he had not the least satisfaction though he had lived several years in that Country but we had a little the more confidence that we had a Turk with us Next to the Walls the finest piece of antiquity that hath withstood the rage of time is the pillar of Pompey Pompey's Pillar in Alexandria about two hundred Paces from the Town it is upon a little height which makes it to be seen a great way off and stands upon a square Pedestal above seven or eight foot high and that Pedestal rests upon a square basis about twenty foot broad and about two foot high made up of several big Stones The body of the Pillar is of one entire piece of Garnet so high that the world cannot match it for it is eighteen canes high and so thick that it requires six men to fathom it round having a lovely Capital on the top Some have thought that this Pillar consisted of three pieces having heard Moors say so who reckon three pieces in it to wit the Pedestal the Body and the Capital as they themselves have told me but the Body is all of one piece as may plainly be seen I know not what Engins they had in those times wherewith they could raise such a piece and I am very apt to believe with a great many more An opinion concerning the matter of the Pillar of Pompey that it hath been Cast or made of a certain Ciment upon the very place though there be not a few that absolutely deny that saying that the ancient Aegyptians got these Pillars and Oblisks that are to be seen in so many places of Italy at Saide where they pretend that many have been cut out and brought by Water upon the Nile If it be so they must have had very extraordinary Barks or Carriages to bring so great a weight and in such Bulk It is also true that they had the secret of casting Stones but we have lost it since none of the Ancients have Treated thereof These Stones are very lovely for they are greyish speckled with several colours and extraordinary hard the surface of them seems to be covered with
my pocket which are five thousand one hundred of my paces about two foot and a half each pace It is to be minded also that within the Precincts of it there are several places not inhabited as several Birques about which there are goodly Houses but to say the truth likewise the places that are inhabited are very full Those who would have Caire to be bigger than Paris when they speak of Caire comprehend therein Old Caire and Boulac but that cannot rationally be done else I may comprehend within Paris all the Villages that are about it for Old Caire is separated from the New by Fields and Boulac is another Town divided from Caire by several ploughed Grounds There is also near Caire on the way to Boulac a very large place called Lesbike which contains many Acres of Land. When the Khalis runs this place is under water and continues so four or five months after which they fow several things there that grow a pace the ground being very fat This spacicus place is surrounded with many very lovely Palaces of Beys and other Great Men of the Countrey who go thither now and then to divert themselves for some days But to my purpose again I think I may confidently say that Caire is not so big as Paris but I believe it is more populous for there are in it ugly Sties or Holes rather than Houses full of Women and Children who never stir out of doors because in the Turkish Empire the Women go neither to Market nor any other place out of doors but only to the Bath and yet the streets are always full of people and when a Plague sweeps away two hundred thousand Souls in Caire it is not perceived Several have written that Caire has no Walls and that perhaps has made them confound Caire with Boulac and Old Caire but they have not look'd well about them for Caire is encompassed round with very fair and thick Walls they are built of good Stone which is still so white that one would say they were newly built if it were not to be known by the great cracks which are in many places that they are very ancient These Walls have very handsome Battlements and at less than an hundred paces interval lovely Towers able to contain many People they have been built very high but are at present all covered with Ruines which are so high that I have pass'd over some places where they wholly hide the Walls and are much above them and in those places one would think there were no Wall if where the Ruines are lower it were not to be seen carried on as the rest is And though it would be very easie to clear the Rubbish and by repairing what is wanting make the Walls appear beautiful and high yet the Turks make no Reparations but suffer all to run to decay And so have they suffered a large and the loveliest part of the Castle to fall to ruine through their neglect in repairing it near to the said Walls In many places there are great Church-yards full of Sepulchres adorned with fair Stones that yield a pleasant Prospect and would suffice for building of a Town All agree 23000 Precincts and as many Mosques in Caire Two Men chained together watch every Quarter of Caire that there are three and twenty thousand Precincts in Caire and as many Mosques in every Precinct there being one Mosque at least and some having more A Precinct is a Quarter and in some of them there are several Streets Each Precinct is watched by two Men who are chained together by one Chain that they may not separate These Men voluntarily undertake the office for the profit they make of certain Dues and the Officers of the Sous-Basha keep the Keys of the Padlocks that lock up their Chains there are more Mosques then than Precincts and indeed I could never perswade my self that there were three and twenty thousand Precincts in Caire it is true all the streets of Caire are very short and narrow except the street of the Bazar and the Khalis which is dry but three months of the year and few people go in it too there is not a fair street in all Caire but a great many little ones that go turning and winding which shews that all the Houses of Caire have been built without any design of making a City every one pitching upon the ground he lik'd best to build upon without considering if the Houses stopt a street or not As for the Mosques The number of Mosques in Caire I am apt to believe there are three and twenty thousand but of that number a good many are but Holes or liitle Chappels not ten paces square Not but that there are also several fair large Mosques most magnificent Buildings adorned with lovely Frontispieces and Gates with very high Minarets and the greatest of all is Dgemiel-Azem Dgemiel-azem The Houses of Caire are several stories high with flat and Terrrasse roofs as all over Turkie and there they take the fresh air when the Sun is down nay several lye upon them in the Summer-time They make no Shew at all on the outside but within you see nothing but Gold and Azure at least in the Houses of Persons of Quality and most of their Halls have an open round hole in the roof or feeling to let in plenty of fresh air which is a very precious thing in that Countrey and commonly there is a Cupulo or Lanthorn over that hole with many windows round it to let in or keep out the wind CHAP. V. Of the Pyramides HEretofore there have been such powerful Kings in Aegypt who have undertaken so great Works that it is not to be thought strange if in spight of Time it self which devours all things some pieces of them have remained till our days or rather it is to be wondred that so little remains of so many Magnificences which heretofore made Aegypt so Renowned all over the World The Pyramides of Aegypt but nothing has braved Time so much as the Pyramides that are to be seen near to Caire doubtless they deserve very well to be seen since they have merited a place among the Wonders of the World. But there are some things to be taken notice of in this little Progress from Caire to the Pyramides and if I mistake not I have observed them here exactly enough Having designed to go see the Pyramides the Evening before I hired Asses and Moors that I might set out next Morning be-times these Beasts are much used in Aegypt and carry one conveniently enough at an easie Trot and sometimes a good Gallop too There are of them to be hired in the Corners of most of the Quarters of Caire and are ready Sadled so that there needs no more but to get up The Franks put little Carpets over the Sadles made for the purpose and Stirrups for greater Convenience If you will the Moor that letts the Ass will follow to drive him on
little too low against the wall of that Hall hang ten wooden Bucklers a fingers breadth thick a piece all joyned together and pierced through by a Javelin about five foot long with an iron Head about a good foot in length this Iron pierces through all these Bucklers and reaches a hands breadth farther The strength of Sultan Amurat Sultan Amurat as they say threw that Javelin wherewith he pierced the Bucklers through and sent them to Caire sticking thereon as they are to be seen at present to shew his strength to the Aegyptians this is kept as a Miracle and covered with a Net. Sultan Amurat was indeed the strongest Man of his time and marks of that are to be seen in several places In this Appartment of the Basha there is a very large court or place called Cara Meidan at the end of which are his Stables where the Aqueduct which comes near Boulac A most lovely Castle in Caire and conveyeth the water of the Nile discharges itself for the use of his Horses This Castle might pass for a great Town and is the finest that ever I saw not only for Strength but also for the stately Buildings that are in it The Castle of Caire ancient the lovely Prospects and good Air In a word it is a work worthy of the ancient Pharaoh's and Ptolomy's who built it and corresponds very well with the magnificence of the Pyramides This Castle looks great also on the out-side but chiefly on the side of the four Gates which they call Babel Carafi and which enter all four into the Romeile On that side the Castle Walls are very high and strong being built upon the Rock which is two mens height above ground These walls are very entire and look as if they were new Near to that all along from the first of the four Gates to the last and not far from the Castle there are fair Burying-places The Fountain of Lovers The Fountain of Lovers is within the City It is a great oval Bason or rather Trough made of one entire piece of black Marble six foot long and about three foot high and all round it there are Figures of Men and Hieroglyphicks rarely well cut The People of the Countrey tell a great many tales of this Fountain of Lovers and say that in ancient times Sacrifices were offered at it Not far from thence Calaat el Kabh there is a great Palace called Calaat el kabh that is to say the Castle of Turpitude it seems to have been formerly a neat Building but at present it falls to decay several lovely Pillars are to be seen in it They say that Sultan Selim lodged in that Palace after that he had made himself Master of Caire and many very ancient Fables they tell of it A few steps from thence is the Garden of Lovers Garden of Lovers Sesostris whereof the Moors relate the same thing that Diodorus Siculus reports of Sesostris the Second King of Aegypt who having lost his Sight and been told by the Oracle that he should not recover it if he did not wash his face with the Urine of a Woman that had never known Man beside her own Husband he washed with his Wife's water then tried several others without recovering his Sight and at length having washed with the water of a Gardener's Wife who was Master of this Garden his sight came to him again whereupon he married that Woman and caused all the rest who had been adulterous to be burnt CHAP. X. Of the Palaces Streets and Bazars of Caire HAving seen all the places that I have mentioned before no more remains but to walk through the City and see the lovely Mosques and fair Palaces and if you could have any occasion to go into the Houses of the Beys there you would see brave Appartments large Halls paved all with Marble with Water-works and Seelings adorned with Gold and Azure You would see likewise neat Gardens As to the Frontispieces of Houses there is not one that looks well and as I have said already the finest Houses are but dirt without Locks and Keys of wood in Caire All their Locks and Keys are of wood and they have none of iron no not for the City Gates which may be all easily opened without a Key The Keys are bits of timber with little pieces of wire that lift up other little pieces of wire which are in the Lock and enter into certain little holes out of which the ends of wire that are on the Key having thrust them the Gate is open But without the Key a little soft paste upon the end of one's finger will do the job as well There are some fair Streets in Caire the Street of Bazar or the Market Bazar is very long and broad and the Bazar is held there on Mondays and Thursdays There is always such a prodigious croud of people in this street but especially on Market-days that one can hardly go along All sorts of things are sold in this street and at the end of it there is another short street but something broad wherein the shops on each side are full of rich Goods this is called Han Kalil that is to say the little Han. Then at the end of that short street Han Kalil there is a great Han in which there is a large Piazza or Square and very high Buildings White Slaves are sold there aswel Women and Girls Slaves sold in a Market as Men and Boys A little farther there is another Han where are great numbers of Black Slaves of both Sexes There is a little street near Han Kalil where on Market-days that is to say Mondays and Thursdays there are Slaves standing in ranks against a wall to be sold to them that have a mind to buy and every body may look upon them touch and feel them like Horses to see if they have any faults The Hospital and Mosque of Mad People The Hospital and Mosque of Mad People Morestan is very near Han Kalil they are chained with heavy iron chains and are led to the Mosque at Prayer-time This is one of the largest Mosques in the City as far as I could see going by the doors of it The Hospital is called Morestan and it serves also for the sick Poor who are well entertained and look'd after in it It seems worth one's curiosity too to see them make Carpets for a great many fine ones are made at Caire and are called Turkie-work Carpets Turkie-work Carpets made at Caire Many People are employed in that work among whom are several little Boys who do their business so skilfully and nimbly that one could hardly believe it their Loom stands before them and in their left hand they have several ends of round bottoms of Woorstead of many colours which they place in their several places in the right hand they hold a Knife wherewith they cut the Woorsted at every point they touch
small as those of England and many other good Shell-fish besides several extraordinary Fish and among others that which they call the Sea-man mentioned before and the Chagrin Chagrin a fish which is a Fish shaped like a Sea-dog and about seven or eight Foot long at least that which was sent me from Caire is so Upon the side and at the beginning of this Sea famous for the passage of the Israelites stands Suez Suez Arsinoe Ptolomy Philadelphus which some will have to be the Ancient Arsinoe so called from Arsinoe the Sister of Ptolomy Philadelphus who built that Town and called it by the name of his Sister it is a little Town containing about Two hundred Houses It hath a pretty Harbour but so shallow Water that Ships cannot put into it and the Galleys themselves must be half unloaded before they enter into it nevertheless Ships and all ride safe enough in the Road. These Galleys are very little they carry no great Guns but only a Petrera to salute the Ports where they arrive Close by the Harbour there is a Baraque railed in with great wooden Palissadoes where are nine Culverines every one longer than another of which the biggest is of a prodigious length and I take it to be much longer and of a far wider bore than the two which are at Malta upon the Baraque and in the Castle St. Erme they are of the Turkish make and nothing of Workmanship about them There are also thirteen pieces of very great Cannon there and upon one of them a Flower-de-Luce however it is easily discernable that it hath been made in Turkie perhaps by some Renegado French man for it is altogether Turkish without any Workmanship as all the rest are These Guns are not mounted and were sent thither from Constantinople by Sultan Amurat on a design he had of attempting an Expedition into the Indies with a Fleet fitted out on that Sea. Close by the Gate of Suez there is an Eminence where heretofore stood a Castle built by the Franks and upon the same Eminence there is still a great Gun. The Slaves told us that the People of the Country believe there is some Treasure near that place guarded by Hobgoblins for my part that Night we arrived from Mount Sinai I lay at the foot of that Eminence and the Sprights did not at all disturb my rest There is in this Town still a Greek Church but in bad order There are some pretty well built Houses in Suez and an indifferent good Market-place To conclude this Town is very Populous when any Ship arrives or when the Galleys are in the Harbour but at other times it is very Desolate and indeed there is not so much as any good Fresh Water within two Leagues round it CHAP. XXXIV My Return from Suez to Caire Return from Suez to Caire AFter I had seen Suez at leisure enough I prepared to be gone with a Caravan of Two hundred Camels which the Emir-Adge had provided to carry from Suez to Caire the Coffee that was brought in the Galleys and twelve Ships which were in the Road there was in all Thirty thousand Load each Load weighing three or four hundred weight and every Camel carried two of these Loads I hired a Camel for my self there being no Mules to be got and we parted from Suez Thursday the fourteenth of February about eight a Clock in the Morning the Caravan was attended by a guard of Arabs from sundry places We left several thousands of Camels in Suez and met abroad several great Troops belonging to Arabs and others who came to let their Camels for Transporting of the Coffee I soon found the difference betwixt the Camels of the Arabs and those of the Town for being accustomed to Ride upon the Camels of the Arabs I could not make use of this which I had hired to carry me to Caire one half days Journey so that I hired a little Ass from a man of the Caravan and rode upon it to Caire The truth is the Camels of the Arabs go a great deal more easily than the others do At Noon we past by a Castle called Adgeroud which we saw not as we came because we past it in the Night-time only three persons live there who drink salt-Salt-water We rested at Two a Clock and put on again at Six travelling till three a clock in the morning of Friday the fifteenth of February when we rested we parted again at noon and travelling till three a clock after we rested then we set forwards again at seven a clock at night and kept travelling till next day Saturday the sixteenth of February that about eight a Clock we arrived at Caire This Caravan from Caire to Suez and from Suez to Caire travels commonly very fast because it cannot spend much time by the way for otherwise they would fall short of provisions having none but what they carry with them both for Men and Camels and therefore they never stay above two or three days at Suez and if they stayed longer they would starve that Town where there is nothing but what is brought in from the Countrey about when the Galleys or some Ships arrive and indeed these Camel drivers are always so weary and spent that they can hardly stir they have not so much as time to sleep and now and then they run before the Caravan and tumbling down uPon the ground fall presently a sleep taking there a short nap till the Caravan be past when some take care to awaken them In this Journey from Suez to Caire for a days time and more we had so hot a Wind that we were forced to turn our backs to it A dangerous hot Wind. to take a little breath and so soon as we opened our mouths they were full of Sand our Water was so extreamly heated with it that it seemed to be just taken off of the Fire and many poor People of the Caravan came and begged of us a cup of water for Gods sake for our parts we could not drink it it was so hot The Camels were so infested with this Wind that they could not so much as feed but it lasted not above six hours in its force and if it had continued longer one half of the Caravan would have perished It was such a kind of wind that the year before so infested the Caravan of Mecha that two thousand men died of it in one night A great Mortality by that Wind. In this Journey I observed that when the feet of the Camels were cut and galled the Camel drivers took the Bones of dead Camels of which all the way from Caire to Suez is so full that following only the tract where these Bones ly one may go the streight way to Suez they took these Bones I say and with the marrow they fonnd in them anointed the sore place of the Camel. Such as would travel to Mount Sinai ought to make provision at Caire of all that
faced with lovely Marble in the middle whereof there is a Glory of Silver like the Sun with this Inscription about it Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est About half a Foot from this Glory there is naturally upon a Marble Stone The figure of the Virgin and of her Son naturally imprinted on Marble The place of the Manger of our Lord. a figure in red Colour of a Virgin on her Knees and a little Child lying before her which is taken for the Blessed Virgin and her Son Jesus on whose Heads they have put two little Crowns of Silver-Plate Nine and twenty Lamps are kept burning before that Chappel Then you go down by three Marble-steps into a little Chappel where was the Wooden Manger into which the Virgin laid our Lord so soon as She had brought Him into the World this Manger is now at Rome in Santa Maria Majora And in the same place St. Helen caused another of white Marble Tables to be put on one of which set against the Wall is the natural Figure of an Old Man with a Monks Hood and long Beard lying on his Back and they 'll have this to be the Figure of St. Jerome which God was pleased should be marked upon that Stone because of the great love he had for that place Ten Lamps are kept burning before that Chappel two steps from which and just over against it is the Altar of Adoration of the Three Kings where there is a little Stone for a mark of the place The place of the Kings Adoration on which sat the holy Virgin with Her dear Son in Her Arms when She saw the three Wise Men come in who having laid down their Presents upon a little Bench of Stone at the foot of the Altar on the side of the Epistle adored Jesus and then offered him their Presents The Vault in this place is very low and supported by three Pillars of Porphyrian Marble before this Altar three Lamps burn At the other end of this place there was heretofore a Door by which one came down from St. Catharine's Chappel into this Grott before the Latin Monks lost it but at present it is Walled up and close by that Door there is a hole into which the Oriental Christians say the Star sunk after it had guided the Magi into this holy place This Grott is all faced with Marble both the Walls and Floor and the Seeling or Vault is adorned with Mosaick Work blackened by the smoak of the Lamps It receives no light but by the two Doors that are upon the Stairs which affords but very little Now this place is held in very great Veneration even by the Turks who come often and say their prayers there The Church of Bethlehem serves for a lodging to the Turks that pass that way But it is a very incommodious and unseemly thing that all the Turks who pass through Bethlehem should Lodge in the great Church with their whole Families there being no convenient Lodging in Bethlehem which is a great Eye-sore to the Christians who see their Church made an Inn for the Infidels But it is above all troublesome to our Latin Monks whom they oblige to furnish them with all things necessary both for Diet and Lodging CHAP. XLVI Of the Way of making what Marks Men please upon their Arms. WE spent all Tuesday the Nine and twentieth of April The Pilgrims of Jerusalem marked in the Arm. in getting Marks put upon our Arms as commonly all Pilgrims do the Christians of Bethlehem who are of the Latin Church do that They have several Wooden Moulds of which you may chuse that which pleases you best then they fill it with Coal-dust and apply it to your Arm so that they leave upon the same the Mark of what is cut in the Mould after that with the left hand they take hold of your Arm and stretch the skin of it and in the right hand they have a little Cane with two Needles fastened in it which from time to time they dip into Ink mingled with Oxes Gall and prick your Arm all along the lines that are marked by the Wooden Mould This without doubt is painful and commonly causes a slight Fever which is soon over the Arm in the mean time for two or three days continues swelled three times as big as it ordinarily is After they have pricked all along the said lines they wash the Arm and observe if there be any thing wanting then they begin again and sometimes do it three times over When they have done they wrap up your Arm very streight and there grows a Crust upon it which falling off three or four days after the Marks remain Blew and never wear out because the Blood mingling with that Tincture of Ink and Oxes Gall retains the mark under the Skin CHAP. XLVII Of what is to be seen about Bethlehem and of the Grott of the Virgin in Bethlehem WEdnesday the Four and twentieth of April we parted from Bethlehem at five a Clock in the Morning and went to see the holy places that are about it In the first place we saw on a little Hill on our right hand Boticella Boticella which is a Town wherein none but Greeks live and the Turks cannot live there for they say that if a Turk offer to live in it he dies within eight days Then a League from Bethlehem we saw the Church of St. George where there is a great Iron-ring fastened to a Chain through which the People of the Country A Ring that eures the Sick. both Moors and Christians pass when they are troubled with any Infirmity and as they say are immediately cured of it We went not thither because the day before the Greeks having been there met with some Turks who made every one of them pay some Maidins though it was not the custom to pay any thing and our Trucheman would by no means have us go thither that we might not accustome them to a new Imposition We left St. George's on the right hand and went to see a Fountain called in holy Scripture Fons Signatus Fons Signatus the Sealed Well which is in a hole under Ground where being got down with some trouble and a lighted Candle we saw on the right hand three Springs one by another the Water whereof is by an Aqueduct that begins close by the Fountain Heads conveyed to Jerusalem Near to that place there is a pretty Castle built some fifty or sixty Years since for taking the Caffares of the Caravans of Hebron a little farther are the three Fish-Ponds of Salomon The three Fish-ponds of Salomon they are three great Reser-servatories cut in the Rock the one at the end of the other the second being a little lower than the first and the third than the second and so communicate the Water from one to another when they are full near to this place his Concubines lived Continuing our Journey we saw in
a low Valley the Garden of the same Salomon Hortus Conclusus The Mount Anguedy called Hortus Conclusus because it is on both sides shut in by two high Hills that serve it for a Wall. Then returning back towards Bethlehem we passed the Mount Anguedy where the Cave is in which David cut off the Skirt of Saul's Garment And about half a League from thence we saw a Castle upon a high Hill called Bethulia which the Franks maintained forty Years after they had lost the City of Jerusalem then we came to the Well where the Virgin desiring to drink when she fled from the Persecution of Herod and the People of the Country refusing to draw Water for her it swelled of it self up to the Wells mouth Next we went to the place where the Shepherds were when the Angel brought them the joyful Tydings saying I bring you good Tydings and Glory be to God on High which with great Devotion we sung there in an old ruinous Subterranean Church built by St. Helen in that place All the Inhabitants thereabouts are to this day Shepherds because it is a fertile Country We returned to Bethlehem about ten a Clock in the Morning and in the Evening went into the Grott where it is said the holy Virgin hid her self with the Child Jesus to avoid the Tyranny of Herod when he put to death the innocent Babes We carried Candles with us thither for you can see nothing unless you have a light with you This is a round Grott cut in the Rock and in it there is an Altar where the Latin Monks sometimes say Mass They say that the Virgin having in this place shed some of her Milk the Stone became white A Stone become white by the Virgins Milk. as it is at present and that by Gods permission it obtained this Vertue That it makes Womens Milk return to them nay the Turks and Arabs give the powder of it in water to their Females which have lost their Milk and that makes it return again About sixty paces from thence is the House where St. Joseph was when the Angel appeared to him bidding him flee into Aegypt with the Virgin and the Child Jesus CHAP. XLVIII Of the Mountains of Judea and of the Convent of Holy-Cross THursday the twenty fifth of April we parted from Bethlehem about seven a Clock in the Morning and went to the Mountains of Judea Mountains of Judea The Town of Sennacherib passing by the Town of Sennacherib so called because the Army of Sennacherib was cut to pieces there in the Night-time by an Angel. Then after we had ascended a little we passed close by Botirella which we left on our left hand and came to the Fountain where St. Philip Baptized the Eunuch of Candaie Queen of Aethiopia the Brook which runs from that Fountain is called in holy Scripture the Brook of Eshcoll Numb 13. That is to say the Brook of Grapes Brook of Eshcoll Vineyard of Sorec because it runs near to the Vineyard of Sorec Leaving that Fountain to the left hand we went near to the said Vineyard of Sorec that is to say Chosen Vineyard where the Spies whom Moses sent to view the Land of Promise Battir The Desart of St. John Baptist took a great cluster of Grapes then we pass'd by the Village of Battir and from thence by very bad way came to the Desart of St. John Baptist where after a pretty long Ascent we found a very old ruinous Building which heretofore was a Monastery under these ruines there is a Cave where that Saint lived and there you see the Bed whereon he lay which is the hard Rock cut in shape of a Bed. The Bed of St. John Baptist This Grott is on the side of a Hill at the foot of which there is a very stony Valley or Precipice then another Mountain which intercepts the View so that it is encompassed round with Hills There is a Spring of excellent water by the side of this Cave and near to it we Dined Being gone from thence we came to the House of St. Elizabeth where are the ruines of a fair Church that was built by S. Helen that is the place where the Virgin visited St. Elizabeth The House of St. Elizabeth and made the Magnificat which we Sung there Then going down about five hundred paces we found on the right hand the Well of St. John where St. Elizabeth washed his Clouts when he was an Infant Keeping on our way we came to a Village wherein is the House of St. Zacharias The House of Zacharias the Father of St. John Baptist which was converted into a Church wherein on the left hand of the Altar that is at the end of it as you enter is the Room where St. John was Born and where his Father at the Birth of that Son who was blessed from the Womb recovered his Speech and made the Benedictus which we sung there on the other side of the Altar to wit on the side of the Epistle there is a little hole where it is said St. Elizabeth kept St. John long hid to avoid the fury of Herod The Arabs lodge their Cattel many times in this Church When we came out from thence The Village of St. John. The Convent of Holy Cross we passed through the Village of St. John Inhabited by Arabs All the ways in the Hilly Country of Judea are very bad We came next to a Convent of Greeks called Holy-Cross built with very strong Walls we went into the Church which is fair very light and full of the pictures of Saints after the Mosaical way and paved also in that manner The place where the Olive-Tree was cut down of which the Coss of our Lord was made It is covered with a Dome There is a great hole under the high Altar where the Olive-Tree grew that was cut down to make the Cross of our Lord of When we had seen all these things we took our way streight to Jerusalem where we arrived about four a clock in the Afternoon We entered by the Castle-Gate called also the Gate of Bethlehem This Gate is called the Castle-Gate because there is a good Castle in that place CHAP. XLIX Of Bethany Bethphage Mount Sion the Houses of Caiaphas and Annas FRiday the twenty sixth of April we went out by the Gate of Bethlehem about seven a Clock in the Morning and saw first on our right hand at the foot of Mount Sion The Fish-ponds of Bathshebah Mount Sion The Palace of David Aceldama the two Fish-ponds of Bathshebah where she bathed her self and very near over against it but about fifty paces higher upon the same Mount Sion is the Palace of David from whence he saw and fell in Love with her then the Field called in holy Scripture Aceldama that is to say The Field of Blood because it was bought for the thirty pieces of Silver which Judas got for betraying of
our Lord and afterwards threw them back being in despair for having sold his Master They were taken up and laid out in purchasing this Field which was appointed to be a Burying-place for Strangers and the Armenian Strangers are buried there at present The Grott of the Apostles Afterwards we saw the Grott where the eight Apostles hid themselves when our Lord was taken there are some Pictures of the holy Apostles still to be seen there then the place where the Strangers Greeks are Interred The pit where the Fire was laid during the Captivity of Babylon and the pit where the Jews hid the Fire of the Altar by orders from the Prophet Jeremy when they were carried away Slaves to Babylon by Nebuchadnezer King of Babylon and many years after they were delivered the high priest Nehemiah causihg search to be made for the Fire in that place they found nothing but a fat Clay which being by the said Priest laid upon the Burnt-Offering it took Fire and was Consumed Close by this Pit there is a Mosque with a reservatory of Water We came afterwards to the Pool of Shiloah Pool of Shiloah whither our Lord sent the Blind man to wash The place where the Prophet Isaiah was Sawn in sunder a live The Fountain of the Virgin The Mount of Scandal The place where Judas hanged himself Bethany The Castle of St. Lazarus The Sepulchre of Lazarus after he had anointed his Eyes with Clay and Spittle which restored his sight to him Then we came to the place where the Prophet Isaiah was Sawn a live in two by the middle with a wooden Saw by command of King Manasses then the Fountain of the Virgin so called because there as it is said she washed our Saviours Clouts There are thirty steps to go down to it and they say that such as are sick of Feavers by bathing in that water and drinking of it it being very good to drink are presently Cured From this Well comes the water of the Pool of Shiloah Not far from thence we saw the Mount of Scandal so called because the Concubines of Salomon made him commit Idolatry in that place by Sacrificing to the Idol Moloch and the Idol of Chamos Not far from thence is the place where Judas Iscariot Hanged himself after he had betrayed our Saviour then we went to Bethany where we saw the ruines of the House of Simon the Leper where Mary Magdalen poured the precious Ointment upon the Feet of our Lord. Advancing sixty Paces further we saw the place of the Castle of St. Lazarus nothing remaining but the ruines upon a little Mount at the foot of which is the Sepulchre that our Saviour raised Lazarus out of when he had been four days Dead and the very stone that was rolled against the mouth of it there are twenty uneasie steps down to it cut in the Rock and at the bottom of them are six wooden steps that lead into a little Chappel out of which you go into the said Sepulchre that is on the left hand This Sepulchre is a little square Grott containing a Table on which all the Priests of the Nations that Inhabit Jerusalem say Mass and the Body of Lazarus was laid upon this Table Not far from thence is the stone on which our Saviour coming from Jericho sat down and bewailed the Death of Lazarus The Castle of Mary Magdalen The House of Martha when St. Martha told him Lord if thou hadst been here my Brother had not Died. Within a few paces of that stone stood the Castle of Mary Magdalen called Magdalon and close by it is the place where the house of Martha stood after that we came to the place of the Fig-Tree which our Saviour Cursed because it bore no Fruit whereupon it instantly withered Then we passed through Bethphage where we saw the place where the Ass was when our Saviour sent for it to make his entry into Jerusalem on Palm-Sunday riding on the Ass Next we went to the Grott where St. Peter wept bitterly for his Sin The Grott of St. Peter after that the Cock had Crow'd from thence we came to the place where the Jews would have taken the Body of the Virgin from the Apostles as they were carrying it to the Sepulchre for which they were immediately punished Then we went to Mount Sion about five or six hundred paces distant from the City Mount Sion The place of the Lords-Supper which is the place where our Lord celebrated his Holy Supper with his Apostles washed their Feet and instituted the most August Sacrament the eighth day after his Resurrection he entered into it when the Doors were shut and said to his Disciples Pax vobis Peace be unto you the Holy Ghost also descended there upon the Virgin and the Apostles on the day of Pentecost the Sepulchre of David and Salomon In this place are the Sepulchres of David and Salomon About an hundred years since that Mountain was within the Town possessed by the Religious of the Order of St. Francis but after that Sultan Solyman rebuilt the Walls of Jerusalem The place where the Virgin died it was excluded and the Friers dispossessed of it The Turks have built a Mosque there into which the Christians are not suffered to enter close by we saw the place where the holy Virgin died at present there being no building there a little lower is the Church-yard of the Roman Catholicks On the left hand towards the City is the place where St. John the Evangelist many times said Holy Mass About an hundred and fifty paces from that Mount as you go towards the City there is a Church held by the Armenians in the same place where the House of Caiaphas stood we went into it and saw upon the Altar The Stone that shut the Sepulchre of our Lord. the Stone which shut the door of our Saviours Monument which is near seven foot long three foot broad and a foot thick On the right hand is the Prison into which our Lord was put whil'st Caiaphas after he had examined him consulted with the rest what should be done with him As you go out of the Church on the left hand in a low Court there is an Orange-Tree which is the place where St. Peter warmed himself when he three times denied his Master seven or eight steps from thence is the place of the Pillar where the Cock Crew After that we entred the City by the Gate of Sion and went to see the House of the High Priest Annas which now is an Armenian Church The House of the High Priest Annas In the Court before the Church there is an Olive-Tree which they affirm for a certain to be the same to which our Lord was Bound till he received the Sentence of the High Priest Going from thence we went to another very fair Church called St. James still held by the Armenians which was built by St. Helen The
Tyrannie of the Turks made them abandon it Among the ruines of the Town and even within the Precincts of it a great many Palm-Trees grow within this last Precinct there is a Castle upon the Sea-side which seems to have been a strong place A hundred paces from thence within the said Precinct we saw a Church five and twenty paces in length and fifteen broad dedicated to St. Peter which is still entire They say that St. Helen caused it to be built in the place where our Lord said to St. Peter Mat. c. 16. Thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church c. There we had that Gospel read to us Others say it is the place where our Lord eat Fish with his Apostles after his Resurrection when He appeared unto them upon the side of this Sea. We Dined in that place and then washed our selves in the Lake the Water whereof is fresh very good to Drink and full of Fish It is about twelve or fifteen Miles long and five or six over It was heretofore called the Sea of Galilee Lake of Genezareth Capernaum Mat. 9. Mat. 8. John 4. or Lake of Genezareth From thence on the left hand upon the side of that Sea we saw the ruines of the Town of Capernaum where St. Matthew left the Custom-House to follow our Lord and where our Saviour Cured the Centurion's Servant and the Son of the Nobleman and raised a Maid from the Dead About an hundred paces from the Precinct of the Town of Tiberias close by the Sea-side there is a natural Bath of hot Waters to which they go down by some steps The ancient Walls of Tiberias reached as far as this Bath We parted from Tiberias about two in the Afternoon and about seven a Clock at Night arrived at a Village called Sabbato near to which we lay abroad in the open Fields Aain Ettudgiar for our Monks would by no means have us to Lodge at the usual place which is at the Castle called Aain Ettudgiar that is to say the Merchants Well as being afraid of some Avanie Next day Saturday the eleventh of May we left that bad Inn about five a Clock in the Morning and half an hour after came to a Castle called Eunegiar which is square having a Tower at each Corner close by it there is a Han which appears to be pretty enough The place where Joseph was sold and is also square It was at this Castle as they say that Joseph was by his Brethren sold to an Ishmaelite Merchant the Pit or Well whereunto they had put him first is still to be seen but we went not to it because it was quite out of our Road. This Castle is commanded by a Sous-Basha and there we payed a Piastre of Caffare a piece of which one half goes to the Sous-Basha and the other to the Arabs From thence we went towards Mount Tabor Mount Tabor or Gabeltour by the Arabs called Gebeltour and came an hour after to the foot of it where alighting from our Horses though one may ride up on Horse-back as some of our Company did we got up to the top about nine a Clock It is easie to be mounted seeing one may go up on Horse-back but it is also very high being almost half a League from the bottom to the top Having taken a little breath we entred by a low Door into a little Grott where we found on the left hand a Chappel built in memory of the place where our Lord was Transfigured and of what St. Peter said It is good for us to be here let us make three Tabernacles c. This Chappel is made up of four Arches cross-ways one of them is the entry of the Chappel that which is opposite to it is the place where our Lord was when he was Transfigured that which is on the right hand of it but on the left hand of those that enter into the Chappel is the place where Moses was because in holy Scripture Moses is mentioned before Elias The fourth which is over against that of Moses is the place where Elias was and a Monk read to us there the Gospel of the Transfiguration Near to this place there is a little Plain and a Cistern of excellent Water This Mount is shaped like a Sugar-Loaf and is covered all over with Trees for most part hard Oaks After we had eaten in that place we came down about ten a Clock in the Morning and took our way towards the Convent of Nazareth where we arrived about one of the Clock In the Evening we went to see the House and Shop of St. Joseph very near to the Convent there is an old ruinous building there which appears to have been a Church wherein were three Altars The House and Shop of St. Joseph built by St. Helen and a few steps farther we saw the Synagogue where our Lord taught the Jews when they had a mind to precipitate him CHAP. LVI The way by Land from Jerusalem to Nazareth ONE may Travel by Land from Jerusalem to Nazareth The way by Land from Jerusalem to Nazareth and besides avoiding the dangers that offer by Sea see a great many other curious places but as I have already said the Arabs exact such unreasonable Caffares upon the Road that few go that way at present however I shall set it down in this Place Parting from Jerusalem after Dinner you come to Lodge at Elbir Elbir there there is a very curious Village standing upon a height and Inhabited by a few People There is also a Church half ruined which was heretofore a fair Fabrick The Walls that yet stand are of great Flints They say that this was the place where the blessed Virgin lost her dear Son Jesus and therefore returned to Jerusalem where she found him in the Temple Disputing with the Doctors Next day you Lodge at Naplouse Travelling all the way over Hills and Dales Naplouse which are nevertheless Fruitful and in many places bear plenty of Olive-Trees Naplouse is the Town which in holy Scripture is called Sichim Sichem near to which Jacob and his Family most frequently Lived it stands partly on the side and partly at the foot of a Hill. The Soil about it is fertile and yields Olives in abundance The Gardens are full of Orange and Citron-Trees watered by a River and sundry Brooks About one hundred paces from the Town towards the East there is a spring under a Vault which discharges its water into a reservatory of one entire piece of Marble ten spans long five broad and as much in height in the front there are some Foliages and Roses cut in Relief upon the Marble About half a quarter of a League from thence upon the Road from Jerusalem is the Well of the Samaritan The Well of the Samaritane as the Christians of the Country say who keep it covered with great Stones least the Turks should fill it up
the Reys calling as loud as ever he could made them at length hear him and the Greeks who were at Jaffa to know him Then in stead of Alarga they called to us Taala which exceedingly rejoyced us and the meaning of that was that we should come in so that we entered the Port about ten a Clock at Night For my part I was afraid it might have been a Trick that so they might have easily sunk us when we were got nearer But it proved otherwise for we were received as Friends We found all the People in Arms ready to flie and the Women and Children were already gone from Jaffa Here we had the comfort to be pittied that we should have been Rifled even by Christians for they knew us as having been once before at Jaffa and had had intelligence of our being taken We stayed at Jaffa for fair Weather until Friday the four and twentieth of May when the Wind presenting we set out about Noon and within two or three Hours after were got out of sight of Land the Wind calming in the Evening we came to an Anchor and next Morning Saturday the five and twentieth of May by break of day we weighed and sailed upon a Wind about three or four a Clock in the Afternoon we made Land and standing in to it came to an Anchor at Sun-setting not being able to weather a Cape on head of us because the Wind was contrary Next day being Sunday the six and twentieth of May we weighed by break of day and presently made two Sail whereof the one seemed to be a Ship and the other a Galliot we rowed off from them as much as we could and at length after some hours lost sight of them but about Noon again we saw the Galliot a stern of us Our Consort ran presently ashoar and instead of doing the like we rowed and made all the sail we could so that in a short time we lost sight of the Galliot once more but making her again a little after we rowed again a little and so lost sight of her the third time At first when we made those Sails my mind misgave me that some Misfortune attended us and indeed I was an unlucky Prophet for I told the rest that as yet we were too far from Damiette to be taken and that as we had been already taken within ten Miles of Acre so we should be taken within ten Miles of Damiette Having then lost sight of that Galliot once more about six a Clock at Night we came to an Anchor at a place from whence we could see three Vessels riding at an Anchor also Our design was so soon as it should be Night and calm to endeavour to double a point of Land that we were not far short of and then we would have been pretty near Damiette and avoided that which befel us but our Company slept too long for Monday the seven and twentieth of May they turned out about two hours before day and having weighed Anchor made all the way they could with Sails and Oars but at break of day when we were not twenty miles from Damiette we saw two Cayques full of Men coming against us then would our Company have stood back again but it was too late And the Cayques making up with all speed a Turk who was a Passenger with us tied his bundle about his Neck and jumping over-board got quickly ashoar without the loss of any thing the rest whether it was that they could not Swim so well or that they hoped we might gain shoar before they could board us did not imitate him I had then some apprehensions that they as well as the Corsairs might discharge their choler upon us who were Franks But at length the Cayques being come within Musquet-shot of us all the Turks who were Passengers in our Sanbiquer leaped over-board to save themselves on shoar and the Greeks having fired the two Petreras they had did the same It pitied me much to see these poor People flie from their own House for so I call their Sanbiquer and to leave all their Goods to the Plunder and Discretion of those Mad-men carrying nothing with them but a Chaplet or two of certain Bisket which they sell strung upon Chaplets Presently one of the Caiques fired a Cros-bar Shot out of a Blunderbuss into our Poop Corsairs that were Franks which had it hit but a hands breadth lower would have killed us all and sunk the Sanbiquer to rights but seeing no body appear on board of us they made after those who were making their escape to shoar for being near land the water was very shallow which made the Soldiers finding ground to jump into the Sea with a Sword in one hand and a Pistol in the other and pursue the poor Wretches firing at those whom they could not overtake In the interim I prayed our Capucin and another French Monk that was with us to go up upon the Deck and put out a white Flag which they did and putting up a Handkerchief upon the end of a stick called in French to those who remained in the Caiques that we were French they bid us lower our Sail which we easily did but it was so great that we could not furl it In the mean time it covered all our Sanbiquer and they fearing there might be more still hid underneath durst not come but having told them that without their assistance they could not furl it and that they need not fear any thing they came on board where knowing us to be Franks they offered us not the least injury as the former had done only took of our baggage and things what they found here and there in the Vessel though we ourselves kept still a good share of them It was then a sad spectacle to see the Soldiers return loaded with Spoyl leading by the hand those whom they had taken a-shoar and who were all stript to the shirt as soon as they had been taken When they were come on board our Sanbiquir they search'd in all places to see if they could find any thing worth the taking and made Captive seven Turks in all Being all on board our Sanbiquer or in their own Caiques they carried us to their Ships and by the way told us how they had made us the evening before but that not having seen a Galliot which they had in company for two days they took our Sanbiquer for her till next morning when we stood close in by the shoar they were convinced it was not she and that if they had not taken us for their Galliot they would have given us a visite the same evening that they saw us CHAP. LXIII Of what happened on Board the Corsairs so long as we were with them and our Arrival at Damiette WIthin an hour we came on board the Corsairs being two Ships the one Commanded by Captain Santi called otherwise Ripuerto of Legorn and the other by Captain Nicolo of Zante We were made
of the wrongs which the Franks daily do to the Greeks their Countrey men and indeed we took that resolution only that we might be delivered out of the miseries that we endured a Board of these Ships for besides the bad entertainment we had there which we could not have born with much longer we were daily in danger of being taken and burn'd a live or at least made Slaves if these Corsairs had been taken as indeed it was to me a great wonder that the Turks should suffer these Blades to stop the entry into Damiette seeing they needed do no more but man out five or six good Sayques with an hundred and fifty or two hundred men a piece and fall upon these Corsairs whom they might easily have taken Besides that we were hourly in danger of being wounded if the Ships came to an Engagement and durst not defend our selves for if we had once taken Arms we must have laid aside all thoughts of setting Foot on Turkish Ground where we might be known by one or other that had Escaped or been Ransom'd out of the hands of the Corsairs In reality the life of a Corsair is a most wretched life both for this World and the next and certainly there is nothing but I could do rather than be engaged in it When we left our Corsairs we were fifteen miles from Damiette where we arrived in three hours time and so soon as we came to the place where the water of the Nile mingles with the Sea which is a good mile out at Sea from the mouth of the River for the different colours of the River-water and Sea-water may easily be seen There came out some Germes to unload our Saycot because at this place loaded Vessels cannot come in for want of Water These Germes are great Boats with high sides and very light they are Lighters open fore and aft having no Deck that they may take in the more Goods They came about us in such numbers every one striving to be the first that some of them were like to have run down our Saycot When they had lighttened us a little and we were got into the mouth of the Nile we took our Goods in again out of the Germes and in half an hours time went up the River to Damiette about two miles from the mouth of it For defence of this entry there is only a sorry tower in form of a Castle wherein are some Guns mounted which were those that Fired at the Corsairs Being upon the Nile we drank our Bellies full of good Water thinking our selves to be come out of Hell into Paradice as we came from Sea into a River however we were still fearful of going a-shoar at Damiette where being come we quickly dispatched a Monk to find out the House of a French Man whom we knew to be there the danger not being so great for a Religious Person as for us He speedily came back to us again and having given some Crowns which we had saved from the Corsairs to the Greeks of the Saycot for they would needs be paid for our Passage and that at a dear rate too without calling to mind that we had begg'd their Saycot for them We step'd a-shoar over the Galliot which had been the day before attacked by our Corsairs We went to that French Merchants House who made us very welcome and told us that that Galliot came from Satabia and that they on Board were three hundred Men having with them fifteen thousand Piastres wherewith they were going to Trafick at Mecha and that they had had one Man Killed and three Wounded Had our Corsairs minded their business as they should they would have enriched themselves for all these Turks were well Cloathed and able to pay Ransoms being all Rich after we had rested our selves a little we went to the Bishop of the Greeks to acquaint him with our Disaster and to desire his Protection and Certificate that we were not Corsairs Afterward we kept very private within doors but the People of the Countrey were so far from abusing us that they pitied our misfortune and three Turks came to see us and told us that they were of those that were on Board that Polaque which ran foul of our Sanbiquer in the night-time and had swam a-shoar They asked us news of their Comrades that were made Slaves and we desired to know of them what was become of the other nine who jump'd into the Sea with them but they told us that they could not tell what was become of them they were certainly Drowned and indeed it requires a very good Heart to swim above two Leagues We had no sight of Damiette Damiette but upon our Arrival not daring to walk abroad in the Streets all we could observe was that it is a very handsome well built long Town yet not so long as Rossetto It was anciently called Pelusium and lyes upon a Branch of the River of Nile which discharges it self into the Sea two miles below this Town that makes one Angle of the Delta CHAP. LXIV Our Departure from Damiette and Arrival at Caire TVesday the fourth of June Departure from Damiette for Caire we Embarked in a little Bark that we had hired for our selves but the Wind not being good we made but little way till Thursday the sixth of June when a fair Wind presenting we past by Mansoura on the left hand This is a pretty neat long Town Mansoura Sammenud but we stopt not at it Friday the seventh of June we passed by Sammenud on our right hand which appears to be a Handsome Town but it is ancient and ruinous Saturday the eighth of June we left Metegamr to the left hand Metegamr a pretty neat Town half way betwixt Damiette and Caire Monday the tenth of June in the Morning we passed by that place where the River divides it self into two Channels one whereof goes to Damiette and the other to Rossetto and at length about eleven a Clock in the Forenoon we arrived at Boulac where we paid a Piastre a piece and from thence we took Asses and rode to Caire where the Merchants wondered to see us in so bad plight for I had not so much as a pair of Pabouches having lost them on board the Corsairs and all the Cloathes I had were a Wast-coat a pair of Drawers and my Capot However they had been informed that we had been twice taken by Corsairs for it was known all along the Coast And they thought we had been carried to Malta and so many times I thought we should for the Corsairs told us that if they could but take a Prize that might be worth the pains such as a good Sayque loaded with Rice they would stand away for Malta CHAP. LXV Of the Publication of the Growth of the Nile THE publication of the wonderful growth of the Nile The growth of the Nile begins to be made on St. Peter and St. Paul's day or the day
taken from the Beast he is mistaken for before People come to their Houses they rub the inside of that piece of Flesh with a little Oyl or some such stuff that so the Sweat and it together may make more weight but when no body is present they take it out pure and mingle it afterwards To find out the truth of this I went one day to the House of a Jew that kept Civet Cats without giving him notice before for because I had bought a little of him and promised to come again another time he asked me as often as he saw me what day I would come and having desired him to get me some fresh Civet he told me that it was not the day he used to take it out and having returned without acquainting him before upon one of the days when he said he was accustomed to gather it he refused then also to do it pretending business which confirmed all that had been told me of that maitter In the mean time they hold these Beasts very dear for havihg asked that Jew and others also how much they would have of me for a Civet Cat Dangala Baberins they all told me an hundred Chequins Dangala is the Capital City of Nubia the King of Dangala is King of the Barberins who are a kind of Blacks of the Musulman Religion that came in crouds to Caire to get Services they are somewhat silly but very faithful and serve for a small matter for two Maidins a day or a Maidin and their Diet you may make them do whatsoever you please They wear a blew-Shirt plat all their Hair in Tresses and then rub it over with a certain Oyl to keep their Head from being Lousie At Caire when they have any falling out they go before the Scheiks of their own Nation who make them Friends and if they think It convenient adjudge them to pay a Fine with which they Feast and make merry together They are great lovers of Crocodiles Flesh and when any Frank has got one for the Skin they come and beg the Flesh which they dress with a pretty good Sawce When these blades have scraped together ten or twelve Piastres they return home again wealthy to their own Countrey provided they escape being Robbed by the Arabs upon the way who many times serve them so therefore they commonly return in companies as they came The King of Dangala pays his Tribute to the King of Aethiopia in Cloath The Provinces of Aethiopia are Gouyan where the King keeps a Vice-Roy Beghandir Dambia Amara which is a great Province full of Mountains and good Castles Damoud Tegre and Barnegas Besides there are several Provinces Governed by Princes who are Vassals to the King of Aethiopia In short the Kingdom of Aethiopia comprehends twenty four Tambours or Vice-Roys The Capital City is called Gonthar and is in the Province of Dambia Aethiopia as the Ambassadour told me is as cold as Aleppo or Damascus only the Countries near the Red-Sea and the Countrey of Sennar are hot The King of Aethiopia has above an hundred Wives and keeps no Eunuchs to look after them because they look upon it as a Sin to Geld a Man so that the Women have the same liberty there as in Christendom He is a King of very easie access and the poorest have the freedom to come and speak to him when they please He keeps all his Children on a Mountain called Ouohhni in the Province of Oinadaga which is a Mountain two days Journey distant from Gonthar there is a place like a Cistern on the top of the Mountain into which they are let down every night and taken up again in the day-time and suffered to play and walk about When the King dies they chuse out one of the wittiest of them and make him King without any regard to Birth-right and when he comes to have Children he sends his Brothers Prisoners to some other place and places his Children at Ouohhni The place where the Kings are Buried is called Ayesus and is a kind of Grott where the Aged are laid in one side and the young in the other Heretofore there was a Church there of the same name in time of the Jesuits and in the same place there is an excellent Library where are all sorts of Books in all kinds of Languages in great plenty and may be seen by those who have the Curiosity The Ambassadour assured me that he had been in that Library and I fancy it is the old Library of the Ancient Aethiopians Aethiopia is a good and fertile Countrey producing Wheat Barley c. The greatest Desarts of it are not above three or four days Journey over and nevertheless when the King makes any progress he always lodges in Tents The Houses of the great Lords are like those of Caire that is to say very mean in respect of the Houses of Europe and the rest are only of Mud. The Countrey affords men of all Trades except Watch-makers They have no Camels there but Mules Asses Oxen and Horses All the people of this Countrey eat raw Flesh except the King who has it dress'd and drinks Wine of Grapes the rest drink only Wine made of Millet or Sarasin wheat but as strong as ours and Brandy made of the same Grain They are Cloathed after the fashion of the Franks and wear Cloath Velvet and other Stuffs imported to them by the Red-Sea They have Harquebusses from the Turks and of those People there are not above three or four hundred who serve in the Wars with Harquebusses In Trading they make no use of Coined Money as the Europeans do but their money are pieces of fifteen or twenty Pics of Cloath Gold which they give by weight and a kind of Salt which they reduce into little square pieces like pieces of Soap and these pass for Money They cut out that Salt upon the side of the Red-Sea five or six days Journey from Dangala as you go from Caire and the places where they make it are called Arho Among them is the Nation of the Gaules whom in Aethiopick they call Chava and are a Vagabond people in Aethiopia as the Arabs are in Aegypt these Gaules are rich in Cattel and are always at Wars with the Aethiopians They have no Harquebusses nor other Fire-Arms but make use of Lances and Targets After all they speak so many different Languages in Aethiopia that the Ambassadour said to me If God hath made seventy two Languages they are all spoken in Aethiopia I asked his Excellency if he knew any thing of the Source of the Nile and this he told me concerning it The head of Nile is a Well that springs out of the Ground in a large Plain where many Trees grow this Fountain is called Ouembromma and is in a Province called Ago It makes that a very delightful place casting up Water very High in several places And this Ambassadour of Aethiopia assured me that he had been above twelve times with the
King of Aethiopia to spend several days about that Fountain which is twelve days Journey from Gonthar the Capital City of Aethiopia This Spring sends its Water Northwards through a long tract of Land which having passed seven Cataracts or Falls that are very high places from which it falls plumb down making a roaring noise at every one of these Cascades and having run through all Aegypt it discharges itself into the Mediterranean Sea by the two mouths of Rossetto and Damiette Now the cause why Nile overflows so regularly in the Summer-time is only because when they have Summer in Aegypt it is Winter in Aethiopia where for three months time the Rain that continually falls running by Torrents into the main River makes it to swell extraordinarily and nevertheless there are no Mountains near to that Spring head for the Mountains that are nearest to it are the Jews Mountains whereof I shall make some mention hereafter and these are three Weeks Journey from it It is a Vulgar errour then that this River has its Source from an unknown place The source of the Nile is not unknown as also that those who live near the Cataracts of Nile are deaf and a greater still what some say that the Grand Signior pays Tribute to the King of Aethiopia to let the Nile run in its usual Channel for it is not in his power to divert it The Mountains of the Jews are but two in number of which the one is called Semain and the other Sallemt Semain Sallemt They were heretofore Inhabited by Jews who became powerful under the command of one called Ghidhon which the King of Aethiopia perceiving marched out against them reduced them to duty Ghidhon chief of the Jews and at length that they might attempt no Innovation for the future he dispossessed them of the Mountains and brought them down into a Plain Inhabited by Christians whom he sent into their Mountains on which there always lyes a great deal of Snow CHAP. LXX Of the Esine that was kept at Caire in my time IN the month of November there was an Esine kept at Caire that is to say Esine a publick Rejoicing because the Turks had taken two Castles in Hungary It was proclaim'd on the eighth of November after noon there being a man who cried it in every Quarter and the chief Cryer went in a Caftan to advertise the Beys and Consuls and got money in the Streets They Cried it for seven days to begin on Saturday the ninth of November at the hour of Evening Prayers though it used not to last above three days This Saturday morning the Guns were fired from the Castle which continued to be done every morning as long as the Esine lasted and then all fell to work before their doors the poorest Man that is being ready on such occasions to lay out somewhat on Lamps and Stuffs It is a very pleasant thing to be seen especially in the Night-time when one may go abroad with greater safety and freedom than in the day at any other time for by Lamp-light they cannot tell whether your Turban be white or of any other Colour and so they know not whether you be Christian or Turk All the streets are full of Lamp-lights but especially some wherein there are a vast number of Lights not only before the Gates but within the Houses of the Beys and other Persons of Quality Besides that the streets are hung with lovely Hangings of Cloath of Gold and other rich stuffs among others there are some Streets wherein all the Shops are hung with Cloath of Gold and rich silk Stuffs flowered with Gold. In many places also you may see pleasant figures of Christian Franks which to them is a great Diversion Besides the Tapistery and Lamps which are to be seen in the Houses of the Beys they make a shew also in the entry of all sorts of Arms and Armour as Head-pieces Corslets Coats of Mail Musquets Swords and Targets c. which are ranked in very good order The Consuls are likwise obliged to act their parts in the Solemnity though it were even a rejoycing for a Victory obtained by the Turks over their own Country else they would have an Avanie put upon them and therefore when they keep an Esinie for a Victory over the Venetians the Consul of Venice is obliged to do as others do if he had not rather pay the next day a swinging Avanie There they expose besides Lamps and Tapistry several excellent Pictures which the Turks look upon with a great deal of pleasure especially when it is some good Face thinking it impossible that we should have such Beauties in Christendom nay that there can be any such in the World. The Women came also being allowed then as at Bairam to go abroad and see the Festival yet not the great Ladies as those of the Basha's Beys and others of higher Quality but only those of an inferiour Condition This is very expensive to the Consuls and to all that would make any shew for besides some hundreds of Lamps and the Tapistry which must be hired it is the custom to treat all those who come to see what is before the House with Coffee and if they be People of Honour and Fashion they must give them Sorbet also nay and Sweet-meats too And for that end every Consul had before his House a piece of Tapistry hung out on each side of the Street and Hangings all round leaving only a Passage between under these kind of Pavillions on each side of the Street there were some hundreds of Lamps and a great many Pictures as likewise at the Avenues of the Street with Chairs and rich Cushions for those that come to see to sit on And no sooner did any come how mean soever he was but he had Coffee and Tobacco brought to him so that the Expence went high for betwixt morning early and three a Clock after Midnight many thousands of People came This Festival ended on Friday Morning the fifteenth of November so that the Esine lasted but six days though it had been cried for seven because the Inferiour sort of People were at too great Charges and got nothing for during that time no Man was suffered to Work. CHAP. LXXI Of the Desarts of St. Macharius The Journey to the Desarts of St. Macharius ONE should also see the Desarts of St. Macharius where there are four Monasteries to wit of St. Macharius the Syrians Balsarion and of our Lady I did not see them having still put it off from day to day However I will here give you a Relation of them which I got You must take Water at Boulac with a Janizary or two and fall down as far as a Village called Terrana where there is a Cachef to whom it will not be a miss to make some small present of Sweet-meats or the like that you may be the better protected by him Then the Janizaries wait upon the said
Cachef and inform him that their Company have a desire to go to the Desarts of St. Macharius Immediately the Cachef gives orders to two of his Men and to Arab Scheiks to make ready to attend the Travellers and provides Beasts to carry them For the price you must endeavour to agree as cheap as you can and it must be made in presence of the Cachef before you set out for if you delay till you come back they 'll exact the more The hire commonly for going and coming is two Piastres for each Horse or Camel and one Piastre for each Ass besides three or four Piastres for every Horse-man that accompanies you which pays both for Man and Horse Such as would spare Charges should at Caire strike in with one of the Monks of some of the Monasteries of the said Desart who will oblige himself to Conduct them thither and back again to Caire Dris and they are to go down the River with him to a Village called Dris where these Monks have a House There the Monk will do well to take with him an Arab that is known in the Mountain and every one being mounted on an Ass they may begin their Journey First They go to the Manastery of St. Macharius Monastery of St. Macharius a days Journey from Terrana and lies right West This is a very ancient Monastery the Walls are very high but it is much decaied There are many holy bodies in it but only one of these approved of by the Church of Rome to wit that of St. Macharius as also five or six Altar-Tables of lovely Marble Within the Precinct of this Monastery there is a kind of a big square Tower into which you enter by a Draw-bridge and wherein there is a Church a Well and all that is necessary for the Service of the Church and the sorry sustenance of the Religious who sometimes retreat into it For when they find themselve abused and pursued by stranger Arabs they betake themselves to this kind of strong Hold and pull up the Draw-bridge after them keeping there whatever they have of Value in the Monastery especially all their Books which they so esteem that no Monk dares to Sell or put out of the way any of them under the pain of Anathema In this manner all the three other Monasteries of which we shall speak hereafter have Towers in them This Monastery is the greatest but also the most ruinous and especially the Church that seems to have been very fair in times past There is no Garden belonging to it and the Water which the Monks drink is somewhat brackish From St. Macharius you go to another called Ambabichoye Ambabichoye lying Northward of the former three or four Hours journey only Upon the way thither you see a great many little Eminences or Risings about a step over which cut the way and reach far into the Western Desart The Religious say and find it Recorded in their Books which are very ancient that this Rising was made by Angels to serve for a path to the Hermites who many times lost their way when on Sundays they were coming to Mass in the Monastery and therefore they call it Tarik el Melaike that is to say the Angels Way Tarik el Malaike By the way also you see many old Walls which are the ruines of several Monasteries that heretofore have been there and as the Monks say to the number of three hundred round that Mountain but the Ruines which remain at present make it not appear that the number has been so great It is true one must not think that they have been perfect Monasteries but only little Houses built by Seculars who had a mind to retire into the Desart and lead a Religious Life there being obliged on Sundays and all Holy Days to come to Mass in the next Monastery there to assist at Divine Service And in that Monastery there was an Abbot with a certain number of residing Monks who when they had a mind to lead a more austere Life and were found to be sufficiently qualified for that by their Superiour were suffered by him to leave the Convent and go live more solitary further off in the Mountain where they built little Hermitages and there spent their lives in great Austerity Silence and continual Meditation and this is the account the Religious give It is not good to follow that Angels way nor to be too curious in asking questions of the Arabs about it for then they would presently conclude that you were come to the Mountain to search for some Treasure hid in it which they fancy the Franks know of Among these old buildings you see the ruines of a Monastery built in honour of St. John the Little and is called Juhhanna el Kasir where there is still a Dome and the dry Rod which being watered by that good Hermite at the command of his Superiour was changed into a fair Tree which is to be seen at this day as a monument of the merit of Obedience The Monks call this Tree Chadgeret el Taa that is to say Chadgeret el Taa the Tree of Obedience The Monastery of Ambabichoye is the pleasantest of all the four for it has a fair Church a lovely Garden and good Water with a big Tower in it as in that of St. Macharius There were a great many holy bodies therein which on Palm-Sunday in the Year 1656. were burnt by a spark that fell from a Taper that had been left burning there whereupon the Monks being vexed that they had lost their Saints gave it out that they had been carried away by a French Merchant who came into those Quarters to buy Natron But finding that the device would not take though it cost the Merchant Money for the Turks would not let slip that occasion they raised some dead bodies and brought them into their Church publishing that they were the bodies of their Saints which had escaped out of the French Ships and were come back to their Church From Ambabichoye you go to another Monastery The Monastery of the Syrians in the Desart of Macharius The Staff of St. Ephrem called the Monastery of the Syrians a quarter of a League distant from Ambabichoye it is but small but very pleasant has good Water and is the best in order of all There you see two fair Churches one for the Syrians and another for the Cophtes in which are many Relicks In this last is the Staff of St. Ephrem who being come to visit another Hermite and having left his Staff at the Door whilst he was in discourse with the other whom he came to see his Staff took root and blossomed and is now a lovely great Tree and the only in Aegypt of its kind From the Monastery of the Syrians you go to the Mountain of the Eagles Stones and by the way you see the dry Sea which was dried up as the Monks say at the
there are a great many Fountains with lovely Basons of one entire piece of Marble brought from Genoa and as in the House of Don Philippo an open Hall with a great reservatory in the middle and walks all round it roofed over and supported by several Pillars this as also all the Rooms are paved with black and white Marble adorned with Gold and Azure and that kind of Clay or Plaister-work There are several fair appartments in all these Houses which have lovely Gardens full of Orange and several other Fruit-Trees planted in as good order as in Christendom with many neat Beds and borders of Flowers at the ends of Walks all made by Christian slaves These Houses are called Bardes from the Moresco word Berd that signifies Cold because there is a fresh Air about them Near that place there is an Aqueduct built by a Dey which brings Water four or five miles off to Tunis A few steps from that there is another Aqueduct somewhat older yet still modern which is parallel to the former and carries Water also to Tunis Another day I went to see the Cantre which belongs to Schelebi whom I mentioned Cantre the Son of Hisouf Dey and is four leagues from Tunis As you go thither you pass by the old Aqueducts of Carthage which are about half way they are at that place very entire still raised high and built of very great stones From Tunis to the Cantre most of the way is over large Fields planted with Olive-Trees some steps distant from one another but in so streight a line that they look like Walks which would be very pleasant were it not that these ways are always full of Rain-water and mire as all the Countrey about Tunis is because it lyes upon a level We came then to the Cantre so called from a Bridge which Hisouf Dey the Father of Schelebi built over a River called Magerda Magerda for Cantre in Moresco signifies Bridge This River Magerda is neither very broad nor rapid but enough to deserve the name of a fair River it runs near to the House of Schelebi and his Father built a stone Bridge to cross over it the spaces betwixt the Pillars of the seven Arches being built up from the bottom to the surface of the Water with huge pieces of Free-stone so that the water passing through the Arches and finding it lower on the other side makes at every arch a very pleasant Cascade two foot high where the Water falls with a great noise Upon that River there are several Iron-Mills as also for grinding Corn and fulling the Caps called Fez-Caps which are made at Zagouaro by Tagarins All that work in these Mills are the slaves of Schelebi At the end of the Bridge is the House of Schelebi built in form of a Castle it hath one very large Court and other smaller ones the Rooms as in other Houses are beautified with Gold Azure and Plaistering with Fountains every where and all paved with Marble so that they are more magnificent than those I had seen before There are lovely Pictures in those Rooms for formerly this Schelebi was very rich his Father having left him a vast Estate and among other things eighteen hundred Slaves but he hath run out a great deal in his Debaucheries he is a man of a generous Heart and if he were once in Christendom he would never leave it again He keeps open table for all Franks that come to see his House and is so courteous that he never refuses any thing and if he have not what is asked from him he uses means to procure it at any rate that he may freely give it When I went to his House he was not there for he was then at Tabarque a little Island in the Kingdom of Tunis within a Musquet shot of the main Land but three days Journey from Tunis That Island belongs to the Genoese who have a very good Fort and drive a great trade there and among other things in Horses which are called Barbes The Schelebi was gone thither to buy Timber for building of a Galley About three Leagues from the Cantre there is a place called Tabourbe where there are some ancient ruines and chiefly an ancient Temple but I went not to see it because then I must have lain there or at the Cantre and I had not time to spare for our Captain put us in hopes daily that he would sail next day That was the reason also that I went not to Suze neither which is a long days journey from Tunis it is the place where there are more Antiquities than any where else in the Kingdom of Tunis and I believe that thereabouts there are ruines of Churches and other things relating to St Augustin to be seen CHAP. LXXXXI Of Tunis and of the Slaves that are there TVNIS the Capital City of the Kingdom of the same name lyes in a Plain it is pretty big and the Houses are indifferently well built though they make no shew but they are all Marble Gold and Azure within The Suburbs of this City are as big as the City itself which is all paved but dirty as heretofore Paris was so that after rain there is hardly any going in the Streets There is a Castle upon an Eminence within the Town which commands it and it makes a very pretty shew There are some Guns before the Gate and the front of it looks well which is all that I could see of it nor indeed durst I eye it attentively for I had warning given me that it was dangerous for Christians to be curious in viewing that Castle I past by it then but very fast and hard by over against it there is a Burying-place Not far frem the Castle there is Bazar for Drapers it is a long broad street with shops on both sides all which have the fore part supported by four Pillars two on each side none but Drapers keep shop there but there are several other Bazars also for other Commodities Baths for Slaves at Tunis There are thirteen Baths in Tunis where all the Slaveslodge except those that are kept in their Masters Houses and as several Slaves told me there may be there in all ten or twelve thousand Christian Slaves who carry every one a great ring of Iron at their foot Knights of Malta at Tunis but the Knights of Malta have besides that a huge Iron-Chain above five and twenty pound weight which is fastened to the Ring that Chain is very troublesome to them for they must either turn it quite round their Leg and make it fast there which is very heavy when they walk or hang it by a hook that they have by their side which commonly gives them a pain in the side or else must carry it on their Shoulders In these Baths there is a great Hall where they are shut up in the Night-time there they lodge as well as they can some having little Rooms made of wood to which they
So soon as we were on board she made sail with a North-Wind and steered a course South-South-West about six a clock at night the Wind chopped about to North-West Capraia Elbe and we passed betwixt Capraia and the Elbe in the night-time the Wind blew very fresh Monte Christo Corsica Next morning we were got an hundred and fourscore miles from Legorn and saw Monte Christo a great way a-stern of us we coasted along the Island of Corsica and because we were too near Land about ten of the clock in the morning we stood away South-South-East the Wind slackening much All that day we had Sardinia to the Star-board Sardinia but at a pretty good distance In the beginning of the Night the Wind blew a little fresher but far less than the Night before Saturday morning the six and twentieth we had lost sight of Sardinia and being fair before the Wind so that no Sails but the Main and Main-Top-Sails could bear we put out our Stutting Sails About noon the Wind shifted about to the North and two hours after to the North-East and therefore we took in our Stutting Sails and kept on our course South-South-East In the evening the Wind abated so that all night long we were becalmed Maretimo Next day being Sunday we made the Island of Maretimo a-head and about eleven a clock in the morning we stood away South-East about two a clock afternoon we made a Sail a great way off to the Leeward all that day we had a Calm till night when the Wind blew so fresh again that about midnight we past betwixt Maretimo Levanzo Favignane Levanzo and La Favignane leaving the first of these Islands to the Star-board and the other two to the Larboard then we steered away East South-East shortly after the Wind so slackned that we were becalmed Sicily Capo Boco Marsala Munday morning about break of day we were got very near the Land of Sicily to the Wind-ward of Capo Boco over against Marsala it is five hundred miles from Legorn We made still some way in our course East-South-East notwithstanding the Calm which lasted till noon when the Wind blowing fresher we coasted along Sicily pretty near the Shoar about four a clock afternoon the Wind encreasing a little we stood away South-South-East and this fair weather beginning with the New Moon made the Captain repent that he had not passed through the Phare of Messina Phare of Messina which would have saved him fifty miles in his course but then he told me that he durst not venture through so dangerous a passage in the Winter-time when Storms are so frequent and the rather about New Moon when commonly the VVinds change Towards the evening we were becalmed and had a breeze again in the beginning of the night and in that manner the Wind fell and rose several times during the night That day Murenes we took two Murenes or Sea-Eeles which were in the Fisher mens Wells this Fish is dainty Food but the Skin of it is Slimey and is so full of small bones that if one have not a care he may be choaked by them it is shaped like a common Eele and dies so soon as it is out of the Water Tuesday a very fresh East-North-East Wind rose with the Sun and we continued our course South-South-East about ten of the clock in the morning the Wind ceased and left us in a Calm over against Monte Gibello Monte Gibello which we saw so plainly that we could easily perceive it was covered with Snow A little after we made a Ship on head but because it stood in to Shoar we thought they were afraid of us The Calm lasted till night during which we had sometimes Breezes of Wind and sometimes Calms with which we made a little way Wednesday morning we were got in sight of Malta Malta seven hundred miles from Legorn and about two hundred from Sicily which we had not yet lost sight of He that looked out made a Sail towards Malta At first we were in a dead Calm but a little after we had a very great Sea from the West which tossed us sufficiently though there was not a breath of Wind we therefore furled our Sails and that rowling Sea lasted till one of the clock at noon when there arose a gentle North-North-East-Breeze which made us spread our Sails and stand away East-South-East that we might make Candie Candie seven hundred miles from Malta That Wind lasted not above an hour so that we were becalmed till about eleven a clock at night when we had a stiff North Gale with which we still continued our course East-South East That fresh Gale lasted all Thursday till night and then we had a strong gust of Wind with some Rain when that was over we had fair weather the Sea becoming Calm in a moment though before the Rain it was exceeding rough but half an hour after the weather and Sea began to grow rougher than before and then Calmed again which happened twice that night During these gusts the Sea was so rough that it was not possible to stand upright in any place of the Ship so strangely was she tossed because of a rowling Sea that came upon us on poop and on both sides the roughness of the Sea in poop was occasioned by the violence of the Wind and on the Star-board by the currents of the Gulf of Venice off of which we were Gulf of Venice and nevertheless we made betwixt eight and ten miles an hour About midnight it blew fresh from North-West with which we bore away East and by South that we might not stand too far off of the Gozo of Candie That Wind lasted all Friday the first of February Gozo of Candie about night we had smoother Water the Sea on poop only remaining which with the Wind that shifted about to the West and blew fresh made us run above twelve miles an hour but about ten a clock at night we had a swelling Sea again which made us rowl all night long Next day we were troubled with the same weather and strong gusts of Wind by fits About night since we had not made the Land of Candie as we expected by reason of the cloudy dark day it was consulted what course we should steer every one brought forth his observations and all agreed in general that our course was to the Windward of the Gozo of Candie but because one amongst them according to his account set off our course betwixt Candie and the Gozo though it was known he was in a mistake seeing according to his own account we must then have been very near and almost upon the said Gozo nevertheless for greater security it was thought fit to spare Sail and therefore all the Sails except the fore-Sail were furled and the Ships head turned due East-South-East least we might run too near the Shoar the Watch looking out sharp all night
we travelled all day long mounting through very good Corn-fields and the rest of the ground by the road that was not sowed was covered over with Daffadils and Furzes in the blossom Daffadils and Furzes with other like shrubs that yielded a very pleasant prospect So soon as we were arrived a Tchorbadgi of Damascus encamping hard by under a Tent being informed of the Moucre that there was a Franck there sent for me and having treated me with Coffee asked me if I had any relation to Monsieur Bermond a Chirurgeon of Marseilles who negotiated some Affairs at Damascus for the Merchants of Saide I told him I was without mentioning in what degree for our Kindred is onely derived from the Patriarch Noah He told me that he was his friend and made me to understand several times that if I had a mind to buy ashes he would be my merchant but all my answer was that I was too poor to be a Merchant and that my business was to go to my Kinsman Labatia is a miserable little Village where we could not find lodging Labatia and the best accommodation we had to lie in was a little place at the end whereof there was a pane of a Wall our Mules were made fast hard by and we posted our selves near the Wall in the open Air. Next day being Wednesday the twenty sixth of March we parted about five in the Morning the ground being frozen with a sharp cold Wind. Our way was bad and still upwards and we soon came in sight of a Castle upon a high hill before us The Castle of Skheip Sefet a Town which is called Skheip and is pretty large and square it depends on Sefet which is but two days Journey from it That Castle is strong by scituation for it is inaccessible but yet was inhabited VVe left it to the right and went a great way to find out a descent into a place from whence we saw a very deep Valley where a River runs which they call Leitani Leitani a River that makes many turnings and windings it is at least five fathom broad and very rapid During a quarter of an hour we descended by a very dangerous way for the least false step was enough to make one tumble down into the River and that from a great height too Being come down we kept along that VVater following the current and a little from thence crossed it upon a stone-Bridge of two Arches about three fathom high which is called Hardala A Caffare at Hardala There Passengers pay a Piastre and a half a head I mean the Christians for Turks do not pay so much Having passed the Bridge we stood off a little from the VVater still ascending and had in view the Hill that we had left on the other side which appeared pleasanter unto us than when we were upon it for it was very high and streight and all covered over with Trees After we had travelled about half an hour in ways where it would have been very dangerous to fall we came just over against the Castle of Skheip which is upon a very high and steep Hill Some time after we came into a Plain and an hour after to another far larger but uncultivated and full of stones as the former was though both looked very green In this Plain we met a Caravan of Camels loaded each with a Mill-stone I was told that these stones came from Oran Oran which is five days Journey from thence and that they carried them to Saide to be transported into Egypt Having past that Plain we came over bad way to a stone Bridge of three Arches lying over a Brook four or five fathom broad when we had crossed it we mounted by a worse way full of stones bad enough to make Mules that were not loaded to break their Necks and that lasted till we came to our Lodging at Banias where we arrived two hours after during all that way besides stones we had a great many torrents and such dirty deep ground that the Mules often stuck Banias This Village of Banias is very inconsiderable nevertheless when heretofore the Christians were Masters of it it was a good Town it lies at the foot of a Hill on the top whereof there is a great Castle uninhabited this place depends on the Basha of Damascus VVe found no better Lodging here than the Night before for having crossed a square Court we entered under a Vault two foot deep of Horse-dung and dust mingled together our Lodging was appointed us in that place and seeing the Court was vaulted all round under which they had put the Mules and a Caravan of Asses we were so incommoded there that so soon as the Beasts began to stir they raised a dust that spoilt all the Victuals we had prepared to eat all the pleasure we had came from a little door that opened towards the side of a River that runs by it and which is at least three fathom broad but very shallow though it be rapid it is called the River of Banias Next morning about five a Clock we left that nasty Lodging and after about an hours mounting upwards turning by very bad ways though the Land about was sowed we found ourselves just opposite to our Lodging having betwixt us and it a very deep Valley agreeable by its verdure and the many Trees it is filled with which are watered by a River that runs through it A little after we saw the Castle of Banias in its full extent which is large and strong VVe still mounted during the space of an hour by ways that were better than the former but we had the lovely Valley always in sight and on the road there were a great many Trees which by their verdure and shade lessened somewhat of the fatigue The truth is there was no false step to be made there because the way being very smooth and slopeing to the very bottom of the Valley one could not stop before he came to the bottom By the way we found many wild Chestnut-trees withered and without leaves and yet bearing their fruit Having descended a little we entered into a large Plain and having passed it and mounted a little amongst Trees we found stony Plains where it behoved us to march on untill about three of the Clock after Noon in the worst way imaginable for they were all great stones amongst which there was no place for a Mule to set his foot After Noon it was a little better but we saw no sowed Land all the ground about being still full of a prodigious number of stones Nevertheless our Monkires would needs have me believe that heretofore Vines had grown there Indeed in several places there are still to be seen some Hovels like to Hen-houses made of stones piled one upon another where it might be thought that they who dressed the Vines retired but since that time some Medusa's head must needs have past over these grounds or
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
us into a Grotto hollowed in the Rock where he shewed us a place where it is said Elias fasted sometimes Elias's Grotto and was fed by a Raven In a hole hard by he shewed us the place where the People of the Countrey say the forty Martyrs are buried but no Tomb Bones nor Ashes are to be seen there He shewed us besides in the Roof of that Grott which is a natural Rock very hard and like to Pit-coal from which much water drops the figure of a hand which they say is the hand of Elias but which is indeed no more but the Veines of the Rock which represent but very imperfectly long and great fingers to the number of more than five or six and I cannot tell if ever Elias was there As to the forty Martyrs this is the Story they tell of them A Jewish Child having secretly left his Excrements in a Mosque the King or Basha being informed next Morning that such a Packet had been found there was highly enraged and caused enquiry to be made after the Authour The Jew who was an Enemy to the Christians told him that he knew for a certain that they had done it in contempt of his Religion whereupon he caused them all to be put into prison and some time after forty of them out of a charitable Zeal to save the rest confessed themselves guilty of the pretended Crime upon which he caused all the forty to be put to death though he knew very well they could not all have been guilty Upon the same hill but at some hundreds of paces from thence is the place of the seven Sleepers Seven sleepers as the People of the Countrey think There they shew a Grotto where there are seven holes stopt nay some say that they sleep there still but in relating these things they confound so many Histories that it is very hard to know the truth of what they believe We came back to the Town by the Gate of Paboutches To have a full view of Damascus The place for having a full view of Damascus one must go to that place of the forty Martyrs It lies towards the middle of a Mountain that is to the North of the City is long and narrow and reaches from East to West to the East it draws into a point and at the West-end is the Suburbs called Bab-Ullah which I mentioned before reaching in length above three or four Miles Westward This City is in the middle of a spacious Plain on all hands surrounded with Hills but all distant from the Town almost out of sight those on the North-side is where that of the forty Martyrs are the nearest On the North-side it hath a great many Gardens full of Trees and most Fruit-trees these Gardens take up the ground from the Hill of the forty Martyrs even to the Town so that at a distance it seems to be a Forest Another day I went by the Bashas Serraglio and having advanced a little North-wards in the first street to rhe left hand I found a Mosque which had formerly been a Church dedicated to St. Nicholas The Church of St. Nicholas now a Mosque I entered it and found it to have been a very large and stately Church with a spacious Court environed by a Cloyster whereof the Arches are supported by many great marble-Pillars All that Cloyster and Court which is still paved with large fair Stones belonged to the Church with a great space enclosed and covered which they have changed into a mosque and they have demolished all the Vaults which covered that which I call the Court and brought into it one of the Rivers of Damascus called Banias that runs through the length of it there they load the Camels that are to go to Mecha with Water and for that end alone they have brought the Course of the River that way There are a great many Trees also in it which render it a very pleasant place The Dervishes Being come out of that Court I went to the Dervishes which are a little farther on the same side They are very well lodged and have several Gardens through which the River Banias runs before it reaches the Church of St. Nicholas The Name of Dervish is made up of two Persian words to wit of Der which signifies Door and Vish signifying Threshold as if one should say the threshold of the door Their founder took that Name to intimate that his design was that that order should particularly make profession of humility by comparing themselves to the threshold of a door that all People tread upon Having viewed that house I kept on my way and came to the Green of Damascus that is not far from it It is a large Field or Grass-plat which they call the Meidan encompassed on all hands with Gardens and the River Banias runs through it About the middle of it there is a little Pillar in the ground The place where God made the first Man. about four foot high and they say that that is the place where God made the first Man. It is a very pleasant place and therefore when any Person of Quality passes by Damascus he pitches his Tents there The lovely Hospital of Morestan When I was come into that field I turned to the right and entered into the Morestan which is at the middle of one of the sides of that field I found my self in a square Cloyster covered with little Domes supported by marble Pillars the first bases of which are of Brass on the side I entered at and just opposite unto it there are Chambers for receiving Pilgrims of whatsoever Religion they be Every Chamber is covered with a great Dome and hath its Chimney two Presses and two Windows to wit one towards the Green and one on the other side The Cloyster has twice as many Domes as the Chambers have the side on the right hand is appointed for Kitchins where there are many great Kettles wherein daily and even during the Ramadan they boil Pilau and other such Food which they distribute amongst all that come of whatsoever Religion they be On the side opposite to the Kitchins is the Mosque and before it a lovely Portico covered with Domes as the rest of the Cloyster is but they are somewhat higher and supported by more lofty Pillars This Mosque is covered with a very great Dome having a lovely Minaret on each side and all these Domes and Minarets are covered with Lead Within the Green there is a fair Garden along the sides of the Cloyster where many Trees are planted it is railed with rails of Wood on the four sides of it which are five or six foot high so that it leaves in the middle a large Square paved with fair Free-Stone wherein there is a Bason of an oblong Figure or rather a very large Canal through which the River Banias runs This Hospital was built by Solyman the second who took Rhodes for the accommodation of
poor Pilgrims of all Religions and when I was there there were a great many Persons who were already come to perform the Pilgrimage of Mecha I went out of that Hospital by the opposite side to that which I entered it and on the left hand I saw the Stables where the Pilgrims Horses are put if they have any Pursuing my way I found to the right hand another Cloyster of the same Architecture as the former and which belongs to the same Hospital it is for poor Scholars and hath also its Mosque Being come out of the Morestan and going streight forwards I went along a street where on each side are little Chambers for poor Pilgrims also and over head Rooms for the Women Pilgrims Then I came to a great House which hath a square Court where they make the Bisket for Mecha and there I saw several hundred Sacks full though it was as yet three Weeks to the time of their setting out upon the Journey They made this Provision because it is the custome that at Damascus two hundred Camels are loaded with Biskets and as many with Water at the Grand Seigniors expences to be distributed in Charity amongst the poor Pilgrims on the way Keeping on my way I crossed the Horse-Market where stands a great stone between four and five foot high about three foot broad and half a foot thick wherein some lines in Arabick are cut but so worn out that they cannot be read but with great difficulty the meaning of them is that when this stone shall be covered with water then Damascus will be taken Nevertheless Monsieur de Bermond who conducted me to these places told me that some years before he had seen so great an inundation that he believed the stone was covered with water at least as far as he could perceive from a high place pretty near from whence he discovered all that Market-place and could not see the stone near to which many Franciscan Friers were here tofore put to death for the faith We came in the next place to the bazar of Horse-saddles it is so called because that is the onely Commodity sold there having advanced a little into it we saw on the left hand the great Bagnio which I shall describe then we entered into the City again by the Gate of Paboutches on both sides of that Gate there is a great Flower-de-luce cut in the Stone A Flower-de-luce We passed by the Gate called Bab-Fardis which was to our left on our way to Bab-Salem with out which but close by it is the conjunction of three Rivers this is an extraordinary pleasant place Keeping still along the side of the Wall we entered the City again by the Gate called Bab-Thoma and returned to our Lodging All the Coffee-houses of Damascus are fair and have much water Coffee-houses of Damascus but the fairest of all are in the Suburbs Amongst the rest that which is in the Sinanie and is called the great Coffee-house because of its vast extent is very delightfull by reason of the many Water-works that are in Basons full of Water there That which is near the Serraglio Gate and is called the Bridge Coffee-house because it is near a Bridge upon the River is so much the more delicious that the River borders it on one side and that there are Trees all along before it under the shade of which they who are upon the Mastabez of the Coffee-house have a pleasant fresh Air and the view of the River running below them The Coffee-house of the two Rivers which is near the Gate of the Paboutches and where the length of the Castle ends is also fair and large two Rivers pass by it which at the end of a great covered Hall makes a little Island full of Rose-bushes and other Plants whereof the verdure and various Colours with the smell of the Flowers delight at the same time several senses and give a great deal of agreeableness to a scituation otherwise so advantageous For you must know that these Rivers which I call little are at least four fathom broad and commonly five or six All know what a Coffee-berry is from which these places take their denomination I have spoken of it in my former Travels and shall onely add in this place what I learned of the qualities of that drink to wit that being drank very hot it clears the head of vapours moderately hot it binds up the body The Effects of Coffee and cold it is laxative At Damascus there are Capucins and Monks of the holy Land whose houses are near to one another in the quarter of the Maronites and just over against their Church where also they say Mass because each of these orders have their Chappel there There are Jesuits also in that City but they live a pretty way from thence in the quarter of the Greeks and celebrate in their own house I stayed four and twenty days in Damascus but could have been willing not to have stayed so long because of the troubles I was threatned with A false report being spread about the Town by the malice of some and perhaps of a Servant whom I had turned away that I had thirty thousand Chequins with me all ways were used to snap some of these pretended Chequins and for that end as I had information the Capicoules or Janissaries lay several times in wait to Arrest me upon some false pretext nay the same Chorbagi whom I met upon the Rode as I came from Saide having sent for Monsieur Bermond a French Merchant who was his friend told him perhaps to pump him that I had told him I was his Kinsman but that in short he knew I was a great and rich Lord and that I should look to my self because several threatened me and that he would serve me for his sake if I stood in need of it This report daily encreasing and I being very well known by face the onely remedy I had was to leave Damascus but seeing there was no opportunity of a Caravan I could not be delivered by that means so soon as I could have wished and I was forced to resolve to keep within Doors or at least not to stir abroad but as little as I could whilst I stayed for the occasion of some Caravan I could not doubt of the danger I was in especially when I knew that they watched the Reverend Father George a Jesuit who amongst other kindnesses he shewed me took the pains to come and teach me the use of the Astrolabe which obliged us for the future to correspond onely by Letters Notwithstanding all these cautions my Quality and Purse augmented daily in the mouths of the people In the mean time as luck would have it the night before my departure I had an express from Monsieur Bertet one of the chief Merchants of Aleppo upon occasion of my writing to him to give me notice when there was a Caravan ready to part for Bagdad In a trice
Damascus Kfr. and is by others called Malhomar Some of it was sent in my time Malhomar from Aleppo to Venice for the same purpose it was sent for by a Merchant residing in Venice who had formerly lived at Aleppo I remember that I have read upon that Subject in the History of Stones written by Anselmus Boetius de Boot in the Chapter of the Lythanthrax or Pit-coal that the Boors of the Countrey of Liege make an Oyntment of Pit-coal wherewith they anoint the Eyes of the Stocks of their Vines least the insects should gnaw them Mixto oleo hic carbo emolliter eoque unguento Agricolae vites oblinunt ne earum oculi ab insectis erodantur I was told that in Cyprus and many other places of Turkey they use a little drug for the same ends At Aleppo when the Grapes are ripe they bring them to the Town Grapes in Sacks of Goats hair without breaking though sometimes they be brought eight French Leagues from that City These Grapes have a very thick Skin are all white and make a very strong Wine the best time to gather them is in the Month of May. All buy as many as they stand in need of for making of Wine for it is the Custom of the Inhabitants of Aleppo that every one makes his own Wine in his own house after this manner The way of making Wine at Aleppo They put the Grapes into a great square fat of wood where they press them with mens feet and then the Wine runs into a Pale or a shallow Tub through a hole and strainer at the bottom of the fat When it is all run out they put it with the Lees into very large Earthen Jarrs where it works for thirty or forty Days these Jarrs are covered onely with a Board and a Cloath over it without any fear of its taking vent In this manner they leave it as long as they please nay sometimes a whole Year carefully stirring it every day And when they have a mind to drink it they draw it off provided the time at least wherein it was to work be over and they put it with the lees again into the fat where they strain it a second time When it runs no more they put the lees into a bag and press them in the same press with mens Feet till no more come out and what comes out runs into the rest Then they spread the Stalks of the Grapes that have been so prest in the fat and pour upon them all the Wine again and so let it run through a third time This being done it is clear fit for drinking and hath no lees They then barrel it up and in that manner make Wine at Aleppo all the months of the year but as I have already said it is onely White-wine for there are no red nor black Grapes in all those Quarters The Christians in that City make very good Brandy but they who sell it are obliged to put about six Drachms of Alum into a Bucket full of Brandy to make it stronger for otherwise the Turks would not like it They drink very good Water at Aleppo observing a great deal of circumspection in the use of it It is indeed River-water but it is diverted from the River about three Leagues above Aleppo near a place called Ailan from whence it is brought into the City in open Aqueducts which coming near the Town are conveyed under ground to Fountains whence they take the Water These Aqueducts have been made for purifying the Water which is very muddy and also for supplying the City for the River being low in the Summer-time the Gardens drain all the Water almost with their Pousseragues The Francks have Cisterns also which they fill with the Water of these Aqueducts by opening a hole in the Cistern through which the Water comes and then stopping it again aswell as the mouth of the Cistern which they open not but in Summer and these Cisterns are made not onely to keep the Water very cool but also to make it pure and clear They have besides another excellent way of clarifying it that is they put the Water into great Jarrs of unburnt Clay through which it distills and falls into Vessels put underneath to receive it This River of Aleppo comes from Antab two days Journey from thence and loses it self under ground about half a league beyond Aleppo many think that it comes from Euphrates near to which it hides it self under ground and appears again at Antab Though commonly they eat but little Fish at Aleppo nevertheless they have sometimes great plenty but onely when they are brought from Euphrates The little River furnishes several Trouts which are not above a Fingers length and very small but exceeding good They take good Eeles in it which though they be but small are most delicious There are also a great many Crabs in that River which are broad and flat Crabs and pretty good They are at no pains to fish for them when the Mulberries are knit because these Crabs delighting in that Fruit fail not to ramble about and crawl up the Mulberry-trees to feed on the fruit and then it is no hard matter to catch them Cucumbers The Cucumbers are so good in Aleppo that not onely the Countrey-People but the Francks also eat them green skin and all and they do no hurt though they be eaten in great quantity it is the same all over Mesopotamia There is no salt used in this City but what is brought from a place a day and a halfs Journey of Caravan distant towards the North-East it is made of Rain-water which in the Winter falls into a spacious low place that makes a kind of a Pond and that Water having extracted the Salt out of the ground it covers congeals and is formed into Cubes of Salt like to Sea-Salt it is brought to Aleppo on Mules but is nothing near so good as Sea-Salt There is very good Turkey Leather made at Aleppo There also aswell as at Damascus they prepare the Sagri which is that we call Chagrine in France but much more of it is made in Persia They are so jealous of their secret in preparing of Turkey Leather that they suffer no body to enter their houses The Sagri is made of the crupper-piece Skin of an Ass The way of making Chagrin they shave that skin so long till it become smooth white and thin like Partchment but what they do with it afterwards is all mystery I did all I could to learn it but could not onely I was told by a Jew who trades in it and deals much with them that they put some very small grain upon the skin so prepared which being pressed makes at first little dents in it but these dents afterwards filling up again they make that grane which we see in Chagrin but he assured me that he knew not in the least what grain it was they made use of I came to
would have perswaded me to stay till the heats were over I agreed with a Turk who had hired several Mules Agreement for transportation from Aleppo to Mosul and Bagdad and gave him thirty Piastres to transport me my man and baggage by Land to Mosul and from Mosul to Bagdad by Keleck and to clear me of all Caffares some days after he would have three Piastres more and Cloath-Stockins for four Piastres I gave him all in hand as he desired though I thought it not the safest course but onely that I might not baulk a friend from whom I had received many kindnesses and who had made the bargain for me Seeing he had never travelled that Journey himself and that he thought every man as honest as he was he perswaded himself that he had done very well for me In the mean time the onely way is to bargain with the Muletors and not to pay them in hand for if I had done so it would not have cost me so much That Turk payed the Muletor but fifteen Piastres for the two Mules and a half that I had loaded and all the rest of the Caravan payed no more but six Piastres a Mule. Besides Six Piastres a Mule. that infidel told me many times upon the road that he had neither agreed for my baggage nor for the Caffares and would have I know not how many Piastres more and in fine I was forced to pay new charges from Mosul to Bagdad I parted from Aleppo on Sunday the nine and twentieth of June accompanied with several French Merchants on Horse-back who would needs do me that honour to see me to the Caravan which was in the Meidan by the Gardens close by the City I went out by the Gate Bab-El-Barkousa and my Servant told me who had been there with my Goods two days that the Night before one of my Fire-locks had been stollen A Theft and some Goods taken from others It behoved me to be contented since others were in the same condition and that they told me they had seen the Thieves and pursued them but could not overtake them These thieves slide cunningly along upon their bellies like Snakes and therefore in all that Journey they lye not in tents in the Night-time but on the contrary unpitch them at Night because then as they say they serve onely for spectacles to Robbers Next morning at the break of day we set forward on our Journey and were at first troubled with cold for some time We marched till nine of the Clock and then encamped in a Field called Sammaia Sammaia near the River of Aleppo that runs by this place and has a little Bridge over it We parted from thence on Tuesday the first of July about break of day and about nine a Clock we met a great Caravan coming from Mosul in which there was a Watch-maker who came from Persia where he had long lived with his Wife and Children After we had discoursed a little together we parted there Caravan going on to Sammaia and ours about ten in the morning stopping in a field called Chetanli Chetanli where a little Brook runs among Reeds From Aleppo to that place we had always kept East-North-East and from thence to Bi r our way lay East Next day being Wednesday the second of July we parted from Cheranli about break of day and about ten in the Morning came to a great Village called Mazar Mazar near to which we encamped This place hath much wood and water about it which renders it very pleasant and here you may see a very lovely Cascade of nine or ten Stories which has been made for a Water-mill hard by We began then to feel it very hot both day and night Next morning July the third we decamped about two Clock after midnight and at break of day past betwixt two grounds where a great many Fig-trees were planted in streight rows About half an hour after seven we marched betwixt two Hillocks upon one of which to the right hand there is a Building with a kind of a Pyramide Half an hour after we came to the Banks of Euphrates Euphrates which seemed to me to be no bigger than the River of Seine but they say it is very broad in Winter and the truth is its bed is twice as broad This River is called Frat and Mourat Soui that 's to say the water of desire because say they a Calife of Bagdad having sent for a little of all the Waters of the Countrey The Water of Euphrates is very light and having caused them to be weighed the Water of Euphrates was found to be the lightest This River runs very slowly and is navigable for little Barks as far up as the place where it joyns the Tygris but great Barks go onely from Bi r to Rousvania Rousvania which is a Village distant from Bi r about ten days Journey and then they unload their Goods which are carried upon Camels to Bagdad which is but a small days Journey from it where they are conveyed by Water upon the Tygris Thus do the barks loaded with glass of which I shall presently speak go to Baslora Not that this River is so unnavigable as some would have it for whilst I was at Aleppo the Scheick Bandar hired a bark to carry by Euphrates to Rousvania five or six hundred cases of glass which he sent to the Indies The reason why great barks go not beyond Rousvania is because there are some Rocks in the River which hinder their passage but are avoided by smaller Boats. Nevertheless I should have taken that occasion to go to Bagdad had I not been told that the barks stopped some days in certain places where the passage is best and go but very slowly and that besides I could not in the least stir from the bark without danger of being robbed by the Arabs nor stay on board without being much incommoded by the heat because they have no Deck I wondered to see that they who baled up these Chests for the Scheick Bandar tumbled them so rudely that they broke all the glass but they told me that it mattered not though it were all broken into pieces because the Indian Men and Women buy it onely to have little pieces set in Rings which serve them for Looking-glasses to see themselves in That glass is all over laid with Quick-silver on one side and is a very saleable commodity in the Indies and profitable to the Merchants The Boats of Euphrates We crossed over Euphrates in great boats which have the rudder about three foot distant from the stern of the boat below as Pietro della Valle reports and I think no other reason need to be given for it but that of frugality because these kinds of boats cost them less than if they were made like ours for their rudder is no more but pieces of board nailed cross-ways to the end of Poles and that would signifie nothing
if fastened to the stern as ours are Bir. We came a shoar at Bi r which is a little Town in Mesopotamia upon the side of the River the houses of it beginning below at the Water-side and reaching up to the top of a hill the Castle which seems to be pretty enough is also situated upon an ascent The Walls of the Town are entire and as the houses are built of little square Stones got in the hill which is all of a soft Rock but within there is nothing but Ruines We encamped on the top of the hill without the Town and arrived there half an hour after eight having first payed custom for all Merchants goods at so much a load so soon as we crossed the River The Burying-place of Bi r is on the other side of the River in Syria and they give this reason for it that our Saviour being come as far as Euphrates gave a man a Handkerchief on which his Picture was stamped that he might therewith go and convert the people of Mesopotamia but that this man being curious to see what it was and having unfolded the Handkerchief contrary to the commands of our Lord it flew into a Well and that our Lord knowing this said that that Land was good for nothing and therefore went no farther this is the cause why they will not bury their dead there Others tell this story in another manner which I shall relate when I come to speak of Orfa Friday the fourth of July we parted from Bi r Departure from Bir. about two a Clock in the Morning and took our way a little different from what we had held till we came there for we directed our course East-North-East untill we came to Orfa About nine in the Morning we encamped in a Field near to a hill where heretofore had been a great Town called Aidar Ahmet at present there is nothing of it to be seen and a little Brook runs by it among Reeds Next day being Saturday the fifth of July we set forwards on our Journey about two a Clock in the Morning Tcharmelick and about five a Clock passed by Tcharmelick which was formerly a little Town with a Castle built by one Delivar Basha who was Basha of Diarbeck upon a little eminence with a Han for the convenience of the Caravans and that because of the many Robbers upon that road as there is still at present All was built of stones taken out of the Ruines of Aidar Ahmet but there is no more now remaining but a little of a Castle with a small Village at the foot of it and part of the Walls of the Town whereof two gates are still to be seen the Han which is still entire is very pretty We went on and about nine in the Morning encamped in a place where formerly stood a great Town called Yogonboul Yogonboul at present it is no more but a confused heap of stones amongst which there are some Wells of rain-Rain-water We parted from thence the same day about ten of the Clock at Night and ascended by bad ways Next morning being Sunday the sixth of July at one a Clock in the Morning we travelled along a lovely way made in the Rock two fathom deep a fathom broad and eight fathom long before that way was cut there was no travelling by that road Then we went down an ugly descent which continues as far as the Town of Orfa where we arrived about two a Clock in the Morning and encamped near the Walls The Town of Orfa which is the ancient Edessa is about two hours march in circuit the Walls of it are fair and pretty entire it is almost square Orfa Edessa but within there is hardly any thing but Ruines to be seen and nevertheless it is very populous On the South-side there is an adjoining Castle upon a hill with large and deep Ditches though they be cut in the Rock it is large in compass but full of Ruines and has onely some pittifull old broken Guns on the top of the Castle there is a little square Turret from whence one may see a great way The Chamber of Elias and the People of the Countrey say that Elias lived in that little Chamber On the side that looks towards the Town there are two great Stone-pillars at six or seven steps distance one from another and standing upon their Pedestals they are of Corinthian order Pillars of Corinthian order consisting of seven and twenty lays of stone a piece each lay contains but two stones and each stone is nineteen Inches high being two foot and a half in Diametre The People of the Countrey say that heretofore there were two others like to these and that one of the Thrones of Nimrod was placed upon these four Pillars The throne of Nimrod that from this place to which they bear great reverence Abraham was thrown headlong into the Furnace that was underneath and that at the same instant a Spring of Water gushed out which is running at present and fills a Canal close by it is a great many fathom in length and five or six in breadth whose Water having washed all the Town loses it self under ground at some hours Journey from thence There is so great plenty of Fish in this Canal that they appear in great shoals and I take them to be Carps but they say that if a man should catch any in this Canal and eat of them he would not fail to fall into a Feaver and that 's the reason they suffer no body to catch them unless on the other side of a little Bridge which is at the end of the Canal for they say that being taken beyond that Bridge there is no danger in them Betwixt the Castle and the Canal there is another smaller one distant from the greater about fifty paces whose Waters joyn together at the end of the Channel Seeing the Inhabitants of Orfa fancy all to be miracle in their Countrey they say that it is another source which sprung out of a place into which they threw a slave who seeing that Abraham received no hurt by his fall and that Water gushed out miraculously from the place into which he was precipitated told Nimrod that that man was a true Prophet and not a Sorcerer as he said whereupon he caused him also to be precipitated Had it not been for that Orfa could not have subsisted so long but must have perished for drought for there is no Water in that Town but what comes from those two Sources On the South-side of the Castle there are several neighbouring Hills that command it and especially one which the People of the Countrey call Nimrod Tahhtasi that 's to say the Throne of Nimrod because they believe that his chief Throne was upon the top of that hill there are a great many Grotto's in these hills where they say an hundred thousand of Nimrod's Soldiers quartered Next day I went out of the Town
dues from our Caravan and took my Sword out of my Tent which he left in the hands of the Kervan-Bassa pretending a Piastre from me as being a Franck but having spoken to my Moucre he went and brought back my Sword. Next day a Thief stole the Doliman or long Coat of one of our Company A Thief but after a very bold and in some manner pleasant way We stayed and lay at the house of a Physician who was a Franck and being asleep in the cool upon a Mastabe of his Court about an hour before day a nimble Rogue cunningly opened the Gate and came softly to the Doliman which was near to him it belonged to he awakening at the noise the Thief made in emptying his Pockets was not at all startled on the contrary thinking it was his man he twice called him by his Name at which our Thief who as I think had no design to carry off the Doliman but onely what was in the Pockets imagining that he was discovered whipt away Doliman and all In the mean time the onely remedy was not to talk of it for if the Sousbasha had come to know it he would have come to the House and seized all that he found in it protesting that there were no Thieves in the Town and that the Theft must be proved by producing the Thief At Orfa there is pretty good Wine both White and Claret CHAP. X. The Continuation of the Journey to Mosul by Codgiasar the Countrey of Merdin and Nisibin Departure from Orfa SAturday the twelfth of July we parted from Orfa at two of the Clock in the Morning we had put off our departure for two days that we might learn news of the Arabs but at length when we were on our way we heard that there were above a thousand of the Arabs Tents in the place where we were to encamp the first Night This gave so fearfull an allarm to all our Caravan though it consisted of two hundred men armed with Muskets or Lances that it was resolved we should leave the High-way which was almost East or East-North-East and instead of that we took our way streight North-East on that side we found some Cuodes with their flocks who perceiving us were themselves in great fear for they took us for Arabs Heretofore they robbed in Troops on Horse-back but the Arabs having often routed them they have forsaken the trade onely in the Night-time they come creeping on their Bellies and endeavour to snap somewhat in the Caravans but on the Frontiers of Bagdad and Persia they are bolder than in those quarters Dgiallab Having twice crossed the small River or Brook of Dgiallab about ten of the Clock we encamped in a plain called Edue where I cured one of our Moucres of a head-ach that had held him three days with a fore-head Cloath dipt in Brandy on which I put bruised Pepper Edue The plain of Edue is watered by the Brook Dgiallab which at this place is as broad as the River of the Gobelines at Paris the head of it is an hours march from thence North-Eastward in a place called Pouar-Bashi that 's to say the Fountain-head wherein Sanson is mistaken who makes it to come from Mount Taurus An errour in Geography to the North of Orfa by which he makes it to run and then fall into Euphrates and nevertheless it runs not by Afra but having watered many Villages it loses it self under ground some days Journey from Edue In this plain there is a score of Tombs of Free-stone and on most of them a Stone-figure that dully represents a Lyon and at the sides of it a Buckler and Sword painted red They are the Tombs of some brave Curds who have died in the Wars We parted from Edue on Sunday the thirteenth of July half an hour after three in the morning as it had been published in the Camp the evening before all were likewise warned by a publick cry to take heed to themselves because of the many Robbers that were there abouts and that for that reason they would not load but by day-light We marched North-East and an hour after we were engaged amongst Hills but without any ascending and there we saw the source of Dgiallab The Source of Dgiallab We were not above three quarters of an hour among these Mountains and coming out from among them we entered into a Plain where we all found that we were out of our way however we still kept on East-North East but a little more to the North-ward that we might find Water to encamp by Turcomans About Eleven of the Clock we found a score of Turcoman Horse men armed with Muskets and Lances but they said nothing to us and I believe it was because they durst not though I was told that they have robbed no more since a Basha of Diurbeck called Dilaver provoked by the great Robberies they committed marched out and made a great slaughter of them After that we crossed over a Countrey full of little hills amongst which there were some small plains full of Thistles and Stones which made abominable way and we were so tired marching from hill to hill that we were all afraid we should be forced to march so till next day But at length a quarter after one of the Clock at Noon we arrived half roasted upon one of these little hills called Toubangiou where having found a Well of spring-Spring-water Toubangiou we encamped by it from the top of these hills we had a view of the Mountains called Caradgia-Daglar Caradgia-Daglar About eleven a Clock at Night we had an allarm from twenty five Curdish Horse-men who came towards our Camp who being discovered the allarm was given for it had been published in the Evening that we should all watch for one another Allarmed at the sound of a Flute instead of a Drum and some of our Men marching out of the Camp and putting themselves in a posture to fire upon the Curds they cried aloud praying us not to fire upon them because they were going a hunting and so went on their way We spent every Night in this manner inciting one another to watch and singing to keep us from sleeping We parted next Morning about a quarter after three for we marched no more now before break of day that we might not be surprised Our way was East a little towards the South-East and about six a Clock we found fifteen or twenty of the Curds Tents made of the hair of black Goats Tents of the Curds under which were several Women and Children about eight of the Clock we found above sixty of them and three quarters of an hour after we encamped near a Well of Spring-water in a place called Alaki Alaki These Curds came and sold Provisions in our Camp but most part of them would not take Money but onely Soap or Tobacco and chiefly Soap and though they were offered Ten pence for that which was
not worth Eight pence they would not take it saying that they would not give it for a Piastre but for Soap they would The Night following we had a very cold Wind but not so the day after for then it was excessively hot We parted from Alaki on Tuesday the fifteenth of July about three of the Clock in the Morning and marched on East-South East An hour after we left the bad way full of Stones which we had constantly had from Orfa and entered into a great Plain having always to the left the Mountains Caradgia which are the Mount Taurus The Mountains of Caradgia or Taurus that reaches from above Ofra to Diarbeck towards the East and from thence South-East till over against Kinzilken and till near to Nisibin towards the North-East and from thence South-East till within two days Journey of Mosul About six a Clock I was told that the Town of Diarbeck The Town of Diarbeck called in Armenian Amid was two long or three short days march to our left hand and that was the nearest we came to it Half an hour after seven we passed by a little Chappel covered with a stone-Dome wherein there is a Tomb which the People of the Countrey say is the Tomb of Job Jobs Tomb. and at present there is a Santo who prays at the back of that Chappel for this is a famous place of Pilgrimage and this Santo hath a little Cell near a Well of good Spring-water Half an hour after eight we arrived at the foot of a hillock on which stands a Village called Telghiouran Telghiouran Tel in Arabick signifies a little hill and we encamped in the Plain near a Fountain This day and the preceeding we found by the way many plants called Agnus Castus or Canabis Canabis Agnus castus for they grow three foot high and have the leaves divided by fives like a hand the middlemost being the longest and then the two next to it the two last are the least they are jagged in the middle and white underneath in short that plant ends at the top in an ear of several little Flowers of a very bright blew they grow among the Stones and may be seen there in great tufts I must here also observe some faults in Sansons Mapp of Diarbeck An errour in Geography Mid-way from Orfa to Telghiouran we should have passed a River which he calls Soaid and makes it to come from Mount Taurus pass by Caraemit and a great deal after fall into Euphrates nevertheless in all our Caravan there was not one who could give me any tidings of that Water and from Orfa to Telghiouran we passed no other Water but Dgiallab Other errours Besides he hath made so many faults in the positions of places and in their distances as also in the changing their Names that nothing is to be known by it and though I named to many of our Caravan most of the Names that he has put in his Diarbeck or rather Diarbekir the best way I could yet they knew not above two or three of them Caramid Amid and Diarbeck are but one and the same Town Alchabour He makes two Towns of Caramid and Amid and it is but one to wit Diarbeck He makes the River Alchabour the same with Dgiallab and that of Orfa That River of Alchabour takes its source about four days Journey from Mardin towards the South and falls into Euphrates They say that the Water of this River is so good that if after a man hath eaten a whole Lamb he drink of it he 'll not find it burthen his Stomach Chabur Chobar But it is to be observed that there is also another River called Chabur which is the Chobar mentioned in the Prophesie of Daniel it is less and has it source below Mosul on the left hand to those who go down the Tygris and at Bagdad loses it self in the Tygris and by what I could learn of an ancient Syrian of Mosul who hath many times travelled by divers ways from Mosul to Aleppo and from Aleppo to Mosul there are a great many other faults in the Mapp of Diarbeck which makes me to think that it hath been taken from bad Memoirs Telghiouran Telghiouran is a Castle enclosed with a great many Stones piled up one upon another in former times it was a great Town but through the Turkish Tyranny it was defeated There are about an hundred Houses of Armenians in it but none of Turks except of the Aga and his Servants which Aga is also customer and Chorbagi we found a little thick muddy Claret there which they bring from Mardin Under the trees at the foot of the hill there is a little Chappel where are Chains that they put about mad mens Necks and they say that if they are to be cured they fall off of themselves but if otherwise they must be taken off The Customer of this place came to our Caravan to receive his dues We parted from thence next day the sixteenth of July three quarters after three in the Morning and continued our way East-South-East About half an hour after five we saw by the way many stones and some walls of houses still standing About six a Clock we had a great allarm because those who were foremost had espied some Horse-men all made ready some lighted their matches ond others took their bow and two arrows in their hand some run this way and others that way and nevertheless it was in vain for me to ask where the Arabs were for no body could let me see them because then they were in a little bottom A little after we came to know that it was the Aga of Telghiouran coming from some place where his business had carried him who was accompanied with ten Horse-men armed some with Muskets and others with Lances or Darts About eight a Clock we saw on our left hand near a Well several black Tents of the Curds who flying from the Arabs came and encamped in that place and we marching forewards about three quarters after ten came and encamped near a hillock in a place called Carakouzi Carakouzi where there is a Well of good spring-Spring-water which bears the same Name Next day Thursday the seventeenth of July we parted from thence about three quarters after two in the Morning and continued our way East-South-East we entered among the Mountains where for almost an hour we did nothing but climb up and down in ways full of great stones having past them and got again into the plain we kept on the same course approaching to the Caradgia Mountains Half an hour after six we found a Well of good Spring-water Maes Sarazin Corn. Ricinus Palma Christi at seven we saw a Field sowed with Maez or Sarazin Corn and another full of Ricinus or Palma Christi at most but a foot high a great many draw Oil from it for Lamps and to rub the Camels with to make their
hair come for it falls off every year Having then passed by a great many sorry Ruines of houses and crossed a little Brook about half an hour after nine we were got by a large round Pond full of yellowish Rain-water where the Curds were watering a great number of Cattel of which the chief and most common are black Goats of whose hair they make their Tents The Village of Teldgizre Mount Taurus Half an hour after ten we passed by a great Village called Teldgizre which was to our left and then we were got so near Mount Taurus that was also to our left that it was not above an hours march to the foot of it following the current of a little Brook which was on the same side half an hour after eleven we came and encamped near a great Village called Kizilken by which that rivulet runs I observed on the way that day that they were but then cutting down their Corn whereas at Aleppo they begin to cut about the end of May or beginning of June After we were encamped we felt notwithstanding our Pavillions so hot a Wind A hot Wind. that it seemed to have mustered together and brought with it all the heat of the Air and I think that a man standing near a great flame which the Wind blew upon his face could not feel a hotter Air. Kizilken is a great Village all inhabited by Syrians we found some Carpous Kizilken or water-Mellons there which were ripe and good and these did us a great deal of kindness In the night-time there came Robbers several times but they that watched making as if they would fire upon them they made some silly excuses and marched away From Kizilken we parted next day being Friday the eighteenth of July half an hour after one of the Clock in the Morning and continued our way East-South East about four a Clock we saw on our right hand two very solid well built houses but abandoned as well as the old Ruines that were to our left Half an hour after seven we arrived at a great Village called Kodgiasar where the Customer came to take his dues Kodgiasar but not knowing that I was a Franck asked me nothing In former times it was a very great Town and some very high and substantial Buildings still remain and amongst others a spacious Church rarely well built First you enter into a large Court along which stands the Church that hath seven doors all stopt up except the middlemost which hath a great Nich on each side over these doors there has been Mosaick work the place whereof is still to be observed and at the four Corners of the Court there has been four very high square Steeples covered with little Domes of which at present there are onely three remaining and of these too but one entire The other two want onely the Dome they are built of pretty little Free-stones with Ornaments of Architecture and so is the Church also the middle wherof is covered with a Dome rough cast over and the Walls supported by good large stone-Butteresses The Turks having converted it into a Mosque have made a Keble in it and a little Pulpit to preach in Near to this Town runs a Water that passes under a Bridge of five Arches to say the truth it is not very good but there are good Wells and each house has one There is one in the middle of the Court of that Church and hard by it a kind of Dome supported by several Pillars but for what use I know not unless it be to wash in as the Turks do when they go to their Mosque Kodgiasar is over against Merdin that stands upon a hill to the North-East of it the Castle is on the very top of the hill and is seen at a great distance Merdin being four hours Journey from Kodgiasar The Customer of Merdin came to our Camp for his dues and demanded of me as a Franck five Piastres and therefore made my man Prisoner but my Moucre brought him out he was informed that I was a Franck by a Turk of the Caravan who was the onely man of them all that shewed any aversion to me The Castle of Merdin is so strong that the Turks say no Army is able to take it seeing they have both Spring-water and Cistern-water They will have it that Tamarlan lay seven years before this Castle who to shew them that he would continue there untill it were taken caused the Trees below it to be cut down and new ones planted of the fruit of which when they began to bear he sent to the Garrison and that the besieged to make the best shew they could sent him Cheese made of Bitches milk as if it had been of the Milk of Ewes which wrought a good effect for he was perswaded by that that they had not as yet spent their sheep and despairing to force them he raised the Siege though he had prevailed in all the other Sieges that he attempted There is a Basha at Merdin and almost all the Inhabitants of Kodgiasar are Robbers We stayed there all Saturday because the Customer had not as yet agreed with our People what he was to have of every load having asked too much at Kodgiasar there still remain many fair Steeples and other antiquities standing in several places The same Saturday the nineteenth of July there arrived a little Caravan near to our Camp which came from Aleppo and was going to Van. On Sunday the twentieth of July we parted from Kodgiasar about three a clock in the morning half an hour after five we past by a great Village called Toubijasa Toubijasa which was on our left hand and is onely inhabited by Syrians So soon as we passed it we came into a great plain sowed with Cucumbers and Melons A Field of Melons and Cucumbers of which those of our Caravan took as many as they could eat and carry with them notwithstanding the Cries of the poor People Men Women and Children who had no better payment than ill words as if they had been much in the wrong for complaining that their Goods were forcibly taken from them About nine a Clock we passed a little Water and after that found the Tents of some Curds three quarters after nine we encamped near a Village called Futlidge Futlidge near to which there is a Well of good Water in Winter they encamp at a Village near the Mountains Caradere called Caradere a little on this side because there are Grotto's in them to lodge in We parted about two of the Clock in the Morning directing our way East-South-East such hot Vapours steemed out of the Earth that for breath and that I might not be stiffled I was forced to fan my self which made me think of the Sausiel which I had already heard so much of Half an hour after five we saw on the side of the way to the left the Ruines of a great Castle
called Sertschehan of which several panels of Wall still stand About eight of the Clock we found some Tents of the Curds and then crossed at least twelve Canals one after another which discharge their Water at Nisibin where we arrived three quarters of an hour after eight and encamped beyond the Bridge which consists of eleven small Arches under which a great Water runs which is divided into three by plowed Fields that reach even to the Bridge and render three of its Arches useless They call all these the Waters of Nisibin for ask them the Name of a River in what manner you please they 'll give you no other but the Name of the place it runs by This water comes from the Mountains and before it reach Nisibin they cut it into several Channels for watering of their grounds that are planted with Cotton rice and other things which require Water That 's a heavy and unwholsome Water and so is the Air which is so bad that I was told that if one sleep in it by day or by night he runs a great risk of being sick and that is the reason why the People of the Countrey are so tawny as they are Nisibin Nisibin was formerly a great Town at present it is divided into two quarters separated by a plowed field and both these quarters make but an ordinary Village Mar-Jacob Heretofore it had a Church dedicated to Mar-Jacob that 's to say St. James who is called the Brother of our Lord It was very large but at present there is nothing to be seen but the Arches of the doors and a small space which was as I think the end of the Church walled up by the Syrians where they and the Armenians at present celebrate Mass The Customer of Nisibin came and demanded his dues of our Caravan though Nisibin depend on the Basha of Merdin the Customer of which had already taken his dues at Kodgiasar but he took nothing from me because he thought I was a Greek We parted from Nisibin next day being Tuesday the two and twentieth of July about one a Clock in the Morning by Star-light and passed another Canal a strong North-Wind blew then which hardly cooled the Air. About five of the Clock we began to see on our right hand the Mountains Sendgiar which reach from North-West to South-East Mountain Sendgiar but they were about two days Journey distant from us Half an hour after seven we crossed a water half an hour after eight another and a quarter after nine we passed a third which was very lovely Dgerrahhi Soui and called Dgerrahhi Soui We thought to have encamped near it as is usual but because the Mules must have been sent to grase on the other side and that it would have been troublesome to make them cross it back again in the Evening we went farther and encamped near to a Spring of good Water Kimarlick in a place called Kimarlick from which we parted about eleven of the Clock at Night and crossed a great Water where our Caravan was a long time in passing it because of the dark and of the many great Stones that are in the Water when we passed it we stood away Eastwards Wednesday the three and twentieth of July about two a Clock in the Morning we found another Water and another again about four a Clock and three quarters of an hour after a very pleasant little River which turns and winds through a small plain encompassed with hills Three quarters after five we saw by the way to our left a Hillock on the top of which there is a Dome under which lies buried one Imam Ahmed Imam-Ahmed for whom the Turks have great Veneration and this is a place of Pilgrimage About seven a Clock we passed by a sorry Village called Candgi Candgi and half an hour after we encamped near a Spring of good Water in a plain called by the Name of the Village The Inhabitants thereabouts are so given to thieving that they stay not for the Night as others do but come into the Camp in the day-time under pretext of selling Corn for the Horses and walking up and down if they perceive any thing not well looked after they fail not to lift it We parted from thence the same day about half an hour after seven of the Clock at Night and marched East-South-East It was extreamly hot till about two a Clock next Morning that the Air grew cooler We marched without finding Water or Habitation untll half an hour after six that we came and encamped in a plain called Adgisou because of a water that runs there among the reeds and is bitter according as I had been told that from Candgi to Mosul there was neither habitation nor good water which made me provide my self before hand nevertheless having tasted it I did not find it to be so bitter Friday the five and twentieth of July we parted from Adgisou half an hour after three in the Morning for we were not willing to travel in the Night-time for fear of the Arabs We marched South and about eight of the Clock crossed a Brook of bitter water half an hour after we crossed another whose water was pretty good upon a hillock close by there stands a wall which seems to have been the Wall of a Castle whereof there is no more remaining Half an hour after nine we crossed a great Brook of brackish Water and three quarters after eleven a small River that runs under a Bridge of four Arches of which two are broken and indeed they seem to be useless for the breadth of the water reaches but to the two that are whole and it must needs be very high when it passes through the other two which stand upon a pretty high ground This Bridge is below a little ruinous Castle standing upon a hillock it hath been square but there is nothing remaining but the four Walls and a little round Tower in a corner We encamped close by this Castle all scorched with the Sun and stewed in Sweat that place is called Kesick-Cupri that 's to say broken Bridge Kesick-Cupri and the Water is called Cupri-Sou that 's to say the bridge-Bridge-water and no other Names of Rivers are to be got from them I informed my self of the source of that River An errour in Geography which Sanson seems to have confounded with that of Nisibin and I was told that it was another and that the source is not far from that Bridge This water is not very good but it is not bitter as I had been told and close by it there is a Fountain of far worse water We left that place the same day three quarters after seven at Night and took our way East-ward About eleven a Clock we passed by a Village called Wlhayat Wlhayat which is wholly forsaken because of the Tyranny of the Turks At midnight we had a great Allarm but we found it onely to
very thieving Beasts not only of what is fit for eating but of any thing else they find carrying away even Turbans sometimes they howl almost like Dogs one making the Treble another the Basse and a third the Counter-Tenor and so soon as one cries the rest cry also so that all together they make a noise which may truly be called Dogs Musick Thursday the fourteenth of August we parted from that place at break of day Aaschouk Maaschouk and a little after saw on our right hand a Village called Aaschouk and to the left another called Maaschouk The people of the Countrey say that these places are so called because in each of those two Villages there was in former times a Tower in one of which lived a Man who was in love with a Woman that lived in the Tower of the other Village and was in like manner beloved of her This place is the seventh Lodging of the Caravans that come from Mosul to Bagdad About half an hour after six we saw to the left hand a Village called Imam-Samerva Imam-Samerva Hedgiadge Elhan Digel About eleven a clock we passed by another Village called Hedgiadge which is in Mesopotamia Three hours after we saw another on the same side named Elhan and besides it some Houses all that Land being called Digel Half an hour past six in the evening we put a-shoar on our left hand where I was told of another-guess prowess of a Lion than what I had been told of that of Kizil-Han They said then that not long before a Caravan passing by that place a Lion came who setting upon a young Boy mounted on an Ass that came after the rest carried away both Boy and Ass in view of the whole Caravan After Supper we went upon the water again about nine of the clock at night and for the space of half an hour heard on our right hand many Chakales very near us which called the Lions and after that we saw no more Woods We began then to make the best of our way by night as well as by day because there are no more Banks and the River is very broad but also so still that it can hardly be discerned which way it runs We past by several Villages most of which were on Mesopotamia-side Next day being Friday the fifteenth of August we saw about noon many Boats near the shoar which have Masts like Saicks and serve to carry Corn to Bagdad from the neighbouring Villages We then discovered several Palm-Trees and many of those Wheels they call Dollab which serve to draw water out of Wells as at Mosul Half an hour after six in the evening we stopt at a Village called Yenghige on the left hand there are many Gardens there where they sold us good Figs Pomegranats and very big long Grapes At that place we were not altogether safe from Lions seeing the people of the Countrey told us that they come often into their Gardens and that one morning a Lion came to the very Suburbs of Bagdad that lies on the Desart-side where it seized a man who had risen too early Nevertheless betwixt Yenghige and Bagdad there are several Villages with a great many Gardens Yenghige We parted about nine a clock at night and next day being Saturday the sixteenth of August at two a clock in the afternoon passed by a Village called Imam-Mousa which is on the right hand It is a place of Pilgrimage Imam-Mousa whither people resort from afar and the Women of Bagdad go thither every Friday it being only an hours march by Land. A little after we saw another Village on our left hand called Imam-Aazem Imam-Aazem which is likewise a place of Pilgrimage and about five of the clock in the evening we arrived at Bagdad In that Voyage they speak every where Turkish The Turkish Language towards Bagdad but it is Persian Turkish which differs somewhat from that of Greece and the nearer Bagdad the more the Turkish Language differs from that of Constantinople CHAP. XIV Of Bagdad and of the Road from Bagdad to Mendeli the last Place the Turks have on the Confines of Persia BAGDAD is a long Town lying upon the River-side Bagdad the first thing one sees in arriving is the Castle on the side of the River to the left hand which on the outside appears to be pretty strong It is built of lovely white Stone but I was told that there was nothing within but Huts Below that Castle upon the water-side also stands the Serraglio of the Basha which hath fair Kiochks from whence they have a good Prospect and fresh Air. Next you find a Bridge of about forty Boats on which they cross into Mesopotamia where there is a Town also or rather a Suburbs of Bagdad but the Houses of it are ill built Every night they undo that Bridge It requires at least two hours to make the round of Bagdad which is not very strong on the Land-side There are fair Bazars and lovely Bagnio's in this Town built by the Persians and generally all that is goodly in it hath been built by them It is but ill peopled considering the bigness of the place and indeed it is not compactly built for there are a great many empty places in it where there 's not one Soul to be found and except the Bazars where there is always a great confluence of people the rest looks like a Desart The Soldiers here are very licentious and commit all imaginable Insolencies their Officers not daring scarcely to punish them Some weeks before I arrived there they had put the Basha to death by poyson because of his Tyrannies and it was said the Aga had a share in it though he kept not his bed but was in a languishing condition Besides the Turkish Militia there are a great many Christians in the Grand-Signior's Pay to fight against the Arabs when they are commanded It is very hot in this Town and that 's the reason the people sleep upon the Terrasses The degrees of heat at Bagdad The eighteenth of August at noon the heat was at the thirty seventh degree by my Thermometre and nevertheless it blew a cool breeze of wind The Capuchins to whom I went as soon as I entred Bagdad very charitably practise Physick there The water of the Tygris Opposite to Bagdad the Tygris is very broad the water whereof they draw and put into great Jars of Clay that is not burnt and through these Jars the water transpires and percolates into an earthen Vessel underneath in the same manner as at Aleppo they call this River Chav-Bagdad that 's to say the River of Bagdad but wanting skill to make Water-mills upon it they are forced to grind all their Corn with Horse-mills or Hand-mills Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is very desart every thing being ruined there by the Tyranny of the Turks but the places that are inhabited are well peopled It bears few or no Trees
not accompany them they resolved to take four Troopers at the Village They sent one of their number to acquaint us with their resolution and civilly to entreat us to contribute somewhat to the pay of these Troopers At first we refused it yet gave them some Chais after with a Protestation that it was not for any fear we were in and that we should not be concerned though there were an hundred Arabs of them but that what we did was onely in a complaisance not thinking these Troopers to be any ways necessary We parted the same day about eleven a Clock at Night attended by fifteen Janissaries armed some with Muskets and some with Arrows and all marching in good order and at a good rate too for there was not one of them but was sufficiently afraid and we continued our march Eastwards Munday the five and twentieth of August about two of the Clock in the Morning we met a Caravan of about fourscore or a hundred in company some mounted on Horses Cunes upon Camels Mules or Asses and the rest in great Cunes well covered over Arch-ways each Camel carrying two of them and in that company I saw seven or eight of these Machines This Caravan came from Persia and was no better armed than ours which a little lessened our Peoples fear who before that made frequent discharges of two rusty Pistols which was all the Artillery they had About break of day we passed that dangerous pass they talked of It was a way somewhat narrow near to a little Water but it seemed to me to be no more dangerous than the rest of the Road. We met by the way several Men and Women some on Asses others on foot some in company and others not which made me think that it was a very good safe Road For from Bagdad to Mendeli the way is always full and as smooth as a Looking-glass but I take it to be very bad in Winter for there are pieces of ground all chincked and cracked by the heat which yielded a little under our Horses feet and that made me conclude that in another season it would be very deep About six a Clock in the Morning we saw to the right a Village called Nebitarana Nebitarana and half an hour after seven we arrived at Mendeli near to which we encamped Mendeli the Frontier of Persia Mendeli is the outmost bounds of the Turks on that side it is a little Town built amongst a great many Palm-trees It has a Castle with some Towers but all is built of Mud and Clay Nevertheless it is watered by a running stream divided into several Brooks There we rested all the next day being Tuesday the six and twentieth of August and payed an Abassi for every load The same day a Caravan arrived at Mendeli which came from Ispahan and was going to Bagdad it was no bigger than ours and had no fire-Arms yet there were Arabs at Mendeli who looked suspiciously And I was told that a Turk having asked them why they had done nothing to us they had made answer that it was because we had nothing but Leather which they did not much care for they used this Rodomontado because they saw some Horses in our Caravan loaded with Buffles skins in the Night-time we heard several Chakales THE Second Book OF PERSIA CHAP. I. Of the entry into Persia and of the Road to Hamadan WE Parted from Mendeli Wednesday the seven and twentieth of August at break of day taking our way due East assoon as we were on our way we entered amongst Hills where we saw many Rivulets some of which it behoved us to cross About six in the Morning we foarded over a River which they call Rogoura about two or three fathom broad Rogoura a River and the Water up to our Horses knees About ten of the Clock in the Morning we had a Rancounter which we little thought of As I passed within a few steps of three Huts made of Canes I saw two Men in Persian Habit of whom he that seemed to be the chief had a close bodied Coat of Silk-stuff with large Flowers of Gold They came towards us whilst I minded nothing and spoke to me though I did not heed it In the mean time finding that I listened not to what they said to me one of them with a hooked stick took hold of my Horses bridle and stopt him which made me pull out a Pistol and to consider the Men more attentively I perceived that they made no shew of offering any violence though they were armed each of them with a Quiver full of Arrows a Bow an Ax by their side and a Cymetre and indeed it had not been their best course I and they who followed me having our fire-Arms all in readiness which made me a little wonder at the boldness of the Men. At the same time Monsieur Jacob who saw their action advanced towards them with a design to fire calling them in Turkish an hundred Rogues and Rascals as if they had been Robbers My man came also with a Musketoon presented but perceiving that the men seemed not concerned and did not so much as lay a hand upon their Swords but that on the contrary the chief of them calling me Cardash that 's to say Brother civilly asked me to give him the hearing I prayed Monsieur Jacob to hold his hand and they very courteously told us that they had orders not to suffer us to pass That surprized us a little because we knew not the reason of it but being informed of that we would not proceed against their Will Rahdars guards of the Road. though we might have done it These men are Rahdars that 's to say guards of the Road of which there are many in several places especially upon the Frontiers not onely of Persia but also of every Khanlick or Province to secure the High-ways and for wages they have a due of some Bistis of every loaded Horse or Mule. They stop all that are not in Caravan if they know them not And the reason why they stopt us was because we were not onely a little separated from the Caravan but that a man who went before us had told them that in our Caravan there were two unkown Franks The Kervan-Basha being informed that we were stopt came and spoke to them but they told him that they would not suffer us to pass because if they did they would lose their places We might have easily forced them as I have said but it would not have lookt well to have committed violence upon our first entry into a Countrey for at this place begin the Territories of the King of Persia At length by the Council of the Kervan-Basha we followed them to their Huts where they spread a Carpet on which we sate down together like good friends In the mean time they unloaded our goods and several of their men came into the place where we were Their Master bid
us lay by our Swords which we freely did and he drew them one after another We had some thoughts that he intended to be revenged for our offering to fire upon him but after he had look'd upon them be put them up again He told us a second time that his office was to suffer no man to enter into Persia unless he were known least some might come and make their escape there when they had committed Villanies elsewhere I made him answer that many Franks had past that way before without being stopt but he assured me of the contrary and indeed I believe that the ordinary way is somewhat more towards the North than Mendeli In short he protested that he would not let us goe unless those of the Caravan would answer for us wherefore we sent our Muletor with one of the Persians to the Camp which was half an hours walk from thence In the mean time that man complained several times to my Servant that we should have offered to fire at him and give him bad language as if he had been a Rogue Nevertheless he civilly ordered our Dinner to be brought which consisted of a great Bowl full of Bread two Bowls of sower Milk two plates of new made Butter and a wooden Dish wherein there were about two Eggs prepared with a sauce which I think can hardly be found in any Book of Cookery and that was for about a dozen of men We fed a little and drank Water in wooden Cups Then the man must needs see our Trunks he handled the watches of Monsieur Jacob one after another I opened also my Sepet but finding that he had a mind to see all things onely out of Curiosity and to make Tamascha as he called it I told him that he had no right of demanding custom nor by consequence of viewing our goods that it required much time to do them up again and that therefore he might undoe what he thought fit and do them up again himself but that if any thing were lost he should be made accountable for it and that made him suffer me to make all fast again Afterwards the man whom we sent with our Muletor arrived and brought him a Paper signed by several of our Caravan who vouched for us and who indeed threatned that if the least wrong were done unto us they would complain of it and that if we went and complained to the Chan it would certainly bring them into trouble Immediately they dismissed us and we turned to the Caravan Isterkil Rogoura Roudhhouna a River It lay at a place called Isterkil which is a little plain amongst hills through which runs the River Rogoura perhaps a Word corrupted from Roudhhouna which signifies a River that runs for the Persians give that Name to all great Rivers It is hard to describe that Countrey well if one be not perfect in the Language especially because of the Rivers Near to us there were six or seven Huts of Licurdi or Curds who so soon as we had pitched our Tents came and squatted down all round under them like rustical Clowns that had never seen any thing which made a Janissary that was with us stark mad for though he bid them be gone they would not stir but laughed at him and this vexed him the more to see that in that Countrey he had not the Authority which those of that body have in all places of Turkey At length having spoken to them so often they went away in great dudgeon calling him a thousand Names We were now free from keeping guard in the Night-time for there are no Robbers there and we saw no more Palm-trees after we were gone thence We parted from that place next day being Thursday the eight and twentieth of August about one of the Clock in the Morning and presently after we were at a loss no body knowing the way which we sought for up and down it being very dark and the sky overcast with Clouds that now and then sent us some drops of Rain Many of our loads happened to fall also so that we lost above half an hours time At length we made a shift to cross a little Ditch of Runningwater and then scrambled up a very high and steep hill doing nothing all the rest of the Night but climb up and down go backwards and forwards looking for the way which we had lost Once we passed the River Rogoura or Roudhhouna which runs amongst these hills with a great noise because of the Stones its Channel is full of About five of the Clock in the Morning we saw the Ruines of a very high Bridge with two Stories of Arches one over another it was built of rough Stone but one half of it onely remains and that made me think that this Water is sometimes apt to overflow very much A little after we passed it a second time and met a Caravan coming from Hamadan and going to Bagdad We continued our way upwards along the side of that River and about six a Clock in the Morning saw a little Village of Curds that 's to say some Huts made of Canes and Leaves of Trees and then we crossed that River again seven or eight times which at the place where we past it last to wit towards the head is seven or eight fathom over About eight in the Morning we saw the half of another very high Bridge built of the same stuff as the other is over the same River but onely of one Story of Arches About nine a Clock we went near to a Village of Curds called Samsurat where we made account to encamp and indeed a good part of the Caravan encamped there but we who were in the front perceiving that some before us advanced farther on followed them and having sufficiently tired our selves with ups and downs since our departure from Isterkil we stopt at length about half an hour after ten in the Forenoon by a Village of Curds called Nian Nian Turpentine wild Chestnut-trees Agnus Castus Kerbela Imam-Hussein All these hills are covered with Turpentine and wild Chestnut-trees and most of the Waters bordered with Agnus Castus and Rose-Laurels After we had pitched our Tent we saw a Caravan that came from Persia and was going to Bagdad upon a Pilgrimage to a place called Imam-Hussein or Kerbela where there is great devotion payed it is the place where Hussein was killed and where his Tomb is and is about four days Journey from Bagdad towards Mosul in Mesopotamia Towards the Evening that day we had a great shower of Rain but it was presently over and it was so cold in the Night-time that though I was in my Cloaths for I never stript in the Fields I stood in need of my coverlet and that cold encreased daily the farther we advanced on our way We parted from that place on Friday the nine and twentieth of August at two a Clock in the Morning and having marched three hours longer among the hills we came into
better Way though the Mountains still surrounded us but we mounted onely some small Ascents until marching Northwards we began an hour after to have ups and downs again over very high hills and in worse and more dangerous ways than hitherto we had seen but that lasted not an hour and then we came into a Plain encompassed with hills Standing away Eastwards we came by a Village called Chegiafar Chegiafar where there are a great many scattering houses of which part are built of rough Stone and Earth and some of Canes and Reeds covered with green branches those of Earth serve for the Winter and Rainy weather and then no body lived in them and the other of Canes are for the Summer that the Inhabitants may have the fresh Air. Amongst these houses there is also a great Mosque built of rough Stone and Earth We made no stop there but a little beyond it came and encamped near another Village consisting as the former in the Summer and Winter-houses but not in so great Number it is called Seraou Seraou and is distant from Chegiafar about a quarter of an hours march We arrived there a little after seven in the Morning the Village stands upon a rising ground at the foot whereof runs a lovely spring-Spring-water Towards the Evening some of these Curds came to our Tent and bid us take heed to our selves because there were Robbers in the hills who creeping on their Bellies in the Night-time came and carried away what they could find We shew'd them our Arms which they seemed to be much in love with many amongst us believed that they themselves were the onely Thieves and that they came to give us this warning that we might not accuse them if we were robbed and also that they might see our Arms. We parted from thence on Saturday the thirtieth of August half an hour after two in the Morning We went up hill and down hill over exceeding high and troublesome Mountains until eight a Clock after that we marched for two hours in a plain environed with hills where we saw several black Tents and about ten a Clock we encamped under Trees in a place called Rengpereng Rengpereng near which a Brook runs There was close by a Village of Curds who brought us provisions We parted from thence on Sunday the last of August about four of the Clock in the Morning At first we marched Eastward amongst Woods of Chestnut-trees where there is great plenty of liquorice as there is all that Countrey over we kept going upward still but in very good and easie way In the Morning we saw a Field sowed with Rice About seven a Clock we encamped in a Plain where there are some Trees near a Hamlet of three or four Huts of Canes Goaour and this place is called Goaour We parted from thence the same day about seven at Night and by Moon-light marched Eastward in the Plain or Valley till past Midnight that we descended by an ugly way into a very low Plain where having travelled almost an hour we passed a little Water Having marched about another hour we passed a Stone-Bridge of one Arch under which runs a little River that I could not learn the Name of a little after we passed over another Bridge much alike standing upon the same River About half an hour after two in the Morning Munday the first of September we encamped at the end of that Bridge near to a Village called Arnoua Arnoua where there is a good Kervanserai of brick there are also several Stone-houses and as many Huts of Canes These Bridges seem to have been lately built and the River that runs under them has no other Name amongst the People of the Countrey but the Water of Arnoua There are so many Frogs in that Countrey that my Tent was always full of them though they were continually driven out We parted the same day half an hour after ten at Night and marched Eastward in fair way till half an hour after one a Clock in the Morning of Tuesday the second of September when we came to a very uneasie descent and very dangerous too especially being in the dark because the Moon was then set for three hours after we had pretty good way Goumedli a River We crossed several Brooks and a small River called Goumedli and our way lay Northwards About half an hour after four in the Morning having gone down hill a little we went away Eastward in pretty good way having for sometime a large Brook of running Water on our left hand Half an hour after five we descended into a great Plain where we marched about an hour still Eastward Then about half an hour after six we came and encamped near to a Kervanserai built by a Lady A quarter of a league from that Kervanserai Maidescht there is a Village built of stone called Maidescht and a little farther off than that Village Scheik-Hali-Kan-Kervanserai there is another Kervanserai called Scheik-Hali Kan Kervanserai from the Name of a Chan that built it We passed by it after we had dislodged from the other about half an hour after eight at Night We lookt upon it to be very fair and commodious especially because of a little River that runs close by it it is called from the Name of the Village Maidescht Soui We crossed over it upon a Bridge of one Arch which is built very steep and sharp as most of the rest are we then kept on our way Eastward in the same smooth Plain Wednesday the third of September a litttle after Midnight we went over a hill but the way was pleasant enough and then came into the Plain again About three a Clock in the Morning we passed a little River and an hour and a half after came to a Village called Poul Schah Poul-Schah that 's to say the Kings Bridge we put our selves under cover there in a Kervanserai The Kervanserais of Persia are much finer and more commodious than those of Turkey at least such as are on the great Roads The Kervanserais of Persia for I speak not of those in Towns the loveliest in all the Levant being in Bursa These Kervanserais of Persia are large square brick-Buildings above three fathom high the entry into them is by a Portico under which are shops where all things necessary for life are to be had Passing through that Portico one enters into the Court in the middle of this of Poul Schah there is a Fountain which is not to be found in others All round the Court there are great Arches about three fathom wide and one and a half or two fathom deep under which are Mastabez or stone Divans about two foot raised from the ground In the middle of the Front or if you will at the bottom of the Divan there is a door about two foot wide where one enters into a Room of the same bigness as the place under the
Arch without and that Chamber has its Chimney All together makes a pretty commodious apartment for the Mastabe serves for a Divan and Anti-chamber and the Chamber is for retiring into when one hath no mind to be seen and for securing ones Goods These appartments are separated one from another by a partition Wall about three foot thick On the back-side all round the Han are the Stables where the Horses may stand dry under roof aswell as the Men and there are besides on one side Arches with Mastabez and Chimneys where one may lodge when the appartments of the Court are taken up They enter into it by four Gates one at each Corner of the Court. The whole Fabrick is covered with a Terrass upon which one may walk all round and the way up to it is by two pair of Stairs which are on the two sides of the Portico I mentioned at the entry One may stay in these Kervanserais as long as he pleases and nothing to be payed for lodging but the Chambers are not shut having neither door nor window nor is there a bit of Timber in the whole except at the great Gate In this Kervanserai we found Apples Pears and ordinary Grapes besides another sort which are small and have no stones they are very good and are called Kischmisch Kischmisch Poul-Schah a River A few steps from that Han runs a River called Poul-Schah that 's to say Kings Bridge from the Name of a very fair high Bridge which King Abbas caused to be built upon it near to that Village to which it hath given the Name This Bridge hath six Arches whose Pillars are of Free-Stone to the height of five or six foot above the water And upon these Pillars there are as many little Arches more which have on each hand a good Pillar round on the inside but sharp towards the Water for cutting and breaking the force of it when it rises so high these Pillars reach to the top of the Bridge against which they rest This Bridge is in length an hundred and thirty six common paces from the first to the last Arch without comprehending the two Avenues which are paved as the Bridge is having side-Walls of the same materials four or five foot high and each of them about forty paces in length the breadth of the Bridge is about ten common paces All that Bridge is of brick except the Pillars with their sharp points and butteresses It is well built and kept in so good repair that there is not one brick wanting and it seems to be Brannero There are fair and good Fish taken in that River and they are commonly taken with Coculus Indicus much used in that Countrey they make it up with Paste to make the Fish drunk The Town where the Chan resides is about two miles distant from the Village it is called Kerman Schahon that 's to say the Kings Barns Kerman Schahon because the Countrey about bears plenty of Rice which Schah Abbas gave for the Zaret or Pilgrimage of Devotion that was made to the Mosque of Imam Hussein which I spoke of before But the Turk being Master of it at present the Rice is sent to Ispahan This is but an inconsiderable Town nevertheless it hath a covered Bazar well stored with Goods and Provisions for the Belly There is a Serraglio in it for the Chan or Governour The truth is though it make some better shew than the rest of the houses it is indeed of no great worth at least on the outside for I entered not the Gate but saw some Divans for taking the Air in We rested there all that day and the three following because the Chans Vizir for so they call the Officer who commands in his absence would not suffer us to go Watchmakers company inconvenient in Persia till first he knew whether the Chan would buy any Watches Wherein I observed that it is not good to travel in that Countrey with Watch-makers because in this manner they stop all Caravans till the Chan hath seen whether there be any thing that he has a mind to buy We parted not then till Saturday the sixth of September about eleven of the Clock at Night and we took our way Eastwards by a fair Road having near us to the left rocky hills very high and steep and to the right hand other Mountains at a little more distance We found on this way many People in companies coming and going which was far more pleasant to us than the ways through the Desarts Sunday the seventh of September about five a Clock in the Morning we past by a Village called Schechernow Schechernow that 's to say new Town where there is a fair Kervanserai with many stone-Buildings and several black Tents A little Water runs by it which divides it self into several Rivulets it is called Bisitoum Bisitoum and has its source an hundred paces from thence at the foot of a hill near to which we passed That hill thrusts out pieces of Rock separated from one another by Veins and these pieces are somewhat round sticking on the hill from the top to the bottom and appear like figures in relief The People of our Caravan told me that they were so many figures which Ferhad cut for the love of his dear Schirin Ferhad Schirin who had her Castle upon that hill This Ferhad was an excellent Sculptor in that Countrey who was so deeply in love with Schirin that he broke his heart and died for her Cosrouve Schirin His Amours are described in the Poem entituled Cosrouve Schirin whereof there is a Manuscript in the French King's Library at Paris About six a Clock we found a Bridge of four Arches under which runs a River called the Water of Schechernow and that 's the Name of the Bridge also they say that this Bridge was built by the same Person who built the Village of Schechernow Half an hour after we came to another Bridge of two Arches Chadiar under which runs a River called Chadiar but because it is very ill paved and has no Rails nor side-Walls we crossed the Water which is not a foot deep a little below the Bridge and encamped on a Plain on the other side where we had three Villages round us about two or three Musket-shot distant Zufear Calantar Sagas The Village to the North is called Zufear that to the West Calantar and the third which is to the South Sagas We were obliged to keep guard that Night for the Inhabitants of those quarters are reckoned so nimble at thieving that they 'll carry away a mans goods even from under his head and he not perceive it and they are so sharp at it and so obstinate that they are attentive in watching their opportunity not onely while all things be loaded but even untill the Caravan be gone We dislodged the same day half an hour after eleven at Night and kept on Eastwards in a
fair Road near hills we passed by many Rivulets on our right hand Munday Morning the eighth of September half an hour after five we came to a great bourg Sahna called Sahna We went through that Town and encamped without near the Gardens which are about it in great Numbers from whence they brought us fair Grapes Apples and Pears and furnished us under hand with a little Wine that we had not tasted since we left Mosul unless at Bagdad with the Fathers Capucins who make some privately for Mass for it is forbidden either to make or sell any And a little before I came to Bagdad an Armenian being catched there making Brandy had several hundred Bastinado's and whilst some beat him others poured his Brandy upon his head Now in all those places of Persia where there are no Christians not onely there is none to be found but even it is a Crime to speak of it nevertheless having demanded some of an Inhabitant of this Town who brought us Grapes after he had lookt about him on all hands to see if any body heard him he promised us a Jarr which he brought us a little while after It was sweet and red and had not sufficiently purged nevertheless it was good and delicious and so are their Grapes excellent Here we began to see sow'd Lands and a great many Gardens full of Vines and of all sorts of fruit and though it be in Curdistan Sofis yet Sofis also live there We parted from Sahna next day being Tuesday the ninth of September about two of the Clock in the Morning and about five we went up hill and down hill for a little while Half an hour after seven we crossed over a Bridge of four Arches under which runs a pretty broad River but shallow and it is called Camoutedona An hour after we came to a big Town Camoutedona a River Kenghever called Kenghever where we lodged in a Kervanserai This is a large Town well built and populous a Rivulet runs by it which they call the Water of Kenghever About it are a great many Gardens full of Fruit-trees of all sorts and it must heretofore have been a considerable place for there are the Walls of a Fortress still standing almost entire they are built of Flints and other very hard Stones that are both large and thick and some Towers still remain with several pieces of white Marble-Pillars of which the Capitals are so thick that it 's enough for three men to embrace them Amongst others at a little distance from a Tower close by this Fort there are some Port-holes for great Guns and a Gate towards the Countrey where two Pedestals of Marble are still remaining which formerly carried Pillars and these Pedestals which are four or five foot in length are placed at three or four foot distance from one another both upon a very thick Wall of fair Stone with a very lovely wreath on the outside So that in all probability these Pillars supported some Pavillion or Balcony for prospect or some thing else that was very weighty This Fortress is built upon an Eminence which affords a very distant prospect and the Town is the last place of Curdistan which terminates here Before I leave it for good and all The utmost bounds of Curdistan Curds I must say somewhat of the People that inhabit it The Curdi called anciently Carduchi live in the Summer-time in Huts made of Canes and Boughs of Trees and in Winter under Tents Their Countrey is so mountainous and so hard to be passed that I do not now wonder that the King of Persia every time that he went to besiege Bagdad instead of taking Cannon with him carried upon Camels metal to cast them obliging every Trooper besides to carry an Oque for it is absolutely impossible to have Cannon drawn along these ways Though these Curds lead a life much like the Arabs nevertheless they are more warlike and make very good use of Harquebuses nay in all places we past through there were always some of them who came and cheapened our Arms thinking they had been to be sold Amongst others one of them once offered me ten Abassis for my Fire-lock These Curds instead of Candle burn onely Oil of Naphta which is got in a place not far from Bagdad We parted from Kenghever the same day about half an hour after eleven at Night and in a very good Road marched Northwards About three a Clock in the Morning Wednesday the tenth of September we past over a fair Bridge of six Arches called the Bridge of Scheich-Hali-Kan Scheich-Hali-Kan from the name of a Chan that founded it the River that runs under it is called the Water of Scheich-Hali-Kan Bridge for to Bridges they give the Name of the Founder and to the Waters that run under them the Name of the Bridge An hour after we went by a Village which we onely saw by Moon-light but it seemed to me to be big and well built Having afterwards marched through a great Plain for a long while about seven of the Clock in the Morning we came to a Town called Asad Abad Asad Abad That Town or rather Burrough is of a vast extent and well built There are streight large Streets in it and in the middle of them a running Brook. The Entries into all the Houses are handsom though the Doors of many of them be but low and have many Gardens round them We lodged in the Fields without but close by the Town and parted from thence the same day about ten a Clock at Night directing our way full East Immediately after in very good way we went up a hill called Elouend Elouend it is so high that it took us a compleat hour to mount it and almost three quarters of an hour in coming down again on the other side After that we went by a little house of Rahdars where for every horse there are two Cabeghis of Caffare to be payed Then we marched above two hours and a half amongst Mountains and there after came into a Plain where having past by a great many Villages and crossed several Brooks and half an hour after five having left a Town called Zaga to the left hand Zaga two hours after we arrived at Hamadan where we lodged in a Kervanserai and payed a Bisti which is worth four Cabeghis a day for a Room We shall speak of the money of Persia in the description of Ispahan CHAP. II. Of the Road from Hamadan to Ispahan HAmadan is a very large Town but contains many void places Gardens and even ploughed Fields within it The houses are lovely and built onely of Bricks baked in the Sun There is no fair Street in it but that where they sell Stuffs Cloaths ready made and such like Commodities It is a streight long and broad Street and the shops of it are well furnished it lies near the Bezestein which is little but pretty well built This is a
considerable Town of Traffick and in former times was very strong it had a fair Castle which was a long time agoe demolished by the Turks who much ruined the Town also The Air is very bad here and so is the Water too there is no Wine to be found in this place but onely Brandy Many of our Caravan fell sick during the time we stayed there for my part I was taken with a looseness that soon after was followed by a Feaver which I carried with me to Ispahan where both held me above a Month and the Watch-maker that went with me fell into a Quartane-ague shortly after he arrived at Ispahan The Armenians have a Church in Hamadan but kept in bad order There is commonly a Chan who commands in that place but at that time there was none there onely a Deroga to whom the King sent a present of a Vest The ceremony of a Khalat or King's Vest while I was there There was no other Ceremony in it but that the Deroga went out about eight or nine a Clock in the Morning by the King's Gate so called because by that Gate they go to Ispahan and then advanced to a House about a quarter of a French League distant where he put on the Vest which the King sent him being of Cloath of Gold and presently returned to the Town amidst a Body of fifty or sixty of the chief Inhabitants on Horse-back who marched almost all a breast without any order whilst they were in the Fields Having stayed eight days at Hamadan we bargained with a Muletor for five Abassis for every saddle-Horse and for our Goods at the rate of eleven for the hundred Patmans of Tauris A hundred Patmans of Tauris are about six hundred weight the hundred Patmans of Tauris are near six hundred weight and that was a cheap bargain But the Muletor who perhaps repented what he had done resolved to stay for the Caravan with which we came and was not to depart till eight days after and we being told that there was an Aga come who guarded Butter and other Provisions that were going to the King we sent for his Muletor who furnished us with Saddle-horses for six Abassis and for our luggage we payed at the rate of fifteen Abassis for the hundred Patmans of Tauris To this beginning of a Caravan many others joyned who were as weary as we of staying at Hamadan so that all together we made a Caravan strong enough not to be afraid of Robbers For though they say there are none in Persia yet at that time there were several gangs of them abroad because the Chan of that quarter being dead there was no other as yet sent in his place We parted from Hamadan on Saturday the twentieth of September at five a Clock in the Morning and having past through a good part of the Town we went out by the King's Gate or the Gate of Ispahan taking our way Eastward We crossed several fair Waters and about seven a Clock a Bridge of five Arches under which runs a Rivulet that in the Winter-time swells high Having travelled one hour more over little hills we found two ways and not knowing which of the two to take because we were got a great way before the Caravan we were obliged Monsieur Jacob three Turks and my self to stay sometime for it After we had waited there above half an hour to no purpose we thought it not fit to return back for fear it might have taken another way and therefore at a venture all five of us took the way to the left hand Nischar and continued on till we came to a Town called Nischar by which we knew the Caravan was to pass We arrived there about three a Clock after Noon and took shelter in a wretched Kervanserai without the Town that was all ruinous All the furniture we had was a Coverlet which we spread under us that we might not lye upon the bare ground and a leathern Vessel which they call Matara to hold water in Matara for my man and all our baggage was with the Caravan We took patience however and in the mean time immediately after the Caravan had passed the Bridge it held along the River-side and came to lodge at a Village called Boulousch Kisar Boulousch Kisar Next day being Sunday the one and twentieth of September it parted from thence About two a Clock in the Morning and about six arrived at Nischar Having there payed a due of four Bistis a load it went on without stopping and we having joyned it again half an hour after nine encamped under Trees near a Village called Haran Haran where our Moucres gave us warning to keep good guard in the Night-time The truth is in the Day-time several Passengers stopt and at a distance considered our Arms and two hours after Night a man passing near to us and making no answer when he was asked who came there my man advanced towards him but then the Robber who came onely to see how Affairs stood said that he belonged to the Caravan which was immediately contradicted by some of our Company who told him that if he came that way again they would fire upon him Next day being Monday the two and twentieth of September we parted from that place about two of the Clock in the Morning and proceeding on still Eastward in good way we passed by several great Villages which we found every quarter of an hour almost and being come to a River above two fathom over which they call the River of Dizava we marched up it about half an hour and then having past over entered into a spacious Plain of which in two or three hours time we passed over a great part and came to a Town called Dizava so hid among Gardens which take up the whole breadth of the Plain that as a Curtain they not onely intercept the view of the Town but also of part of the Plain which reaches a good way beyond it An hour before we arrived there and being very near it we were fain to fetch a great compass to pass a Rivulet that was broad deep and very full of mud and then came to a little point which gave us a passage into Dizava where we kept marching on still along great Lanes made by Gardens on both hands that were well walled but without any Habitation and Dizava lies so hid that not a House of it is to be seen till you be in it though you were never so nigh so that he who did not understand the Map of the Countrey would think himself near a Forest for it is of a pretty large extent We past through a considerable part of the Town which is very ill built and about ten a Clock came to a good Kervanserai The ignorance of our Moucres was the cause of that compass we fetcht and besides all their Beasts both saddle and carriage Horses were so bad that it was impossible
to make them go faster than Asses so that we made but very small Journeys In the Evening we had a shower of rain that was presently over which was the first save onely a little mizling that we had seen fall since our departure from Aleppo Next day being Tuesday the three and twentieth of September about three a Clock in the Morning we set out again and continued our Journey Eastwards by very good way About seven a Clock we came into a very stony way betwixt rocky hills but it lasted not long about eleven a Clock we came to a large Village called Sari Sari and resolved to lodge in a very pretty and large Kervanserai but it was as full already as it could hold of Men and Beasts Wherefore it behoved us to betake our selves to another which was less bad and ruinous where we lodged very uneasily in the Stable amongst the Horses and Mules This Village is well built and I observed that the chief Wall of the Stable where we lodged was wholely built of black square Stones A kind of Marble about a foot long and about three fingers thick which when they are broken split into Tables like slate but thicker and I took them for black Marble The Watc-hmaker that was with us told me that men of his profession make use of this stone for polishing that which hath been filed before it be guilt Of this Marble are all the doors of houses as Pietro Della Valle says but there are few of them at Sari Some I saw at Dizava nay and I have seen of them in several places of Syria and I believe they make them of this Stone for want of Timber At Sari there is four Bistis to be payed a load This Evening there fell some rain again and it came to us accompanied with good old White wine which the Porter of the Kervanserai underhand sent for to the Village but his scruples were onely in formality For some Turks of our Caravan who had also bought of it found it to be so good that they sate by it merrily all Night till we were ready to depart which put them into so good a humour that for part of the way they did nothing but roar and sing like drunken Francks as they were till at length one of the gang tumbled off of his Mule and had almost broken his Neck but fell fast a sleep on the place About three a Clock in the Morning Wednesday the four and twentieth of September we parted from Sari About eight a Clock we passed by a Village called Dehile Dehile Mouclasabah Machat and an hour after by another called Mouclasabah and about ten a Clock we arrived at a Village named Machat where we sheltered our selves in a little Kervanserai We parted from thence next day being Thursday the five and twentieth of September at Midnight and by break of day passed through a Town called Scheher-ghird Scheher-ghird which seemed to me to be well built we then marched forwards till ten of the Clock through a large barren Plain there being no Water in it nor indeed any habitation that we could find At ten a Clock we came to a very fair Kervanserai called Bag Bag. the appartments whereof are very commodious and under the Gate there lives a man who sells all things necessary for life and he hath three little Rooms for his dwelling There are such Porters in all the Kervanserais of Persia but more especially there is need of one at this for there is no habitation about it and the nearest place is a Village to the right hand behind the hill Angouan called Angouan where much Tapistry is made and if they told me true is an Agatsch that 's to say Agatsch Farsang a league distant For the Persians count the way by Agatsch or Farsang which is one and the same Agatsch being the Turkish Word and Farsang the Persian and it is an hours Journey for a Horse-man but for us it is almost two nevertheless near to Ispahan they are so short that we travelled one an hour At this Kervanserai there are three Bistis payed a Load The lintels of the gates of it are made of one entire piece of that kind of Marble which I mentioned to be at Sari but it is not polished and without the gate there is on each side a Mastabe they are in length about six foot each and four or five foot high upon three of breadth the upper part of these Mastabez is of one whole piece of that Stone This Marble hath been dug about fifty paces from the gate out of a Rock a little higher than the ground at the root whereof there is a little Spring of Water which is all they have in that place to drink As I was walking about this Kervanserai I found little Marble-Stones white red spotted and of all sorts of colours Which makes me think that that place affords Marble of all colours and indeed the upper part of the Rock is almost all white We parted next day being Friday the six and twentieth of September about three of the Clock in the Morning and went up hill and down hill in pretty good way for the space of three hours I observed by the ways side several Rocks of black Stone rising a little out of the ground Black Stone which were all divided into Tables hardly thicker than blew Slates and much about the same colour but joyned very close together Half an hour after six we came into a great Plain where we found Water in three or four places and there we travelled till eleven a Clock when we arrived at a Village called Nichouan which we went almost quite through Nichouan and came to rest in a great Kervanserai pretty commodious but ugly and all built of pieces of unburnt greyish Earth There are two others in this Village which we past by they are small but seemed to me to be neater We stayed there the day following to refresh our Beasts and parted on Sunday the seven and twentieth of September about half an hour after nine at Night We travelled up hill and down hill by intervals but still in fair and soft way Sunday Morning the eight and twentieth of September half an hour before day we passed by a great Village called Fagasoun Fagasoun all that I could there observe in the darkness of the Night was that having gone over a Bridge of five Arches upon a small Rivulet we passed along the sides of several great Gardens where there is plenty of Water Half an hour after six in the Morning we came to another Village called Ithoua Ithoua where we lodged in a little Kervanserai all built of Clods of unburnt greyish Earth An hours travelling from thence there is a little Town called Ghulpaigan Ghulpaigan but we past not through it We left this Lodging on Munday the nine and twentieth of September about two a Clock in
till within three or four days Journey of Schiras and that rain lasted from the beginning of August untill the middle of September so that it seemed the Winter of the Indies had shifted into that Countrey but that was lookt upon as a thing extraordinary The VValls of Ispahan The Circuit of Ispahan The City of Ispahan is walled round with Earthen Walls which is singular to it for in Persia most part of the Towns have none at all It requires about four or five hours to make the round of this City but there are a great many large Houses that have but few living in them and which take up a great deal of space because of the spaciousness of the Gardens Great Gardens some houses taking up twenty Acres of ground nay it is not long since there was nothing but Gardens on the side of the Fort But now there are many Buildings there and that quarter is called the New Town where the Air and Water are better than in the old Town The New Town This City hath seven Gates of which these are the Names Der-Vasal Lembon Der-Decht Der-Mark Der-Tockhi Der-Cha Gerestan Der-Nasanabad and Der-Vasalchab which is not far from the Serraglio The City of Ispahan hath also great Suburbs where many Persons of Quality live The best built most beautifull and richest of all is the Suburbs of Giolfa that lies beyond the River of Senderu and the Walls of its Gardens being near that River in this Burrough or Suburbs live the Armenians whom Schah Abbas the first transplanted thither after he had ruined a Town of that Name in the Upper Armenia And they thought fit to give to this new Habitation the Name of their ancient Town and Countrey to preserve the memory of it so that to distinguish them from the others they are commonly called Giolfalu that 's to say one of Giolfa All round Giolfa there are a great many other Cantons which are likewise pretty well built not onely of Armenians who have left their own Countrey to come and live there but also of other Nations There are the Cantons of Ecrivan Nackhuan Chaksaban Sirou-Kainan Gaur Sitchan Mekrigan c. The quarter of Taurislu called Tauris-Abad or Abis-Abad which is opposite to Giolfa on this side the River towards Ispahan is much bigger than Giolfa but neither so pleasant nor so well built The beauty of the houses of pleasure which Persons of Quality have in the Suburbs consists in great Divans having in the middle and before them Basons of Water and the Gardens which are full of two or three kinds of Flowers and these commonly Turkey Gilly-Flowers Marsh-Mallows and some other such all very ordinary Flowers but yet lasting many Months of the year give a pleasant prospect The Persians fit in the cool in these Divans every one with his Pipe of Tobacco which is the most delightfull Employment they have when they are at home There are many squares in Ispahan but of all that which is called the Meidan is not onely the loveliest but I think that of all regular Piazzas The Meidan it is the greatest and finest place in the World. It is about seven hundred common paces in length and two or three hundred in breadth so that it is above twice as long as broad It is built all about and the Houses are all in form of Portico's over which there is another second range of Arches more backwards which serve for Galleries and a passage to the rooms of some adjoyning Kervanserais and seeing these houses are all of an equal height they yield a very lovely prospect All round the place at some little distance from the Buildings there is a fair Canal of Spring-water made by the Schah Abbas the first who for greater embellishment caused plane-Trees at competent distances to be planted all along which render that place exceedingly delightfull but they dayly decay because they neglect the planting of Trees in the place of those that are wanting At one end of the place that is on the North over the Gate of the Bazar there is a Bell round which is this inscription Ave Maria gratia plena A Bell. They say that it was taken out of a Monastery of Nuns at Ormus On the two sides of that Bell are great Balconies or Galleries Galleries where every Evening at Sun-set and at midnight many men assemble who make musick some with the ordinary trumpet some with Timbrels and others with an extraordinary kind of trumpet which perhaps has not as yet been heard of in France and therefore I have thought fit to give a description of it A long copper Trumpet These trumppets are made of copper and streight about eight foot long the body of it is of an unequal bigness for the end that is put to the mouth is an inch in diameter but about an inch from it the neck is very narrow Hence our speaking Trumpets and then enlarges again to the breadth of an inch and the end or mouth out of which the sound and wind comes is almost a foot and a half in diameter These trumpets are taken in two at the middle and they put the upper part into the lower at the great end where it easily enters when they have a mind to sound they skrew the two parts together but they had need of a strong Arm to hold that long Pipe of copper out right when they sound it It makes a strong deep sound so that the musick is heard all over the City but it is not at all pleasant and is more proper to fright People with an Allarm than to divert them As you go from that place of the Meidan where these musicians meet which as I said is at the North end of it towards the South there are two Banks five or six foot high and above a fathom distant which serve for playing at the mall on horse-back and the bowl must go betwixt those Banks The Mall About the middle of the Place there is a high Tree or Mast erected on the top whereof there is a round ball A Mast where they shoot with Arrows and there Horse men practice Archery riding at full speed and not shooting their arrow till they be past which they do by turning themselves quite round upon the crupper of the horse The Gate of Aly. A little farther to the right or West-side is the Gate of Aly called Aly-Capi which is a large plane Gate over which there is a lovely Divan the roof whereof is onely supported with wooden Pillars and the King comes often to take the Air in this place Entering in at this Gate you go along a great Alley to another large Gate The threshold of a Gate in Veneration whose threshhold is a step of round stone to which the Persians shew great respect and that is it which is properly called the Gate of Aly. All malefactors that can make their escape into a Court
beyond it Three Sanctuaries Sofis as also into the Kings Stables or Kitchins are in safe sanctuary no body dares tread upon that step which many in devotion kiss and the Gate is guarded by Sofis who are always there in great Numbers There is an entery into the King's House by the Court that is beyond it but that is not the principal Entry The Gate of the Palace Going back again into the Meidan a little beyond the Gate of Aly is the ordinary Gate of the King's Palace it is but an indifferent Gate and there are hundreds better in Ispahan Before these Gates upon an Earthen work raised three foot high or thereabouts there is a great Number of great and small Guns some mounted and others not which were all taken at Ormus Opposite to this Gate on the other side of the Square there is a Mosque with a Dome covered with Earth burnt and varnished green the Porch whereof is very high and painted all over with lovely Colours varnished for the rest it is but inconsiderable and the entry into it is by some steps There is another Mosque at the South end of the place which seems to be of the same contrivance but is far neater and this is called the King's Mosque not onely because it was founded by Schah Abbas the first but also because it is near the Palace Before this Mosque there is a Parvis or Walk of many Angles and in the middle of it a Bason of Water likewise Polygone the Porch is all over painted and varnished with blew yellow and many other Colours in great Flowers and over each side there is a Minaret painted in the same fashion with a very pretty Balcony out of which juts a kind of little Turret The Gates of the Mosque It hath two Gates almost three fathom high a piece and about a fathom wide which are faced all over with Plates of Silver with some Curiosities here and there embossed and there is a step there just like to that of Aly Capi. Having passed these Gates you enter into a great square Court paved with large smooth Stones in the middle whereof there is a square Bason of Water and along the side by which you enter a kind of gallery under which there are some shops there is another over head where you may see the doors of a great many little Chambers which as I think serve for lodging Rooms for the Scholars of the Medrese Fronts to the five Gates of the Mosque In the middle of the fourth side of the Court which faces you as you enter is the Mosque which hath five Gates and each of them its Porch the middlemost is at least ten fathom wide and about ten or twelve high the other two on each side lessen proportionably as they are distant from the middle This frontispiece hath a Minaret on each side which surpass it above three fathom in height and all is built of white Marble about a fathom high the rest being painted with several lovely colours and varnished over The entry of the middle and chief Porch is about six or seven fathom broad on the outside for on the inside it draws narrower by degrees till you come at the end of it where there are two doors which are also very high and are each above a fathom wide This is the entry into the Mosque which is large and spacious with a vast round Dome very well built and all painted and varnished It is square and divided into five Isles by a double range of six or seven great stone-Pillars two or three fathom high on each side The side Isles have their several entries by these four other Gates which with that of the middle Porch make all the frontispiece of the Porch of that Mosque and the middle Isle or Body with its Porch is much higher as I said then the rest and the two next exceed also the two remotest in proportion of height Along the Wall on the left hand are Windows reaching from the pavement a fathom high they are all square holes through which one may see into the Cloyster that is on the left side and which is one of the Courts of the Medreseâ— that I have mentioned All the Walls of this Mosque are of white Marble from the paving a fathom high the rest like the Dome is painted with various colours and varnished The pavement is all of large and very smooth Stones but under the Dome it is covered all over with lovely Carpets and the outside of the Dome is faced with green Bricks varnished After all Christians are not suffered to enter it it and if one be found there and known he is driven out with Cudgels like a Dog and yet that hindered not me from going thither with Monsieur Diagre master of the Dutch factory at Ispahan for which purpose both he and I put our selves into the habit of the Coutrey and received not the least affront At the corner of the Meidan betwixt South and West there is a Street in which to the right hand is the Gate of the King 's Haram that 's to say his Wifes house and on the left hand is his Karchanee that 's to say his Work-house because all the Workmen of every sort of trade who are under his pay work there they all have their shops and it is like to an Arsenal where all trades are to be found One of the finest things to be seen at Ispahan are the stately Gardens of Hezar Dgerib the chief building whereof is pleasant and at the end of the fair Street of Tcharbag or Tcheharbag but since that Street leads to it The Street of Tcheharbag and that it hath particular beauties of its own I think fit to describe it before I come to the description of Hezar Dgerib Tcheharbag which signifies four Gardens is a great Street near a hundred paces broad and above two Italian miles in length On the side of Ispahan there is at the head and entry into it a little Pavillion or Square building two stories high adorned with many Balconys and painted Windows to which they come from the King's Palace by a kind of corridor or curtain and this Street ends at Hezar Dgerib as we have just now said It is bounded on both sides by the Walls of a great many Gardens and at certain distances by little houses of uniform Symmetry which have all a little Pavillion and doors that open into the Gardens that belong some to the King and the rest to several great Lords who take their diversion in these places About twelve steps from the Garden-Walls there is on each side a row of lovely Plane Trees planted in a streight line which yield a rare shade and in the middle betwixt those two rows of Trees runs along the whole Street a current of Water in a Canal of fair Stone about five foot deep and thirteen over adorned here and there with Cascades and some rare
Water-works which fall into Basons The sides of that Canal are paved into the Street and make a way of Free-Stone for Foot-men which eases them of the inconvenience of meeting horses that go lower in the Street In short this Street is divided by the River of Senderu on which there is built a very lovely Bridge A Bridge of lovely Structure of a pretty singular structure which joyns together the two parts of the Street This Bridge which is called by the Name of him that built it to wit Alyverdy-Chan and which is also named the Bridge of Julpha is built of good Brick with edgings of Free-Stone and supported by a great many little and low stone-Arches It is about three hundred paces long and about twenty broad but in the middle where Carts and Horses goe it is not above four fathom broad and is no higher in the middle than at the two ends On each side instead of a Parapet it hath a Gallery covered with a plat-form both which are very commodious for Passengers These Galleries are raised above the level of the Bridge above half a pikes height The going up to them is by so easie Stairs that horses may without trouble ascend them men are there secure from bad weather or the heat of the Sun and yet have an open Air and fair prospect for these vaulted Walks have a great many Windows that look upon the River If a man desire a more open passage he hath the plat-form over this gallery that equally reaches from one end of the Bridge to the other But it is so hot upon it in the Summer-time that the other way is more commonly taken which serves also many times for a Horse-way in the Winter that they may avoid the Water that fills up the middle of the Bridge when the River overflows which sometimes happens though in the Summer-time it be so low that there is hardly any Water in it so that they have been forced to use art in paving the bottom in that place very smooth that so it may fill its Channel by spreading its Waters equally This Bridge then hath five passages one in the middle and four in the two sides to wit the two covered Galleries and the two Plat-forms over them which are above twelve foot broad with Rails both towards the Bridge and River Nay there is a sixth passage when the water is low which during the great heats of Summer is very delightfull for its coolness and that is a little vaulted Gallery which crosses all the Arches from one end of the Bridge to the other it is low underneath and reacheth to the bottom of the River but there are Stones so laid that one may step over without wetting the foot they go down into it from the Bridge by steps made in the thickness of the Walls There are also two other Bridges upon that River to the right hand and all the three are at above half a miles distance from one another The first above this is very plain but the other which they call the Bridge of Schiras for one thing exceeds the first in beauty and that is a Hexagone place which it hath in the middle where the Water of the River hath a lovely fall Let us now consider Hezar Dgerib which ends the fair Street of Tcheharbag The name of it imports a thousand Dgerib and Dgerib is a certain land measure which the Persians have as we have the pearch the fathom and other measures Before this house there is a large square Court at the end whereof stands the Building which consists of a Divan onely one story high with Chambers at its four corners and it hath the same front towards the Garden which in reality is very pretty The Gardens of Hezar-gerib This Garden of Hezar-gerib hath six stories of Terrasses the Earth of which is supported by stone-Walls and these stories are raised about a fathom in height one above another There are a great many Alleys or Walks in that Garden both in length and breadth which reach all from the one end to the other and are very streight and even save that in those which reach in length at every story one must ascend seven or eight steps The chief Walk or Alley that begins at the building is very broad but that which renders it altogether charming is a stone-Canal in the middle of it of the same breadth as that of the Street Tcheharbag which answers in a streight line to this and hath no Water but what it receives from it The Canal of this Walk is far more beautifull than that of the Street and affords a lovely prospect in regard that at every two fathoms distance there are Pipes which spurt up Water very high and that at each story there is a sheet of Water that falls into a Bason underneath from whence it runs into the Canal On each side of these sheets of water there is a pair of Stairs and a way that leads streight up I leave it to the Readers imagination to conceive the pleasantness of that prospect and the beauty of these Cascades which are the first object that offers and surprises the sight of those that enter into this Garden Walking then along the great Alley after you have advanced a little you cross over a Canal a fathom broad which cuts it as it does all the other Walks that are parallel thereunto but without breaking them for it runs under little brick-Arches Mounting up to the fourth story you 'll find a large place where there is a Bason of eight sides above twenty fathom in diameter and three foot deep of water it hath Water-pipes that play all round it besides one in the middle On each side of this place you have a large covered Divan built of Brick but open on all hands with a bason of water in the middle These are really charming places especially for enjoying the cool wherein the Levantines place their greatest delight Having ascended three stories more you come to a pretty high Building which bounds the Walk and on both sides of it there is a wall that separates this part of the Garden from the other beyond it to the front of this Building there is a bason of water Then you enter into a Hall made cross-ways open on the four sides at each Corner whereof you 'll find little rooms Over that there is another story which is much the same From that Hall you enter into the other part of the Garden and recover the great Walk or Alley again which is continued in a streight line through the Hall There you have the Canal and Sheets of Water in the same manner as in the other save that in this part the basons are above the sheets of water whereas in the former they are under them Having mounted the sixth story you 'll find an octogone Bason of the same bigness as the former with a Divan or Kiosk on each hand After you have
rectified They have a Glew that holds as well as strong white Glew Scherischoun instead of Glew and the Shoe-makers and other Artisans make use of no other It is a root they call Scherischoun which they grind like corn betwixt Stones when it is ground it looks like Saw dust they steep this powder in water and make use of it in glewing any thing Soap In Persia they make soap of grease or tallow instead of Oyl and that makes it to have a bad scent and with the least sweating to breed lice in their Linnen Rasors The Rasors they make have a very thick back and are very heavy Physicians There are many Physicians in Persia and amongst them some skilfull men When they have visited their Patient they write their Bills upon a little bit of Paper which they give to a Woman who goes to a drugists and buys all the ingredients which she prepares for a Medicine for all over Persia the Women prepare the Medicines Remedy for a Feaver Their most usual Medicine for a Feaver are the cold Seeds which they peel and put into water giving the Patient the whole presently to be drank down China They make great use of China in several distempers They put it in infusion in Brandy and for fifteen days set it in the Sun they take it for the space of a Month observing in the mean time a good diet and especially not to eat any thing that has Salt in it to abstain from Wine and Women and not to stir abroad out of ones Chamber but they use not that Medicine in the Summer-time Bloud-letting They let bloud too and are very dextrous at it I speak by experience they tye a ligature of leather very streight about the Arm and then without rubbing or looking much on the place they take their Lance which is very broad and in a handle like a Rasor and prick very skilfully but they draw a great quantity of bloud when they are let alone In this Countrey of Persia as well as in Turkey they whiten or if you will tinn brass and copper otherwise than with us The Workmen make use of Salt Armoniack which they set over the fire with a little water to purifie and take the grease from it there they leave it till the humidity be evaporated so that it be all reduced into a white Powder Then they wash the Vessel they are to tinn very clean with * Soudegrise grey Saltwort which they have boiled in it after that a Boy setting the Vessel upon the ground puts sand into it and putting his two feet thereon turns to and again untill the Vessel be well scoured and no grease remain Then the Master takes it and setting it upon a clear coal fire with the Mouth downwards leaves it there till it be almost red when it is so he takes hold on it with a pair of Pinsers and with the other hand takes a parcel of Cotton with which he takes a little Salt Armoniack and therewith rubs the Vessel very well then he presses a piece of tin on it which being a little melted he takes a small portion of Salt Armoniack on his Cotton again and applying it upon the melted tinn he therewith rubs the Vessel untill it be all tinned over and so soon as he hath done that he throws it into cold water This they do so fast that in half an hours time they 'll tinn five or six Skillets and that costs but very little nay those that have store of vessels send for them to their houses and they bring their shops along with them which consists in a few coals a little Saltwort a pair of bellows the horn of an Ox full of Salt Armoniack and some small pieces of Tinn They work in any place they would have them whether in the Court Gardens or any where else without any need of a Chimney for they make their fire by a stone against which they lean their Vessel that it may not put out the fire when it is set upon it they cover the nose of their bellows with a little Earth made over it arch-ways and so their shop is prepared and in readiness CHAP. VII The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of Moneys Weights and Measures SInce it happens often in the sequel of this discourse that when I am to speak of things I make use of the terms used in the Countrey without explaining them for avoiding of prolixity I have thought fit to do it in a Chapter by it self where the Reader may be satisfied when he has a mind I shall onely speak here of moneys that are current in Persia and especially of the pieces of the Countrey Moneys and VVeights of Persia The Piastres are commonly worth there thirteen Schais and when they are full weight they are worth thirteen Schais and a Bisti the Bisti consists of four Casbeghis of which ten make a Schai The most current money are the Abassis Mahmoudis Chais and Casbeghis The Abassi is of the value of four Schais which make about eighteen Sols of our money and the Mahmoudi contains two Schais which are nine Sols the Schai is worth about four Sols and a half and the Casbeghi five Deniers and a half or somewhat less The Toman is worth fifteen Piastres or fifty Abassis The Boquelle is worth three Abassis or twelve Schais They have great pieces of silver of the value of five Schais and weigh two Medicals The Mahmoudi is also called Yuz-Alton which is as much as to say an hundred Altons and nevertheless that word Alton which signifies Gold is commonly taken for a Chequin but in a Mahmoudi it is taken for the value of a Denier and in the same manner five Abassis are also called Min-Alton or Bing-alton which signifies a thousand Alton but I could not learn of any a satisfactory reason for that last signification Seeing the Abassis are the pieces that are most current in Persia it is fit one should know that it is the best money in the World. They are of the finest silver and the Officers of the Mint dare not coyn one single piece until they have first refined the Piastres and other pieces of silver that are appointed for the making of Abassis They are stamped as all the rest of their money with the hammer and not milled and there is so great equality in their weight that in great payments they are weighed after this manner They put five and twenty Abassis in one scale of the balance and as many in the other and if the one weigh more or less than the other they conclude for a certain that there are some false Abassis amongst them and fail not to examine them in which they are never out for each Scale ought most exactly to weigh alike They then put the five and twenty of the one Scale into the other which by that means contains fifty and that number makes the Toman
other paints are stamped upon them with a mould besmeared with Colours CHAP. X. The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Chiefly of Eating A Persian Chimney ALL over Persia they seldom warm themselves by a Fire in the Chimney which is taken out of the wall but so little that it is hardly to be seen They have an Engine in their Rooms which they call the Coursi Coursi which is more convenient for use and renders a milder heat than that of a Chimney In the Floor of the Room they have a great square hole The way of warming a foot deep and about three foot broad into that they put clear burning Coals and over them a little wooden Table much of the same bigness and a large foot high which hath four feet that rest upon Stones purposely set at the four Corners of the hole They cover this Table with a large pinked Carpet which on all sides trails on the ground so that they see no fire and yet receive a gentle heat through the Carpet Now if they have a mind to have a greater heat to warm them all over of a sudden they sit down on Cushions round the Table and put their feet a-cross the frame of it and then cover themselves with the Carpet up to the Neck so that their whole body is under it and nothing out but the Head which warms them all over without burning their Face or breathing too hot an Air. Neither do they make use of Candle but the most part even the King himself The Persians use Lamps use Lamps whereinto they put tallow by bits for they employ not the Oil of Naphta which is got in a place near the Caspian Sea but onely in varnishing of Pictures As to their feeding the Persians are no greater husbands Their eating than in their Cloaths and Attendants Nevertheless they eat boiled meat but once a day which is commonly at Night and they wonder that the Franks eat twice In the King's House they boil Victuals twice a day though they eat of them but once The Persians eat boiled meat but once a day but every one is left to their humour to eat in the Morning or Evening according to their Appetite though most commonly they eat in the Evening and the King observes usually that rule As for the women they ask them every Morning if they have a mind to boiled meat which they call the Hazir in the Morning or at Night and they who have it in the Morning have none at Night Their other meal is of Fruit Cheese and Sweet-meats Their boiled meat consists in Pilao or Schilao Schilao which is boiled Rice without Butter but onely Water and Salt till it be as thick as Pilao which is instead of a Pottage to the Turks as the Schilao is in Persia and all over the Indies I have spoken of Pilao in my former travels When they serve in the Schilao at the same time they set upon the Table another dish of meat or fish with a great deal of broth of which they take several spoonfulls that they put upon their Plates with the Schilao And that with Salt-fish makes their most delicious Food They make also another kind of broth with Rice which they call Cangi Cangi When the Rice is boiled they strain it and take the water and mingle it with a little Flower as if they were to make broth and if it be the Flower of Barley it is the wholsomer they put to it also two Yelks of an Egg with Sugar and boil all like a thin broth when it is almost fully boiled they put Rose-water into it This is very good food especially for the sick to whom they commonly give it being of easie digestion nourishing and pleasant and in that Countrey they are allowed no other food A great many who are in health take a mess of broth every Morning but it is made after another way They put into a Skillet two or three handfulls of Rice and boil that with a good deal of water untill the substance of the Rice be incorporated into the water then they strain it and drink it fasting which is very refreshing Much after this manner they give it commonly to the sick both in Persia and the Indies nor indeed do they take so much pains about it but onely bruise a handfull of Rice and boil it very clear with Water and Salt The meat most commonly used in Persia is Mutton and Lamb as also Pullets and Capons when they are in season And indeed it is but of late that they have had the use of Capons they usually have them boiled for it is not their custom to roast meat on the Spit The Persians Roast-meat and if sometimes they do it it is onely by little pieces but they bake in the Oven whole Sheep and Lambs in this manner After they have well heated the Oven which hath the Mouth in the top they put into it the meat and hang it there with an Earthen Dripping-pan underneath to receive the fat It roasts alike on all sides and when it is enough they cut it into pieces There are many shops where they sell all sorts of it and in what quantity one pleases and to say the truth they dress it very well The Armenians way of roasting a Lamb. The Armenians have another way of roasting a whole Sheep for having flead it they cover it again with the skin and put it into an Oven upon the quick Coals covering it also with a good many of the same Coals that it may have fire under and over to roast it well on all sides and the skin keeps it from being burnt The Persians have also a great many Ragoes which though singly they cost but little yet by the number of them are very expensive wherein they differ much from the Turks who spend little on their Belly The frugality of the Turks as in other things to wit their women and servants of whom they keep no more than they can conveniently entertain Above all things the Persians are immoderate in the excessive eating of fruits and I have been assured that some of them in a frolick will eat three nay four Man 's of Melons to eat a Man is a very usual thing The Persians eat too much fruit and nevertheless the Man of Ispahan is no less than twelve pound Weight as I have said already And indeed many of them die through their excessive eating of fruit Persian Bread. Their bread is commonly sprinkled over with Poppy-seed and for the rest is very good They make it into large Cakes half a finger thick some they make also so thin that it looks like fine Paper and they are obliged to lay twelve or fifteen of them together which they fold into two or four pleats and some of that fashion is very good But in some places it is but half baked very brown and all full of
bits of Straw so that it looks more like brown Paper than bread if a Stranger were not told it he might be mistaken And some French when first these Cakes were brought before them took them for course Napkins They make great use of Earthen ware which is very pretty especially because of the lovely Varnish they give it it is made in Kerman and I was assured that the Dutch had the invention from thence of making that false purcelane which we call Hollands purcelane Butter In Persia generally they make not use of Butter of Cow's Milk alone because it is not good but they mingle it with the Butter of Ewes Milk which is much better The Yogourt is an ordinary Ragoe in that Countrey I remember that I have described it already and shall onely now add how they season it in the Spring they cut Fennel into small bits and with Turpentine-seed which in that season is still green and begins onely to look a little reddish they put it into the Yogourt to qualify the coldness of it Torschi They also make Torschi or a preserve of that seed in Vinegar into which they put the Berries to be pickled whole The Persians way of drinking VVine The Persians by their Law are prohibited to drink Wine as well as the Turks but they are not so scrupulous as to that point When they drink VVine they do it without mixture after the Levantines manner who never drink water with it but when they drink VVine they have pots of water by them whereof now and then they take large draughts Bowl of Punch The Francks use a Beverage there which they call a Bowl of Punch and is cooling They take a large Earthen Bowl that holds four or five quarts and fill it half full of water then they put in as much VVine with the Juice of Limons Sugar Cinamon and Nutmeg which they drink in full draughts in the Summer-time Ice-houses in Persia The Persians make great use of Ice even in VVinter but never of Snow they make not their Ice-houses as in France and this is their way They raise a wall towards the South three or four fathom high Along that wall on the North-side they digg a Ditch about three fathom deep and as much broad and Northwards from the Ditch they make several beds six or seven fathom long and one fathom broad which are separated one from another by little Dykes of Earth like Salt-pits some are two or three foot deep and others one foot When it is very cold they bring the River-water into these beds which freezes very quickly and when it is thick and hard they break the Ice of the hollowest beds into great pieces which they carry into the Ditch where they lay it in very good order Then they break the Ice of the shallower beds and having put it into the Ditch upon that which they had laid there before they beat it into very small morcels with a spade or shovel and fill up all the chinks that are betwixt the large pieces with them At night they throw a great deal of water over all which they do with the skins of gourds cut in two pieces and fastened to the end of long poles this water freezes in the Night-time and joyns all the Ice into one piece In the mean time they bring in more water into the beds that it may freeze there after which they remove the Ice into the Ditch where they place it above the former in the same manner untill it be a fathom and a half high then they cover all with Straw and Reeds two or three foot thick and when they would take out any for use they open the Ditch but in one place This is an easie invention at at Ispahan where the Air is very dry and where there is but little moist Weather It would seem some few of these Ice-houses might be sufficient for a whole great City and nevertheless there are a great many such made in several places near the Town A good many in Persia take Opium The use of Opium but it is a drug that so enslaves those who are addicted to it that if a man hath once made it customary to himself and after forbear to take it no less than his life is in danger so that if a Tereaqui as they call them all over the Levant go ten Leagues from the Town and forget to take Opium with him if he find none in the place he comes to though he should immediately return back again and make all the haste he can yet he would not get to the Town in time enough to save his Life CHAP. XI The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of the Court of Persia HAving treated of the nature of the Persians of their Carriage Apparel and way of living we may now see how their Monarch governs them whom he makes use of for executing his Orders and at the same time observe some of his recreations Persia is a Monarchy governed by a King Monarchy of Persia The King of Persia absolute in all things who has so absolute a power over his Subjects that no limits can be set to it He meddles in Religion and they do not begin the Ramadan nor any Festival till first they have had his leave and sometimes he keeps them back a few days according to his pleasure though the Moon wherein they are to be celebrated hath been seen His Subjects never look upon him but with fear and trembling and they have such respect for him and pay so blind an obedience to all his Orders that how unjust soever his Commands might be they perform them though against all Law both of God and Nature Nay if they swear by the King's head their Oath is more Authentick and of greater credit than if they swore by all that is most sacred in Heaven and upon Earth He observes no form of Justice in most of his Decrees and without consulting any Person no not the Laws and Customes he judges of lives and fortunes as seems best to him without any regard to those who feel the weight of his power The kinds of punishments not regulated and that without observing the kinds of punishments that are in use in the Countrey but appointing such as his fancy suggests to him According to this Principle two years ago he commanded the Nazer who had vexed him to be exposed naked to the Sun and the Nazer is one of the chief Officers of that Court This was presently put into execution and he was exposed to the heat of the Sun and the rage of flies in the great place from Morning till Night at which time the King discharged him Whilst he was thus exposed no body minded him no more than if he had been a Dog which was a great instance of the inconstancy of fortune and of the friends she gives but both counterfeit and real friends have this excuse that on
humidity of our Climate or that we shoe them to often And indeed the Persians can shoe a Horse with the first Horse-shoe they find putting it forwards or backwards as much as is needful to fit it to the Foot and they may Nail it in all places of the Hoof. In Persia they make their Horse-shoes smooth and flat Horse shoes in Persia so that they have not little turnings up as ours have which makes them continually slide upon Stones or upon the Ground when it is but in the least wet In Persia no more than in Turky they use no Manger to feed their Horses in but whether it be in the Town or Country they always feed them in a Bag of black Goats Hair The way of Feeding Horses which they hang about their Neck There are a great many Grooms who mingle Salt with the Barley they give them to keep their Dung from stinking they put first Straw in the bottom of the Sack then two Handfuls of Salt over that the Barley and then mingle all together with the Hand In the Spring they feed their Horses Mules and Asses with Grass and so they do all over the Levant They Curry them with a Comb that has no Handle and only two ranks of Teeth and they rub them with a piece of Felt. In Turkie and Persia the Horses and Mules have several Diseases Diseases of Horses and Mules of which there are some that are not known among us for instance when they have eaten too much Barley their Fore-Feet swell and become weak so that they easily fall and a kind of a Wen grows upon their Breast that is to be cured with a hot Iron putting them to Grass if it be in the Season and giving them no Barley for two or three days In the Noses of the Horses there grow also two Gristles one on each side which take Root at the end of the Bone of the Nose upon the upper Jaw and rise like Horns towards the Nose under the Skin through which they may easily be seen that puts them to so great pain that they will not feed but only keep lying and their Belly is so streight that thy cannot goe but as if they were dragged if one touch it it sounds like a Drum and if care be not taken they die of it in two days the remedy is to draw a slit along their Nose with a sharp pointed Instrument to cut these two Cartilages and make it as long as one can and then they recover and are as good as ever they were they call that Disease Nachan that is to say the Nail Nachan They have a third Disease which makes their Lips to swell and that hinders them from Feeding the remedy is to open a Vein in the Palat of the Mouth with a Needle or some sharp pointed Instrument When they have Travelled for some time in Mire or in Snow or when their Feet have been too long in the Dirt if care be not taken to make them clean a little Scab grows upon the joint of the Foot which draws in the Sinew and hinders them from going to cure that they apply to it Gun powder and Snow if they have any and if they have none Gun powder alone Sometimes a blackish water breeds in their Hoof and that Disease in Persian is called Absiah that is to say black water the remedy is to take off the shoo pare the Hoof and apply the Oil of Naphta to the place The Horses and Mules in the Levant have another Disease which I think ours have also and that is a Gristle that grows in the Flesh on the side of each Eye and covers almost the whole Eye with the Skin that it makes to grow upon it to Cure it they throw the Horse and with a little Rasor open that place and take out the Cartilage which is about the bigness of the Nail of ones Thumb they put Salt to it and then stitch it up applying thereto a Pultis made of a little Fennel pounded and mingled with two Yolks of Eggs and half a Spoonful of Butter they spread that upon Towe and lay it upon the Wound They have besides another evil which is an Excrescence that grows upon the Joynt of the Foot which makes them cut in going this proceeds from strains they have had when they were young and it is to be Cured by a hot Iron They slit the Noses of all their Asses to make them breath more freely and goe better Camels in season for Coupling The Coupling of Camels Camels Hair for what use When the Camels are in case for Copulation they will live forty days without Food during that time they are unlucky they foam and bite those that come near them and therefore they muzzle them when they Couple the Female lies down on her Belly in the same manner as when they load her some of them goe Thirteen Months with Young. They make Socks of their Hair and in Persia they make also very fine Girdles of the same of which some will cost two Tomans especially when they are White because White Camels are rare The Camels of Persia are big and strong and carry twice the weight that others doe The Feeding of Camels in Persia In the Evening in stead of Barley they usually give them three or four Balls as big as ones two Fifts of paste made of Barley-Flower and they Eat that greedily Oxen of Persia In Persia the Oxen have a great sharp pointed bunch on the Back near the Neck and some have it bigger than others The Country people make use of them to carry Loads and to ride on also Insects Scorpions Of the Insects of Persia which are common to other Countries at Cascian particularly there are a great many Scorpions which are very big and black and so Poysonous that those who are Stung by them die within a few hours There are in Persia also a great many Gnats like those of other Countries but there are other Flies that are more troublesome Flies which are no bigger than Fleas and all White they make no noise nor buzzing and sting unawares but their bite is a great deal worse than the bite of a Flea so that one would think he were pricked with a Lancet or Pins There is also a certain Worm longer and smaller than a Caterpiller but of a square body as theirs is it hath a great many Feet on which it goes very fast the bite of it is dangerous and some of them are more dangerous than others nay there is no remedy against some of them especially when they get into the Ears the Persians call them Hezar-Pai that is to say thousand Feet because of the great number they have There is plenty of them also in the Indies CHAP. XVI The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of some considerable Fruits and Plants AT Ispahan they have almost all the kinds of Fruit that are in France Fruits
of a Cherry and is very hard and round so that there is hardly any thing but a skin over the stone The Fruit being ripe is wrinkly and inclining to an Orange-colour it is pretty sweet but woolly I believe it grows in Italy by the name of Azzarole and is perhaps the Rhamnus Azzarole Rhamnus Folio sub rotundo Livas an Herb. folio sub rotundo fructu compresso Jonston Amongst Plants there is a certain Herb in Persia called Livas which hath a very curled Leaf somewhat like a Beet or like curled Coleworts but it is much more curled the stalk of it is like the stalk of an Artichoak and is very sharp they Eat of it in the Spring as a delicious food many will have it to be the Rhuebarb but it is not The End of the Second Book TRAVELS INTO THE LEVANT PART II. BOOK III. Of the Country of Schiras and other places under the Dominion of the King of Persia CHAP. I. Of the Road from Ispahan to Schiras AFTER almost five Months stay at Ispahan Departure from Ispahan I made ready to continue my Travels forwards and parted from thence the four and twentieth day of February 1664 / 5. with a Caravan wherein there were about fifty Mules a great part of them belonging to Monsieur Tavernier and the rest to Armenians who took the occasion of our going We took Mules for our Goods at the rate of five Abassis for an hundred Man 's of Tauris for our selves we had Horses for the Muletors scrupuled to let us have Mules to Ride on however they were obliged to spare one for my Servant who carried part of my things with him for they reckon a man but for thirty Man 's comprehending therein four or five Mans of Bagage We set out then from Giolfa Tuesday at Noon and past by Hezar Dgirib taking our way streight East at One of the Clock we Encamped by a Kervanseray called Tahhtpoulad and Babaruk which is near the burying place of the Mahometans We parted from that place the same day Tahhtpoulad Babaruk half an hour after Nine of the Clock at Night and held our way streight South-East over a Plain which at the entry is streightned a little by Hills on both sides and then opens into a pretty large Champain there grows not one Pile of Grass in it and in some places there are great pieces of white Earth of Natural Salt. This Salt is made of Rain-water Natural Salt. which incorporating with that Salinous Earth produces a Salt that works out of the Surface of it We marched in that Plain till about Four a Clock in the Morning Wednesday the five and twentieth of February and then ascended a little Hill called Ortschin Ortschin a little Hill. that is to say Stairs it is not high but yet very difficult to get up being all steps in a very slippery Rock which hath given it that name we were a full half hour in that passage not only because it behoved us to goe one by one but also because several Mules fell and threw their burdens which we must load again and all this by Star-light which in Persia commonly shine so clear that one may Travel by them even when there is no Moon-shine we afterwards continued Travelling amongst Hills till it was day that we entered into a great Plain as barren as the former wherein we marched on till half an hour after Eight when being arrived at a Village called Mayar we Lodged in a Kervanseray this place is eight long Agatsch from Babaruk Mayar is a ruinated Village which was formerly of note and had many Gardens about it that produced plenty of Fruit but some years since an Eatmad Doulet cut off their water to bring it all into a Garden which he had in those Quarters so that since that time nothing Grows there and they bring what they want from other Villages nor have they any other water to drink but what they get out of a great Pool hard by Mayar is the beginning of the Country of Fars or real Persia Schairza at that Village begins the Country which is properly Persia We parted from thence next day being Thursday the six and twentieth of February about Three a Clock in the Morning and continued our way over the same Plain about Five in the Morning we crossed a small running water Half an hour after Nine we passed through a little Village called Schairza where there is much Sowed Land and many Gardens in one of those Gardens there is a Pond of spring-Spring-water which falls down from the Hills that are over it it is so full of Fish that from thence the Garden hath taken the name of Hhaouz-Mahi which signifies a Fish-Pond but there is a Dervish that hinders people from catching them Keeping on our way about half an hour after Ten in the Morning we came near to a Town called Komschah Komschah five Agatsch from Mayar there is Wine there and several Kervanserays in one of which we Lodged out of the Town We parted from thence next day being Friday the seven and twentieth of February at Three a Clock in the Morning but no sooner were we gone but we were forced to turn back again because there was a Chan upon the Road going to Schiras with his Haram The meeting of a Chan with his Haram that is to say his women and therefore we could not goe on for the jealous Persians fuffer no man to come near the Road where there women are So then we came back and having fetched many compasses about another way three quarters of an hour after we fell into the High-way again which was still a Plain and we kept on marching still almost South wards but with a piercing cold Wind we found several Brooks on our way and the ground being pretty good in that Country so soon as it was day we saw some Villages on our Right Hand and about Nine of the Clock arrived near to a Village called Maksoud Beghi Maksoud Beghi five Agatsch distant from Komschah we Lodged in a new Kervanseray that of the Village being demolished Next Morning about a quarter after Two of the Clock we set forward on our Journey again over the same Plain we had the day before at break of day we passed by a little Castle built of Stone with some round Towers where there is a Village hard by with Gardens and a Kervanseray Amnebad that place is called Amnebad it is distant from Maksoud-Beghi three Agatsch and as far from Yez-de-Kast This Castle was built by Imam-Couli-Chan who was Chan of Schiras in time of the great Schah-Abbas Keeping on our way about Eleven of the Clock we arrived at Yez-de-Kast a little Town or Burrough three Agatsch distant from Amnebad and six from Maksoud-Beghi we went and Lodged in a Kervanseray a little beyond it Tez-de-Kast Yez-de Kast is very little having but only one Street it is
that was a building a Rich man of Schiras having left by Will money for that purpose That place is called Abgherm which signifies hot water Abgherm because the water there is a little warm it gave some of our Company a looseness but has plenty of Fish in it This place which is but four Agatsch from Main was but half of our usual days Journey however our Beasts being tired we stayed there till next day the seventh of March when we parted half an hour after Two in the Morning and put on before the Caravan that we might get to Schiras the same day There are several ways that lead to it but we kept still to the Left crossing over many Brooks about half an hour after six we came to a Causey above two Fathom broad and two thousand Paces long all well Paved with Arches in several places and chiefly in the middle where there is a Bridge an hundred Paces in length under which runs a small branch of the River of Main Poligorgh that Causey is called Poligorgh Half an hour after Seven we saw a sorry Kervanserai but a little beyond it there is a very good one which is extraordinary large and well built with many embellishments at each corner there is a little Tower the Gate is fair and high adorned with many pieces of Marble on which there are Inscriptions The Appartments of this Kervanserai are very commodious but it is so infested with Gnats that there is no being in it It was built by a Chan of Sciras who to take off the Gnats built but to no purpose a large Garden by it it is called Agassef Agassef and is three Agatsch from Abgherm its common name is Poligourg that is to say the Woolfs Bridge or Poligord We went on The way that leads to Tchebelminar Badgega and an hour after left a broad way on the left Hand which goes streight to Tchebelminar and that is the way to it from Schiras About half an hour after Two we came to a Kervanserai called Badgega three Agatsch from Agassef there we found several Horses Camels and Mules which the Vizir of Schiras sent as a present to the King for the Neurouz for it is the custom as we have already observed that all the Grandees make great Presents to the King Present for the Neurouz or a New-Years-Gift the day of the Neurouz or Spring which is the two and twentieth of March just so as New-Years Gifts are given in France on the first of January We rested in that place till Three in the Afternoon when we parted to goe to Schiras two great Agatsch distant At first we went up a great Hill and then saw to our Left hand a Dome somewhat ruinous under which there are some Tombs close by runs a very clear Brook shaded by several great Planes and many little Pomegranate-Trees which render that place extraordinarily pleasant Having Travelled near two hours in very stony way and crossed several lovely Brooks about Five a Clock at night we came to a place from whence there is a very pleasant prospect of the City for two Hills there drawing near together at the end make a narrow passage beyond which are Gardens full of lovely Cypresses and then the Town which lyes in a Plain from North to South so that it yields a most delightful prospect After we had a little advanced betwixt those two Hills we saw a great Reservatory of water which is pretty ruinous the water is stopt by a thick Wall almost two Fathom broad supported by two spurs of the same thickness which with the Wall from the bottom of the Ditch are almost three Fathom high the Reservatory was formerly much of the same depth but is at present almost filled up with the Earth that the water has brought into it the Wall hath been made to serve for a Bank to stop the waters that in Winter fall from the Hills and running too violently through that streight beat down all that stood in their way but it is dry in the Summer-time Arrival at Schiras at length we came to the City-Gate which is fair and well built CHAP. II. Of Schiras THE first thing we found upon our entry into Schiras was a great broad Street on each side bordered by Gardens with little pretty neat Houses over the Gates of them having advanced in that Street about a quarter of an hour we came to a large Stone-Bason full of water and of an Oblong Figure being about twenty or twenty five Fathom in length and more than fifteen in breadth Continuing in the same Street you see a lovely Mosque whose Dome is covered with blew Varnished Tiles Joyning to this Mosque there is a burying-place Planted with fair Trees with a round Stone-Bason full of water which renders the place very pleasant so that there are always people taking the Air in it with their Pipes of Tobacco a little farther there is a Bridge of five Arches under which runs a small River and onward in the same Street you come to a covered Bazar that puts an end to it this Street is but as a Suburbs to the City which at that place begins We struck off to the Left and alighted at the little House of the Reverend Fathers Carmelites where all the Francks goe The City of Schiras heretofore Schirsaz and which many will have to be Cyropolis is properly the Metropolis of the Province of Persia it lyes in a most pleasant and fertile Plain that yields the best Wine in Persia On the East it is at the Foot of a Hill covered with several sorts of Fruit-Trees amongst which are many Orange and Limon-Trees intermingled with Cypresses it is about two hours walk in Circumference The Circumference of Schiras and lyes from North to South it hath no Walls but only a scurvy Ditch and that is all it needs having no Enemies to be afraid of it is watered by a River which is but little and yet subject to overflowings when that happens the Inhabitants hinder it from breaking into their Gardens and carrying away their Walls by casting up Dykes to stop it they make them with Couffes Couffes that is to say great Panniers made of bruised Canes like Palm-Tree-Leaves which they fill with Earth and Stone and that hinders the passage of the water very well The Streets of Schiras are for the most part somewhat narrow though there be some fair ones having in the middle lovely Canals bordered with Stone through which a very clear Rivulet runs There are a great many fair covered Bazars long and broad with great Shops on each side well furnished with all sorts both of Indian and Turkish Commodities and every Commodity hath its particular Bazar It hath many large well built Kervanserays as to the Palaces they make no shew on the outside no more than in the rest of the Levant but all their beauty is within the Palace of the Chan himself
Bottles with a good deal of straw and two of these Chests make a Mules load They have also store of Capers Capers which they send also into all parts They preserve another thing in Vinegar which I never saw done any where else Preserved Grapes and that is Grapes which they gather half ripe and the time of gathering them they take to be when the Sparrows begin to peck them they put these Grapes into Bottles with good store of Vinegar which so macerates them that they lose their hardness yet no so as to become too soft or lose their Greenness only they look a little yellowish These Grapes preserved in Vinegar have a certain sweet acidity which is not unpleasant especially in the great heats and therefore they send great quantities of them into the Indies Rose-water They have also abundance of Roses from which they draw so much Rose-water that they furnish all the Indies with it They have a great deal of Corn but they give much of it to the Horses to be eaten in the blade because they say it would not come to maturity for want of water There is a great deal of Opium made at Schiras and round the Town there are large fields sowed with White Poppies A powerful Chan of Schiras In former times Schiras was Governed by a Chan who was the first of Persia and his Government reached as far as Lar Bender and the Isle of Ormus nay he was so powerful that in the Reign of the great Schah Abbas there was a Chan or Schiras called Imem-Couli-Chan who spent as much as the King and kept no smaller Family in so much that the King commanded him to spend a Mabmoudi less a day that there might be some difference betwixt their Expences Schah Sâ—fi grand Child of Schah Abbas and Father to Schah Abbas who Reigns at present put that Chan and all his Children to death because he was afraid that being so powerful he might play him some trick and after him there have been some Chans in Schiras but at present there is none a Vizier commands there as the Kings Farmer to whom he yearly pays out of his Government a thousand Tomaâ— which make a hundred and fifty thousand Crowns CHAP. III. Of the Road from Schiras to Bender and first to Lar. WE parted from Schiras Monday the sixteenth of March half an hour after Eight in the Morning having let the Caravan set out an hour and half before We took our way Southwards and past near the Lime-Kilns the way was good and in a lovely cultivated Plain Half an hour after Nine we had on our Left Hand a large Village called Oudgeval by which runs a Rivulet about half an hour after Ten we struck off a little to the Right Hand Oudgeval marching full South over Land all white with Salt where nothing grows but Abrotanum foemina An hour after we crossed over a Bridge of ten Arches under which a little River runs Abrotanum foemina It is called Poulifesa in coming to it you go along a Causey and find such another on the farther side the water that runs underneath is as salt as Sea-water Poulifesa about Noon we entered into a great Plain covered with green Grass where having Travelled till half an hour after One a Clock we came to a wretched Kervanseray standing all alone it is called Baba-Adgi from the name of its Founder who lies buried hard by and is five Agatsch from Schiras Baba-adgi close by this Kervanseray there is a little Spring which makes a great marish in that Plain but the water being naught they drink of another a little farther off which is very good water We parted from that place Tuesday the seventeenth of March half an hour after Six in the Morning and marched South-East in a great green Plain full of Heath where we saw on both hands several Villages and a great many Flocks of Sheep feeding having Travelled there till half an hour after two in the Afternoon we arrived at a Kervanseray standing by it self and called Mouzeferi seven Agatsch from Baba-Adgi near to it there is a Spring of very good water Mouzeferi behind the Kervanseray there are several vent-holes by which one may see the water run and Fish playing therein whereof some are pretty big We parted from thence on Wednesday the Eighteenth of March half an hour after five in the Morning and kept our way Southward going up Hills and down Hills covered with Turpentine-Trees and Heath this Heath is like Tragacantha and has a Carnation-Blossome divided into four or five Leaves bearing a kind of Wooll Turpentine-Trees Tragacantha Erigerum Paira and perhaps it is your Erigerum we were troubled with this rough and stony way till Noon that we arrived at a great Kervanseray called Paira which stands alone by it self and is four Agatsch distant from Monzeferi A few steps from that Kervanseray there is an artificial Canal drawn from a River a little beyond and parallel to it that River comes from the Mountains of Orostan which are above thirteen or fourteen days Journy from thence and runs as far as Tadivan a great Village Tadivan upon the way to Lar six Agatsch from Paira it afterwards loses it self in the fields which is not to be wondered at because these people having scarcity of water when they can command a River they so let it blood by drawing it off to water their Grounds that they reduce it to nothing nevertheless in those places where that River is in its strength it is seven or eight Fathom broad the water of it is clear and good and runs rapidly in a fair bed of Sand where there is not a stone to stop its course it is full of Fish Rose-Laurels and Planted on the sides with Rose-Laurels and such like Trees so that there can be nothing more charming to the sight The Canal that passes near to Paira is cut from it a little above this place and waters many Sowed fields which being done about four Agatsch lower it falls again into the same River from which it was never far distant but in all its course it runs through high ground whereas the River rowls with a great noise in a very deep precipice We parted from that place Thursday the Nineteenth of March at four of the Clock in the Morning and held our way South-Eastwards having met now and then with very stony ways we found afterwards a fair way where on each hand we saw good Corn-Land with a great many Villages where there were many Gardens full of Trees About eight a Clock in the Morning we arrived at a fair large Kervanseray Chafer called Kervanseray Chafer from the name of a Village close by it on the River-side which at this place is dwindled away almost to nothing this is a great Village and nothing to be seen in it but Gardens with long Walks in them
a Dome three or four Fathom in Diametre wherein there are three Doors and as many Windows the other has a steep Roof this place is called Tschai-telhh Tschai-telhh that is to say bitter Well because of a Well not far from that Kervanseray whose water is bitter There is besides another Well behind the Kervanseray but it is dry and this place is six Agatsch from Dgiaroun Heretofore they went not by this Hill but struck off to the East and went round it and the Camel-drivers still take that way but because of five days Journey of Desart Horse-men and Muletors chuse rather to suffer the fatigue of a worse way but shorter over the Hill. Next Morning Tuesday about half an hour after four we set forward again directing our march Southwards about seven a Clock we descended into a very low place by very bad way that Hill is called Chotali Hasani Chotali Hasani or Chotali Mahhmaseni or Chotali Mahhmaseni it goes by both names towards the bottom of that descent we found a little Brook that runs out of the Ground and discharges it self into a square Bason at some few paces from the source being come down we Travelled through a very stony Plain about half an hour after Nine we came to a fair Kerva-seray standing alone by it self and called Momzir having a great square Bason before the Gate Momzir which is always filled full by a Brook that runs into it this Kervanseray is four Agatsch from Tschai-telhh we made no stop there because we found no body to sell us Provisions either for Men or Beasts so we continued our march in the stony Plain till about an hour after having found a little Brook on our Left Hand we entered about Noon into a great smooth Plain where we suffered much heat we Travelled on South-Eastward until about two of the Clock that we found a little Kervanseray close by a Village called Dehidombe Dehidombe that is to say the Village of the tail where there are some Palms and Tamarisk-Trees They drink no water there but out of a Cistern near the Kervanseray which is three or four Fathom in Diametre and covered by a Dome with six Doors this place is three long Agatsch from Momzir and is the last of the Government of Schiras after which we enter into that of Lar. We parted from thence on Wednesday the five and twentieth of March about half an hour after four in the Morning and marched over a very even Plain till half an hour after seven when we arrived at a Kervanseray at the end of a large Village called Benaru lying at the foot of the Hill that is to the right of it Benaru upon which on the other side of the Kervanseray are the ruins of many folid Buildings that reach from the top to the bottom of the Hill and seem to have been some considerable place in this Village there is plenty of Palms and Tamarisk-Trees and a great many Cisterns it is two Agatsch distant from Dehidombe We left it next day being Thursday at one a Clock in the Morning and Travelled in stony way until half an hour after two that we came into a fair fmooth way where having Travelled on till five we arrived at an ugly little Kervanseray called Dehra where there are some Rhadars we paid nothing there because of an order which Monsieur Tavernier had to pay nothing in Persia Without stopping at that place we continued our Journey but by very stony way about six of the Clock we were got amongst the Hills where having gone up Hill and down Hill until eight a Clock we came into a Plain which lasted till near nine Bihri that we arrived at a great Village called Bihri where many Palms and Tamarisk-Trees grow there are several Cisterns there but the water of them is full of Worms and therefore one must be careful to strain it through a Cloath We Lodged in a fair new built Kervanseray in that Village this is one of the lovliest Kervanserays in all Persia The fair Kervanseray of Aivaz Chan. not only for the solidity of the Fabrick being built of rough Stone and hard Flint but also for its neat Portal large square Court many spacious Rooms with several conveniences for securing Goods and fair Terrasses to which they go up by great and broad Stair-Cases In fine every thing in it is magnificent very neat and commodious even to the Houses of Office which are in each corner of the Kervanseray and on one side there is a lovely Garden full of Tulips Roses and abundance of other Flowers of all kinds it is well Planted also with Fruit-Trees and Vines and all kept in very good order the Walks very neat and covered with Artificial Arbours all round before this Garden there is a fair watering place for Horses which is always kept full of water from a Well hard by this Kervanseray was built by the Chan of Lar called Aivaz Chan and is six Agatsch from Benaru Friday the seven and twentieth of March after four a Clock in the Morning we parted from this place and Travelled Southward in a pretty good way though stony in some places about day we found a Cistern with a steep Roof and about half an hour after six we saw upon the Road a limit of stone about a Fathom high built upon a Paving of Free-stone that serves it for a Basis we were told that a man was shut up in it A man shut up in a stone according to the custom of the Country in times past when they used that particular punishment for Robbers on the High-ways others said that it was only a mark in the way which divides at that place about seven a Clock we passed by a Village called De-hi-Kourd De-hi-Kourd where there is a Kervanseray in that place are many Tamarisks some Palm-Trees and several Cisterns We left that Village on our Left Hand and continuing our way over an even Plain betwixt Corn-fields Pai Chotali about nine a Clock we came to a Kervanseray called Pai Chotali that is to say the foot of the Hill because it is near the Hills The same night I saw a Blazing Star Blazing-Star like to that which I had seen at Ispahan it was near the Dolphin and its Tail reached from East to West I saw it again all the nights following so long as our Journey lasted It rose always much about the same place of the Horizon and about the same hour or a quarter in or over On one side of this Kervanseray there is a Cistern and a Well on the other both covered with a Dome the Well is exceeding deep and it is a considerable time before the biggest stone that may be thrown into it reaches the bottom the water is drawn with a great Wheel and poured into a square Bason near to it from whence it passes through a hole into
another that is contiguous and afterwards fills a large and long Trough for watering of the Horses There are many other Cisterns also here and there in the Fields Two Musket-shot from the Kervanseray there is a Village called Dehi-Kouh Dehi-Kouh that is to say Hill Town because it stands on a Hill. This Kervanseray is four Agatsch from Bihri we staied there the rest of that day and all the following to comply with the humour of the Muletors it Thundered much in the night-time and we had Rain the whole next day we staied sometime thinking it might blow over but it still lasted We parted not then till Sunday the nine and twentieth of March at Noon continuing our way Southwards having set forward half a quarter of an hour we ascended the Hill which is neither very high nor very bad when we were got down on the other side we crossed several Torrents about two a Clock we found a little Kervanseray standing alone with a Cistern by it it is called Hhormont Kervanseray Hhormont from the name of the neighbouring Village so called because of the many Palm-Trees that grow about it Hhourma signifies the Fruit of the Palm-Trees or Dates On all that Road we found many of the Shrubs called Badisamour Badisamour a Shrub Hherzehre and there is hardly any thing else to be seen till you come to Bender but they give them another name in those Quarters calling them Hherzehre about four a Clock we saw on our Left Hand an Aqueduct which in former times conveyed water from a neighbouring source to Lar but it being dryed up the Aqueduct which cost a great deal of mony though it be but low and built only of rough stone is let go to ruin CHAP. IV. The continuation of the Journey to Bender and first of the Town of Lar. AFter many ups and downs and a great deal of turning and winding between Hills amongst many Tamarisk and some Conar-Trees about five a Clock we arrived at the Dutch House which is near the Town of Lar The Dutch House three Agatsch from Pai Chotali but these Agatsch seemed to me to be very long this is a very neat House with lovely Courts and Chambers and a fair Stable after the Franks Fashion it belongs to the Dutch Company There is a Kervanseray a little farther whither the Caravans go but both Franks and Armenians Lodge at the Dutch House We stayed three days in the Town of Lar which hath always been Lar. as at present it is the chief Town of the Province it was heretofore the residence of the King of that Country to wit when the Guebres were Masters of it The Guebres Masters of Lar. Ghermes the great Schah Abbas took it from them and now a Chan resides there who Commands the whole Province which is called Ghermes and reaches to the very Gates of Gomron This Town which is four days Journy from Gomron and seated on a Rock is but small it hath no Walls but only a sorry Ditch beyond which are several Houses pretty well built of which the Dutch House is one and these make a kind of Suburbs to it There is nothing to be seen at Lar but the Chans House the Market-Place the Bazars and the Castle The Chans House looks to the Ditch The House of the Chan of Lar. the Walls of it are very high on that side and at the farther end there is a Divan covered fit for taking the fresh Air in the entry into that House is from the Market-Place which is very pretty it is a Square with Arches all round and Terrasses on the top along which there is a row of Rails and Ballisters for a border these Ballisters consist of Arches interlaced about two foot high made of narrow stones about four Fingers thick In the middle of the East side of the Square is the Porch of the Chans House which juts out a little into the place and hath seven Fronts on the opposite side over against this Porch there is a large Gate over which there is a great covered Divan The entry into the Bazars is by that Gate and they are very fair and large well covered and paved with broad smooth Free-stone Lovely Bazars in Lar. amongst others there is one covered in the middle by a very large handsome Dome which hath well furnished Shops Having passed the Bazars and crossed the Town which is but narrow and reaches in length from South to North you come to the Quarter of the Jews who are very numerous in this Town Many Jews in Lar. they live near the foot of the Hill on which the Castle stands which reaches as the Hill-does South and North and is to West of the Town This Castle is very long and built all of stone The Castle of Lar. the Walls of it seem to be good and have Towers at some intervals the Hill on which it stands is a mere Rock steep almost on all sides this Castle Commands all round it and there is a Wall drawn from it with some Towers a little down the side of the Hill in short it is strong considering the Country and was built by the Guebres All the Country about Lar is full of Tamarisks which are very big Abundance of Tamarisks at Lar. and I never saw so many together in one place Gun-powder Bad water at Lar. There is good Gun-powder made in this Town Their drink is very bad for they have only Cistern-water which is very unwholesome and it is good to quench a red hot Iron in it and strain it through a Cloath because of the Worms that breed therein which being swallowed down slide betwixt the Flesh and the Skin Worms bred in the Body by the water as I shall describe when I come to speak of Gomron and get not only into the Legs but also into other parts of the Body nay and into the Testicles too so that a man will have sometimes four or five of them in several places as for our parts we drank good water there because of the Rain that fell the day when we arrived It Rained all Wednesday and next night which hindered us from setting out but Thursday the second of April about five of the Clock in the Morning we continued our Journy going streight East in a very good Sandy way betwixt Corn-Fields for the Villages are very thick thereabouts On that Road I observed a pretty pleasant thing which is practised in all that Country as far as Bendar Abassi I saw several Peasants running about the Corn-Fields who raised loud shouts and every now and then clacked whips with all their force and all this to drive away the Birds which devour all their Corn when they see Flocks of them coming from a neighbouring Ground that they may not light on theirs they redouble their cries to make them go farther and this they do every day Morning and Evening The truth is
there are so great numbers of Sparrows in Persia that they destroy all things and scare-Crows are so far from frightning them that they will Pearch upon them At eight a Clock we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Tscherchab Tscherchab which puts an end to the Corn-Fields for beyond that there is hardly any thing to be found but Desarts sowed with stones about two hours after we passed by another Kervanseray Tenghinoun like to the former called Tenghinoun and a little further to the Left Hand we saw a small Forrest of Palm-Trees We afterwards marched on for the space of about two hours through very stony Ground and then came to good even Sandy way Half an hour after one in the Afternoon we passed by a covered Kervanseray called Ouasili Ouasili and keeping on our way over little Sandy Hills we came at three a Clock to another which is also covered Schemzenghi and called Schemzenghi where we stopt and this place is seven Agatsch from Lar. These Kervanserays are not built as others are but are little covered buildings about six Fathom long and as many broad on the outside and about a Fathom and a half high in the middle of each Front there is a Gate and you enter by these Gates under so many Vaulted Walks which run cross-ways within and have each about two Fathom in length they leave in the middle or Centre of the cross they make a little Square about two Fathom every way covered with a Dome In some of them there is in each Vault a half pace of stone two foot high and about a Fathom broad in the outside is the House of the House-keeper or Condar as they call him it stands along one of the sides of the Kervanseray and instead of Walls is only enclosed with a little Hedge in the mean time all the Provisions you are to expect must be had out of these wretched Hovels When there is no body in the Kervanseray these House-keepers retire to their Village or Huts which is out of the way a quarter or half a French League from thence and sometimes Travellers must go look for them when they have had no notice of their coming In the Angles of these Kervanserays there are commonly little Chambers which have the Doors on the outside and the rest of the place is for the Horses there is no other water but what is drawn out of Cisterns of which there are many in the Fields a little way from the Kervanseray We parted from that wretched Lodging Friday the third of April about four a Clock in the Evening and Travelled through a large very even Plain where we saw in many places the Ground whitened over with Salt which is made by the Rain Bahadini Tschektschek about half an hour after five we passed by a covered Kervanseray called Bahadini and about seven by another called Tschektschek by this last there is a Hut where Rhadars Lodge about eight a Clock we entered in amongst Hills and had up Hill and down Hill in very bad stony way where having turned to and again till nine of the Clock we came into a fair large Plain and there marched on till about half an hour after eleven at Night when we passed along a great Village where grow many Palm-Trees from which it hath taken the name of Hhormont Hhormont and a little beyond it there is a covered Kervanseray where we Lodged this place is five Agatsch from Schemzenghi We parted from thence on Saturday half an hour after a eleven a Clock at Night and took our way full South by a very bad and stony Road. Sunday about four a Clock in the Morning we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Serten then taking our way Eastward Serten Bedgi-Paria after an hours Travelling we found another called Bedgi-Paria a little after we came to a running water the clearness whereof tempted us to fill our Mataras or leathern Bottles but it was good luck that I bid one of the Company who alighted purposely from his Horse to taste it first for he found it to be as Salt as Salt it self Our way continued still bad till about seven of the Clock in the Morning that we came to a Kervanseray called Tengbidalan this Kervanseray is covered as many others are Tengbidalan but it is much finer It is a Square about eight Fathom in the middle of each Face there is a great Arch by which one enters into Vaults which make a Cross as in the others but they are higher and it is not under these Vaults that Travellers Lodge for the Chambers are in the four Corners about three Fathom square two or three foot raised from the Ground and open on the two sides within where there are great Arches from the Floor up to the Vault each Chamber hath its Chimny and other small conveniences the Place in the middle is covered with a Dome in which there is a great round opening in the top By one of the Gates of this Kervanseray there runs a very clear Brook about a good Foot broad which falls into an oblong square Bason in the middle and keeps it always full then it passes farther in such another Canal as brought it and runs out at the opposite Gate this Brook comes from a Hill two Muskets shot from the Kervanseray it falls down from it impetuously in a Channel above a Foot broad and about half as deep and is received on the first Pillar of a broken Arch which is shaped like a Well there are a great many of these broken Arches in a row with some ruins of the Pillars and I believe they have been beaten down by the force of the water which in time of Rain is very great at that place nay some of it too ran then betwixt the Pillars perhaps it was because they were afraid of that accident that they brought not the water upon these Arches which in all appearance were only made for Ornament The water falling down into this Well runs under Ground about twenty Fathom length and comes up again by the Pillar of the first of the Arches that remain entire to the number of eleven this Pillar being also like a well and rising to a height it glides away in a Channel like to that which comes from the Hill save that it is carried along these Arches that are about a Fathom and a half high till coming to a higher Ground the Canal is not above two Foot high and a little farther runs level with the Ground where making several turnings and windings it waters the Roots of a great deal of Liquorice growing by the sides of it until it come to the Kervanseray The truth is that water is not good to drink and it is only necessity that makes men use it when there is none in a Cistern close by but it serves at least to cool the Kervanseray and to wash any thing in
was advised to it by other Portuguese for he answered haughtily that he would not be taught by any man what he was to do Nevertheless his bravery not succeeding according to his expectation Unseasonable bravery and finding himself hard put to it he became calmer and gave consent but too late to follow that Counsel for the Enemies were under the Walls and at length he was forced to Surrender the place So soon as the Persians became Masters of it they opened the Canal as well knowing the importance of it Oisters at Ormus They catch excellent Oisters about the Isle of Ormus they are as small as English Oisters but so hard that it is not possible to open them with a Knife nay it is not very easie neither to break them with a Hammer The Sand of Oâ—â—…s The Sand of Ormus is also much talked of for the dusting of writing and for that end a great deal of it is Transported into Christendom Lareca A League to the South-West of Ormus is the Isle of Lareca which is longer than Ormus but the Ground as bad and Sandy It reaches in length from North North-West to South South-East and there is nothing remarkable in it unless it be the Fort and that is no great matter neither The Dutch began it under colour of settling a Factory there but the Persians smelling out their design drove them off and finished it it is at present kept by a very few men A little farther off to the West Error in Geography Quesomo South-West about a League and a half from Lareca though it be marked five in the Map is the Isle of Quesomo which is twenty Leagues in length it is Fruitful and well Inhabited and stretches from East to West The Land about Gomron or Bender-Abassi is no better than that of Ormus The Land about Bender-Abassi or Gomron is good for nothing for it is all Sand the water they drink there is brought from a Cistern without the Town they drink also of another which is esteemed better water and that out of a Well three Parasanges distant from the Town in a place called Isin both are very dear because of the trouble in bringing them so far nevertheless the water is very unwholesome because of little Worms that are in it which if they be drank down with the water slide betwixt the Flesh and the Skin Worms between the Skin and the Flesh and fall down into the Legs where they grow to the full length of the Leg and are never bigger than a Lute-string as I have been told for I never saw any of them this causes a great deal of pain they make a little hole in the Skin through which they shew their Head and for a Cure they must be drawn by little and little out of that hole drawing only a little every day and twisting it about a stick according as they draw it out until it be wholely out but this requires a great deal of patience for if they draw too much out at one time or draw too hard it breaks and what remains in the Leg causes racking pains for which there is no other remedy but to lay open the Leg and make the Incision as long as that which remains to be taken out This water has another bad quality in that it swells the Testicles The meat is also very unwholesome at Bender-Abassi and they scarcely eat any but Kids Flesh which is the best of the bad and Pullets In fine the best way to preserve ones Health at Bender-Abassi is to keep a very regular Diet Remedies for keeping ones Health at Bender eating so moderately that one hath always an Appetite to quench a red hot Iron in the water to strain it afterwards through a Linnen Cloath and to be always chearful There is no Pasture-Ground in all that Territory and therefore the Cows Hogs and other Beasts live hardly upon any thing else but Fish-Heads Shell-Fish stones of Dates and a little Hay which is brought some Parasanges off and indeed the Milk tasts altogether Fishy for I speak by experience their Horses they feed with Hay and Barley After all there cannot be a more dangerous Air than that of Comoron especially in Summer when it is so excessively hot Cruel and dangerous heat at Bender-Abassi that the Inhabitants are forced to leave it and remove three or four Parasanges off where most of them live in Tents nay the very Garison of the Fort removes leaving only a few men who are weary of their lives Nevertheless that place so abandoned is in no danger of being surprised because that time is the Winter of the Indies wherein there is such terrible Rain Great Thunderings at Bender Wind and Thunder that it would seem the World were to be reduced to its first Chaos so that during that Season no Ship can keep the Sea where Shipwrack is inevitable And indeed there is but one Season for crossing over to the Indies which the Portuguese have named Mouson Mouson and which they have certainly borrowed from the Arabick word Mouson which signifies Season but in short that word is used in all Languages to signifie the time of Sailing which lasts one half of the Year to wit from the end of October to the end of April Bender has a pretty safe Road for to the North it hath the main Land of Persia The Road of Bender-Abassi to the South the Isle of Ormus and to the South-West Lareca which is to the Westward of Ormus from which it is but a League distant Vessels come to an Anchor in it near to the Isle of Ormus on the West side and to go to the Indies they Sail betwixt the Isle of Ormus which is to the South of Bender-Abassi and the Coast of Arabia Foelix A Parasange to the East of Comoron there is one of those Trees called the Banians Trees because the Banians make commonly Pagods under them Banians Trees the Portuguese call it the Tree of Roots because Roots come out of every Branch that fasten in the Ground and grow as other Trees do in so much that one of these Trees may make a whole Forest I shall not describe it because I never saw it since there was no going thither by reason of the excessive heat The Author saw it since in his Travels in the Indies where he has given a description of it and therefore I refer the Reader to Linschot and Jonston who have given a description of it Under this there is a Pagod or Temple of the Banians I stayed but a week at Bender-Abassi and then was obliged to turn back again there being no probability that I could embark there for the Indies seeing I must have run too great a danger if I had stayed longer for a favourable occasion There were but six Vessels there which were bound for the Indies four Dutch Ships one Armenian and a Moor as for the
and at the Guard four Fingers broad at least but growing broader and broader it is five Fingers broad at the end and draws not into a point this man seems to present to the Woman a Posie of Flowers with the Right Hand and rests his Left Hand upon the Handle of his Sword. A little farther about ten Fathom from thence and at the same height of Ground Two other Figures there are two other Figures of the same bigness of which the first is of a young Man without a Beard whose curled Locks hang backwards behind his Head on it he carries a great Globe it might be taken for a Turban but in my Opinion it appears not to be his Head-attire though he hath no other he looks towards the neighbouring Figure and hath the Left Hand shut wherein he seems to hold somewhat the Right Hand is stretched out as if ready to receive what is presented to him The Figure that is by him seems to be of a Woman for she hath pretty round Breasts nevertheless she wears a Sword by her side like to that which I have just now described her Head-attire seems to be the Cap of a Dervisch somewhat long and all round upon her Left Shoulder she hath a little Basket or perhaps it is only the Tresses of her Hair she seems to present something with her Right Hand to the man who is looking towards her and her Left Hand is upon the Handle of her Sword. All these Figures seem to have the Body naked and only some few foldings of a Garment towards the Legs In short the two last are almost in the same posture and action as the two first but one cannot tell what it is they present to one another for the extremities of their Hands as well as many other parts of their Bodies are worn out and eaten by the weather The Work appears very well hath been good though all the proportions be not exactly observed I looked about all along the side of the Hill but could see no more and I believe there has been some Temple there This place is so covered with Trees and encompassed by Marishes by reason of the many Springs thereabouts that few people know of it and of all the Franks the Reverend Father Athanasius a bare-Footed Carmelite living at Schiras Father Athanasius was the first that found it out by chance as he was walking in that place and it being my fortune to pass by Schiras sometime after he led me to it The people of the Country call that place Kadem-Ghah that is to say the place of the step Kadem-Ghah because say they I know not what old Man walking in that place a Spring of water gushed out under his Foot it is but a few steps wide of the High-way that leads to the Salt-Lake an Agatsch distant from thence Though all these Antiquities be curious enough yet they are not that which they call the Antiquities of Tschehel-minar so much mentioned in Relations and which are in effect the same at present in Persia as the Pyramids are in Egypt that is to say the finest thing in its kind that is to be seen and the most worthy of observation One may go thither in coming from Ispahan by Main The way to Tschehel-Minar or Abgherim and the way is not long but the way to it from Schiras is by Badgega which is the first Kervanseray upon the Road to Ispahan and after two hours march from thence there are two ways whereof that to the Left goes to Ispahan you must leave it and take the way to the Right Hand which leads to Tschehel-minar Having Travelled about two hours and a half that way in a pretty good Road amongst Heath there is a Village on the Right Hand where one may stop and bait Having passed this Village you enter into a great Plain where after you have Travelled three quarters of an hour you pass over a Causey a Fathom and a half broad and about an hundred paces in length a little after you find another three hundred paces long and a little beyond that just such another having Travelled a little farther you go over another Causey five hundred paces in length beyond which after three quarters of an hours Journy you come to a great Bridge of two large Arches which is called Pouli-Chan in the middlemost Pillar of it there is a Room with some steps to go down to it which would be very delightful to take the fresh Air in if it were not uninhabitable by reason of the prodigious swarms of Gnats that haunt it The River of Bendemir runs under this Bridge and is at that place broad deep and full of Fish the water looking very white they assured me that it swells so high in the Winter-time that it reaches over the Arches almost level with the Parapet after you have passed that Bridge and Travelled an hour longer in a Plain you leave a Village upon your Left Hand and an hour after another to the Right and then within another hour you come to the Village called Mirchas-Chan near to which is Tschehel-minar being but a quarter of an hours Journy from it This Village stands in a most spacious and Fruitful Plain watered with a great many waters there you have a Kervanseray to Lodge in because in the Winter-time it is the way from Ispahan to Schiras and going Eastward but somewhat to the South from this Village you arrive at Tschehel-minar CHAP. VII Of Tschehel-minar and Nakschi Rustan I Am of their Opinion who will have Tschehel-Minar to be part of the Ancient Persepolis which was built in the place where at present stands the large Burrough of Mirkas Chan not only because of the River which Diodorus Siculus and others mention to be there under the name of the little Araxes which is now called Bendemir but also of many other marks that cannot be called into question All Tschehel-Minar is built upon the skirt of a Hill. The first thing that presents to view upon ones arrival is a great Wall of blackish stones four Foot thick which supports a large Platform or Terrass reaching from South to North about five hundred Paces in length to the West side it hath the Plain to the East beyond a great many magnificent ruins of Buildings whereof it makes the beginning it hath the Hill which bending into a Semicircle forms a kind of Amphitheatre that embraces all those stately ruins to ascend to the top of this Terrass you must go to the farther end of it towards the North where at first you will find two Stair-Cases The first Stairs of Tschehel-Minar or rather one Stair-Case of two ascents or if you please a double Stair-Case which on each side hath fix and fifty steps of a greyish stone and are so easie that Horses go up them without any difficulty having ascended by one of the sides of that double Stair-Case up to a square Landing-place where one may
always to be seen about the many holes that are amongst the ruins they are to be seen sometimes also at Schiras but that is only in the time of Mulberries of which at least of the white they are very greedy these Birds in bulk and shape are much like Starlings CHAP. VIII The Road to Bender-Rik I Bargained with a Muletor at Schiras to go to Bender-Rik at the rate of a Toman for five Mules for that Road is not proper for Horses which comes to ten Abassis apiece for the Mules Departure from Schiras to Bender-Rik and he obliged himself to carry us to Bender-Rik in seven days I went in the Company of the Reverend Father Denys a Polander Provincial of the bare-footed Carmelites who had two with him and I my servant We parted from Schiras Munday the eight and twentieth of September a little after midnight and went out of the Town by the West Gate which is called the Gate of Bassora because that is the way to it though there be neither Gate nor Walls at the place We took our way streight West Travelling in a Plain more fruitful in Bushes than any thing else about three a Clock in the Morning we past by a little wretched Kervanseray where there are Rahdars who demanded Toll of us but we answered that we were Franks and had an Order from the King not to pay any thing only we made them a Present of five Casbeghis This Kervanseray is two Parasanges from Schiras and is called Tschenar Rahdar that is to say the Rahdars Maple though there be no Maple-Trees there Near to it there is a new built Bridge of three Arches as I take it under which runs a little water but which in the Winter-time must be impetuous for near to that Bridge I saw the ruins of another which in all appearance hath been beat down by the water This water is called Abtschenar-Rahdar We past over that Bridge Abtschenar-Rahdar and half an hour after crossed another new one also of two Arches over the same River near to which are also the ruins of another Bridge These Bridges are called Poul-Hhadgikol that is to say the Bridge of Hhadgikol which perhaps Poul-Hhadgikol was the name of him that built them A quarter of an hour after we passed by the ruins of a Kervanseray that had been very spacious and seated upon the side of the same River which in appearance beat it down also though it stood upon a pretty high Bank the Chanel of the River being very deep at that place A quarter of an hour after we foarded over that River and began to ascend in a way that was pretty good except in some passes About half an hour after five we crossed a little Canal About six a Clock we were got into a Plain all full of Heath as the Hills about were and had very good way Half an hour after nine we came to lovely running streams The River of Preskiaft that come from a River called Preskiaft which waters the Country thereabout About ten of the Clock we met with two ways the one pretty narrow on a very steep Hill which has the same River running by the foot of it that is very deep there and if the Mules made a false step in this way which is high above the River they would not fail to fall into it and be in danger either of breaking their Necks or drowning The other way is on the other side of the River which may be crossed in several places where the water is shallow this was the way I took because it pleased my Mule so to do to whom I freely gave the Reins being persuaded that it was better acquainted with the Road than I was one of our Company who followed the other way had almost tumbled into the River Mule and all together perhaps the way that I took is covered with water in Winter and so there is a necessity of going the Hill way About half an hour after ten we came to a wretched Kervanseray which is no more but some sorry Vaults all black with Soot and full of Horse and Pullets dung however we had shelter there There are some Rahdars that live in that place to whom we gave a few Casbeghis The River of Preskiaft runs in a bottom at the back of this Kervanseray where there are four Arches remaining of a Bridge that has been in that place which are mightily decayed the water runs not under these Arches but at the side of them where the ruins of the rest of the Bridge may still be seen which seems to have been of eight Arches The River is not very deep at that place but very broad and one may see that in Winter it swells very high and overflows a great part of the Country about Hadgi-Zenon This Kervanseray is named Hadgi-Zenon and is eight Parasanges or Agatsch from Schiras We parted from Hadgi-Zenon Tuesday the nine and twentieth of September at two a Clock in the Morning and continued our way Westward We had not gone an hundred paces when we past over a new Bridge of four Arches under which runs the River Preskat afterwards we found a great many lovely waters that fall down from the Hill and I believe that in the Winter-time they overflow all the Land thereabouts which is very barren and stony bearing nothing but Heath wild Chess-Nuts and such like Trees Half an hour after three we came to a Hill called Estou Asbi Estou-Asbi and having a good way to go up an hour after we came to the top of it where there is a Lodge for Rahdars whom we satisfied with a Present of a few Cosbeghis then we had a little down Hill till about six a Clock we came into a large Plain full of water in the middle that makes a Marish which made us fetch a compass about for the space of two hours and above to gain a very high Mountain called Andgira Mount Andgira covered with Turpentine and other wild Trees about a quarter after eight we were got there and having passed by a Kervanseray Chadgeghi called Chadgeghi at the foot of it we mounted up a very stony way for the space of a long hour and then went down on the other side till about eleven a Clock when finding good water we rested at half way down the Hill under a Tree there being no Lodging but a kind of Cottage where commonly lives a man that sell Victuals and who was not there at that time it is six Parasanges from Hadgi-Zenon to this Menzil for so they call a Lodging place in those Quarters We parted from thence on Wednesday the last of September about two of the Clock in the Morning and having kept going down Hill still about an hours time we then Travelled on two hours Westward in a great Plain where there are a great many Oaks and other wild Trees which made the way that was of it self
to the Mules Belly for five or six and in some places more than seven Fathom in breadth it is so broad and deep in Winter that it can no ways be Foarded over and then they must go by a very narrow way cut out in the Hill on the Left Hand which is very dangerous for if the Mule make one false step it is lost for good and all About three quarters after ten we began to go up Hill in very bad way and that during an hour and a quarter we sometimes also went down Hill but not much and always in very bad way having the River on our Right Hand certainly I never saw worse way than what we had during that whole day At Noon we arrived at a Kervanseray called Kervanseray Narghisi Narghisi which stands on the top of the Hill it is seven Parasanges from Kameredge and was so full of people that came from Bender Rik that hardly could we have shelter you find nothing to eat there because it hath no Dukondar the River runs by the foot of the Hill on which it stands We parted from thence Sunday the fourth of October half an hour after one in the Morning and Travelled on Westward in bad enough way Three quarters after two we went down a very rugged way but the worst is at first the rest being pretty good but that it is narrow and upon the edge of an exceeding deep Precipice so that the Mules are in the same danger as in those we past which made us alight and lead down that descent we got down about half an hour past three and a little after came into a very even Plain and all Sowed Land we Travelled on there Southward until seven a Clock when to the Right Hand we again found the River of Bouschavir which we Foarded over and stopt on the other side of the water There is no Habitation there and yet the place has a name being called Sefid Rou Sefid Rou. it is four long Agatsch from Kervanseray Narghisi We parted from thence Munday the fifth of October half an hour after four a Clock in the Morning and holding streight West we Travelled in a Plain until eight a Clock that we arrived at a pitiful Kervanseray which consists in three nasty Chambers and all black with Soot it is called Tschah-Ghonbez that is to say the Well of the Vault the water that is drank there is drawn out of a Well hard by some hundred of paces distant there is a Village called Dehkone that is to say Old Village which is distant from Sefid-Rou three Agatsch and Sefid-Rou is not properly a Menzil Tschah-Ghonbez but commonly they come from Kervanseray Narghisi to Tschah-Ghonbez in a day our Muletor made us make two of it that he might keep Company with his Brother who was at Sefid-Rou and Travelled but small Journies We parted from Tschah-Ghonbez Tuesday the sixth of October at one a Clock in the Morning and continued our way over a very even Plain due West About half an hour after six we Foarded over a Salt water that was but shallow from that we had all along a Plain covered with Sand to Bender Regh where we arrived about half an hour after nine it is seven Agatsch from Tschah-Ghonbez Bender-Regh The Bender Regh that is to say sandy Port or Harbour is a little Town built along the Sea-side at a place where it runs into a long narrow Channel that turns and winds but is not deep Most of the Houses of this Town are made of Mats laid upon a Trellis or Lettice of Poles interlaced nay the Walls that encompass the Houses are of no better stuff so that there is neither Iron nor Masons work in them There are some however made of Brick baked in the Sun Cemented with morter made of Clay and Straw Most of the Inhabitants of that place are Arabs and all speak both Arabick and Persian the Governour is an Arab and depends on the Governour of Schiras The Soil about it is all Sand and the water they drink is fetched from a Well a good Agatsch from the Town nevertheless there is a great deal of Corn from the neighbouring Villages loaded at this Port to be Transported to the Isle of Bahrem and Bassora from whence they bring them Dates The Sea-Ports of Persia are Bender-Abassi Berder-Congo Sea-Ports Bender-Abassi Bender-Congo Bender-Rischer Bender-Regh Bender-Delem three days Sailing from Bender-Abassi Bender-Rischer ten days Sailing from Bender-Congo Then the Mouth of the River of Boschavir below which is Bender-Regh or Bender-Rik a days Sailing from Bender-Rischer and three days Journy by Land beyond that is Bender-Delem a days Sailing and two day Journy by Land from Bender-Rik CHAP. IX Of the Voyage from Bender-Rik to Bassora THE day we arrived at Bender-Rik a Bark put out from thence in the Morning for Bassora and the same day two Barks came from Bassora Letters from the Basha of Bassora which brought Letters to the Governour from the Basha of that place wherein he prayed him to send him twelve Barks to fit out with Soldiers for his defence against seven Bashas who by orders from the Grand Signior were preparing to attack him because he had not obeyed some Orders from the Port. This was very unpleasant News to us nevertheless being resolved to go to Bassora whatever might happen we agreed with the Patron of a Bark to pay him fifteen Abassis for the passage of the Reverend Father Provincial my self and three servants but I must first describe the fashion of these Barks They are great Boats built much like the Germes of Egypt which have no Deck Barks of Bender-Regh and are round in the inside the Bark we went on Board of was above six Fathom long two Fathom broad and no less in depth there were two little Decks in the Stern which made two small Cabins one over another he that stood by the Helm was placed on the second the other which was the lower was no more but a Hurdle of Palm-Tree Branches laid upon sticks that went cross-ways and there was a Deck also in the Stem or Head the stern was higher than the Head but was made sharp as well as it the Mast was high and big the Yard uniform with a great Sail and on each side there were four Oars that is to say so many Poles with a board a Foot and a half long and half a Foot broad fastened with three Ropes to the end of each of them but it is chiefly to be observed that there is not a bit of Iron in these Barks the truth is They have not a bit of Iron ours had an Anchor of Iron but it was a thing extraordinary because commonly they are only of Wood. The Planks of the Barks are fastened together by small Cords that go through holes made in them and that they may hold sure and the Cords keep streight they drive little pegs of Wood into the
holes which press the little Cords very hard besides they put in the inside at the joyning of the Planks a twist or double of these small Lines about three Fingers thick which is fastened to the two Planks by other little Lines and of these there is one at each seam or joyning of the Planks from the upper side of the Bark down to the Keel and over and above that there is a Girdle also on the inside which goes all round her all these Cords are made of Palm-Tree and that they may not be damaged by the water nor the Bark leak they cover all over with Pitch In short They have no Sea-Compass a Compass would be of great use to one of these Barks but they use none for they commonly keep within fight of Land and in the night-time are guided by the Stars Nevertheless the Sea-men of our Bark told me that she had cost twenty Tomans which is not to be thought strange seeing Timber is dear at Bender-Rik and Bassora They also told me that the usual burden of such a Bark was four hundred Bales of Dates each Bale being commonly twelve Man 's of Tauris so that these Barks carry according to that account four thousand eight hundred common Mans of Persia which make twenty eight thousand eight hundred weight Thursday the eighth of October they gave us notice to go on board and we went on Foot along the water-side to our Bark which was half a Farsakh distant that is to say about half a French League Farsakh for Farsakh Farfange and Parasange signifie one and the same thing and we went on board at Noon seeing she was empty as being sent only to bring Dates from Bassora we had room enough though I believe Passengers are much streightned in these Barks when they are loaded for they must lie upon the Goods as high as the side of the Bark We had eight Sea-men on board besides the Master and we put off as soon as we were on board by the help of two of the Company who wading up to the Belly in the water Towed us whilst the rest Rowed three hours after we stopt near the shoar on our Right Hand to take in Sand for Ballast they took in fifty Couffes or Basketfuls on Head and as much a Stern and then raised their Mast and fitted all their Tackle by the time they had put all in order it was six of the Clock at Night and then we set Sail with an Easterly Wind and standing away South-West we presently got out of that long Channel the mouth of it bearing South-West and keeping on the same course we lost sight of Land on the Starboard side but saw Land to the Larboard as long as we had day-light all night long we bore away sometimes South-West sometimes North-West beating too and again with the same Wind but so small that it was almost a Calm Friday the ninth of October at break of day we saw the Land near to us on the Right Hand and we were becalmed till about ten a Clock in the Morning when we had an easie South-West Gale with which we stood off a little from the shoar bearing away North-West we made so good way with this Gale that at one of the Clock after Noon Bender-Delem we were off and on with Bender-Delem and about six a Clock in the Evening we weathered a little point of Land which they say is half way from Bender-Rik to Bassora but about half an hour afrer seven the Wind all of a sudden shifted about to the North-West and therefore we Furled our Sail and came to an Anchor We were a little tossed during the whole night Next day being Saturday the tenth of October half an hour after six in the Morning we weighed Anchor and made Sail though the Wind was still at North-West and we stood away South-West About eight a Clock perceiving the Sea to be all over white I asked the reason of it and our Sea-men told me it was because the water was shallow and indeed we had no more but five foot water though we were at a pretty good distance from Land but some time after when I found that they had four Fathom water and that the water was still white I asked them again the reason of it and they could tell me no other but that it was always so in that place The North-West Wind blowing still they cast Anchor for it was contrary to us because in that place the Land bears Northward and then turns again towards Bassora making a kind of Semicircular Bay. From the place where we were at Anchor we made Land but so obscurely that it appeared only to be Clouds After much enquiry and many questions I got it out of our Patron at length that we were off and on with the mouth of a River which as he said was called Endian Endian and runs by a Village of the same name where there are many Houses but not contiguous there being twenty in one place thirty in another and all upon the Banks of the River that from Bender-Delem to the Village of Endian it is three days Journy that the Village of Endian depends on the Governour of Schiras and that it is five or six hours Travelling from the Sea being near the River Endian which is half as broad as the Tygris at Bassora This was all I could get out of that Man and that was not a little for it required time to pump so much from him whence one may judge how difficult a thing it is to get an exact knowledge of these Countries and it is not to be thought strange that the ways we have of them are full of errours most of them being made upon the relation of people who not understanding the Language can hardly inform themselves of the people of the Country otherwise than by signs and some words which here and there they understand and so are apt to take one thing for another Half an hour after seven at night we weighed Anchor and kept upon Tacks sometimes South-West sometimes North-East but the Wind blowing fresh about midnight we furled Sail and came to Anchor in six Fathom and a half water We were extreamly tossed all night long and I wondered that the Bark sprang not a Leak being so beaten by the waves Next day being Sunday the eleventh of October we weighed about seven a Clock and kept beating upon a Wind from South-West to North-East until Noon that we had calm weather at length about half an hour after two we had a breeze from South-West which made us weigh Anchor in good earnest and stand away North West It is to be observed that in all that Voyage we had not above two three four or six Fathom water at most though we were so far out at Sea that we could not discover the Land but like Clouds About six a Clock at night we were becalmed and came to an Anchor About
they provide themselves for six days at the end of which they come to Anize which is a Well of fresh-water where they make provision again for three days in which time they arrive at Niged where there are two Castles opposite to one another and inhabited by Arabs They may have Victuals here for mony but the water is bad however they must make provision of it for five days and at five days end they find a Well where they take for two days more after that they find another Well of bitter water and yet must make Provision of it for four days which being over they come to a Well called Heram-Baglar-lar In this place all the Pilgrims strip and leave nothing upon their bodies but a Cloath to cover their Nakedness Having taken water at this Well for seven days they continue their march to Dgebel-Harafat where they spend the night in throwing stones at the Devil and next Morning having made the Courban they put on their Cloaths again There are Wells at Dgebel-Harafat Dgebel-Harafat where they take water enough to serve them to Mecha which is but a day and a halfs Journy distant From Mecha they go to Vadi-Fatima the place where the Tomb of Fatima is twelve days Journy distant wherein there are Wells but no Habitation to be found From Vadi-Fatima they go to Medina five days Journy distant Tschah-Haffer and they come from Medina to Tschah-Haffer in five and thirty days and from thence to Bassora The Basha hath a great many lovely Country-Houses and amongst others Gourdilan which is opposite to the mouth of the little Canal of Bassora and on the other side of Schat-El-Aarab The Subjects of the Basha of Bassora are either Aarabs or Sabeans Who are the Subjects of the Basha of Bassora Carmelites but besides these there are some Persians and Indians that live in the Capital City and these last have Pagods there No Franks live there except the Reverend Fathers Carmelites who have a House on the Terrass whereof they put out the Banner of the Cross They have their Church in that House which not only serves the Franks but also the Armenians and Nestorians who come to the Town during the Mouson they come there to Pray but say not Mass in it The Basha hath always some Present from these good Monks for that House The other Franks to wit the Portuguese English or Dutch come not to Bassora but in the Mouson and depart in their Ships at the end of it But two days before I came to Bassora Cunning of the Dutch in burning their Cinnamon the Dutch had burnt a great deal of Cinnamon because the Merchants would not give them the price they demanded for it which made them in anger say publickly that they would burn it which they did at home in their House and they consumed so great quantity of it that it was smelt all over the Neighbourhood During the Mouson the Franks and all other strangers are well received at Bassora Liberty at Bassora and no body molests or wrongs them Every one may wear a white Turban and the green colour there of whatsoever Religion he be and that not only during the Mouson but at any other time not but that I have been told that out of the Mouson they pretty often squeezed the Franks who staied behind there I must now say somewhat of the Sabeans The Sabeans or Christians of St. John. They are otherwise called Christians of St. John but very improperly for they are more Gentiles than Christians and one of them who turned Roman Catholick and was of those who went to Rome some years ago assured me that they were partly Christians partly Turks The Baptism of the Sabeans partly Jews and partly Gentiles The truth is if because of Baptism which they retain in memory of St. Johns Baptising our Saviour they ought to be called Christians the Turks may in the same manner be said to be of the Jewish Religion because of Circumcision It is in reality but a name of Baptism for they Baptise not in the name of the Holy Trinity nor do they perforn it but on Sundays and if the Child be born any other day they stay till Sunday though it be even in danger of dying A man carries the Child to the River-side for they hold that there can be no Baptising but in running water and therefore they always live near the Rivers and inhabit not those places where there are none One of their Ministers goes along with the Man that carries the Child and when they are come to the River-side the Minister says these words In Biscemon edai rabbi ead mai nocrai men hale me that is to say In name of the Ancient Mighty Lord God who knows all that we do before the light of the world then he throws a little water upon the Head of the Infant and repeating the same Prayer casts water again upon the Head of it afterwards he reapeats the same words a third time and throws water a third time upon the Childs Head this being done he who holds the Child dips it three times into the River and that is all the Ceremony of their Baptism It is not enough for them to have been so Baptised once in their life-time but they often reiterate these Ceremonies and every year during the space of five days every person great and small young and old Male and Female is Baptised and Rebaptised and when any of them Marry the Minister again Baptises the Bridegroom and Bride The Sacraments of the Sabeans They hold only four Sacraments to wit Baptism the Eucharist Orders and Marriage they acknowledge neither Confirmation Extream Unction nor Penance As to the Sacrament of the Eucharist which is but a nominal Sacrament no more than their Baptism they pronounce not the words of Consecration over the Host but only some Prayers The Hosts of the Sabeans They make their Hosts of Flower kned with Wine and Oil. As for the Wine of their Consecration they make use of Wine drawn from dryed Grapes steeped in water which they press and they use the same Wine for moistening the Flower whereof they make the Host In relation to Orders The Ministers of the Sabeans they have Superiour and Inferiour Ministers but they use no great Ceremony in Consecrating them for Children succeed to their Fathers in the Ministery provided they be sixteen or seventeen years of Age and failing Sons the next of Kin succeed this is all the Ceremony of their Consecration a Minister says some Prayers over him who is to be a Minister and that is sufficient with them The Marriage of the Sabeans As to Marriage the Minister who is to Officiate takes an Oath of the Bride in presence of the Women that are called to the Ceremony that she is a Virgin and let her swear what she please to him the Ministers Wife must still search her and make her
Channel Haffar which was to our Larboard and there begins the Isle of Gban Isle of Gban which reaches from that place to the Sea. Tuesday the tenth of November the Tide of Ebb beginning an hour before day we weighed Anchor and continued our course betwixt the Isle Chader and the Isle Gban and there we found the water brackish At this place the Palm-Trees end and the Land on both sides is only level and barren Plains and so low that at high water they are almost all overflown about two hours after day the water cast us so much upon the Land on the South side that our Poop raked the shoar and that is in a manner unavoidable in this place where all Ships are forced a shoar nevertheless though we were so near we had two Fathom water a Stern and three a Head and the current of the water drove us forward at a great rate in the mean time our men did what they could to get out again into the Channel and at length with the help of our Boat that Towed us they accomplished it We found three Mahometan Ships which set out the same day that we did from Bassora and all three had had the same luck having been by the force of the stream cast a shoar as well as we The Course we stood from Bassora till we came to the Sea was in the beginning whilst we had the Wind at South-East South South West and after we had it at North-West we Steered always East South-East or South South-East About nine a Clock in the morning we had a pretty brisk Gale from North-West which made us spread our Mizan and Mizan-Top-Sail the Main and Main-Top-Sail and the Fore-Sail and Fore-Top-Sail and then we steered away South South-West making the more way as the Wind grew fresher the water is very broad at this place About half an hour after three a Clock in the Afternoon we came to an Anchor near the Mouth of the River because our Men would not venture out to Sea in the night-time for fear of being stranded for in the mouth of this River there is but two Fathom water when the Tide is out and the other Ships did as we did the Wind in the mean time ceased about midnight Next day we weighed Anchor about half an hour after six in the Morning and having spread the Fore-Top-Sail we Steered away South South-East but seeing it was little better than a calm we made but very little way nevertheless we began to lose sight of Land on all hands and had betwixt five and six Fathom water About nine a Clock we came to an Anchor to stay for the Tide because then we had but little water about eleven a Clock it being flood we weighed and a North-West Wind rising at the same time we clapt on all our Sails Steering our Course sometimes South-East sometimes South and sometimes South-West according to the water we found which was sometimes but three and sometimes four Fathom Half an hour after one of the Clock we had four Fathom and a half water and at two a Clock five but at the same time the Wind chopping about to South we were forced to furl our Sails and come to an Anchor It is very dangerous putting out of that River after the first days of November The season of Sailing for commonly the South Winds begin to blow at that time and last all November whereby many Ships that put out too late are cast away Thursday the twelfth of November the Sun rose with a stiff Wind from South and at the same time the Sky was on all hands over-cast with such a thick Fog that we could hardly see the other Ships which yet weighed Anchor and were Towed by their Boats we did the same though it was against the Captains mind who feared a storm and would have kept still at Anchor We got our Boat then to Tow us the Ships Head standing East South-East in five Fathom water About half an hour after eight we unfurled the Fore-Top-Sail and stood away East North-East and a little after North North-East About nine a Clock we spread the Mizan-Sail whilst our Boat still Towed us About half an hour after nine the Wind shifting about to East we presently furled our Sails and turning our Ships Head South-East came to an Anchor a quarter of an hour after in three Fathom water That day they began to allow every one but two measures of water by day one to boil the Kettle and the other to drink each measure is about three Pints About a quarter after ten a Clock we weighed Anchor and were Towed by our Boat spreading our Mizan Main-Top-Sail and Fore-Top-Sail though we had no settled Wind but sometimes one way and sometimes another and we turned the Ships Head North-East A little after the Wind getting in to South-East we bore away East and presently it shifted to South so that three quarters after ten we came to an Anchor Friday the thirteenth of November the Pilot of Carek and the Merchants prevailed so far with the Captain that he gave way to the weighing of Anchor at three quarters of an hour after seven though he was of a contrary Opinion and the truth is there was no reason to weigh because it blew a strong Wind from South-East and we had but little water on all hands We had indeed four Fathom at that time but seeing it was a Tide of Ebb we had reason to fear running a ground and to put out to Sea which was the thing the Merchants desired was to run into the storm In fine notwithstanding all these Reasons our men Towed us and we spread the Fore-Top-Sail but we held no certain Course the other Ships did as we did and perceiving us to cast Anchor three quarters of an hour after they did the like This is the inconvenience where many Ships are together that if one weigh or come to an Anchor the rest must do the same for if they should fail to do it and any misfortune happened the blame would be laid at the Masters door in that he did not do as the rest did who are all supposed to understand their Trade Saturday morning the fourteenth of November we made a Mahometan Ship coming from Bassora where we had left her for all the strong South-East Wind which had constantly blown since the day before we weighed Anchor at nine of the Clock in the morning and made Sail with our Mizan Main-Top and Fore-Top-Sails Steering our Course East North-East Half an hour after nine the Wind getting about to South-West we let fly the Mizan Top-Sail and Fore-Sail and stood away East South-East At ten a Clock we tackt about and bore away West North-West and so kept beating to and again every half hour until three quarters of an hour after eleven that the Wind chopping in to South we came to an Anchor in three Fathom water we made short Tacks because of the little water we
hour after eight we had seven Fathom water About ten a Clock seven Fathom a Foot less About half an hour after eleven seven Fathom and then we set the Ships Head East South East but at midnight held our Course South Next morning half an hour after five we had thirteen Fathom water and were almost at an equal distance from the Isle of Queschimo which was to the North-East of us the Isle of Nabdgion or Pitombo South South-West of us and the Isle of Tonbo South East from us and we bore away East Queschimo is a great Isle but low Land though it hath several Hillocks Queschimo yet they are all so low that Sailing along this Island on any side you may see the Mountains of the main Land over it It lyes in length East and West is not very broad but twenty Leagues long it is to the East of Congo and West South-West from Comoron it is a fruitful and well inhabited Island the West end of it not being above a good League and a half from Congo and the East end about a League from Bender-Abassi On the East part of this Island there is a Fort before which Ships may come to an Anchor in six Fathom water to take in fresh water which is very good in this place The Portuguese formerly held this Fort and it may be worth the observing that though the Island be very near the main Land yet Barks and Galliots pass betwixt the two Nabdgion or Pitombo is a little low Desart Island lying South Nabgion or Pitombo Tonbo South-East from Queschimo Tonbo is another little low flat Island and Desart affoarding only a great many Antelopes and Conys It lyes to the East of Nabdgion or Pitombo and South from Congo from which it is but four Leagues distant Manuel Mendez who had much experience in those Seas being very young when he came into that Country where he hath during the space of many years made several Voyages made me observe that if any one should build a Fort on that Island and keep some Men of War there he might easily raise a Toll upon all the Ships that Trade in those Seas for they must of necessity Sail near to that Island on the one side or other Towards the South-East it has fifteen or twenty Wells of good water but especially one that is excellent and a good Road before it When the Portuguese were possessed of Mascate they came every year with some Galliots to the Isle of Tonbo to receive the Tribute that was paid them in all the Ports of those Seas and brought thither by those who were obliged to pay it The yearly Tribute they had from the Isle of Queschimo consisted of five Persian Horses and two Falcons Congo payed four hundred Tomans Bahrem sixteen thousand Abassis and Catif the half of the yearly profits of its Customs as for Bassora there was a Portuguese Agent that resided there who received a Chequin a day of the Basha and as often as the General came to that Town the Basha made him a Present This Island is encompassed all round with Banks under water nevertheless there is almost every where four six eight nay in some places nine Fathom water About half an hour after seven the Wind slackened much and we Steered South South East about eleven a Clock we found nine Fathom water and seeing we were almost becalmed and the Tide cast us to the Westward we were obliged to drop an Anchor half an hour after one a Clock at noon We were some three Leagues off of Sannas which was to the West North-West of us to the North-West and by West it makes a Peak but the Hill is higher than the Peak we went thither to take in water for the water is very good there though it be about two Leagues from the West point of Queschimo which was to the North-West of us About four a Clock we had a Breeze from South South-West which made us Steer our Course South-East About six a Clock we had twenty Fathom water Half an hour after seven the Wind turned North-West and we bore away East at eight a Clock we found eighteen Fathom water half an hour after that eighteen and a half and we stood away East and by North. About nine a Clock the Wind freshened a little and we had twenty Fathom water at ten a Clock we had one and twenty and about half an hour after ten we Steered our Course East Wednesday the ninth of December about day break the Wind ceased and we Steered still East the Isle of Angom was to the North-East of us and not far off and on the other side to the South-East we had a Port of Arabia Foelix called Julfar which is a good Harbour where many Indian Barks carrying mony come to buy Dates Julfar Pearl-Fishing and Pearls which are Fished all along that Coast from Mascat to Bahrem there is a good Castle at Julfar From that Port to the Cape of Mosandon the Coast of Arabia the Happy is all Mountanous bearing South-West and North-East and runs so near the Persian shoar that there is but five Leagues betwixt the main Land of Mosandon and the Isle of Lareca which is close by Comoron Betwixt Julfar and Mosandon Good Ports in the Gulf which are not set down in the Maps there are a great many good Ports that are not set down in the Maps where notwithstanding several Ships may safely Winter secure from all Winds and there is every where very good water About half an hour after seven in the morning the Wind turned North-East and we Steered our Course East South-East We were then off and on with the Point of Angom which bears West North-West Angom Angom is a little low Island to the South of Queschimo and reaches along Queschimo from West North-West to East South-East no body lives in it but two or three Fishermen who keep some Goats which they sell to Ships that come there to take in fresh water where it is very good Though this Island be very near to Queschimo yet Ships may pass betwixt them and all that take in water there shoot the Streight About noon we bore away South-East and at one a Clock having cast the Lead we had eight and thirty Fathom water we were then becalmed and made no way but by the Tide of Ebb which cast us upon Arabia so that we were obliged to stand off of it as far as we could to turn the Ships Head East North-East nevertheless towards the evening we were got very near the Mountains of Arabia wherefore to keep off of that shoar as much we could we Steered away North-East and by East and the Tide of floud did us some service About seven a Clock the Wind seemed as if it would get in to North but it blew so gentlely that it hardly curled the water Thursday the tenth of December about half an hour after four in the morning we
those Spouts not that I thought the danger so very great being they were to the Leeward of us and in reality they wrought more admiration than fear in me Nevertheless there was a great consternation amongst our Company all Hands were at work and our Franks kept a heavy stir calling and asking whether any one had the Gospel of St. John they addressed themselves to me and I told them that I was a saying it and whilst they prayed me to continue one of them brought a Knife with a black handle asking if any body knew how to cut the Spouts I made answer that I had been informed of the way that some used to cut them but that I would not put it in practise because it was a bad and unlawful superstition he objected that the Spouts were so near that they would quickly fall upon the Ship and infallibly sink her and that if he knew the secret he would do it I endeavoured to reassure him and the rest from the fear which made him speak so telling them that the Spouts being to the Leeward there was not so much danger as they imagined And in short to put that thought quite out of their Heads I plainly told them that I neither would do that superstitious Art my self nor teach any body else how to do it and that for the Gospel of St. John I should willingly persist in saying it because it was a good and lawful means to procure protection from God Almighty And indeed I forbore not to say it till all the Spouts were dispersed which was not before one a Clock after noon or thereabouts A B C D E F G H I At length seeing the Air on all Hands full of tempestuous Clouds he ordered the Ships Head to be turned North-West which was very hard to be done for the Sea hindered the Ship from coming about though the Wind was then at East and we stood in to Quesomo near which about a quarter after two we came to an Anchor in seven and twenty Fathom water to the South of that Island so that we put back again above a League Then the Pilot was for bringing the Yards by the Board and lowering the Main-Top and Fore-Top-Masts fearing they might be damaged by the storm but the Captain would not give way to it During the rest of the day we had many flurries with continual showers of Rain but whilst these are blowing over I will enlarge a little in the description of the Spouts which I have only occasionally mentioned I am apt to believe that few have considered Spouts with so much attention A description of Spouts as I did those I have been speaking of and perhaps no man hath made the Observations which chance gave me the occasion of making I shall here give an account of them with that plainness I profess in the Relation of all my Travels thereby to render things mere sensible and easie to be comprehended The first we saw was to the Northward betwixt us and the Isle of Quesomo about a Musket shot from the Ship we were then Steering North-East The first thing we perceived in that place was the water boyling up about a Foot high above the surface of the Sea it looked whitish and over it there appeared somewhat like a blackish smoak but not very thick so that the whole looked very like a bundle of straw set on fire but only as yet smoaking see the Figure A this made a dull noise like to a Torrent running impetuously in a deep Valley but it was mingled with another somewhat more distinct noise resembling the loud hissing of Serpents or Geese A little after we saw as it were a dark puff of steam much like to a smoak which turning very fast tapers up to the Clouds and this puff seemed to be a Pipe as big as ones Finger see the Figure B the same noise still continuing Then the light put it out of our sight and we knew that that Spout was spent because the water boyled no more up so that it lasted not above half a quarter of an hour This being spent we saw another Southward of us which began in the same manner as the former did presently after there appeared another by the side of this Westward and then a third by the side of the second The most remote of the three might have been somewhat more than a Musket shot distant from us and all the three appeared like so many bundles of Straw a Foot and a half or two Foot high that yielded a great deal of smoak see the Figure A and made the very same noise that the first did Afterward we saw so many Pipes reaching down from the Clouds upon the places where the water bubbled and every one of these Pipes at the end which joyned to the Cloud was as large as the wide end of a Trumpet and resembled that I may explain my self intelligibly the Teat or Dug of a Beast streatched perpendicularly downwards by some weight see the Figure C. These Channels or Pipes seemed to be of a paleish white and I believe it was the water in these transparent Pipes which made them look white for in all appearance they were already formed before the water was suckt up in them as may be judged by what follows and when they were empty they appeared not in the same manner as a Glass-Pipe that is very clear being set in the light at some distance from our Eyes appears not unless it be full of some coloured liquor These Pipes were not streight but in some places crooked see the Figure D neither were they perpendicular on the contrary from the Clouds into which they seemed to be inserted to the places where they drew up the water they sloaped very Obliquely as you may see by the Figure D and what is more singular the Cloud to which the second of these three was fastened having been driven by the Wind the Pipe followed it without breaking or leaving the place where it drew up the water and passing behind the Pipe of the first they made for sometime a Saltier or the Figure of St. Andrews Cross see the Figure E in the beginning they were all three as big as ones Finger as I have already observed but in the progress the first of the three swelled to a considerable bigness I can say nothing of the other two for the last that was formed was almost as soon spent that to the South continued about a quarter of an hour but the first on the same side lasted somewhat longer and was that which put us into the greatest fear and whereof I have still somewhat more to say at first the Pipe of it was as big as ones Finger then it swelled as big as a mans Arm after that as big as ones Leg and at length as big as the Trunk of a good Tree as much as a Man can Fathom about see the Figure F. We could plainly see through that
Wind did nothing but chop and change from North-East to South-East and all that while we kept on our Course as much as the little Wind that then blew would allow us At one of the Clock we were got very near Lareca standing North and by East and therefore we tacked about and bore away South and by East the Wind being then East and by North. About two a Clock we stood South-East and by South About seven a Clock it blew hard from North-East and we Steered our Course East South-East About eight a Clock it blew a stiff Gale from South South-East and we Steered East .. Three quarters after eight it got into South and we bore away East South-East a quarter of an hour after we had some Rain In this manner every hour or every half hour the Wind shifted about and with every change we had a scud of Wind and Rain which obliged us to furl all our Sails but the Fore-Sail but so soon as the flurry was over the Wind was but very easie Thus all night long we had flurries and changes of Wind. Sunday the thirteenth of December at six a Clock in the morning the Wind turned East South-East and we stood away South We had to the Starboard the Land of Arabia and the four Isles of Selame of which the biggest bore West and by South of us on our Larboard we had the Land of Persia part whereof called Marsan bore South-East of us and we made particularly one Hill of that Land shaped like a Sugar-Loaf About seven a Clock the Wind shifted into South-East but it was an easie Gale and we Steered East North-East About nine a Clock we had the biggest of the Isles of Selame to the South-West and by West of us and the Port of Lima to the South-West and by South Lima is a very good Port in Arabia the happy where several Ships may Winter secure from all Winds and there is good water there At noon the Wind turning South westood away East South-East At two a Clock it shifted about to South South-West and we Steered South-East Half an hour after three we tacked and bore away West At five a Clock the biggest of the Isles of Selame bore West South-West from us About seven a Clock we tacked and stood away South-East At midnight we tackt again and Steered West Monday morning at six of the Clock the Wind being at South-East we Steered our Course South South-West Half an hour after eleven we bore away East South-East because the Wind had chopt about to the South and at one a Clock being got South South-West we Steered South-East and at two of the Clock South South-East the Wind having veered about to South West Thus did we trip to and again in that Streight the Wind continually shifting and turning though it held always Southerly and seeming to play with us for it happened exactly that when we were towards the Coast of Arabia the South-West Wind that was good for us changed to South-East and when we were on the Coast of Persia the South-East that then was fair to bring us forward changed to South-West In the mean time every body was much surprised that the South Wind continued so long and an Armenian told me that in the space of eigthteen years that he had yearly made that Voyage he never knew it blow so long at a time In November December and January The East Wind commonly reigns in those quarters The proper season for Sailing to the Indies and therefore the proper Mouson for going from Persia to the Indies in a short time is in March April and the beginning of May. However we still advanced forwards a little because we had the Currents with us for from the end of July until January the Currents set from the Indies towards Ormus and from January till the month of August they set from Ormus towards the Indies About five a Clock at night being got very near a low point of Land in Persia Nataly called Nataly we cast the Lead and found twelve Fathom water and muddy ground immediately after having cast it out again we had but six Fathom water and a sandy ground which made us tack about and the rather because the Wind was South South-West we had then the biggest of the Isles of Selame to the West North-West of us Half an hour after six the Wind turnning South we stood away West South-West and in the night-time made two tacks more Tuesday the fifteenth of December about seven a Clock in the morning we were close in with the Land of Arabia and the Wind was then at South South-East and therefore we stood away East but about nine a Clock the Wind shifting to South-East we were obliged to tack and stand away South South-West About eleven a Clock the Wind came to South and we Steered North and by East that we might put into Lareca and Ormus and wait for a favourable Wind in one of those two Islands being weary of beating up and down in this manner and making no progress in our Voyage which only wore our Sails and besides we made account to take in water there for we were apprehensive it might fall short In the mean time this design was not without contradiction on the part of the Mate and Sea-men as well as of the Merchants who could not willingly resolve to lose that little way we had made however the Captain did as he intended and in the sequel they were all glad of it when about half an hour after three they perceived the Heavens over-cast with thick Clouds which shortly after broke out into bitter gusts of Wind and Rain Other Spouts with three Spouts more but at a distance from us Then did all applaud the Captains Orders every one being of opinion that if we had been surprised with that storm in the Streight where we were in the morning we should have been hard put to it and it even appeared visibly to us to be more violent in that part than any where else Nevertheless as it is usual with those kind of Men never to fear danger but when it is present no sooner did it begin to blow from South-West about five a Clock but the Merchants persuaded the Mate to pray the Captain to set Sail again and pursue our Course he presently condescended out of spight for he no ways approved the design nor indeed had he reason a fierce Wind still blowing with several Gusts and flurries however he ordered to Steer away South South-East About six a Clock at night the so much longed for North Wind began to blow but it was so high that we could carry no Sails but the Fore-Sail and Sprit-Sail and there went a rough Sea on Head that furiously beat against the Ship in the mean time we Steered away South and by East that we might not be Land lockt by the Cape of Mosandon which we had on Head. About seven a Clock the Wind
they would be in danger of committing great errours at Sea because of the Tides and Currents that either drive the Log forwards or backwards and to be assured of the exactness of that account the Log must be fixed and immoveable But the English are not mistaken for besides that invention of Miles they dayly take an observation of the Suns height besides they heave out the Log at every change encrease or decrease of the Wind. The English reckon their Miles at five hundred Geometrical paces only that is five Foot to the pace Cape of Jasques Carpella The distance of Ormus from Cape Jasques About half an hour after six we were off of the Cape of Jasques anciently called Carpella it lyes in five and twenty degrees and a half North Latitude and in thirty Leagues from Ormus From that Cape the Land bears East and by South to the River of Indus At Cape Jasques about half a Mile or a Mile up on Land there is a kind of a sorry Fort with about forty Houses inhabited by a sort of very poor people who live on Barley and drink nothing but water and that very brackish too they have two Barks or Taranquins wherein they carry Wood to sell at Mascat That wretched place is called Jasques and depends on the Governour of Comron who sends whom he pleases to Command in it Thursday the seventeenth of December about six a Clock in the morning we clapt on our Main-Top-Galant-Sail and stood away East keeping in sight of the Land of Persia least the Wind might force us too far out to Sea which about eleven a Clock turned North-East At noon we found that from Sun setting the day before we had run threescore and one Miles or twenty Leagues and a third at the rate of three Miles a League At one of the Clock we bore away East and by South About four a Clock the Wind chopping about to West we bore away South-East and by East About half an hour after five we had East North-East of us a little low Isle close by the Persian shoar which in that place is very low About six a Clock we were off and on with that little Isle Friday the eighteenth of December in the morning we Steered our Course East and by South and at noon we found that from that time the day before we had made eight and thirty Leagues then the Wind got into North-West and we bore away South-East and by East that we might not run within Land which we obscurely made on Head a little to the Larboard Next morning the Wind abated and therefore we stood away East and by South At noon we found by our reckoning that we had in the last four and twenty hours made five and twenty Leagues and a half Then the Captain Mate and Gunner took an Observation of the Sums height with a Quadrant as well as they could for none of the three had much skill in it and the Maâ—e least of all all three agreed that we were in twenty four degrees thirty minutes Latitude About evening the Wind shifted into South-West but it was so easie that scarcely did it curl the water yet we Steered away South-East and by East that we might not be cast a shoar Sunday the twentieth of December it continued still calm weather so that at noon we found we had made but five Leagues way and our Men having taken their Observation found that we were still in the Latitude of twenty four degrees thirty minutes as we were the day before and that day every one was stinted to a measure and a half of water by day Towards the evening we made the Land of Persia and were but about five Leagues off of it which made us Steer away South-East and by South and stand out to Sea contrary to the opinion of the Mate who would have kept in by the Shoar giving this reason for it that we needed not fear to be cast too far to the Leeward as the Captain said because at that time the East Wind blows along the Coast of Sindy and besides being near Land in case it proved bad weather we might come to an Anchor and take in water which we were affraid we might come to want But the chief reason why he would have stood in to shoar and which he kept to himself was that he might know the place where he was for these are such an ignorant sort of Men that so soon as they lose sight of Land they know no more where they are The Captain made answer to all his reasons that it was bad advice to make us double our way without any necessity and that we had no reason to go look for East Winds having the Wind at South-West which though it was easie still kept us going on in our Course and would if it freshened bring us in a short time whither we were bound and in that case we needed not go look for water whereof as yet we had no want besides that by standing in to shoar we run a risk of meeting the Zinganes those Pirats I mentioned before whom no body desired to see and we put our selves also in danger of not being able to get out to Sea again for a long time if the Wind which we had lasted because we must wait for another Wind which perhaps might not offer in some weeks time In fine it behoved the Pilot to acquiesce to this judgment which was approved by all of us nay the Gunner was for having us steer our Course more to the Southward and he was not out in that for the Coast of Cape Jasques bears West and by North and East and by South and we Steered South-East and by East from which substracting a Point and a half which is the variation of the Needle and then our Course would prove to be East a Point and a half towards South and so we were but half a Point to the Windward of the Land of Persia and this Course carried us streight to the Gulf which is to the Northward of the Isle of Diu but the Captain would not change his Course fearing to meet with an East Wind which would have driven him too far above the place whither we were bound and therefore he would not bear away South till he was near the Isle of Diu. Monday the one and twentieth of December our Observers found at noon that we were in twenty four degrees twenty five minutes Latitude and that we had run ten Leagues Next day they found twenty four degrees five minutes Latitude and that we had run fourteen Leagues the last twenty four hours About four a Clock in the afternoon the Heaven was on all Hands overcast with thick black Clouds and at the same time there arose a small Gale from West North-West which presently drove the Clouds upon us we expected a strong Gust of Wind but we were excused for a shower of Rain which was indeed violent but lasted not without
water of the Sea and the first big enough to admit of Ships being besides defended by several stone-Bastions built very high upon a Rock which are mounted with many great Guns that play on all Hands so that it will be no easie task to take it unless being unprovided of Victuals an Enemy might attempt to starve it it hath no water but Cistern-water yet every House has its Cistern There is a good Port in Diu and heretofore all the Trade of the Indies was managed there and at Chaoul Chaoul belonging to the Portuguese which is another place belonging to the Portuguese but the Dutch so ordered matters that it was wholly removed to Surrat where it is at present About seven a Clock we found by observing the Land that we had made eight Leagues since the day before at noon for you must know that so soon as they make Land they heave the Log no more to know the Ships running because it is well enough known by the Land. At eight a Clock the Wind turned East and by North and we stood away South-East and by South About eleven a Clock it turned East South-East and we Steered away South That day we took no Observation because the Land interposed betwixt us and the Horizon nevertheless we lost sight of it immediately after noon and about six a Clock we tackt about and stood North-East and by East About seven a Clock we tackt again About eight a Clock we were becalmed Half an hour after nine we tackt again a third time and at ten a Clock having cast the Lead we had thirty eight Fathom water About eleven a Clock we had a good Wind at North North-East which made us bear away East Next day the second of January about five a Clock in the morning the Wind having veered about to North-East we Steered our Course East South East At break of day having furled our Main-Top-Sail we put out our Colours and waited for the Masulipatan which was close up with us he presently also shewed his Colours and within a quarter of an hour after sheered a long on head of us we hailed one another but could have no discourse together because he had stood too much on head and in a trice fell off from us This was the Hollanders fault for he was vexed that Master Manuel Mendez would not Sail with him though he had invited him and besides he was angry that we should have come up with him which was the reason he would have no Conversation with us though ever since the day before he might many times have born up near enough to have Discoursed with us when we were upon our tacks Half an hour after six we sounded and found six and twenty Fathom water About seven a Clock the Wind came in to East North-East and we Steered South-East About eight a Clock it blew much fresher from East and by North which convincing us that we were off of the mouth of the Bay of Cambaya The mouth of the Bay of Cambaya we steered away South-East and by South and about nine a Clock the Wind turning due East we stood away South South East We could have no Observation that day because of the motion of the Ship and must rest satisfied to know that from noon to noon we had made fifteen Leagues About five a Clock the Captain of the Musulipatan being in a better humour bore up with us and after the Selam and three or four Cups drunk to our good Voyage he asked us if we would go in Consort and we agreed to it About six a Clock the Wind ceased and left us becalmed About half an hour after ten we had a small Gale from North North East which made us bear away East At midnight the Wind veering in to North-East we steered away East South-East Then we heaved the Lead and found forty Fathom water Sunday morning the third of January we perceived several peices of Wood floating upon the water and some Snakes bigger than ones Thumb four or five Foot long and of a blackish colour and about noon we saw the Sea water look whitish these were so many signs that we were near the Indian shoar At noon the Gunner took an Observation but how right I cannot tell because of the Ships great Travel and he found that we were in the Latitude of nineteen degrees fifty four minutes but we could not tell how much we had run for in twenty four hours time we had not heaved the Log knowing that we were near Land we only cast the Lead and found thirty three Fathom water having cast it out again at three a Clock in the afternoon we had no more but thirty Fathom About five a Clock the Wind turned East North East and we stood away South-East Half an hour after five we had again thirty three Fathom water About eight a Clock the Wind was got into East and by North and we steered South-East and by South and had still thirty three Fathom water About half an hour after ten the Wind turned North and by East a brisk Gale and we bore away East and by North. At midnight we had twenty five Fathom water Monday the fourth of January half an hour after five in the morning we had the Wind at North-East and steered away East South-East but this hot Wind blew so fresh that we were obliged to furl our Main-Top-Sail and then we had twenty five Fathom water A North-East Wind blows commonly on that Coast all the Moon of December and the beginning of the Moon of January and after it comes the North-West Wind. About eleven a Clock the Wind flackning a little we unfurled our Main-Top-Sail again At noon the Gunner found that we were in the Latitude of nineteen degrees twenty four minutes and having cast the Lead we had two and twenty Fathom water and at five a Clock the same Half an hour after five the Wind turning North North-East we steered away East At nine a Clock we had only twenty Fathom water and at midnight but eighteen Tuesday the fifth of January after midnight the Wind was at North-East and by East but a very easie Gale and we bore away South-East and by East At five a Clock in the morning we had but four Fathom water At break of day we made the Land of Bassaim on Head which was very near us and we had made it the day before if it had not been hazy upon the Land. Bassaim Bassaim is a Town held by the Portuguese lying about the nineteenth degree and a half of North Latitude There are very high Mountains at this place At six a Clock we tacked and stood away North and by East At two a Clock in the afternoon we came to an Anchor in fourteen Fathom water because it began to Ebb and it is the custom for Ships that put into the Bay of Cambaya when they are near shoar to Tide it only up unless they have the
Provinces of Judostan to those which his Father left him died in the Year 1604. Gehanguir Selim his Eldest Son was immediately Crowned by the Name of Gehan-guir and having Reigned Three and twenty Years and enlarged the Conquest he died in the Year 1627. After his death his Grandson Boulloquoy Reigned about Three Months Bulloquoy but he was strangled by Order of Sultan Corom a Rebel Son of Gehanguir Corom who having made sure of the Empire Chagehan took to himself the Name of Chagehan in the Year 1628. Seeing Blood and Rebellion raised him to the Throne he had experience of the same disorders amongst his Children which he had caused to his Father for through their jealousie his Empire was almost always in confusion Auranzeb and at length fell into the hands of Auranzeb the Third of his Four Sons who Reigns at present In mounting to the Throne this Prince imitated the crimes of his Father for he put to death Dara his Eldest Brother imprisoned Mourad his other Brother who confided in him and clapt up his own Father in Prison The death of Chagehan who died Five or Six Years after about the end of the Year 1666. The Great Mogul is certainly a most Powerful Prince The Power of the Mogul as we may Judge by his Riches Armies and the number of People that are within the extent of his Empire His yearly Revenues they say mount to above Three hundred and thirty French Millions The Canon Name The Registred Forces of the Mogul which is a Register containing a List of his Forces makes it appear that that Prince entertains Three hundred thousand Horse of which betwixt Thirty and Thirty five thousand with ten thousand Foot are for a Guard to his Person both in time of Peace and War and are commonly quartered in those places where he keeps his Court. This Empire extends from East to West above Four hundred Leagues and from North to South above Five hundred and that vast space excepting some Mountains and Deserts is so full of Towns Castles Burroughs and Villages and by consequence of Inhabitants who till the Land or emprove it by manufactures and the commerce which that Country affords that it is easie to judge of the Power of the King who is Master thereof The true bounds of his Empire are to the West The bounds of Mogulistan Macran or Sinde and Candahar to the East it reaches beyond the Ganges to the South it is limited by Decan the great Sea and the Gulf of Bengale and to the North by the Tartars The exageration of many Travellers concerning the extent of the Countries of this great King of the Indies was the cause that I made it my business to consult the most knowing Men that I might learn what they thought of the greatness of it and what now I write is their Opinion They affirm not as some do that when the Mogul makes War The true Forces of the Mogul he sends Three hundred thousand Horse into the field They say indeed that he pays so many but seeing the chief Revenues or to say better the rewards of the Great Men consist particularly in the pay which they have for more or fewer Troopers it is certain that they hardly keep on Foot one half of the Men they are appointed to have so that when the Great Mogul marches upon any expedition of War his Army exceeds not an Hundred and fifty thousand Horse with very few Foot though he have betwixt Three and four hundred thousand Mouths in the Army Besides I was informed by any Indian who pretends to know the Map of his Country that they reckon no more but twenty Provinces within the extent of Mogulistan in the Indies and that they who have reckoned more have not been well informed of their number since of one Province they have made two or three This Indian had a list of the Princes Revenues calculated for the twenty Provinces and I made no doubt of the truth of his System Twenty Provinces or Governments in Mogulistan but I had rather call them Governments and say that every Government contains several Provinces I shall observe the Revenues of the Governments in the discription I give of them and shall call each Government a Province that I may not vary from the memoires which I have and as I entered the Indies by the Province of Guzerat so I shall describe it before the others CHAP. IV. The Province of Guzerat Guzerat THe Province of Guzerat which was heretofore a Kingdom fell into the Possession of the Great Mogul Ecbar about the year 1565. He was called into it by a great Lord to whom the King of Guzerat Sultan Mamoet gave the general Government thereof when being near his death he trusted him with the tuition and regency of his only Son in the Year 1545 or 1546. during the Reign of Humayon the Father of Ecbar Government The ambition of that Governour who was envied by all the great Men of the Kingdom of Guzerat that were his declared Enemies and against whom he resolved to maintain himself at the cost of his own lawful Prince made him betake himself to the King Mogul under pretext of soliciting his protection for his Pupil named Mudafer who was already of Age but not yet of sufficient Authority to maintain his Guardian against the faction of the great Men whom he had provoked Mudafer King of Guzerat Ecbar seizes Guzerat Ecbar entered Guzerat with an Army and subdued all those who offered to make head against him and whom the Governour accused of being Enemies to his King But instead of being satisfied with one Town which with its Territories had been promised him he seized the whole Kingdom and made the King and Governour Prisoners That unfortunate Prince being never after able to recover it again not but that having made his escape he attempted once again to have reestablished himself but his efforts were in vain Mudafer kills himself for he was overcome and made Prisoner a second time so that despair at length made him destroy himself Guzerat a pleasant Province This is the pleasantest Province of Judostan though it be not the largest The Nardaba Tapty and many other Rivers that water it render it very fertile and the Fields of Guzerat look green in all the seasons of the Year because of the Corn and Rice that cover them and the various kinds of Trees which continually bear Fruit. The most considerable part of Guzerat is towards the Sea on which the Towns of Surrat and Cambaye stand The Ports of Surrat and Cambaye whose Ports are the best of all Mogulistan But seeing Amedabad is the Capital Town of the Province it is but reasonable we should treat of it before we speak of the rest Departure from Surrat to Amedabad The Boats on the Tapty incommodious February the First I parted from Surrat to go
hath its name from a King called Ahmed or Amed who caused it to be rebuilt and that it was called Guzerat as well as the Province before that King reigned Guerdabad King Chagehan named it Guerdabad the Habitation of Dust because there is always a great deal there This Governour of the Province has his residence in it and he is commonly a Son of the Great Mogul but at present a great Omra called Muhabbat-Can is the Governour and the Kings of Guzerat resided there also before King Ecbar seized it The Scituation of Amedabad Sabremetty a River This Town lies in twenty three Degrees and some Minutes North-Latitude It is built in a lovely Plain and Watered by a little River called Sabremetty not very deep but which in the time of the Rains prodigiously overflows the Plains There you may see many large Gardens enclosed with Brick-walls and which have all a kind of Pavillion at the entry After that I saw a very spacious Reservatory A Reservatory of Water with a Garden in the middle that hath in the middle a lovely Garden fourscore Paces square into which one enters by a Bridge four hundred Paces long and at the end of the Garden there are pretty convenient Lodgings Then you see several Houses here and there which makes as it were a great Village and a great many Tombs indifferently well built This might be called an Out Suburbs because from thence one enters by a Postern into a Street with Houses on each side which leads streight into the Town and is on that side the true Suburbs of Amedabad The Walls and Towers of Amedabad The Town is enclosed with Stone and Brick-walls which at certain distances are flanked with great round Towers and Battlements all over It hath twelve Gates and about a League and a half in its greatest length if you take in the Suburbs It is one of the places of Guzerat that is most carefully kept in order both as to its Walls and Garrison because it lies most conveniently for resisting the incursions of some neighbouring Rajas They are afraid particularly of the Inrodes of the Raja of Badur Raja of Badur who is powerful by reason of the Towns and Castles which he hath in the Mountains and which are not accessible but by narrow passes that can be most easily defended King Ecbar used all endeavours during the space of seven Years to ruin that Raja but he could not accomplish it and was forc'd to make Peace with him However his People are always making Incursions and he comes off by disowning them His usual Residence is in the Province of Candich So soon as I arrived at Amedabad I went to lodge in Quervanseray where I found the Monument of the Wife of a King of Guzerat After I had taken a little repose there I went to see the Dutch Factors for whom I had Letters from the Commander of Surrat Dutch in Amedabad They detain'd me and no excuse would serve but that I must needs lodge with them nay they were so kind as to accompany me by turns to all the places of Amedabad whither my Curiosity led me They are lodged in the fairest and longest Street of the Town All the Streets of Amedabad are wide but this is at least thirty Paces over and at the West end of it there are three large Arches that take up its whole breadth Going from their Lodgings one enters by these high Arches into the Meidan-Chah which signifies the Kings Square The Meidan of Amedabad It is a long Square having four hundred Paces in breadth and seven hundred in length with Trees planted on all sides The Gate of the Castle is on the West side opposite to the three Arches and the Gate of the Quervanseray on the South On the same side there are six or seven pieces of Canon mounted and on the other some more great Gates which are at the Head of pretty fair Streets In this Meidan there are several little square Buildings about three Fathom high which are Tribunals for the Cotoual who is the Criminal Judge In the middle of the place there is a very high Tree purposely planted for the exercise of those who learn to shoot with the Bow and who with their Arrows strive to hit a Ball which for that end is placed on the top of the Tree Having viewed the Meidan we entered the Castle by a very high Gate The Castle of Amedabad which is betwixt two large round Towers about eight fathom high All the Appartments of it signifie but little though the Castle be walled about with good Walls of Freestone and is as spacious as a little Town The Quervanseray in the Meidan The fair Quervanseray of the Meidan of Amedabad contributes much to the beautifying of that place It s Front is adorned with several Lodges and Balcony's supported by Pillars and all these Balcony's which are of Stone are delicately cut to let in the Light. The entry is a large eight-square Porch arched over like a Dome where you may find four Gates and see a great many Balcony's These Gates open into the body of the Building which is a Square of Freestone two Stories high and varnished over like Marble with Chambers on all sides where Strangers may lodge Near the Meidan is a Palace belonging to the King The Kings Palace in Amedabad which hath over the Gate a large Balcony for the Musicians who with their Pipes Trumpets and Hoboys come and play there in the Morning at Noon in the Evening and at Midnight In the Appartments thereof there are several Ornaments of Folliages where Gold is not spared The English Factory is in the middle of the Town They are very well lodged and have fair Courts Their Ware-houses commonly are full of the Cloaths of Lahors and Dehly with which they drive a great trade There are many Mosques great and small in Amedabad but that which is called Juma-mesgid Fridays Mosque Juma-mesgid Fridays Mosque because the devout People of all the Town flock thither on that Day is the chief and fairest of all It hath its entry from the same Street where the Dutch-house is built and they go up to it by several large Steps The first thing that appears is a square Cloyster of about an hundred and forty Paces in length and an hundred and twenty in breadth the Roof whereof is supported by four and thirty Pillasters The Circuit of it is adorn'd with twelve Domes and the Square in the middle paved with great square Bricks In the middle of the Front of the Temple there are three great Arches and at the sides two large square Gates that open into it and each Gate is beautified with Pilasters but without any order of Architecture On the outside of each Gate there is a very high Steeple which hath four lovely Balcony's from whence the Muezins or Beadles of the Mosque call the People to Prayers It s
with Tiles made half round and half an Inch thick but ill burnt so that they look still white when they are used and do not last and it is for that reason that the Bricklayers lay them double and make them to keep whole Canes which they call Bambous serve for Laths to fasten the Tiles to Bambous and the Carpenters work which supports all this is only made of pieces of round Timber Such Houses as these are for the Rich but those the meaner sort of People live in are made of Canes and covered with the branches of Palm-trees The time to Build in Now it is better building in the Indies in the time of Rain than in fair weather because the heat is so great and the force of the Sun so violent when the Heavens are clear that every thing dries before it be consolidate and cracks and chinks in a trice whereas Rain tempers that heat and hindering the Operation of the Sun the Mason-work has time to dry When it rains the Work-men have no more to do but to cover their Work with Wax-cloath but in dry weather there is no remedy all that can be done is to lay wet Tiles upon the Work as fast as they have made an end of it but they dry so soon The Streets of Surrat that they give but little help The Streets of Surrat are large and even but they are not paved and there is no considerable publick Building within the Precinct of the Town The Meat at Surrat The Christians and Mahometans there eat commonly Cow-beef not only because it is better than the Flesh of Oxen but also because the Oxen are employed in Plowing the Land and carrying all Loads The Mutton that is eaten there is pretty good but besides that they have Pullets Chickens Pidgeons Pigs and all sorts of wild Fowl. They make use of the Oyl of Cnicus silvestris Oyles at Surrat or wild Saffron with their Food it is the best in the Indies and that of Sesamum which is common also is not so good Grapes at Surrat They eat Graps in Surrat from the beginning of February to the end of April but they have no very good taste Some think that the reason of that is because they suffer them not to ripen enough Nevertheless the Dutch who let them hang on the Vine as long as they can make a Wine of them which is so eager that it cannot be drunk without Sugar The white Grapes are big and fair to the Eye and they are brought to Surrat from a little Town called Naapoura Naapoura a Town in the Province of Balagate and four days Journey from Surrat The strong-Strong-water of this Country is no better than the Wine that which is commonly drunk is made of Jagre or black Sugar put into Water with the bark of the tree Baboul to give it some force and then all are Distilled together They make a Strong-water also of Tary which they Distil But these Strong-waters are nothing so good as our Brandy no more than those they draw from Rice Vinegar at Surrat Sugar and Dates The Vinegar they use is also made of Jagre infused in Water There are some that put Spoilt-raisins in it when they have any but to make it better they mingle Tary with it and set it for several days in the Sun. CHAP. VIII Of Tary TAry is a liquor that they drink with pleasure in the Indies Tary It is drawn from two sorts of Palm-trees to wit from that which they call Cadgiour and from that which bears the Coco the best is got from the Cadgiour Cadgiour They who draw it gird their Loyns with a thick Leather-girdle wherewith they embrace the trunk of the Tree that they may climb up without a Ladder and when they are come to that part of the Tree from which they would draw the Tary they make an incision one Inch deep and three Inches wide with a pretty heavy Iron-Chizel so that the hole enters in to the pith of the Cadgiour which is white At the same time they fasten an earthen Pitcher half a Foot below the hole and this Pot having the back part a little raised receives the Liquor which continually drops into it whil'st they cover it with Briars or Palm branches least the birds should come and drink it Then they come down and climb not up the Tree again till they perceive that the Pitcher is full and then they empty the Tary into another Pot fastened to their girdle That kind of Palm-tree bears no Dates when they draw Tary from it but when they draw none it yields wild Dates They take another course in drawing that Liquor from the Coco-tree The Coco-tree They make no hole but only cut the lower branches to a Foot length They fasten Pots to the end of them and the Tary Distils into the Vessels Seeing the Operation I have been speaking of is but once a year performed on these Palm-trees they whose Trade it is to fell Tary have a prodigious number of these Trees and there are a great many Merchants that Farm them The best Tary is drawn in the Night-time and they who would use it with pleasure ought to drink of that because not being heated by the Sun it is of an acide sweetness which leaves in the Mouth the flavour of a Chestnut which is very agreable That which is drawn in the day-time is eager and most commonly made Vinegar of because it easily corrupts and decays That kind of Palm or Coco-tree is fit for many other uses Coco for of its trunk they make Masts and Anchors nay and the hulks of Ships also and of its bark Sails and Cables The Fruit that springs from its feathered branches is as big as an ordinary Melon and contains a very wholesome Juice which hath the colour and taste of Whitewine The Dutch have a great many of these Coco-trees in Batavia which turn to great profit to them The Revenue alone of those which belong to the Company near the Town with the imposition on every Stand of those who sell any thing in the Market-place is sufficient to pay their Garison But they are so rigorous in exacting it that if any one leave his Stand to take a minutes refreshment in the Rain or for any other necessary occasion though he immediately come back yet must he pay a second time if he will challenge the same Stand. At Surrat are sold all sorts of Stuffs and Cotton-cloaths that are made in the Indies all the Commodities of Europe nay and of China also Commodities of Surrat as Purceline Cabinets and Coffers adorned with Torqueises Agats Cornelians Ivory and other sorts of embellishments There are Diamonds Rubies Pearls and all the other pretious Stones which are found in the East to be sold there also Musk Amber Myrrh Incense Manna Sal-Armoniac Quick-Silver Lac Indigo the Root Roenas for dying Red and all sorts of Spices
or three times a long Copper-Trumpet which I have described in my Voyage into Persia The cry of Caberdar Then the Officers or Serjeants cry as loud as they can Caberdar that 's to say take heed and they who are in the Neighbouring Streets answer with another cry to shew that they are not asleep After that they continue their round and begin to cry again afresh until they have finished it This round is performed thrice a Night to wit at nine of the Clock Midnight and three in the Morning The Cotoual answers for Robberies The Cotoual is to Answer for all the Robberies committed in the Town but as generally all that are put into that Office are very cunning so they find always evasions to come off without paying Whil'st I was at Surrat an Armenian Merchant was Robbed of two thousand four hundred Chequins his name was Cogea Minas Two of his Slaves absconding about the time of the Robbery he failed not to accuse them of it all imaginary enquiry was made after them but seeing there was no news to be had neither of them nor of the Money the report run that these Slaves had committed the Theft and that they were concealed by some Moor that was in intelligence with them who perhaps to get all the Money had killed and buryed them as it had already happened at Surrat In the mean time the Governour told the Cotoual that he must forthwith pay the Money because if the Emperour came to know of the matter all the fault would be laid at their door that perhaps they might be served worse than to be made pay the Money that had been stollen from Cogea Minas and that therefore they had best send for the Armenian and learn from him how much he had really lost The Cotoual said nothing to the contrary but at the same time asked leave to commit him to Prison and to put him and his servants to the Rack that so by torture he might discover whether or not he had really lost the Money and if so whether or not one of his own Men had Robbed him The Governour granted what he demanded but no sooner was the news brought to the Armenian but he desisted from pursuing the Cotoual and chose rather to lose all than to suffer the torments that were designed for him In this manner commonly the Cotoual comes off The punishment of those who are suspected of Robbery When any one is Robbed this Officer apprehends all the People of the House both Young and Old where the Robbery hath been committed and causes them to be beaten severely They are stretched out upon the Belly and four Men hold him that is to be punished by the Legs and Arms and two others have each a long Whip of twisted thongs of Leather made thick and round wherewith they lash the Patient one after another like Smiths striking on an Anvil till he have received two or three hundred lashes and be in a gore of Blood. If at first he confess not the Theft they whip him again next day and so for several days more until he hath confessed all or the thing stolen be recovered again and what is strange the Cotoual neither searches his House or Goods but after five or six days if he do not confess he is dismissed Prevost Foursdar At Surrat there is a Prevost who is called Foursdar and he is obliged to secure the Country about and to Answer for all the Robberies that are committed there but I cannot tell if he be so crafty as the Cotoual When they would stop any Person Doa-Padecha they only cry Doa-padecha which hath greater force than a Hue-and-cry and if they forbid a Man to stir out of the place where he is by saying Doa-padecha he cannot go without rendering himself Criminal and is obliged to appear before the Justice This cry is used all over the Indies After all there are but Fines imposed at Surrat the People live there with freedome enough CHAP. XI Bad Offices done to the French Company at Surrat Bad Offices done to the French Company at Surrat THe Governour of Surrat was making strict enquiry into the French Company when I came to the Indies Seeing at first he applyed himself to the other Franks and particularly to those whose interest it was not to have it established at Surrat they told him a great deal of evil of the French so that by the Artifice of their Enemies he had conceiv'd a bad Opinion of them He was thinking to sollicite their exclusion at Court when Father Ambrose Superiour of the Capucins being enform'd of it went to undeceive him telling him that he ought not to give credit to the Enemies of that Company for that they were combin'd to ruin it if they could He loved that Father because of his Probity and therefore did not reject him only adjur'd him to tell him the truth without dissimulation concerning the matter and whether the French who were to come were not Pirates as it was reported all over the Countrey and as many Franks had assured him they were This thought was suggested in Surrat so soon as it was known that there was a Design in France of sending Ships to trade in the East-Indies and the Calumny was easily believ'd because one Lambert Hugo Lambert Hugo a Corsar a Dutchman who had had French on Board of him and whom they brought fresh into the Peoples Minds had been two Years before at Moca with French Colours and a Commission from the Duke of Vendosme then Admiral of France and had taken some Vessels But that which offended most was the story of the Ship that carried the Goods of the Queen of Visiapour and was stranded about Socotra The Queen of Visiapour Socotra an Isle lying in eleven Degrees forty Minutes Latitude at the entry of the Red-Sea That Queen who was going to Mecha was out of the reach of the Corsar for luckily she had gone on Board of a Dutch Ship but being satisfied with a Ship belonging to her self for transporting her Equipage Hugo met that Ship and persued her so briskly that the Master was forced to run aground It being difficult for the Corsar to approach the Ship in the place where she lay he lost no courage but patiently expected what might be the issue of her stranding His expectation was not in vain for the Indians wanting Water for a long time and finding none where they were suffered great extremity and therefore having hid in the Sea what Gold Silver and pretious Stones they could they resolved to have recourse to the Corsar himself to save their lives hopeing that he would be satisfied with what remained in the Ship. Hugo being come up with them The Cunning of Hugo cunningly found out that they had sunk somewhat in the Sea and a false Brother told him that none but the Carpenter and his Son knew where the Queens Treasure was for she
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
of those who have dived before they flie away to another place The Huntsmen of Agra go five Days Journey from the Town as far as a Mountain called Nerouer where there is a mine of excellent Iron Nerouer but their business in going so far is only to catch a kind of Wild Cows which they call Merous that are to be found in a Wood round this Hill Merous Wild-Cows which is upon the Road from Surrat to Golconda and these Cows being commonly very lovely they make great advantage of them One may see a great many Pictures in the Indies upon Paper and Past-board but generally they are dull pieces Indian Pictures and none are esteemed but those of Agra and Dehly However since those of Agra are for the most part indecent and represent Lacivious Postures worse than those of Aretin there are but few civil Europeans that will buy them They have a way in this Town of working in Gold upon Agat Working upon Agat and Chrystal Chrystal and other brittle matters which our Goldsmiths and Lapidaries have not When the Indians would beautifie Vessels Cups or Coffers besides the Circles of Gold they put about them they engrave Flowers and other Figures and also enchase Stones upon them They cut leaves of Gold to fill up the void spaces of the Figures lay several pieces one upon another and enchase them so artificially in the hollow places with an Iron Instrument like a Graver that when the void spaces are filled up it looks like Massie Gold. They do the same with Stones they encompass them also with such pieces of Leaf-Gold and press them in so close that the Stones hold very well They make Rings about Vessels either about the middle or brims of a kind of Gold made into little round Rods which they beat upon an Anvil till they be reduced into flat thin Plates then they take the measure of the part of the Vessel which they would incircle and having most exactly bent the Ring they Soulder the two ends of it together and put it upon the part of the Vessel they intend it for so that it holds very well provided one have the skill to adjust it true to the place marked If Handles be necessary to the Vessels or Locks for the Coffers of Agat or Crystal they soulder them to the Ring with the same Art that they souldered the two ends of it but they do it after another way than our Goldsmiths do For that end they make use of little red Beans which are black at the end and are the fruit of a Convolvulus called in Indian Gomtchi and in the Telenghi Language Gourghindel They peel off the Skin which is dry and hard and taking the inside of the Bean that is yellowish they grind it upon an Iron-Plate with a little Water till it be dissolved into a Liquid Solution then they pound a little bit of Borax mix it with that Solution and with this mixture dawb the ends which they intend to soulder and having heated them with a Coal joyn them together so that the two sides close fast and hold extraordinarily well This work is performed by poor People and sometimes by little Boys who do it very skilfully and quickly for a matter of two Crowns for each tole of Gold and something is also given to him that beats and flattens the Rods of Gold However none of these People know how to Enammel Gold. The Province of Agra hath above fourty Towns in its dependance and as they say above three thousand four hundred Villages Fetipour Fetipour is one of the Towns it was heretofore called Sicari Sicari and the Name Fetipour which signifies The enjoyment of what one desires was given it by Ecbar because of the happy news he received there of the birth of a Son when he was upon his return from a Warlike expedition This Town is about six Leagues from Agra it hath been very lovely and that Great Mogul in the beginning of his Reign having rebuilt the Walls of it made it the Capital of his Empire But the Ambition Kings have to make small things great prompting Ecbar to build a Town where there was nothing but a Village or at most but a Bourg named Agra Agra a Bourg the Town of Fetipour was not only neglected but hath been since wholly abandoned for so soon as Agra was become a Town and that the King had given it his Name calling it Echarabad Echarabad a place built by Ecbar he went to reside there and forsook Fetipour A lovely Meidan at Fetipour A fair Mosque at Fetipour Calenders Though this Town of Fetipour be much decay'd yet there is still a large Square to be seen in it adorned with fair Buildings and the stately entry of Ecbar's Palace is still entire and has adjoyning to it one of the loveliest Mosques in the East built by by a Mahometan a Calender by profession who lies buried there as a Saint The Calenders are Dervishes who go bare-footed This Mosque is still adorn'd with all its Pillars and lovely Seelings and indeed with all that can beautifie a fair Temple Near to it there is a great Reservatory which supplied the whole Town with Water and was the more necessary that all the Springs thereabouts are Salt The cause of forsaking Fetipour and the unwholsome Waters were one of the chief causes that obliged the Great Mogul to settle elsewhere Beruzabad Chitpour Bargant Chalaour Vetapour Mirda Ladona Hindon Canova Byana and Scanderbade all Towns of Agra Beruzabad is one of the Towns of Agra Chitpour is another and has a great trade in Schites or painted Cloaths Bargant is likewise one which belongs to a Raja who exacts some dues Chalaour stands upon a Hill. At Vetapour lovely Tapistry is made Mirda Ladona Hindon Canova Byana and Scanderbade are also Towns of Agra These last furnish the best Indigo of the Indies Two Leagues from Byana there are to be seen the Ruins of Ancient Palaces and other Buildings as also some very considerable ones upon a little Hill some Leagues from Scanderbade At the Foot of the Hill on the side of that Town there is a lovely Valley walled in divided into several Gardens and the Ruins of several Buildings which is not to be wondered at seeing heretofore Scanderbade was several Leagues long having been the Capital City of a powerful King of the Patans and the Hill it self made part of the Town which was afterwards sack'd and ruin'd by Ecbar Raja Selim. when he took it from Raja Selim who made it his chief Garrison and Magazin The Royal House of King Ecbar's Mother Upon the Road from Agra to Byana there is a Royal-House built by the Queen Mother of Ecbar with Gardens kept in very good order There are also in Byana some Serraglio's and a long Meidan but that Town is thin of Inhabitants Seronge hath also been named to me amongst the Towns
the Presents they made him at this Solemnity But he rewarded them afterwards by Offices and Employments And this is the course the King commonly takes with them and few complain of it CHAP. XXIX Of the Beasts of the Country of Azmer and of the Saltpetre THere is in these Countries a Beast like a Fox in the Snout which is no bigger than a Hare the Hair of it is of the colour of a Stags and the Teeth like to a Dogs It yields most excellent Musk for at the Belly it hath a Bladder full of corrupt Blood and that Blood maketh the Musk The Musk Animal or is rather the Musk it self They take it from it and immediately cover the place where the Bladder is cut with Leather to hinder the scent from evaporating But after this Operation is made the Beast is not long liv'd There are also towards Azmer Pullets whose Skin is all over black Pullets as well as their Bones though the Flesh of them be very white and their Feathers of another colour In the extremity of this Province the Maids are very early Marriageable Maids Marriageable at 8 or 9 years of age and so they are in many other places of the Indies where most part can enjoy Man at the age of eight or nine years and have Children at ten That 's a very ordinary thing in the Country where the young ones go naked and wear nothing on their Bodies but a bit of Cloath to cover their Privities Most of the Children in these Countries have the same playes to divert them with as amongst us they commonly make use of Tops Giggs The Childrens playes and Bull-flies in the season of Childrens Trumpets and many other Toys of that nature The People are rude and uncivil The Men are great clowns and very impudent they make a horrid noise when they have any quarrel but what Passion soever they seem to be in and what bitter words soever they utter they never come to blows The Servants are very unfaithful and many times rob their Masters There are very venemous Scorpions in that Country Venemous Scorpions The remedy of Fire but the Indians have several remedies to cure their Stinging and the best of all is Fire They take a burning Coal and put it near the wound they hold it there as long and as near as they can The venom keeps one from being incommoded by the heat of the Fire on the contrary the Poison is perceived to work out of the Wound by little and little and in a short time after one is perfectly cured The ways of this Country being very Stony The Oxen are shod they shoe the Oxen when they are to Travel far on these ways They cast them with a Rope fastened to two of their Legs and so soon as they are down they tye their four Feet together which they put upon an Engine made of two Sticks in form of an X and then they take two little thin and light pieces of Iron which they apply to each Foot one piece covering but one half Foot and that they fasten with three Nails above an Inch long which are clenched upon the side of the Hooffs as Horses with us are shod Seeing the Oxen in the Indies are very tame Indian Oxen. many People make use of them in Travelling and ride them like Horses though commonly they goe but at a very slow pace Instead of a Bit they put one or two small strings through the Gristle of the Oxes Nostrils and throw over his Head a good large Rope fastened to these strings as a Bridle which is held up by the bunch he hath on the fore part of his back that our Oxen have not They Saddle him as they do a Horse and if he be but a little spurred he 'll go very fast and there are some that will go as fast as a good Horse The Oxen are Saddled These Beasts are made use of generally all over the Indies and with them only are drawn Waggons Coaches and Chariots allowing more or fewer according as the load is heavier or lighter The Oxen serve to draw Coaches as well as Carts and Waggons The Oxen are Yoaked by a long Yoak at the end of the Pole laid upon their Necks and the Coach-man holdeth in his hand the Rope to which the strings that are put through the Nostrils are fastened These Oxen are of different sizes there are great small and of a middle size but generally all very hardy so that some of them will Travel fifteen Leagues a day There is one kind of them almost six Foot high but they are rare and on the contrary another which they call Dwarfs because they are not three Foot high these have a bunch on their Back as the rest have go very fast and serve to draw small Waggons White Oxen are very dear They have white Oxen there which are extraordinary dear and I saw two of them which the Dutch had that cost them two hundred Crowns a piece they were really lovely strong and good and their Chariot that was drawn by them made a great shew When People of quality have lovely Oxen They have great care of the Oxen. they keep them with a great deal of care they deck the ends of their Horns with sheaths of Copper they use them to Cloaths as Horses are and they are daily curried and well fed Their ordinary Provender is Straw and Millet The food of the Oxen. but in the Evening they make each Ox swallow down five or six large Balls of a Paste made of Flower Jagre and Butter kned together They give them sometimes in the Country Kichery which is the ordinary Food of the Poor Kichery and it is called Kichery because it is made of a Grain of the same name boiled with Rice Water and Salt Some give them dryed Pease bruised and steeped in Water After all no part of this Province is fertile but the Countries about Azmer and Soret for the Countries of Gesselmere and Bando are Barren The chief Trade of Azmer is in Saltpetre The Saltpetre of Azmer and there are great quantities of it made there by reason of the black fat Earth that is about it which is the properest of all other Soils to afford Saltpetre The Indians fill a great hole with that Earth and pound it in Water with great pounders of very hard Timber when they have reduced it into a Liquid mash they let it rest to the end the Water may imbibe all the Saltpetre out of the Earth The way of making Salt-petre This mixture having continued so for some time they draw off what is clear and put it into great Pots wherein they let it boil and continually scum it when it is well boiled they again drain what is clear out of these Pots and that being congealed and dryed in the Sun where they let it stand for a certain time it is in its perfection
Inhabitants unless it be on that side which lies towards Persia where it is very barren Every thing is dear in the chief Town because of the multitude of Forreign Merchants that resort thither and it wants good Water The Town of Candahar is considerable by its Situation and every one knows that the Persian and Mogul both pretend to it The former has in it at present a Garrison of nine or ten thousand Men least it should be surprized by the Mogul and being besides a Town of great importance Two Citadels at Candahar it is fortified with good Walls and hath two Citadels Candahar a rich Town The Trade that it hath with Persia the Country of the Uzbecs and Indies makes it very rich and for all the Province is so little it heretofore yielded the Mogul betwixt fourteen and fifteen Millions a year The yearly Revenue of the Mogul from Candahar There is no Province in Indostan where there are fewer Gentiles The Inhabitants are great lovers of Wine but they are prohibited to drink any and if a Moor who hath drank Wine commit any Scandal he is set upon an Ass with his Face to the Tail Wine-drinkers punished and led about the Town attended by the Officers of the Cotoual who beat a little Drum and they are followed by all the Children who hooop and hallow after them Though there be no Province of Indostan where there are fewer Gentiles yet there are Banians there because of Traffick but they have no publick Pagod And their Assemblies for Religion are kept in a Private House under the direction of a Bramen whom they entertain for performing their Ceremonies The King of Persia suffers not the Gentiles Wives there to burn themselves when their Husbands are dead The Wives are not burnt at Candahar There are a great many Parsis or Guebres there but they are poor and the Mahometans employ them in the meanest and most servile drudgeries They perform the Ceremonies of their Religion on a Mountain not far distant from the Town where they have a place wherein they preserve the Fire which they worship I have spoken of these People in my Book of Persia The same Officers are in Candahar as in the Towns of the Kingdom of Persia and do the same Duties but above all things they have special Orders to treat the People gently because of the proximity of the Moguls and if they oppress them in the least they are severely punished for it There are some small Rajas in the Mountains who are suffered to live in liberty paying some easie Tributes And these Gentlemen have always stuck to the strongest side when the Country came to change its Master There is also a little Countrey in the Mountains which is called Peria Peria that 's to say Fairy-Land where Father Ambrose a Capucin spent a Lent upon the mission in two Bourgs whereof the one is named Cheboular and the other Cosne And he told me That that Country is pleasant enough and full of good honest People but that the Christians who are there have but slight tinctures of Religion CHAP. XXXIV Of the Province of Caboul or Caboulistan Province of Caboul CAboulistan is limited to the North by Tartary Caboulistan from which it is separated by Mount Caucasus which the Orientals call Caf-Dagai Cachmire lies to the East of it It hath to the West Zabulistan and part of Candahar Zabulistan and to the South the Countrey of Multan Two of the Rivers that run into the Indies have their source in the Mountains thereof from whence they water the Province and for all that render it nothing the more fruitful for the Countrey being very cold is not fertile unless in those places that are sheltered by Mountains Nevertheless it is very rich because it hath a very great Trade with Tartary the Countrey of the Usbecs Persia and the Indies The Usbecs alone sell yearly above threescore thousand Horses there and that Province lies so conveniently for Traffick that what is wanting in it is brought from all Parts and things are very cheap there The chief Town of the Province is called Caboul Caboul a Town a very large place with two good Castles And seeing Kings have held their Courts there and many Princes successively have had it for their Portion there are a great many Palaces in it It lies in thirty three degrees and a half North Latitude Mirabolans grow in the Mountains of it Mirabolans and that 's the reason why the Orientals call it Cabuly There are many other sorts of Drugs gathered there and besides that they are full of aromatick Trees which turn to good account to the Inhabitants as also do the Mines of a certain iron which is fit for all uses From this Province especially come the Canes of which they make Halbards and Lances and they have many Grounds planted with them Caboulistan is full of small Towns Burroughs and Villages most of the Inhabitants are heathen and therefore there are a great many Pagods there They reckon their months by Moons and with great Devotion celebrate their Feast called Houly which lasts two days Houly a Feast At that time their Temples are filled with People who came to Pray and make their Oblations there the rest of the Celebration consists in Dancing by companies in the Streets to the sound of Trumpets At this Feast they are cloathed in a dark Red and many go to visit their Friends in Masquarade Those of the same Tribe eat together and at night they make Bonefires in the Streets That Feast is Celebrated yearly at the Full Moon in February and ends by the destruction of the Figure of a Giant against which a little Child shoots Arrows to represent what the People are made to believe God under the name of Cruchman to wit That God coming into the World under the name of Cruchman he appeared in shape of a Child that a great Giant that feared to be undone by him endeavoured to ruin him But that that Child hit him so dexterously with an Arrow A Giant killed by Cruchman that he laid him dead upon the ground These people seem heretofore to have been Christians but if they have had any Tincture of it it is much corrupted by the Fables and strange Tales that have been told them concerning the same to which they conform their Lives and Religion The Charity of the Indians of Caboul Their chief Charity consists in digging a great many Wells and in raising several Houses at certain distances upon the High-ways for the convenience of Travellers And by these little Houses there is always a place fit for those who are weary and heavy Loaded to rest in so that they can put off or take up their Burden without any bodies help Physicians of the Indies This Countrey supplies the rest of the Indies with many Physicians who are all of the caste of Banians Nay and
some of them are very skilful and have many secrets in Medicine and amongst other Remedies they often make use of burning The yearly Revenue of Caboul The Great Mogul has not out of this Province above four or five Millions a year CHAP. XXXV Of the Province of Cachmir or Kichmir The Province of Cachmire THe Kingdom or Province of Cachmir hath to the West Caboulistan to the East part of Tibet to the South the Province of Lahors and to the North Tartarie But these are its most remote limits for it is bounded and encompassed on all hands by Mountains and there is no entry into it but by by-ways and narrow passes This Countrey belonged sometimes to the Kings of Turquestan and is one of those which were called Turchind Turchind that is to say the India of the Turks or the Turky of the Indies The Waters of the Mountains that environ it afford so many Springs and Rivulets that they render it the most fertile Countrey of the Indies and having pleasantly watered it Tchenas a River make a River called Tchenas which having communicated its Waters for the transportation of Merchants Goods through the greatest part of the Kingdom breaks out through the breach of a Mountain Atoc and near the Town of Atoc discharges it self into the Indies but before it comes out it is discharged by the name of a Lake which is above four Leagues in circuit and adorned with a great many Isles that look fresh and green and with the Capital Town of the Province that stands almost on the banks thereof Some would have this River to be the Moselle but without any reason for the Moselle runs through Caboulistan and is the same that is now called Behat or Behar because of the aromatick Plants that grow on the sides of it Cachmir a Town The Town of Cachmir which bears the name of the Province and which some call Syrenaquer lies in the five and thirtieth degree of Latitude and in the hundred and third of Longitude Syrenaquer This Capital City is about three quarters of a League in length and half a League in breadth It is about two Leagues from the Mountains and hath no Walls The Houses of it are built of Wood which is brought from these Mountains and for the most part are three Stories high with a Garden and some of them have a little Canal which reaches to the Lake whither they go by Boat to take the Air. This little Kingdom is very populous hath several Towns The beauty of Cachmire and a great many Bourgs It is full of lovely Plains which are here and there intercepted by pleasant little Hills and delightful Waters Fruits it hath in abundance with agreeable Verdures The Mountains which are all Inhabited on the sides afford so lovely a prospect by the great variety of Trees amongst which stand Mosques Palaces and other Structures that it is impossible perspective can furnish a more lovely Landskip The Great Mogul hath a House of Pleasure there wtih a stately Garden and the Magnificence of all is so much the greater that the King who built it adorned it with the spoils of the Gentiles Temples amongst which there are a great many pretious Things King Ecbar subdued this Kingdom King Ecbar subdued Cachmir which was before possest by a King named Justaf-can He being Victorious in all places wrote to this Prince that there was no appearance he could maintain a War against the Emperour of the Indies to whom all other Princes submitted Justaf-can King of Cachmir that he advised him to do as they had done and that he promised him if he would submit willingly without trying the fortune of War he would use him better than he had done the rest and that his Power instead of being lessened should be encreased seeing he was resolved to deny him nothing that he should ask Justaf-can who was a peaceable Prince thinking it enough to leave his Son in his Kingdom came to wait upon the Great Mogul at the Town of Labors trusting to his word He payed him Hommage and the Emperour having confirmed the Promise which he made to him in his Letters treated him with all civility In the mean time Prince Jacob Instafs Son would not stop there Jacob the Son of Justaf-can For being excited by the greatest part of the People of the Kingdom who looked upon the Dominion of the Moguls as the most terrible thing imaginable he caused himself to be proclaimed King made all necessary preparations in the Countrey and at the same time secured the Passes and Entries into it which was not hard to be done because there is no coming to it but by streights and narrow passes which a few Men may defend His Conduct highly displeased the Great Mogul who thought at first that there was Intelligence betwixt the Father and Son but he found at length that there was none And without offering any bad usage to the Father he sent an Army against Cachmir wherein he employed several great Lords and Officers of War who had followed Justaf-can He had so gained them by his Civilities and Promises that they were more devoted to him than to their own Prince and they being perfectly well acquainted with the streights and avenues of the Mountains introduced the Moguls into the Kingdom Cachmirian Officers introduce the Moguls some through Places that belong to them and others by By-ways that could not possibly have been found without the conduct of those who knew the Countrey exactly They succeeded in their Design the more easily that King Jacob thought of nothing but guarding the most dangerous places and especially the Pass of Bamber which is the easiest way for entring into Cachmir The Moguls having left part of their Army at Bamber Bamber to amuse Prince Jacob and his Forces marched towards the highest Mountains whither the Omras of Cachmir led them There they found small passages amongst the Rocks that were not at all to be mistrusted By these places they entred one after another and at length meeting in a place where the Rendez-vous was appointed they had Men enough to make a Body sufficiently able to surprize as they did in the Night-time the Capital City which wanted Walls where Jacob Can was taken Nevertheless Ecbar pardoned him and allowed Him and his Father each of them a Pension for their subsistence But he made sure of the Kingdom which he reduced into a Province He annexed it to the Empire of Mogolistan and his Successours have enjoyed it to this present as the pleasantest Country in all their Empire The yearly Revenue of Cachmir It yields not the Great Mogul yearly above five or six hundred thousand French Livres CHAP. XXXVI Of the Province of Lahors and of the Vartias IT is about forty eight or fifty Leagues from Lahors to the borders of Cachmir which is to the North of it The Province of Lahors as
is the same all over the Indies A Cow of Paste There is another day of rejoycing whereon they make a Cow of Paste which they fill full of Honey and then make a fashion of killing it and break it to pieces the Honey which distills on all sides represents the Blood of the Cow and they eat the Paste instead of the Flesh I could not learn the Original of that Ceremony as for the Catris or Raspoutes except that they eat no Pullets they as the rest of the inferiour Castes do make use of all kinds of Fish and Flesh unless it be the Cow which they all have in veneration The Gentiles Fasting The Gentiles generally are great Fasters and none of them let a fortnight pass over without mortifying themselves by Abstinence and then they Fast four and twenty hours but that is but the ordinary Fast for there are a great many Gentiles and especially Women who will Fast six or seven days and they say there are some that will Fast a whole month without eating any more than a handful of Rice a day and others that will eat nothing at all Criata a Root only drink Water in which they boyl a Root called Criata which grows towards Cambaye and is good against many distempers it makes the Water bitter and strengthens the Stomach When a Woman is at the end of one of these long Fasts the Bramen her director goes with his companions to the House of the penitent beats a Drum there and having permitted her to eat returns home again There are such Fasts many times among the Vartias the Sogues and other religious Gentiles of that Province and they accompany them with several other mortifications Religious Communities Now I have mentioned these Religious Gentiles I would have it observed that in all the Indies there is no religious Community amongst the Gentiles belonging particularly to one Caste or Tribe For Example There is not any whereinto none are admitted but Bramens or Raspoutes if there be a convent of Sogues any where the Community will consist of Bramens Raspoutes Comris Banians and other Gentiles and it is the same in a convent of Vartias or a company of Faquirs I have already treated of both these as occasion offered CHAP. XLVIII Of the Province of Baglana and of the Marriages of the Gentiles The yearly Revenue of Baglana THe Province of Baglana is neither so large nor do's it yield so great a Revenue as the other nineteen for it pays the Great Mogul a year but Seven hundred and fifty thousand French Livres it is bordered by the Countrey of Telenga Guzerat Balagate and the Mountains of Sivagi the Capital Town of it is called Mouler Mouler The Portuguese border on the Moguls Countrey Daman Before the Moguls this Province was also of Decan and at present it belongs to Mogolistan by it the Portuguese border upon the Moguls Countrey and their Territories begin in the Countrey of Daman The Town of Daman that belongs to them is one and twenty Leagues from Surrat which is commonly Travelled in three days It is indifferently big fortified with good Walls and an excellent Citadel the Streets of it are fair and large and the Churches and Houses built of a white Stone which makes it a pleasant Town There are several Convents of Religious Christians in it it depends on Goa as the other Portuguese Towns do especially as to Spirituals and the Bishop keeps a Vicar General there It lies at the entry of the Gulf of Cambaye and the Portuguese have Slave there of both Sexes Portuguese Slaves which work and procreate only for their Masters to whom the Children belong to be disposed of at their pleasure from Daman to Bassaim it is eighteen Leagues Bassaim This last Town lies in the height of about nineteen Degrees and a half upon the Sea being Walled round and almost as big as Daman it hath Churches and a College of Jesuits as Daman hath From Bassaim to Bombaim it is six Leagues Bombaim made over to the English this last Town hath a good Port and was by the Portuguese made over to the English upon the Marriage of the Infanta of Portugal with the King of England in the year 1662 it is six Leagues more from Bombaim to Chaoul Chaoul The Port of Chaoul is difficult to enter but very safe and secure from all foul weather it is a good Town and defended by a strong Citadel upon the top of a Hill called by the Europeans Il Morro di Ciaul it was taken by the Portuguese Il Morro di Ciaul in the year One thousand five hundred and seven From Chaoul to Dabul it is eighteen good Leagues Dabul Dabul is an ancient Town in the Latitude of seventeen degrees and a half it has its Water from a Hill hard by and the Houses of it are low it being but weakly fortified I am told Sivagi hath seized it notwithstanding its Castle as also Rajapour Vingourla Rasigar Rajapour Vingourlâ— Rasigar Towns. and some other places upon that coast of Decan It is almost fifty Leagues from Dabul to Goa which is in Viziapour As all the People of that coast are much given to Sea-faring so the Gentiles offer many times Sacrifices to the Sea Sacrifice to the Sea. especially when any of their Kindred or Friends are abroad upon a Voyage Once I saw that kind of Sacricrifice a Woman carried in her hands a Vessel made of Straw about three Foot long it was covered with a Vail three Men playing upon the Pipe and Drum accompanied her and two others had each on their head a Basket full of Meat and Fruits being come to the Sea-side they threw into the Sea the Vessel of Straw after they had made some Prayers and left the Meat they brought with them upon the Shoar that the poor and others might come and eat it I have seen the same Sacrifice performed by Mahometans The Gentiles offer another at the end of September Opening of the Sea. and that they call to open the Sea because no body can Sail upon their Seas from May till that time but that Sacrifice is performed with no great Ceremonies they only throw Coco's into the Sea and every one throws one The only thing in that Action that is pleasant is to see all the young Boys leap into the Water to catch the Coco's and whilst they strive to have and keep them shew a hundred tricks and feats of Agility In this Province as in the rest of Decan the Indians Marry their Children very young The Marriage of Children and make them Cohabit much sooner than they do in many places of the Indies they Celebrate Matrimony at the Age of four five or six Years and suffer them to Bed together when the Husband is ten Years old and the Wife eight but the Women who have Children so young soon leave off Child-bearing and commonly do not conceive
it when they see a Man go to their Houses Publick Women and they are often at their Doors well drest to draw in Passengers But they say most of them are spoiled The common People give their Wives great Liberty The liberty of Wives in Golconda When a Man is to be Married the Father and Mother of his Bride make him promise that he will not take it ill that his Wife go and walk through the Town or visit her Neighbours nay and drink Tary a drink that the Indians of Golconda are extreamly fond of When a Theft is committed at Bagnagar or elsewhere they punish the Thief by cutting off both his Hands which is the Custome also in most Countries of the Indies The most currant Money in this Kingdom are the Pagods The Money of Golconda Roupies of Mogul the halfe Roupies quarter Roupies and Pechas The Pagods are pieces of Gold of which there are old and new ones when I was at Bagnagar the old were worth five Roupies and a half that 's to say about eight French Livres because they were scarce then and the new were only worth four Roupies that 's about six Livres but both rise and fall according as People stand in need of them And the Roupies which in Mogulistan are worth but about half a Crown Pechas pass in Golconda for five and fifty Pechas which are worth six and forty or seven and forty Sols This Money of Pechas is Coyned at Bagnagar but the Dutch at present furnishing the Copper these Pechas are for them which afterward by the way of Trade they change into Pagods and Roupies The Price and Weight of Diamonds Seeing the Kingdom of Golconda may be said to be the Countrey of Diamonds it will not be amiss to know the Price that is commonly given for them proportionably to their weight The chief weight of Diamonds is the Mangelin Mangelin a weight Carat it weighs five Grains and three fifths and the Carat weighs only four Grains and five Mangelins make seven Carats Diamonds that weigh but one or two Mangelins are commonly sold for fifteen or sixteen Crowns the Mangelin such as weigh three Mangelins are sold for thirty Crowns the Mangelin and for five Crowns one may have three Diamonds if all the three weigh but a Mangelin However the price is not fixt for one day I saw fifty Crowns a Mangelin payed for a Diamond of ten Mangelins and next day there was but four and forty a Mangelin payed for another Diamond that weighed fifteen Mangelins Not long after I was at the Castle with a Hollander who bought a large Diamond weighing fifty Mangelins or threescore and ten Carats he was asked seventeen thousand Crowns for it he bargained for it a long while but at length drew the Merchant aside to strike up a bargain and I could not prevail with him to tell me what he payed for it That Stone has a grain in the middle and must be cut in two He bought another at Bagnagar which weighed thirty five Mangelins or eight and forty Carats and he had the Carat for five hundred and fifty five Guilders CHAP. VI. Of the Castle of Golconda Golconda a Castle THe Castle where the King commonly keeps his Court is two Leagues from Bagnagar it is called Golconda and the Kingdom bears the same name Cotup-Cha the first gave it that name because after his Usurpation seeking out for a place where he might build a strong Castle the place where the Castle stands was named to him by a Shepheard who guided him through a Wood to the Hill where the Palace is at present and the place appearing very proper for his designe he built the Castle there and called it Golconda from the word Golcar which in the Telenghi Language signifies a Shepheard all the Fields about Golconda were then but a Forest which were cleared by little and little and the Wood burnt This place is to the West of Bagnagar the plain that leads to it as one goes out of the Suburbs affords a most lovely sight to which the prospect of the Hill that rises like a Sugar-loaf in the middle of the Castle which has the Kings Palace all round upon the sides of it contributes much by its natural situation This Fort is of a large compass and may be called a Town the Walls of it are built of Stones three Foot in length and as much in breadth and are surrounded with deep Ditches divided into Tanquies which are full of fair and good Water But after all it hath no works of Fortification but five round Towers which as well as the Walls of the place have a great many Cannon mounted upon them for their defence Though there be several Gates into this Castle yet two only are kept open and as we entered we crossed over a Bridge built over a large Tanquie and then went through a very narrow place betwixt two Towers which turning and winding leads to a great Gate guarded by Indians sitting on seats of Stone with their Swords by them They let no Stranger in if he have not a permission from the Governour or be not acquainted with some Officer of the Kings Besides the Kings Palace there is no good building in this Castle unless it be some Officers lodgings but the Palace is great and well situated for good Air and a lovely Prospect and a Flemish Chirurgeon who is in the Kings service told me that the Chamber where he waited on the King hath a Kiock from whence one may discover not only all the Castle and Countrey about but also all Bagnagar and that one must pass through twelve Gates before one comes to the appartment of the Prince Most part of the Officers lodge in the Castle which hath several good Bazars where all things necessary especially for life may be had and all the Omras and other great Lords have Houses there besides those they have at Bagnagar The King will have the good Workmen to live there and therefore appoints them lodgings for which they pay nothing He makes even Jewellers lodge in his Palace and to these only he trusts Stones of consequence strictly charging them not to tell any what work they are about least if Auran-Zeb should come to know that his workmen are employed about Stones of great value he might demand them of him The Workmen of the Castle are taken up about the Kings common Stones of which he hath so many that these Men can hardly work for any body else The cutting of Saphirs They cut Saphirs with a Bow of Wire whil'st one Workman handles the Bow another poures continually upon the Stone a very liquid solution of the Power of white Emrod made in Water White Emrod and so they easily compass their Work. That white Emrod is found in Stones in a particular place of the Kingdom and is called Coriud in the Telenghy Language It is sold for a Crown or two Roupies the pound
set foot a-Shoar I was dressed in this Town and stayed there for sometime but seeing there was no able Chirurgion there I removed my self to Ispahan where I found much relief My wound being cured and having rested my self for four or five months I parted from this Capital City of Persia the twenty fifth of October I shall not observe any thing here of what I saw in Persia on my return from Bender-Abassi to Ispahan because I have amply written of that in my second Volume All I intend to say is that having agreed with a Muletor who was going to Tauris we went out of Ispahan by the Gate of Tockchi Went out of Ispahan that I found it to be a fine Countrey abounding in Cotton and full of Villages and neat Pigeon-Houses and that about four Leagues from Ispahan the Muletors obliged us to tarry six days in a Kervanseray at a Village called Sin Sin. where the Armenians made them stay for the rest of the Caravan which very much incommoded me because of the inconvenience of the place and there I had a Feavor and Ague We put out from thence the last day of October there were no less than two hundred Mules in the Caravan and some Camels also After four days March we came to Cachan having past large barren Plains and therefore we had no pleasure in our Journey before we came to a Bourg called Gourabad where we rested our selves in Gardens full of Fruits and furnished with excellent water The Town of Cachan is begirt with a Ditch and two Walls Cachan which began to be ruinous it is two hours march in circuit the Bazars of the Town are Arched and have the light by round Windows which are in the Arches at a Fathoms distance one from another and these Bazars being very large I went too and again in them a long while on Horse-back This is a Town of much Trade and the Shops areas well furnished as at Ispahan They work here in Gold and Silk and the lovely Flowered Girdles that are carried to Ispahan are made in this Town as also most excellent Earthen Ware which is sold through the rest of Persia and in the Indies The Kervanseras are pretty well built but the private Houses are so ugly that except the Kings House there is not any worth the minding There is a Meidan there as in other Towns and I was told there were Scorpions there as long as ones finger whose Sting was mortal but the people of the Countrey affirm that they do no hurt to strangers which I take to be a Fable and I saw none of them we stayed three days there and leaving it on the third we came to the Town of Com. Com. This Town hath a Ditch and Earthen Walls like to those of a Village and are ruined in several places it will require two hours to make the circuit of it The Streets are wide and streight and the Bazars narrow the Meidan is a pretty handsom square the Palace of the King and Houses of the great Men are in the Suburbs King Cha-Abas the Second died there and there lyes buried The Sepulchres of Masoume Sister to Imam-Riza The Sepulchres of Masoâ—eme Sefi 1. Abas 11. and of the Kings Sefi the first and Abas the second are in one Mosque there into which they enter by three doors the Porch of it is Arched the Pavement covered with Carpets and the Walls varnished with several Colours from the Porch one enters into a dome which receives no light but by two doors of which the Shutters that are seven or eight Foot high and about a Fathom broad are of Silver and the Threshold of the same Metal the Dome is Arched and adorned with Niches Folliages and painted Flowers The Tomb of Masoume which is of grayish Marble is in the middle and is full seven foot high it is square and each side about three Fathom long it is enclosed within a Silver-Grate and the Grate is not above three fingers breadth from the Tomb there are Alcorans at the sides of it and two Tables fastened to the Grate with Prayers of the Alcoran upon them for those who go thither in Devotion there are Lamps also but they are not lighted The Body of the Mosque goes quite round the Chappel of Masoume the Pavement of it is covered with Carpet at the end of the Temple on the richt side is the Chappel of Cha-Sefi which is Arched The Chappel of Cha-Sefi and the entry into it is by two Silver-Gates the Thresholds being of the same Metal his Tomb is covered with Cloath of Gold and I found there a Moula repeating the Alcoran behind the Tomb there is a Silver-Grate a Fathom nigh and three Fathom broad going out of that Chappel one sees the Chappel of Cha-Abas the Second which is directly opposite to it it hath likewise the Doors and Thresholds of Silver with a pretty high dome that is painted the Tomb is of a grayish Marble it is seven Foot high and three Fathom broad but it is not finished there are other Silver-Gates besides in this Mosque The Authors sickness Monsieur de Thevenot parted from Com the eighth day of November about two of the Clock in the Morning but he was already indisposed and therefore he hath written nothing of the Ancient Town of Sava which he found on his way Sava and where he himself observes that his Spirit of Curiosity forsook him Though he was sick he continued to describe his Journey as far as the Bourg of Farsank where he lodged the sixteenth of November but his Pain made him end his Memoires there Nevertheless he travelled on thirty Leagues farther Miana The Authors death for he came to the little Town Miana where God called him to everlasting rest An Elogie of the Author The reputation which his civility probity and learning have gained him both in Europe and Asia is a sufficient Elogie of his merit not to stand in need of any other but in finishing his Work I cannot forbear to give him this true Character That an honester Man never lived in the World. FINIS AN Alphabetical Table OF THE PRINCIPAL PLACES Described and Treated of in this WORK A. AAsour Part II. Page 50 Abydos Part I. Page 17 Acre Part I. Page 211 Aegypt Part I. Page 245 Aethiopia Part I. Page 238 Aetna Part I. Page 4 Agra Part III. Page 33 Ajora Part I. Page 109 Aleppo Part II. Page 30 Alexandria Part I. Page 121 Part II. Page 6 Amedabad Part III. Page 8 Andra Isle Part I. Page 15 Audarvia Part II. Page 173 Aurangeabad Part III. Page 73 Ayoud Part III. Page 62 Azmer Part III. Page 48 B. BAbylon alias Bagdat Part I. Page 278 Bagdad Part II. Page 61 Baglana Part III. Page 82 Bagnagar Part III. Page 94 97 Balagate Part III. Page 72 Bampour Part III. Page 71 Bassora Part II. Page 156 Becar Part III. Page 63 Bender-Abassi Part II.
that many times Vessels are carried upon the Rocks and there perish The Antients called this Sea Pontus Euxinus a Name that hath been changed and soft'ned from that of Axinos which in Latin signifies Inhospitabilis one that uses his Guests unkindly as in Italy the the City which was since called Malventum was named Beneventum If you go a-shore on the side of Europe you 'll see a very fine Countrey full of Gardens and good Pasture Ground and in this Countrey there are several Villages inhabited by Greeks A little further up in the Countrey on the same side there are very lovely Aqueducts that carry water to Constantinople CHAP. XXII Of the Shape and Strength of the Turks Of their Apparel Way of Saluting And of their Manners I Have given but a short account of all the places of Constantinople that I have seen because many others have treated largely of them I shall now say something of the Shape Strength Cloathing Customs and Manners of the Turks according to what I could observe and learn. The Shape of the Turks The Turks are commonly well shaped having a well proportioned body and are free from many defects which are more common in other Countries of Europe for you see neither Crooked nor Criples amongst them and it is not without reason that it is said As strong as a Turk they being for the most part robust and strong Their Habit is fit to make them seem proper The Turks Habit advantagious and it covers defects far more easily than the Canons or Pantaloons of France next their skin they wear a pair of Drawers which shut alike behind and before their Shirt which hath sleeves like our Womens Smocks and is slit in the same manner comes over their Drawers they have a Doliman above their Shirt Doliman which is like a close-bodied Cassock that reaches down to the heels and hath streight sleeves ending in a little round flap that covers the back of their hands these Dolimans are made of Stuff Taffeta Sattin or other neat striped Stuffs and in Winter they have them quilted with Cotton over the Doliman they gird themselves about the small of the waste with a Sash that may serve them for a Turban when it is wreathed about the head or with a leathern Belt two or three fingers broad adorned with Gold or Silver Buckles Cangiar At their girdle they commonly wear two Daggers which they call Cangiars and are properly knives in a sheath but the handles and Sheaths are garnished with Gold or Silver and sometimes with Precious-stones or else the handles are only of the Tooth of a Fish which they esteem incomparably more than Ivory and sell a pound of it very dear They carry two Handkerchiefs at their girdle one on each side and their Tobacco-pouch hangs also at it their Purse being in their bosom as many things else are to wit their Papers and foul Handkerchiefs for they use their bosoms as we do our pockets Feredge Over the Doliman they wear a Feredge which is like our Night-gown having very wide sleeves and about as long as the arm though they hang not always so far down this serves them for a Cloak and in the Winter-time they line it with rich Furrs and such as are able Samour willingly lay out four or five hundred Piastres for a Lining of Sables which they call Samour Their Stockins are of Cloth the length of the leg the feet whereof are socks of yellow or red Leather according to their quality sewed to the Stockins Mestes they call these Socks Mestes Their Shoes are of the same colour and made almost like Slippers the heel is equal to the rest of the sole only it is shod with a piece of Iron made purposely half-round and these Shoes they call Paboutches Paboutches Their head is covered with a crimson Velvet Cap without brims gilded in the in-side and round that they wreath a white or red Turban Turban This Turban is a scarf of Linnen or Silk stuff many Ells long and the whole breadth of the stuff which they turn several times about their head and they wreath it in many fashions so that the condition or quality of the Man may be known by the way he wears the Turban and other head-attire whereof we shall speak hereafter Some fashions of them are very difficult to be made and there are people whose trade and profession is to make them up as Dressers are with us As for the Kindred of Mahomet whom they call Scherifs they wear a green Turban the word Scherif signifies Noble and none but those of that Race dare take to themselves this Title or wear green on the head there being no other way to distinguish them but by their colour These Blades who have only an imaginary Nobility are very numerous and for the most part Beggars if you except some Princes which they have still in some States of Arabia and Africa of whom we shall treat in another place These Scherifs give it out that they have this particular vertue in themselves That throw them into a fiery Furnace they 'll come out without any hurt The Women of this Race are also to be known by a piece of green stuff which they have fastened to their Veil on the fore-part of their head But to return to the Turks Apparel I look upon it to be very commodious and indeed it is the Habit most generally used in the World if you except some Northern and Western Provinces The Hair and Beards of the Turks The Turks shave their heads and think it strange that the Francks suffer their Hair to grow for they say that the Devil nestles in it so that they are not subject to that filth and nastiness which breed among our Hair if we be not careful to comb it well But they let their Beard and Mustachios grow except those who are brought up and have Offices in the Serraglio for none there but the Grand Signior and the Bostangi Basha suffer it to grow and they have a great esteem for a Man that hath a lovely Beard it is a great affront to one to take him by the Beard unless it be to kiss him as they often do they swear by their Beard as also by the Head of their Father of the Grand Signior and such like Oaths When they salute one another The Turkish way of saluting they uncover not the head and to do so would be an affront but only laying their hand upon the breast and bowing a little they say Sela meon aleicom which is asmuch as to say Peace be with you and he that is saluted does the like and answers Aleicom esselam ve rahhmet vllah which is to say Peace be with you and God's Mercy also and such other Benedictions In fine that way of saluting is very grave and was indeed the ancient way of Salutation as appears by Holy Scripture The left hand is
Fish Crocodiles are Amphibious Animals for they live both in the Water and upon Land They have a Head flat above and below the Eyes indifferently big and very darkish which has made many say that they always weep after once they are taken but it is a fable They have a long sharp Snout full of long and sharp Teeth but no Tongue The Body is large and all of a bigness the Back covered with high Scales like the heads of the Nails in a Court-Gate of a greenish Colour and so hard that they are proof against a Halbard they have a long Tail covered over with Scales like the Body their Belly below is white and pretty tender They have four short thick Legs there being five Claws in each of the Fore-feet and only four in the Hind-feet In a word a Crocodile resembles very much a Lizard and grows as long as it lives some of them are above twenty Foot in length but I have seen little ones half a Foot long This and the Hippopotamus are the only Animals who in eating move the upper Jaw and move not at all the under The Crocodile is very strong and one day as I caused one of them which was eight Foot long to be skinned four Men stood upon it whilst they were slitting up his Belly but it stirred and strugled with so much force that it threw them all four off it is also very strong liv'd for when they skin it after they have cut the Throat and opened the Belly of it if it catch hold of any thing in its mouth it will never part from it As it happened once to a Moor whom I knew who having skinned one for a French-man who had a mind to keep the Skin and cutting the Throat had separated the Head from the Body so that there remained no more but the Head sticking to the Skin all the flesh being taken out he untied the Snout but immediately thereupon the Jaws opening caught hold of one of his Fingers which with its Teeth it cut clear off The flesh of a Crocodile is not bad but it is somewhat insipid and not at all poysonous as many believe for I have tasted of it and found it to be good the Barbarians eat heartily and make a great Feast of it These Creatures are great lovers of Mens flesh and therefore they are very terrible all along the Nile not only to little Boys whom they frequently devour when they come to the River-side to do their Needs for these cunning creatures hide themselves but also to Men whom they surprise sometimes in their Boats. For in the Night-time they rise upright and thrusting their Snout into the Boat endeavour to catch hold of a Man and if they can but pull him into the Water they quickly master him and that is the reason that no Body will willingly venture to Swim in the Nile It is another most erroneous fable also that a Crocodile will weep like a young Child to draw People about it whom it may devour How Crocodiles are taken it is a thing altogether unknown in that Country To catch these Creatures they make a great many Pits by the River-side which they cover over with Sticks and such other things and so when they come to pass over these Ditches especially when the Water encreases which is the time when most of them are taken because then they venture farthest out they fall into them and cannot get out again They let them fast there for several days then let down some Gins with running Nooses wherewith they muzzle their Snout and so pull them up and carry them to the Quarters of the Franks The Moors say That at old Caire there is a Talisman against the Crocodiles which makes that they never pass beyond old Caire but that is false for there are of them at Rossetto and Damiette and they are to be seen upon the way to Caire not indeed in any great number because commonly they keep off from the Sea but there some at least to be found there They never come into the Khalis because as I think it is narrow but if they did they might do a great deal of mischief for when the Water runs in it it is full of Swimmers Hippopotamus There are Hippopotamuses or Sea-Horses also in this River and there was one taken at Girge in the Year 1658. which was immediately brought to Caire where I saw it in the Month of February the same Year This Creature was of a kind of Tawny Colour the hinder part of it was much like to a Buffler however its Legs were shorter and bigger it was about the bigness of a Camel and had a Muzzle like an Ox. The Head of it is like to a Horses and very great but its Eyes small It had a very thick Neck a little Ear wide and open Nostrils thick large Feet and almost round with four Toes in each like a Crocodile a little Tail like an Elephant and little or no Hair upon the Skin no more than an Elephant In the lower Jaw it had four great Teeth half a Foot long two whereof were crooked and as big as the Horns of an Ox and one on each side of the Jaw the other two were streight and of the same bigness as the crooked but standing out in length Many said at first that it was a Sea-Buffler but some others and I knew it to be a Sea-Horse because of the description that is given of it by Writers It was brought Dead to Caire by some Janizaries who shot it on Land where it was come to feed they fired several shot at it before it fell for the Bullets hardly pierced through its Skin as I observed but they fired one shot which hit it on the Jaw and made it fall For many years before such an Animal had not been seen at Caire But to return to the Nile this River causes all the fruitfulness of Aegypt and if it failed to overflow one year there would be a Famine in the Land nay if it did not rise sixteen foot there would be great Scarcity as also if it grew four and twenty foot it would likewise occasion a Dear 〈◊〉 because the water covering all the Land too long Seed-time would be lost when it ebbs off it leaves a fat nitrous slime upon the ground which so fattens the Land that it would produce nothing through too much Fatness if they did not sow Sand upon it before they plant or sow any thing therein so that they are at the same pains to put Sand on their Land to unfatten it as we are to Dung ours Not that it never rains there as many Dreamers would have us believe in Christendom squeezing their Brains to give a reason for that which is not in Nature for it rains much at Alexandria and Rossetto also but at Caire which stands higher it rains less and yet I have seen it rain very hard every year for two days together in the