softer than those other people we have spoken of The third whose name was Kabelau was not so black as the two others Her eyes were also bigger and she discover'd more wit subtilty and compliance than the other two We conceived she might be descended of those antient Christians who some time lived in Groenland in that she was observ'd to have somewhat of Religion in her or rather a particular Superstition by the aversion she had for flesh which the other two did eat such as that of those Beasts which being held unclean are not eaten in Europe Their hair was blacker than Jet and having roll'd it up together they bound it up on their crowns As soon as their Maids become marriageable they make several blew strakes in their faces as the Americans do These strakes reach from the lip to the chin or they are drawn larger at the upper end and above the nose between the two eyes nay there is one divides it self and reaches over the eye-brows into the Temples where it ends with a little branch These marks they make with a very small thread steep'd in Train-oil or some other black fatness which being brought between the flesh and the skin leaves a mark which through the skin seems blewish much like the veins in a smooth and delicate complexion They shew'd me that their ears had been holed through and that they were wont to wear Pendants in them Their breasts were very unhandsome the nipple black as a coal and the Breasts flagging and falling down upon their bellies wherein the Girl had no advantage of the other two They suckle their Children whom they carry on their backs over their shoulders I have been told by those who have long observ'd them that they have no hair any where but on their heads and are not troubled with womens monthly diseases The Groenlanders speak fast and from the throat somewhat like the Tartars especially they they pronounce very roughly the words that have a G. in them They have no R. in their language and when they are oblig'd to pronounce it they turn into L. 'T is true among so many words as their language consists of there are some Danish but very few the rest have nothing common with the languages that are either spoken or learnt or known in Europe unless it might be said that the word Keiling comes from coelum ilioun from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as signifying the same thing It may be said also that the word Igne is Latiue but among all the rest we shall hardly meet with three or four that any way relate to any other language And to the end the Reader may himself judge we will furnish him with some of those which are most common in ordinary conversation Keiling Heaven Vbleisin a Star Agakwugoo yesterday Petting a Man Kajoictuinas young Ekiken deformed Niakau the head Siuta an ear Vkang the tongue Tikagga a finger Nasekka the belly Ennowan a Wast-coat Kaksua an arrow Kalipsi a pot Vglessin a bird Kalulisen dry'd Haberdine Towak the Fish that hath the Horn called the Unicorn's horn Touwaksen the Horn it self Kapissiling a Salmon Pauting an Oar. Vgaggan a stone Kaming a Boot Pisickse a Bow Iugeling a Knife Kejuta a Spoon Emeisa a Cup. Tukto flesh Kack sluton a Drake Kalulia Haberdine Nau a Boat Iglun a house Iliout or Ilioun the Sun Aningang the Moon Vblau day Vnuwoa night Itaguptan to morrow Kona a Woman Pannien a Child Kannoctuina old Pinallu fair Vbia Father Nulia Mother Isiken an eye Keinga the Nose Kanexua the mouth Kiguting a Tooth Vimixuin the beard Akseita the hand Kablan the thumb Kuggie a nail Kana a leg Sikadin a foot Neizin a doublet Naglein breeches Karlein stockins Suwigming Iron Mingakisin fish Kajakka a little Boat Keisuin Wood. Ipsaw the Earth Ipgin grass Nidlong Ice Apon Snow Siruksua rain I me water Imak the Sea Igne fire Igga smoak Kisakaun hot Kaigenakaun cold Vanga I. Akagoo to day Ab yes Nagga no. Pissiak a Dog Amiga the skin Mekkone a Needle Mikkakaun little Angewo great Sua what wouldst Magluna two Sassema four Akbukmen six Pingenguen eight Tellimen ten Agnessui high Eipa low Kachain hungry Ibling thou Kasilakaun full Kepsiun to eat Iemektaun to drink Keigerson to weep Iglakton to laugh Aliasukton to be troubled Tabatton to be glad Ieptone bring Nikatin go thy wayes Kia mecle which signifies Suna what is 't Tansi one Pingegua three Tellima five Arleng seven Sissemen nine The Groenlanders call those of their Countrey Inguin and strangers Kablunassouin and Cloath themselves with the skins of Sea-dogs and Sea-calves and Renes much like the Samojedes They wear under their Cloaths Wastcoats of the skins of birds as Swans Geese wild Ducks and Teals turning the feathers either inward or outward according to the seasons The difference of Sex is not easily discover'd unless it be that the Women are known by a piece of skin that hangs down before and behind to the half-leg and by the capuche of their Wastcoats which is made like that of the Recollects and large enough to hide their hair whereas that of the men is narrower and cut like that of the Franciscans The mens breeches come down to their knees and sometimes lower but those of the women are shorter and hardly cover half the Thigh They live by hunting and fishing and make use in these two exercises only of Bows and Arrows which are the only Arms they have They have also a kind of hook which they call Karlusa made of the tooth of the fish Towak which some would have thought the Unicorn's horn Of this bone they make also the instrument they use in Whale-fishing at which they are very expert taking that Creature much after another manner than is done by the Biskayans and others who drive that trade To that end they have a very long thong cut out of a Whale's skin and fasten to one end of it the said instrument which they cast at the Whale and at the other the skin of a Sea-Calf or Dog blown up which floating upon the water discovers the track of the wounded Whale If she be not mortally wounded they pursue her and Dart two or three times more at her with the same kind of instrument till such time as bloud and strength failing her they come up kill her bring her ashore and divide her The Whales fat is one of their greatest dainties but especially the Oyl which is their best sawce and the drink they best love Their ordinary drink is only water the Women I have seen would never drink any Wine nor eat of our bread or sawces for having no Salt Spice Sugar nor Vinegar in their Countrey it is not to be wondred that we could not bring them to like meats dress'd after our way Yet do they not eat their meat raw as some would perswade but dress'd either by boyling or roasting 'T is true they love dry'd Haberdine or
attracts all the moisture of the Earth lying about it nay its Fruit is so hot that if a Pitcher of Water be set in a Chamber within ten foot of a bag of Cloves they will so suck up the Water that within two or three dayes there shall not be a drop left which that they have done shall not be perceivable any way but by the weight The Inhabitants know this well enough and make their advantages thereof The Chineses have the same experiment in their raw Silks which do attract moysture in the same manner It is commonly affirmed that the Cloves grow only in the Moluccaes but this is said either in regard some comprehend under that name many other Islands near them or that the five we have named yield more then all the rest It is generally granted that they yield every year near six thousand barrels of Cloves allowing five hundred weight and a half to every barrel and it is certain withall that the Islands of Ires Meytarana Cavaly Sabugo Marigoran Gamoconora and Amboyna yield also very considerable quantities especially that of Veranula though they are not so fair as those of the neighbouring Islands In the middest of the Island of Ternate there is one of the highest Mountains in those parts covered all over with Palms and other Trees having at the top a hole so deep that it seems to reach the Center of the Earth Some have had the curiosity to make trial of the depth of it and have found that a Rope of five hundred fathom touched not the bottom but reach'd a fair Spring the water whereof was very clear yet hath there not yet been any that durst venture to taste of it Out of this Mountain there issues a sulphureous smell and by certain intervals a thick smoak and sometimes especially at the two Equinoxes it casts up flames and red Stones with such violence that some are carried not only as far as the City but even into the Islands of Meao and Cafures twenty Leagues distant from Ternate The smoak infects all the circum-ambient Air and the excrements which the Mountain casts forth do so corrupt the Springs and waters of those parts that no use can be made thereof The Mountain is green two third parts of its height but from thence upward it is insupportably cold and there is on the top of it a Spring of fair water but so cold that a man can drink but very little of it without taking breath From the top of it may be seen the Sea and all the Moluccas upon it a man hath a clear and serene Air which is never troubled with Mists or Clouds and there is a Lake of sweet water set about with Trees in which there is a great number of blew and yellow Lizards bigger then a mans arm which sink under the water as soon as any body comes near them There is no difference of Seasons in these Islands nor any certain time for Rain though it rains oftner with the North-west wind then it does with the South There are Serpents there thirty foot long and of a proportionable bigness but they are neither dangerous nor venemous no more then are those of Banda Some affirm that these Creatures not finding any thing to feed upon eat Grass and going to the Sea-side vomit up what they had eaten and by that means draw together a great many Fish which being intoxicated with the chew'd Grass flote upon the Water and so become the prey and food of these Serpents There is in this Island a kind of Beasts they call Cusos that keeps constantly in Trees living on nothing but Fruit. They resemble our Rabbets and have a thick curling and smooth hair between gray and red eyes round and fiery little feet and such strength in the tail that they will hang by it the better to reach the fruits The Forrests are full of wild Birds and except the Parrot there are few domestick at least of those known to us There are Crevisses that come ashore and creep under certain Trees the very shadow whereof is so virulent that no Grass grows near them I know not whether it be from that Tree they contract that venomous quality which lies in one part of them which is so dangerous that it kills in four and twenty hours those that eat it Others there are that resemble Grashoppers and lye in Rocks where they take them by night with fire-light near the tail in a bag they have a lump that is exceeding delicate for which they take them In the Moluccaes there is a certain Wood which laid in the fire burns sparkles and flames yet consumes not and yet a man may rub it to powder betwixt his fingers Near the Fort of Ternate grows a Plant by the Inhabitants call'd Catopa from which there falls a small Leaf the Stalk whereof turns to the Head of a Worm or Butterfly the Strings to the body and feet and the wings are made out of the finer part of the Leaf so as at last there is a compleat Butterfly Tidor is an Island as fruitful as that of Ternate but larger In a Signet of the Kings of this Island in Persian or Arabick Characters it appears this Island was called Tudura not Tidor and they say the word signifies Beauty and Fertility These people have the industry to prune and water the Clove-tree which by this means bears a fruit much fairer and stronger then that which owes its production only to nature The white Sandal-wood that grows here is doubtless the best of all the Indies Here they have Birds by the Inhabitants called Manu codiatas by the Spaniards Paxaros de l' Cielo those we call Birds of Paradise Many take them to have no feet but they are deceived for they that catch them cut off their feet so near the body that the flesh beginning to dry the skin and feathers joyn together so that there scarce remains any scar. The Dutch in Ternate possess the Town of Malaya regularly fortified and not far off the Fort of Taluco In Tidor they have the Fort Marieco In Motir again they have a Fort with Bastions of Stone In Machiam they have made three Forts At Taffaso Tabillola and Guoffiquia and in Bachiam the Fort Barâ—eveldt The King of Bachiam owns neither the King of Ternate nor Tidor for Superiour but is himself Soveraign and independent as to any Forreign Power His Territory is great where there grows great store of Sagou so as the Inhabitants subsist with little labour which makes them so idle and lazy that the Kingdom which heretofore was one of the most considerable of the Molucques is so sunk from that grandeur that at present it can hardly raise five hundred fighting men The Isle of Machiam was brought under the jurisdiction of the Dutch by Admiral Paul van Carden in the year 1601. The chiefest of the three Forts they are possessed
above three thousand Vessels His design was to get himself proclaim'd Emperour of China but knowing he should find too much opposition in the inclinations of the people as long as there were Princes to be chosen out of the Family of Tayming he was not sorry to see it extirpated by the Tartars with whom he held correspondence as we said before Upon the reduction of the Province of Fokien they gave him the Title of King under the name of Pingnam that is Pacifier of the South treating him highly and putting him in hopes that they would leave him the command of the two Provinces of Fokien and Quantung But the Prince who commanded the Tartarian Army in the Province being upon his departure towards the Court Chincilung who had left his Fleet in the Haven of Focheu desirous to accompany him to the place where he was to take leave of all the Officers the Tartar took his advantage of the opportunity pressed him to go along to Peking and finding him unwilling to do it secured him and brought him away by force and had it not been for his Brothers who were Masters of the Fleet the Tartars would have put him to death The other Army which was got into the Province of Quangsi met with so much resistance there that it was forced to dislodge thence and retreat into that of Quantung into which the Viceroy and Governour of the Province pursued them and to give the greater reputation to their designs they created an Emperour of the Royal Progeny who assum'd the name of Iunglie After their example several other Provinces revolted but all their attempts only confirmed the settlement of the Tartars who after the death of Kiang Governour of the City of Taitung in the Province of Xansi who took up Arms against them in the year 1649. and their reduction of the City of Quangcheu in the Province of Quangsi which was taken on the 24. of November 1650. have been possess'd of that vast Country without any disturbance rather through the cowardice of the Chineses then by the number of their own Souldiery in as much as it is impossible for any Army how numerous soever to conquer so powerful a State as that of China if the Inhabitants had ever so little courage to defend themselves Xunchi the Tartarian Emperour of China married the daughter of the King of Taayu in the Western Tartary in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred forty and nine MANDELSLO'S TRAVELS INTO THE INDIES The Third Book WE gave the Reader an account in the precedent Book how that the calm which staid our Ship in a manner in fight of the Island of Ceylon occasioned the digression we have made wherein we have represented the State of the Indies even to the utmost extremities of Asia We continued at the Altitude of Ceylon till the 20. of February at which time the North-west-wind oblig'd us to take our course towards South-east Taking the Latitude about noon we found we were two minutes beyond the Aequinoctial Line I asked the Master of the Ship what he thought of their opinion who affirm that being under the Line a man may discover both the Poles but he made it appear to me that it was an errour and shewed me clearly that the Artick Pole is not to be seen within six Degrees of the Line and that the Artartick cannot be perceiv'd till a man comes to the eighth degree He shew'd me farther that at eight or ten degrees of the Line the wind seems to be as changeable as it is in our Seas on this side of it inasmuch as that of the North-west reigns there six months together and that of the South-east blows there as constantly for the other six moneths So that such as go into the Indies or come thence may regulate their Voyages accordingly In these parts we saw several sorts of Birds whereof some were white and not unlike our Pidgeons save that their Tails are longer and narrower Others were of sundry colours and somewhat like wild Ducks But among others we saw abundance of those Birds which the Portuguez call Garayos or Rabos foreados which are black and white as Mag-pies but somewhat bigger and have their Tails divided like a Taylors pair of Shears All these Birds live only by the Sea and feed on a certain flying Fish which to avoid the pursuit of the Albocores Bonitos and Dorados that continually prey upon them fly into the Air where they can abide no longer then while their wings are moist and where they are caught by these Birds or if for want of moisture they fall back into the Sea they are devour'd by those Fishes The Albocores are white all over and have no Scales no more then the Bonitos The former are much bigger then the latter and have but one bone in them which comes from the Head to the Tail Some of them are so large that if we may credit report one between five and six foot long hath dined sixty Seamen but the meat of it being not very good I conceive they were rather glutted then satisfied The Dorado which the English confound with the Dolphin is much like a Salmon but incomparably more delicate and hath smaller Scales We also took a certain Fish which had a mouth like the snout of a Hog the Portuguez call it Tonina and the French Marsouin a name which no doubt is deriv'd from the German word which signifies a Sea-hog The Hollanders in the Relation of their first Voyage affirm that out of curiosity they opened one of them and that they found within it not only flesh and fat and the intrails after the same manner as those of a Hog but also a young Pig in the belly of it which they cast into the Sea They are seen alwayes many of them together and when the Sea is rough they come near the Vessel and grunt as if they desired shelter against the Storm they perceive coming and whereof the Sea-men look upon them as an infallible sign The Sea hath not a more dangerous Fish then those which the Portuguez call Tuberones the Dutch Hayes and the English Shark It is a great Fish and hath much ado to swim whence it comes that many times when the Sea is clam it is seen floating above water It is never seen but there are fastened to the head of it seven or eight other Fish about the bigness of a Herring expecting to participate of what he takes Above all things they love mans flesh and there are many sad examples of it in Sea-men who have either lost arms or other limbs or have been devoured by them for their teeth are as sharp and close as those of a Saw Their mouth is below the head so that to take their prey they lie upon their backs and so catch it upwards That we took had the heart in the head and lived a good while after it was taken
out They are not eaten and are hunted only for recreation or to cleanse the Sea of them The Fish which the Portuguez call Pesce puerco and whereof there is abundance in these Seas is no bigger then a Bream and is so called only because it grunts like a Pig There are also about those parts great store of Tortoises which lie on their backs and commonly sleep upon the water when the weather is calm The Sea-men when they see them in that posture get near them cast out a hook which fastning in the shells they draw them into the Boat Their meat is as delicate as Veal and it is one of the greatest refreshments the Seamen meet with in these great and dangerous Voyages February 21. We were at one degree and twenty minutes of the Line the weather being rainy and tempestuous and continuing so much longer then we expected it should at that place for it is so unconstant there and changes so of a sudden that many times they have hardly leisure to take in their Sails to avoid the violence of the Winds which the Portuguez call Travados that is Whirlewinds The 23. died one of our Seamen who having got the Pox at Surat neglected the taking of timely Remedies for the cure of it The 24. being Sunday the President treated all the Officers of the Ship and among other dishes had the Biggel dressed and some of the Country Fowl which the Viceroy of Goa had presented to him The 25. We were surprized by a Calm which kept us in the same place all that day but the night following there rose a Tempest that put us out of our course which we could not well have kept had that not happened in regard that having the Sun in the Zenith ever since the 22. we could not take the altitude but only in the night by the Stars This inconvenience continued till the fifth of March having had the twenty seventh and twenty eighth of February the wind at South-west which put us in hope we should soon have the Manson-wind whereof we stood in need to bring us to the Cape of Good Hope But the continual changes of the Wind and Tempests which obliged the Sea-men to be alwayes about the Masts lest they should be surprized by the Travados retarded our progress very much March 5. We began to make our Observations by the Sun and found we were at eight degrees six minutes Latitude Our Ship was encompassed by a great number of all sorts of Fish which seem'd to be our protection against the Whales by whom they were pursued March 10. We were at ten degrees fourteen minutes the Wind at West which turned to a Storm that lasted ten hours March 12. and 13. We had a great Storm accompanied with Lightning and Thunder But what we thought most strange was that though we were not come to the 13. degree yet we found nothing of the ordinary Wind of the season which is commonly perceived about the eight or ninth For the South-wind which blew constantly not only retarded the prosecution of our Voyage but also forced us so much back Eastward that we were in in some fear we might be constrain'd to return upon the Coast of the Indies March 15. The Wind changed and came to the South and at Night we had it South-east so that not doubting but it was the Manson we put out all the Sail we could and made two Leagues an hour taking our course South-west During the time the Wind was thus fair for us we saw a great number of Dolphins which followed our Ship and we took as many of them as found us three good Meals March 20. We were surpriz'd by a Calm which took off much of our courage in regard our store of fresh Water being somewhat low at a time when we knew not what to hope of our Voyage we were forced to assign every Man his allowance and to make it last the longer it was resolved that for some dayes there should be no salt Meat eaten but that the Swine and some other Creatures whereof having good store some had died that day upon the eating of Mustard-seed should be kill'd and consum'd Being about this time at sixteen Degrees we found that the Compass declined thirty Minutes to the West and it continued so to the four and twentieth Degree But when the Cape of Good Hope is once doubled the Loadstone draws towards the Earth The 21. While we floated up and down without so much as a breath of wind our Ship took fire which might have proved to the ruine of us all The Butler going to remove a Vat which he had filled with Aqus vitae set it on fire whereat he was so startled that he turned it out about the Cellar where the fire took in one of the great Vessels and was going to set thirty more into a flame ahd it not been timely prevented with Coverlets The Ship was so loaden with all sorts of Gums and other fat Drugs that it would have been impossible to quench it had there not been a care taken to smother it at the beginning After that day we began to made use of the invention of drawing fresh Water out of the Sea but it was fit only to dress Meat withall in regard it had so untoward a taste that the Sea-men would not take it for their ordinary drink March 22. We made a good dayes sail by the help of the Manson getting above two Leagues an hour The same Wind continued the 23. 24. and 25. This last day a Sea-man was whipt at the Main-mast for offering to debauch two young Boyes March 26. The Wind continued still fair but in regard we had some reason to fear that in case the wind should fail us as it was likely to do we should be put to great inconveinences for want of fresh water a Councel was call'd at which it was resolv'd that we should indeavour to make for Maurice Island and there take in fresh water This resolution very much rejoyced the company The same night we discovered the Island called Diego Roiz or Diego Rodriguez at twenty degrees forty five minutes in so much that we were in hopes the next day to reach Maurice Island as being but sixty Leagues further This Island which the Portuguez call Ilha do Cerno and the Dutch have named Maurice Island from the Prince of Orange who was Admiral of the Vnited Provinces at the time of their first Voyage into the Indies lies at 20. degrees 27. minutes and is abour 15. leagues in compass The Haven of it is very good as well in regard that at the entrance of it there is a hundred fathom water as that it is able to contain above fifty great Vessels sheltred from all winds It hath some Mountains which reaching up to the Clouds are seen at a great distance and are extreamly delightful to the eye in as much as Nature maintains them in a constant verdure
at which they met with as great difficulties as the Portuguez had done Their design was only to refresh themselves there upon this account that in those first Voyages they had so little knowledge of the disease called the Scurvy and the remedies now used for the cure of it that most of their men being not able to perform their labour they were forced to touch there in order to some relief for their diseased but ere they could meet with any refreshment there died above 70. persons out of the four Vessels whereof their Fleet consisted whom they buried in a little Island which upon that occasion they called The Dutch-Church-yard The description they make of this Island is very short and for the most part taken out of the Relation of Mark Paulo Vâ—netâ— which is none of the most exact That of Francis Couche of Rouen Printed by the means of the late M. du Puy is so exact that that of the Dutch cannot compare with it What these last relations have in particular is that the Inhabitants of Madagascar are circumcised though there be nothing otherwise that evinces them to be Mahumetans since they have no Mosques nor any exercise of Religion nor appearance of Devotion in all their Demeanour Having passed over the Winter on the other side of the Aequinoctial Line we began to set things in order for the prosecution of our Voyage and bought the 19. of August of King Masiar and two other neighbouring Princes Tsebich Tanga and Andiam Palola twenty five fat Oxen more and about a hundred Sheep and Goats besides the hundred and fifty Oxen we had bought during our aboad in the Island all which we put aboard the 20. that we might not want fresh meat during our Voyage The same day we embarked our baggage and the next day we got out of the Bay of St. Augustine and left the Island of Madagascar with a South-west wind which continuing all the night following we soon got out of sight of the Island The 22. The Manson which we could not yet have hoped for came unexpectedly upon us and advanced our progress very much taking our course to West-south-west The 23. The wind came to the East so that having it full behind us we went on merrily taking our course the more towards the South to avoid the Cape of Good hope where we intended not to touch at all The 24. and 25. the wind was somewhat abated but the 26. it blew so fresh a gale that we made a great progress We were that day at 27. degrees 27. minutes Latitude and the 28th at 28. degrees 12. minutes The 29. We had the wind East-south-east with those storms which the Portuguez call Travados They were immediately over We saw that day being at 31. degrees 15. minutes Latitude a great number of the Fishes called Pesce puercos which leaped three or four foot above water as if it had been their design to find us sport The next day we had a Tempest yet such as hindered not our getting somewhat forward so that the last of August we were at 33. degree 34. minutes September the first the wind grew so violent that we were forc'd to take in part of our sails yet we made a shift to get 50. Leagues in 24. hours The next day we got but 30. the wind being South-west The 3. The Sea being very calm we kill'd one of the Cowes we had bought in Madagascar and found three Calves in the belly of it as also a Goat that had four young Kids within it from which a man may judge of the fruitfulness of the Country At night we saw up and down certain Lights like flames but we could not judge whether they were the Fishes which the Spaniards call Doradâ—s and the English Blubbers or those Meteors which the Spaniards call Cuerpos sanctos In ancient time when there appear'd two they were called Castor and Pollux Dioscures and Tyndarides and when but one it was called Helene Some have not shaken off the superstition of believing that their fire presages a Tempest But on the contrary we had a great calm the next day and saw infinite multitudes of little Sea-birds About two in the afternoon we had a North-east wind which continuing fair all the next day we failed above two Leagues an hour September 6. We had a great tempest It continued all night and shook the Ship so that the water coming in at several places we were forc'd to pump four times an hour The same day we came 35. degrees Latitude The 7. The weather was somewhat fair so that we made use of our Sails taking our course West-north-west The Sea was very rough and forc'd us towards the Coast from which we thought our selves fourty Leagues distant and from the Cape of Good hope 130. The 8. and 9. the wind South and it proved rainy weather The 10. We had but little wind yet got 40 Leagues in 24 hours we saw many of the Mangas de Valudo whence it was inferred we could not be far from the Cape d' Agâ—lhas The 11. We made but a small progress with an East wind Casting the plummet and finding a sandy bottome one hundred and twenty fathom water we are confirmed in the opinion we had before of our being near Cape d' Agulhas The 12. The contrary wind forc'd us to laveering to the North-north-west and Southwest going either further from or neerer to the Coast which yet they could not discover In the afternoon we resumed our course to the West-north-west with a Southwest wind and at night we found a yellowish sand at 190. fathom water The 13. Our course was to the West-north-west with a South-east wind About 10. we saw a dead Whale floating upon the water and being then at 35. degree latitude we conceiv'd we might be at the altitude of the Cape of Good hope where many of these creatures are ordinarily seen The 14. we found at Sun-rising that the Compass declin'd four degrees 50. minutes to the East whence we inferr'd that we had compass'd the Cape of Good hope The next day we had the wind so full a Stern that had it been contrary it would have forc'd us once more to think of putting into some place or at least put us to the same extremities we had been in before near the Cape We therefore found the declination of the Load-stone to be one degree fifty minutes and presently after the declination of it near the Cape of Good hope is four degrees though otherwise it doth not decline so much Assoon as the Cape is past the Compass still varies towards the East in regard the Needle draws to the Earth where no doubt there is Iron and other Load-stones that draw it but the declination on that Coast never exceeds eight degrees About 20. Leagues on this side the Cape of Good hope and at 33. degrees 15. minutes lies the Island of St. Elizabeth It is not above two Leagues distant
their Retinue and some Iron and Brass Guns a great number of Granadoes and other Fire-arms And as our design was to make use of it chiefly upon the Wolga which is full of Banks and quick-sands it was so built as that if there were no wind they might use Oars and to that end it had twelve seats two Oars to every seat We had caused to be made a double Shallop for the conveniency of unlading the Ship in those places where it might want water as also to carry the Anchors Cables Sails and other things necessary for so great a Voyage and to discover those Banks and Sands in the Caspian Sea which might hinder or retard its passage We stayd almost three weeks before the City of Nisenovogorod for the finishing of the Ship which time we spent in visiting our Friends in the City where the chiefest Dutch Merchants entertain'd us at several great Feasts as also in reciprocally treating them in our Tent which we had pitch'd by the River side Our stay there gave me the convenience to observe the elevation of that place which I found at the place where the River Occa falls into the Wolga to be at 56 degrees 28 minutes and that the Needle of the Compass declined there above nine degrees towards the West The Great Duke Basili ordered it to be built at the conflux or meeting of those two Noble Rivers and gave it the name of Nisenovogorod upon occasion of the Inhabitants of the great City of Novogorod whom he caused to be translated thither This indeed is not so great as the other yet hath its Towers and Walls of stone From Moscou to Nise are accounted 500 werstes or 100 German leagues by Land but by water it is above 150. The Suburbs are much bigger than the City and are above half a league about The Inhabitants are Tartars Muscovites and Hollanders of whom there are so many as make a Protestant Church of about 100. persons Iohn Bernarts our Factor was the chiefest man among them the rest being for the most part Military Officers Merchants and Victuallers or Sutlers The City is Governed by a Weywode who at our passage that way was Basili Petrouits under the Great Duke-Provisions were so cheap there that we bought a Pullet for a penny a quartern of Eggs for as much and a Mutton for 12. 15. or at most for 18. pence Iuly 24. The Ambassadors sent Monsieur Mandelslo and my self accompany'd by our Muscovian Interpreter and the Pristaf to the Weywode to thank him for his civilities towards our people during the stay they had made in the City while the Ship was a building which was almost a year and to make him a Present of a Jewel worth a hundred Crowns His reception of us discover'd how magnificently he liv'd and what a noble house he kept For as soon as notice was brought him that we were come near the house he sent two very handsom compleat persons to meet us at the Gate They conducted us through a very long Gallery and at the entrance into the Palace it self we met with two comely old men richly clad who brought us to the Weywode's Chamber who had on a Garment of Brocadoe and was accompany'd by a great number of persons of Quality The Room was hung with Turkie Tapistry and had in it a great Cup-board of Plate He receiv'd us with much civility and having accepted the Present and answer'd our Complement he desir'd us to take our part of a Collation during which his Discourse was excellent good and such as we thought the more extraordinary in that the Muscovites for the most part contribute very little to any thing of Conversation Among other things he asked us whether we did not fear meeting with the Cosaques who in all likelyhood would set upon us ere we got off the Wolga and told us they were a barbarous and inhumane people and more cruel than Lions shewing us at the same time a Picture wherein was represented Sampson's engagement with one of those Creatures We made him answer that we look'd on that Piece as a good omen in as much as if the Cosaques were stout as Lions we should behave our selves on the other-side like Sampsons The Weywode reply'd that he had that good opinion of us nay-believ'd that the repute our Nation had gain'd by the services it had done his Czaarick Majesty would frighten the Cosaques and hinder them from attempting ought against us The River Wolga is four thousand six hundred Geometrical feet wide near Nise at the meeting of the two Rivers and whereas its waters encrease in the months of May and Iune by reason of the Sun 's having melted the Snow and thaw'd the Rivers which fall into it the Boat-men who go from Moscou to Astrachan do commonly take that time when there is water enough to pass over the Banks of Sand nay indeed the little Islands which are very frequent in that River This consideration and the example of their misfortune whose Boats we had seen cast away and half rotten upon the Sands made us resolve upon our departure thence with the soonest before the waters which visibly decreas'd were fallen too low and so we appointed it should be the 30 th of Iuly The Wolga whereof we gave a short accompt in the precedent book is in my opinion one of the noblest and greatest Rivers in the World its course being of a vast extent from its source to the place where it falls into the Caspian Sea below Astrachan Whence it came that I took a delight to observe all the particularities thereof from League to League and from Werste to Werste with all possible exactness and with the assistance of a Dutch Master's-mate named Cornelius Nicholas one of the most able I ever came acquainted with in that Science as also of some Muscovian Pilots I have drawn a very exact Map of it which I had made the World a promise of some years since but now part with it so well done that I hope the Judicious Reader will be satisfy'd therewith Having bought Provisions for our Voyage as far as Astrachan we left Nise the day before named having only a side wind Mr. Balthasar Moucheron Commissary or Agent from his Highness of Holstein about the Great Duke the Weywode of Nise's Secretary the Pastor of the Lutherans Church there and our Factor Iohn Bernarts would needs accompany us some Werstes to see the beginning of that long Voyage but we had hardly got two Werstes ere we were a ground near the Monastery of Petsora and forc'd to cast Anchor while the men were getting off the ship which took them up four hours Iuly 31. Having made about a Werste the Ship touch'd against a Sand-bank but was soon got off and we had continu'd our course if the contrary wind together with a Tempest had not oblig'd us to cast Anchor This interval we spent in our Devotions to give God thanks for
to have a false Alarum given ordering the Sentinels to cry out and to discharge and thereupon the Drums to beat and the Musket and great Guns to be shot off Our men did their parts very well and kept their stations expressing much resolution We did the like in our return from Persia. The 19. VVe came to the Island of Staritzo which is 15. werstes long There I found the Elevation to be 54. d. 31. m. Behind that Island on the right hand we found a great number of round stones much after the form of Orenges or Citrons which being broken in the midst represented a Star of divers colours whereof some had the resemblance of polish'd Gold or Silver others where brown or yellow VVe took up a good quantity of them to serve us for bullets for our Murthering-Pieces Thence we came to a very pleasant place where might have been seen heretofore a City of Tartary called Vneroskora There had been buried one of their Saints for which Monument those that live thereabouts have still a great Devotion From this place to the City of Tetus are accompted 65 werstes We saw on the River-side under certain Trees two men on hors-back who immediately got out of the way which occasion'd us to send one to stand Sentinel in the Scuttle of the main Mast but they appear'd no more The 20. There came several Fisher-men of Tetus aboard us and brought us 55 large breams which they had taken thereabouts and sold them us for fifty pence They have a particular way of fishing They fasten to the end of a long cord a pretty big stone which falls to the bottom and at the other end of the said cord several great pieces of Wood which swim upon the water All along this cord are fasten'd many little cords each whereof hath a hook baited with a certain kind of fish which is not of the least but such as the others greedily feed upon The fish they take by this invention is ten or twelve foot long the meat of it white firm and very delicate In our return from Persia there was one brought to the Boat where I was with the Ambassador Crusius which was so big though there was nothing else eaten by reason every one liked it so well yet was all the company satisfied and there was as much left as fill'd a barrel wherein it was pickled up When the Muscovites travel about their own occasions they make use of another invention They fasten a hook to the end of a Cord and tye the Cord about a piece of board of about the breadth of a man's hand plain'd very smooth and tinn'd over and drag it after the Boat so as that the current of the water causing it ever and anon to turn up towards the Sun makes it shine like the scales of fish by which means drawing the greater sort of fish after it they take more than they can spend while they are on the water So that the Muscovites making no other provision for their journeys but of bread twice bak'd or dried in the Oven find it no hard matter to subsist any where not to mention that their continual abstinences and their Fasts having accustom'd them to be content with little and to care little for flesh they make a shift to live upon any thing they can meet withall nay in case of necessity upon the liquor which Nature furnishes them with At this place we let go the Boat which had carried our Provisions from Nise which being empty we had no further use for but we thought fit to set it a fire lest it might have fallen into the hands of the Cosaques who would have made use of it against us About noon we pass'd by the Island of Botenska which is three werstes in length and is only divided by a small Chanel from a kind of Cape or Promontory called Polibno The contrary wind forc'd us to Anchor behind the Island near the River Beitma which as they say is also a branch of the great River Kama The 21. We left on the right hand two very pleasant places which are reported to have been heretofore great Cities destroy'd by Tamberlane whereof one was called Simberska-gora The 22. With some little difficulty we pass'd over three Sand Banks whereof one is above the other below the place whence may be seen the Mountain Arbeuchin which was on our right hand It derives its name from a City whereof the ruines are yet to be seen There may be seen from the River a great stone about 20 foot in length and as many in breadth lying between two little Hills having engraven on it the words following Budesch time dobro toboe budet that is to say If thou raise me thou shalt be well rewarded We were told that not long before a great Muscovian Boat being forc'd by contrary winds to make some stay there fifty Passengers went ashore to raise the stone but when they had with much ado turned it they only found engraven on the other side these words Tsto isches netsebo poloschen that is to say In vain dost thou look for what thou hadst not put there On the right hand we had the view of a spacious and very delightful Champain Country the ground very rich with a high grass on it but it was not inhabited and there could be seen only the ruins of Cities and Villages which had been heretofore destroy'd by Tamberlane The 23. The contrary wind forc'd us to Anchor near the River Adrobe where I found the Elevation to be 53 degr 48 minutes In the afternoon we thought to advance a little by laveering but we hardly got half a league further The 24. The contrary wind still continuing at the same height forc'd us twice against the shore and very much hindred the prosecution of our Voyage For some dayes following we had the same incovenience by reason of the Sand-banks and the inconstancy of the wind which rise about nine in the morning and about five at night there was not the least breath stirring by that means adding to the affliction which otherwise lay heavy enough on us For besides that the indisposition of most of our people made that undelightful voyage the more tedious to them continual watching and the insupportable trouble we were every foot put to reduc'd them to a very sad condition Those who had been in action all night though it was not their profession to bear Arms were in the day time forc'd to row Smoak'd and Salt-meats afforded little nourishment and the discontents arising otherwise upon the frowardness of one of the Ambassadors in a manner took away the little courage we had left to encounter with the great inconveniences of that long voyage The 25. We saw on the right hand a Mountain out of which the Muscovites get Salt which they prepare in certain Huts built for that purpose at the foot of the Mountain then expose it to the Sun and send it along the
their affection were but slight earnests of the friendship we were to expect from them after our arrival into Persia. The 29. we were visited by the Myrsa or Tartar-Prince whom we had met two days before returning from his sport He made us a present of some wild Geese which he had taken and invited us to go along with him a-Hawking the next day which we had accepted but the Weywode would not permit it as we said before Septemb. the last the Weywode sent us a Present of some of the Country Preserves to wit Ginger-bread and the juyce of Goosberies reduc'd to a Past whereof some was dispos'd into the form of great Cheeses some flat and some in Rolls It was in taste somewhat sharp and picquant and not unpleasant The Muscovites put of this kind of paste into most of their sawces October the first the Secretary of the Embassy with two other Officers of the retinue were ordered to go to the Weywode about some business He receiv'd me with much civility made me set down by him and gave me a very favourable audience But before he answer'd the Proposions we had made to him he made great complaint of the unhandsome treatment which Rodivon our Pristaf whom the Great Duke had order'd to conduct us as far as Astrachan had received from the Ambassador Brugman He had given him very uncivil language and had call'd him Bledinsin Sabak c. never considering that he was employ'd by the Great Duke He told us further that to his knowledge the Pristaf was a person of honour and prudent in the management of his charge but that it was a great indiscretion in the Ambassador to treat him after that rate though Rodivon had not done his duty and that he should rather have made his complaints of him to his Czaarick Majesty or at least to those who represent the Prince's Person at Astrachan of whom he might have expected satisfaction That he could not believe the Duke of Holstein would take it well no more than the Great Duke that any publick Officer of his Country should be treated in that manner That he was oblig'd by the concernment of his charge to make those remonstrances to us but that there was not on the other side any reason the whole retinue should suffer for his mis-carriage and that that should not hinder him from giving us a speedy dispatch as indeed he immediately did The dayes following were spent in carrying aboard the Provisions which we had bought for the prosecution of our Voyage Our own people had bak'd Bread and Bisket and had brew'd a certain quantity of Beer We had bought of the Tartars twenty fat Oxen at between eight and fourteen Crowns a piece as also several Barrels of Salt-fish intending to go to Sea with the first opportunity And in regard we knew not what kind of sayling it was on the Caspian Sea and that it was represented to us as very dangerous by reason of the shallowness of the Wolga thereabouts for several leagues together besides our Muscovian Pilot we hired certain Tartars of the Country who promis'd to go before us in a Boat and to bring our ship into the main Sea Accordingly Oct. 10. we left Astrachan about noon having very fair weather taking our course towards South and South-west But we had not got a league ere a contrary wind rising forc'd us to the shore and kept us there all that day and the next We there receiv'd the visit of a certain Myrsa or Tartar-Prince a very handsome graceful person and one of the most considerable in those parts who presented us with a Mutton and a Barrel of Milk We observ'd that near Astrachan and for the most part all along the River Wolga the Earth produc'd Simples in great abundance and of incredible bigness The Herb which the Latins call Esula grew there as high as a Man and the Root of Angelica was as big as a Man's arm The Tempest being over the 12. we set forward but could get but a league that day We got not much more the 13. and were forc'd to cast Anchor near a little round Mountain on our left hand 15. werstes from Astrachan The Muscovites call this mountain Tomanoi-gor We gave it the name of the Snakie Mountain by reason of the abundance of Serpents we met with there It was full of Caper-trees and had abundance of the Herb called Semper-vivum of several kinds as Sea-house-leek Prickmadame c. The Plain which is at the foot of this Hill affords one of the most delightful Prospects of the World and that for several leagues together At night we saw in a Boat the Strelits who had convoy'd the Poslanick as far as Terki They told us there was no danger in our way and that they had come it in 24. hours The 14. the wind North-north-east we continu'd our Voyage and came in the afternoon over against a Chapel called Zuantzuk 30. werstes from Astrachan Hereabouts is the best fishing in the Country The Tartars call it Vtschu and it belongs to the Convent of Troitza or of the Trinity at Astrachan The River Wolga in this place divided into several Chanels making so many Isles which are covered all over with Bushes Canes and Ozier as is also the Coast of the Caspian Sea as far as the River Koisu There is among the rest one Isle named Perul 15. werstes from Vtschu in which we saw a house built of wood of a considerable height having on the roof of it a long pole with a Sheep's skull at the top of it and we were told it was the Sepulchre of a Tartarian Saint near which the Inhabitants as also some among the Persians when they either take a Voyage or are safely return'd home sacrifice a Sheep part whereof serves for the Sacrifice the rest for a Feast after the Sacrifice Having ended their Prayers and Devotions the Sheep's head is put on the top of the pole where it is left till it be either reliev'd by another or fall off of it self The Muscovites call this place Tataski Molobitza that is to say The Sacrifice of the Tartars Behind this Isle on the left hand there were upon a high but very smooth ascent a great number of Hutts At night we came to another Fishing-place 15. werstes from the Sea where the River is shut in with a Palizadoe and kept by a hundred Muscovian Musketiers who keep a guard there against the Cosaque Pirates In this place we saw a great number of dog-Dog-fishes or Sea-hounds as also of that kind of Fowl which Pliny calls Onocratalus whose Beaks are long round and flat at the extremity as a Spoon beaten out Putting its Beak into the water it makes a noise not much unlike that of an Ass whence it hath the name but particularly we took notice of a kind of Geese or rather Cormorants whereof we made mention before The Muscovites call them Babbes the Persians
send us a Pilot we might confide in But the merry Companion was no sooner got to his own ship but he set sayl and left us in the lurch I think what troubled him was that we had not made him some present according to the custom of the Countrey but he regarded so little the slur he had put upon the Ambassadors that he had the impudence to come and Visit them in their ship in the company of several other Tartarian Lords after our arrival at Terki and made no other answer to the reproaches he receiv'd upon that occasion than ja wi nouat a great business indeed to be talk'd of Finding our selves thus abus'd we sent to the Master of the Persian ship to entreat his assistance He though Masâ—â—â— of the ship and owner of all the goods in it came aboard us to proffer us his service as a Pilot with more kindness and civility than we could have expected from a Christian and having recommended his own ship to his servants stay'd with us He was a very understanding man and was not only acquainted with the Navigation of those parts but also with the Compass much beyond what the Persians ordinarily are vers'd in who do not willingly venture very far into the Sea but for the most part keep in sight of Land So that finding the wind serv'd he caus'd the Anchor to be weigh'd about eleven at night taking his course towards the South with an East wind We observ'd it was the same day that we left Travemunde the year before and accordingly we had the same success in this second Voyage We had all that night but ten foot water but towards day we had eighteen The Countrey on our right hand which is called Suchator had four Hills which made a great Promontory reaching a great way into the Sea and from that Cape to Astrachan are counted 100 werstes and to Terki 200. but on both sides they are very short ones The 29. The weather fair we kept on our course in the morning Southward and with a South-East wind and in the afternoon South-west-ward having about twenty foot water and finding the bottom gravelly and full of little shells We could discover no Land that day and the night following we cast Anchor Here the Needle declin'd twenty degrees from North to West Octob. 30. We set sayl at the break of day and soon after Sun-rising we discover'd the Countrey of Circassia which lies all along the Sea-Coast from the South-West to North-East compassing it about much after the form of a Crescent and making a spacious Bay It was our design to get beyond the point of the Gulf but the wind coming to South-East had almost forc'd us into it which oblig'd us to cast Anchor about noon at the entrance of the Gulf at three fathom and a half water finding at the bottom a kind of fat earth about six Leagues from Terki We discover'd in the Bay about 20. or twenty five Boats and upon the first sight thereof it run into our imagination that they were the Cosaques but we were soon undeceiv'd and found them to be Tartarian Fisher-men belonging to Terki and were then coming to bring us fish to sell. For those we bought of them we gave them fifteen pence a piece but they were very great ones and we found in their bellies a great number of Crabs and Lobsters among which there were some alive The remainder of the day we spent in giving Almighty God solemn thanks for all his mercifull deliverances of us particularly that which happen'd on the very same day the year before when we were in so great danger amidst the Rocks and Shelves of Ocland Our Persian Pilot went that day to his own ship which was at some distance behind us to give his men Order what they should do leaving us somewhat of an opinion that he would shew us such another trirk as the Muscovite had done before but he afterwards made it appear that those of his Nation are not only made up of Complements for he return'd very betimes the next morning having sent his Boat before us to serve us for a Guide The last day of October we had in the morning a thick Mist with a great Calm The Sun having dispell'd the one about noon and the wind being come to the North we endeavour'd to get out of the Gulf and with much ado by laveering got the point near which we stayd at Anchor till after midnight and came very betimes in the morning on the first of November before the City of Terki We cast Anchor about a quarter of a League from the City because we could not come any nearer by reason of the shallowness of the water The night before the Cosaques had a design to set upon us but happily miss'd us in the dark and met with the little Fleet which brought the Tartar-Prince but the noise of the Strelits or Muscovian Muskettiers having discover'd to them that they were mistaken and imagining they should find a vigorous resistance they drew back but made it appear they were the Germans that they look'd for Intelligence coming in the morning to the City of this attempt of the Cosaques rais'd a verry hot Alarm there in regard it was known that Mussal their Prince was coming and that he might be in some danger The Inhabitants were confirm'd in that opinion when they heard the going off of our great Guns a noise they are not accustomed to in those parts insomuch that they began to get together and look on us as Enemies but they were put out of all fear by the arrival of their Prince who having given us a Volley as he pass'd by and invited us to honour him with a Visit at his Mother's satisfy'd the Inhabitants that there was no danger either to him or them The City of Terki lies somewhat above half a League from the Sea upon the little River Timenski which issues out of the great River Bustro and facilitates the correspondence there is between the Sea and the City to which there is is no other way to come by reason of the Fens which encompass it on all sides for a quarter of a League about It is seated in a spacious plain which is of such extent that the extremities thereof cannot be discover'd by the eye whence may be corrected the errour of the Map drawn by Nicholas Iansson Piscator alias Vischer though in all other things the best and most exact of any I could ever meet with who places the City of Terki upon a Mountain but by a mistake confounding the City of Tarku in the Province of Dagesthan with that of Terki in Circassia The Elevation of the Pole is here at 43. degrees 23 minutes It is distant from Astrachan sixty Leagues by Sea and seventy by Land and is the last place under the Jurisdiction of the Great Duke of Muscovy It is in length 2000. foot and in breadth 800. all
the other Seas but it is of all sides so encompass'd with Land that it may be more justly called the Mediterranean than that which is known only by that name Herodotus and Aristotle are much more worthy credit when they affirm that the Caspian Sea is a particular Sea by it self having no communication with any other and this is no more than what the Inhabitants of Kilan who live upon that Sea on the East-side have so strongly confirmed us in that we lay it down as a thing no longer to be disputed But what on the other side is much to be wondred at is that though so great a number of Rivers incessantly pay the tribute of their waters into it yet can it not be said what becomes thereof We at first could hardly be induc'd to believe what was told us concerning all those Rivers but when at our return out of Persia between Rescht and Schamachy which was twenty days journey we took notice that we had cross'd above fourscore great and small Rivers we made no difficulty then to acquiesce in the Relations we had before received thereof The most considerable of those we saw are the Wolga Araxis or Aras which is joyned to the Cyrus which is now called Kur the Kisilosein the Bustrow the Aksai and the Koisu Towards the North are the Rivers of Iaika and Iems and towards the South and East the Nios the Oxus and the Orxentes which Q. Curtius calls Tanais And notwithstanding this vast Contribution of waters this Sea is not perceiv'd to be any way increas'd thereby nor can it be said by what passages all these Rivers are conveyed thence Some are of opinion that they are by subterranean Chanels return'd into the Ocean The Persians told us that near Ferebath between the Provinces of Tauristan and Mesendan there is a Gulf where all those waters are lost as in a bottomless place and convey'd away under the neighbouring Mountains But in regard a man must consequently to this assertion imagine that Gulf to be as big as the whole Sea to swallow down the waters of so many Rivers I cannot be easily perswaded to side with the maintainers of that opinion On the contrary I think it may be probably held that there may be alleged for the Caspian Sea the same reasons as are urged for Ocean's not overflowing the Earth though an infinite number of Rivers fall into it To wit that besides the Mists which are very frequent there and consequently consume a great part thereof the rest is return'd by secret Chanels to the sources of the Fountains and Rivers according to the wise-mans saying that all the Rivers come out of the Sea and return thither again whether it be that the weight of the sea-Sea-water which is not all within its Centre forces that which is lowest into the clefts of the earth as far as the sources and that this is done with such violence that at its breaking out of the earth it spouts higher than the Sea it self or that there are in the earth certain veins which drawing the water to them distribute it to the Fountains and Rivers The first ratiocination is Scaliger's in his 46. Exercitation where he says that he does not believe the Argument which is deduc'd from the difference of the qualities of waters can destroy the force of his in regard we find by experience that the water passing through the earth is cleansed from its filth and leaves its Salt at the bottom from which it is divided much after the same manner as if it were distill'd through an Alembick Which is evidently seen by this that the greater distance there is between the Sea and the Fountains the sweeter their waters are It is also acknowledg'd that there is no Mountain higher than the Sea which making but one part of the roundness of the Terrestrial Globe the swellings and emmencies which are upon the earth are not higher than the Sea Which I affirm to be so much the more certain upon this accompt that being in my return from Persia between Schamachie and Derbent at the Village of Soray I had the curiosity to go up into one of the adjacent Mountains where I took the Horizon with my Astrolabe and having put my Dioptra into it I turn'd myself towards the Sea which was two Leagues distant thence and could easily discern it The Authors who have written of the Caspian Sea affirm that it is in length fifteen dayes journey and in breadth eight which may fall out somewhat right if it be in a great calm and that those who are to pass it make use only of their Arms and Oars and have no advantage of wind Whereupon I propose it as a particular observation that contrary to the common opinion of all Geographers as well antient as modern the length of the Caspian Sea reaches not from East to West as it is set down in all Maps even in those that have been publish'd since the former impression of this Relation where I condemn'd that errour but that it is to be taken from South to North and that on the contrary it is its breadth which reaches from West to East And this I know not only by the most exact observation I made thereof but also by a curious inquiry of the situation of all the Maritime Provinces according to the Catalogue or Register of Longitudes and Latitudes which I had from the Persians as also consonantly to the Astronomical fragments of the Learned M. Iohn Graves For it is certain that the true length of the Caspian Sea is from the mouth of the River Wolga below Astrachan to Ferabath in the Province of Mesenderan reaching eight degrees of the Aequator which make 120. German Leagues and that its breadth from the Province of Chuaresm named by others Karragan to the Mountains of Circassia or to Schirwan is six degrees which make but 90 German leagues According to this accompt thereof are to be corrected all the Geographical Maps though the opinion we introduce be new and directly contrary to that which hath been receiv'd for so many ages Nor are we to give any more credit to what Q. Curtius affirms when he says that the water of the Caspian Sea is fresher than that of the Ocean unless he be conceiv'd to speak only of the coast of Hyrcania which is now called Kilan where indeed the water is neither salt nor fresh but brackish as it is in several places of Holland by reason of the mixture of the waters of divers Rivers which fall into the said Sea on that side For in the Sea it self the water is as salt as any other that ever I could taste of Polybius and Arrian affirm the same thing of the Euxine Sea and Ovid confirms it by this Distick Copia tot laticum quas anget adulteret undas Nec patitur vires aequer habere suas It is besides our design to engage into any discussion of Scaliger's position who says
afterwards to the Town of Lenkeran upon the River Warsasaruth This Town as also all the adjacent Country derives its name from the easy anchorage of shipping thereabouts though to speak rigorously there is no haven in those parts but only a kind of Bay between two Capes or Promontories which reach a great way into the Sea one on Lenkeran-side which is cover'd with trees on the other on Kisilagats-side on which there is nothing but canes But the Sea thereabout is so shallow that little Vessels can hardly get in there and when they are in they ly exposs'd to the violence of the East-wind Georâ—e Dictander saies in the Relation of his Travels that in the year 1603. there came to that place by Sea an Ambassador from Rudolph II. Emperour of Germany and that he died there with most of his retinue but the Inhabitants thereabouts from whom I would have inform'd my self of that particular knew nothing of it The Kurtzibaschi hath the revenue of the Countrey allow'd him as part of his pay though our Mehemandar and the Persians for what reasons I know not would have perswaded us that it belong'd to the Chan of Ardebil and depended on his Government We were receiv'd there by a Visir or Secretary who had the over-sight of the Demesn in those parts We continu'd there the 8. 9. and 10. as well to refresh the Camels which the ill and slippery waies had almost wearied off their legs as in expectation of the rest of our retinue who were not yet come up with the baggage and with them fresh horses for the better prosecution of our Journey The 11. we left Lenkeran and travell'd five leagues on to Kisilagats crossing that day four great Rivers to wit those of Kasiende Noabine Tzili and Buladi the three former over Bridges and the last which was very broad in little Boats swimming over the horses At our coming out of the River we were forc'd to travel with much inconvenience for half a league or better through the water which the adjacent Sea had forc'd up there and to send the Baggage by Sea in six great Fisher-boats The Sea-side in those parts is cover'd all over with Canes as are also the Islands along the Coast where the Cosaques some times lye in ambush to surprize and set upon the ships which pass that way as also in expectation of an opportunity to cross over to the Continent At our coming out of the said water we found the Lord of that place who was come to meet us accompany'd by a hundred persons on hors-back The little City of Kisilagats that is red or gilt wood hath no walls no more than any of the other Cities of those parts and lies in a plain half a league or better from the Sea towards the North-west upon a little River called Willeschi Sulfahar-Chan sold it heretofore to the Chan of Ardebil by whom it was left to his Son Hossein Sultan who still enjoyes it The mountain of Kilan presented it self to our sight towards the West-north-west sinking by degrees into little hills towards the Countrey of Mokan At the foot of the mountain there were â—eral Villages among others those of Buladi Matzula Buster and Thaliskeran and abundance of trees planted in a streight line along a vast piece of Meadow-ground where there was excellent Pasture for Cattel I conceive this to be the place which Strabo speaks of when he says that towards the Portae Caspiae there is a fertile plain very fit for the breeding of Horses He adds that it is able to keep fifty thousand breeding Mares which number the Kings of Persia were wont to have kept there But this is not true at least there is no such thing now though a Military Officer of the Duke of Holstein's who made it his bragg that he had travell'd into Tartary though he had not been beyond Astrachan being question'd concerning the truth of this breeding-place had the confidence to affirm that what Strabo had said of it was very certain About these parts and in the neighbouring Mountains are the Countries of Kuawer Maranku and Deschiewend and the Village of Dubil otherwise called Chatifekeka the Inhabitants whereof were extirpated by the express command of Schach Abas for the abominable lives they led They had their meeting in the night time at some private houses where after they had made good cheer they blew out the Candles put off their Cloaths and went promiscuously to the work of Generation without any respect of age or kindred the Father many time having to do with his own Daughter the Son with the Mother and the Brother with the Sister Schach Abas coming to hear of it ordered all the Inhabitants of the Village to be cut to pieces without any regard or distinction of age or sex and peopled it with others I conceive it is of the Inhabitants of these parts that we are to understand what Herodotus affirms of their going together without any shame and publickly after the manner of Beasts Over against Kisilagats and about three leagues from the Continent there are two Islands named Kelechol and Aalybaluck The latter which is three leagues or Farsangs in length hath its name upon this accompt that Aly being there one day extremely put to it for fresh water to quench his thirst God immediately caus'd to break forth out of the ground a Spring of fresh water which is to be seen there to this day Febr. 12. we travell'd on through a plain Country but cross'd by several small Rivers the chiefest whereof were the Vskeru and the Butaru and we lodg'd at night at Elliesdu a Village seated at the entrance of the Heath of Mokan at the foot of a hill which is very fruitful as is also the rest of the Country on the mountain-side It belong'd to a Military Officer named Beter Sulthan who had his ordinary residence at a place six leagues thence The houses of this Village were very wretched ones as being built only with laths nail'd across and plaister'd over with clay They were inhabited by Souldiers on whom the King bestows the revenue of his Demesin in these parts with certain Lands which they are oblig'd to cultivate In this Village the Ambassador Brugman caus'd a Persian to be kill'd with cudgelling His Groom would have gone into the first house he came to with one of the led-horses the Kisilbach or soldier who was the Master of it told him that his house was free from quartering and that besides he had no convenience for the entertainment of horses whereupon having a stick in his hand he therewith struck the horse over the head but very slightly The Ambassador Brugman who saw this contestation was so enrag'd at the resistance of the Kisilbach that he immediately alighted and ran in to him The Kisilbach who said afterwards that he knew him not and was far from imagining that an Ambassador would engage himself in such a business and as a
the Moguls there are not amongst the Indians any that go more neatly apparrell'd then they As concerning Coromandel the Eastern part of the Indies on this side Ganges is so called a Coast divided from the Malabares by the Mountain Balagatta extending from South to North from the Cape of Comorin or rather the point of Negapatam to the River Nagund and the Town of Masulepatam containing all along the Coast about a hundred Leagues 'T is the more commodious for that it serves for a retreat to all Vessels which are constrain'd to quit the Coast of Gusuratta during the Winter season and it hath many good Havens and the best Roads of any in all the Indies The Portuguez there possess the Town of Saint Thomas at thirteen degrees thirty two minutes on this side the Line and they say that at the time when Vasco de Gama discovered the Indies and seiz'd on Cochim and Cranganor the Inhabitants on this Coast who called themselves Christians crav'd protection of the King of Portugal and that arriving at Saint Thomas they found Christians who made profession of the Greek Religion For this purpose they tell a Story grounded on a Tradition which nevertheless is not to be proved out of the Ecclesiastical History Thus then they say that Saint Thomas one of our Saviours twelve Apostles having long preach'd the Gospel in the Kingdom of Norsingia notwithstanding the opposition of the Bramans resolv'd to petition the King that he might build a Chappel for the doing of his Devotions and that the Bramans engag'd the King to deny him the favour But it happened that a huge piece of Timber was so lodg'd in the mouth of the Haven belonging to the Town of Meliapour then the Metropolis of the Kingdom that not only great Vessels but the smaller Barks being not able to get in the Trade of the Town was in a short time quite lost There was a trial made with a company of Elephants to remove the Tree but in vain then the Magicians of those parts were imploy'd to try if their Art could do what strength could not effect but to as little purpose wherefore the King proclaim'd a considerable reward to him that could clear the Haven which invited the Saint to offer his service and this for no other reward then the mere Timber it self His proffer to draw it out himself made him at first appear ridiculous and specially when they saw him tye his Girdle to it to draw out a weight that many Elephants had not the strength to stir but he pulling the Beam followed as easily as if it had been a little Boat which when he had laid upon the Land the King was amaz'd with admiration and in honour of the Miracle permitted him to build the Chappel as he had requested The Bramans seeing their Doctrine disparag'd by this Miracle and that if Christian Religion began to spread in those parts there was little hope to support the Pagan they resolve to free themselves of the Apostle and cause certain Panyms to murther him while he was at his Devotions in his Chappel Some there are who will have the Church dedicated to this Saint in that place to be built by a King of Narsinga and that the door was made of that miraculous beam but the Portuguez say they built it of which indeed there is most probability Lentscholen saith that in these parts there are certain people with one leg bigger then the other and that they are held to be the Progeny of those that martyred the Apostle Maffeus in the eighth Book of his Indian History relates how Iohn the second King of Portugal made search for the bones of this Saint upon the Coasts of Coromandel which he transported to Goa where he built a fair Church in honour of him but if credit may be given to Ruffinus and Socrates in their Ecclesiastical History the Apostle Saint Thomas suffered his Martyrdom at Edessa in Mesopotamia whither heretofore they made Pilgrimages to his Sepulchre yet Marco Paulo Veneto sayes otherwise though with some contradiction to himself Gasper Balbi a Venetian Jeweller who hath made a very handsome relation of his Travels in the Indies sayes That being at the Town of Saint Thomas in the year 1582. there was a Church then building in the honour of Saint Iohn Baptist and that the building almost finished they found they wanted Timber to perfect it when at the same time the Sea cast a Tree ashore of such a bulk that looking on it as a thing extraordinary they would needs measure it and finding it to be a just proportion for the Edifice the people cryed out a Miracle wherein they were confirm'd when sawing it it yielded just so many Beams as serv'd to finish the Church Headds further that the Tree came from some far distant place because in cutting it sent forth such a stinking smell that it infected the whole Country The Town of Saint Thomas is not very great but the greatest part of the Houses are of Stone and well built The Church there hath no Steeple yet may be seen at a good distance There live here about six hundred Portuguez or Mestizes besides some Armenian Merchants The Indians Pagans and Mahumetans live in the Town of Meliapour which is seated on a small River two Leagues from Saint Thomas Northward but it is faln from the pristine glory it had when it was the Capital Town of the Kingdom of Narsinga The King of Portugal hath no Governour at Saint Thomas nor so much as a Magistrate nor any political Order by reason whereof divers disorders are daily committed without punishment The South and South-west Winds reign here from April to September during which time the Road is very good but all the rest of the year small Barks are constrain'd to get into the River Palacatte and greater Vessels into the Haven of Negupatam You have five fathom water even within Cannon-shot of the Town but the Sea is so rough at all times there is no Landing without danger Upon this Coast the Hollanders have divers Plantations where they drive a great Trade but principally at Potlapouli otherwise call'd Nisapatam where they have had their Ware-houses ever since the year 1606. and at Paleacatte where they have built the Fort of Geldria This Country was heretofore divided into three Kingdoms that is Coromandel Narsinga and Bisnagar but at present 't is all subject to one Prince who resides sometimes at Bisnagar sometimes at Narsinga Above the Town of Masulipatam lyes the Country or Kingdom rather of Orixa reaching from the River of Masulipatam to the River of Guenga but the Hollanders would have it comprehended under the name of the Coast of Coromandel The chief Towns of the Kingdom are Masulipatam and Golcanda the one considerable for Commerce the other for being the Kings Ordinary Residence The Country yields plenty of Salt and Diamonds are likewise there found but all above five
abundance of provisions and consummates the felicity wherein they live The Country is so populous that to maintain so strange a number of people it is but necessary that all the Ground it takes up should produce somewhat or other They have a natural aversion for idleness but if they had not the Laws have made such provision in this particular that there is not any Crime punished with greater infamy then this Vice Another humour of theirs is that they are lovers of good Chear and pride it much in wearing good Clothes and having their Houses well furnished so that to live handsomly they are obliged to take pains Hence comes it that a man shall not see a Mountain but is planted not a Hill but is cultivated no Plain but is sown no Fen but some advantage is made thereof nay to use the common expression not an inch of Ground but brings forth somewhat or other to requite their labour who bestow their pains on it This Country breeds all sort of living Creatures and brings forth all the Fruits and Simples we have in Europe but all much better in their several kinds then any we have as may be seen by those Oranges the Plant whereof was brought thence into Portugal and the Fruit whereof is so highly esteem'd every where The like may be said of Melons and other Fruits especially Plums which are most excellent there and so wholsome that they never burden the Stomack though a man eat never so many of them There is such abundance of Honey and Wax that whole Fleets come thence loaden therewith and Sugar is so cheap that when it is dearest the Quintal that is a hundred twenty four pound may be bought between twenty four and thirty shillings sterling A man may judge of the quantities of Silk it produces by the Stuffs which the Provinces pay in yearly to the King besides the Stuffs and raw Silk which are carried into all other parts of the World The high Grounds bring forth Wheat Barly Oats and the low Grounds Rice but in such abundance that when most dear it is sold at a Crown the Coom or four Winchesters Fowl are sold there by the pound and when the Feathers are off the ordinary rate is three half pence a pound and all other Flesh proportionably for there is so much Cattel that a fat Cow is not worth above ten shillings a Buffer a Crown a Hog the flesh whereof is very delicate twenty pence Nay even Spices are so cheap there that under a Crown a man may buy four hundred Nutmegs and for half a Crown two pound of Cloves which proceeds hence that Provisions yielding in a manner nothing in the Country the Chineses truck them with so much profit to the Moluccas and the other neighbouring Islands that they can afford these Drugs cheaper then they may be had at the places where they grew The Sea which encompasses a great part of this vast Territory and the Rivers which are as it were so many Veins and Arteries to this vast Body supply it with such abundance of Fish that it is to be had in a manner for nothing For there is hardly any City that hath the convenience of a River but the Inhabitants keep a great number of Cormorants which they make use of in order to fishing They are kept fasting one day and the next they carry them to the water-side near several Boats half full of water whereto they are fastened with a Cord tied under their Wings and having bound them about their Necks a little above the Stomack they let them go into the River where they fill with Fish that Skin which stretches like a bag under the Throat and come and disburden themselves of what they had taken in the Boat whereto they are fastened This they do several times at least till such time as the Master thinks they have taken enough and then he unties the String which ties up their Necks and permits them to go a fishing for themselves and to feast themselves for two dayes and by this means they take more Fish then they are able to consume There is no Creature so common all over China as the Duck in regard they have a way for the breeding of them not known in other parts They are kept in great Cages made of Canes and set at the Sterns of great Boats the Cages being so large as they are able to contain three or four thousand of them and they hatch the Eggs in the Summer time in Cow-dung or haply in the Dung of the Ducks themselves which is very hot leaving them therein till the generation be compleated and then they break the Shells one against another to make way for their young ones to come out with such a sleight that it seldom happens that any one of them miscarries In the Winter they heighten the natural heat of the Dung by Fire making a Bed of Canes raised three or four foot from the ground upon which they set the Eggs between two layers of Dung and there is a Fire made under to give them that degree of heat which is requisite for the hatching of them As soon as they are hatched they dispose them into the Cages where they keep old Ducks which receive them under their Wings and breed them up When they are grown big enough to shift for themselves they give them in the morning a little Rice but only so much as rather sharpens then satisfies the Appetite and then they open the Cages to let them go over a kind of Hurdle of Canes to the shore where they suffer them to feed among the Rice out of which they pick the Weeds with so much ease and advantage to the Owner that he who breeds the Ducks is sufficiently recompenced for his pains In the evening he gets all his Ducks together and makes them return into the Boat with the noise of a Whistle or little Bell which they observe so exactly that though there are many times twenty or five and twenty thousand of them together yet will they all get very orderly into their Cages and by this kind of breeding they are so cheap that a man may have two or three for a penny As to the Inhabitants they are well shaped and for the most part of a good stature The Men have large Faces are small Ey'd and flat Nosed wearing little or no Beard They never cut their Hair nor pare the Nails of the left Hand out of a perswasion that their Nails may be serviceable to them in climbing when they shall be taken up into Heaven by the Hair They are all clad after the same fashion save that in the more Northerly Provinces they use Furs and in the more Southerly they go for the most part in Silk Persons of great quality have their Cassocks embroidered up to the Waste but others have only a little Gold or Silver about the extremities
any verdure only what may be particularly said of it is that upon the Coasts of it there are more Fish then upon those of Saint Helenes which occasions the coming thither of abundance of Birds that live only upon the said Fish These Birds are somewhat like Geese at least as the Relations describe them Assoon as a Vessel comes near there flie such numbers thereof into it that they are easily kill'd with sticks but the meat of them is not good The Earth of its Mountains is of a reddish colour much like that which the Spaniards call Almagro from the name of a City where there is much of it found October 9. The South-east wind continued but so weakly that we got that day but 15. Leagues holding our course to the South-west and we were at 16. degrees 11. minutes Latitude The 10. We had a great calm with insupportable heats so that we got that day buâ— 8. Leagues keeping the same course The 11. With an Easterly wind and keeping on the same course we got 15. Leagues The 12. We got 21. Leagues with the same wind taking our course to the North-north-west The 13. The wind came to North-east and helped us forward 25. Leagues to North-north-west to 14. Degrees 25. minutes Latitude The 14. With the same wind keeping on the same course we advanced 22. Leagues The 15. The wind came to South-east and keeping on the same course we advanced 44. Leagues The 16. The wind continued South-east and we got 46. Leagues we had that day the Sun in the Zenith so that we could not observe the Elevation The heats were very great The 17. We got 40. Leagues with the same wind The 18. With the same wind we got 42. Leagues to the fifth degree of Latitude That day we saw Millions of flying fishes and abundance of those birds the Portuguez call Mangas de Veludo The heats were excessive The 19. With a South-east wind we got 40. Leagues and got to 3. Degrees 19 minutes Latitude The 20. With the same wind we got 40. Leagues further and at one degree 18. minutes Latitude The 21. VVith the same wind we got 35. Leagues and passed under the Aequinoctial Line At one degree beyond the Line lies the Cape de Lope Gonsales upon the Coasts of Guiny the Road whereof is very good There Vessels take in refreshments in case they had not done it at Saint Helene's Island The Island of Saint Thomas so called by the Portuguez from its being discovered on 21th of December lies under the Line Though there be no talk of any Plague at that place yet is the air thereof very unwholsome and prejudicial to strangers who cannot well bear the excessive heats predominant there Whence it comes there are few gray-beards seen there and few Christians reach 50. years of Age though the Inhabitants of the Country live to above a hundred Day and Night are of an equal length there all the year long and it rains only in March and September but all the remainder of the year the Earth is moistened by a certain Dew which brings forth all sorts of fruits They who discovered the Island found it overgrown with a kind of trees the branches whereof were all streight Heretofore there grew Sugar there in such quantities as that there was enough to load thence yearly above forty Ships but it is now sometime since that there bred there a kind of Worms which so gnaw the Canes that the Island can hardly furnish six Ships therewith It affords much Wheat and Wine Millet Rye Barley Melons Cowcumbers Figs Ginger red-Parsnips Cabbages Navews Lettice Parsly all sorts of Roots Pulse and Pot-herbs and among others a certain Root named Ignaman accounted a very delicate dish by the Inhabitants It is a kind of Toad-stool the rinde whereof is black and the meat white about the bigness and not unlike the French Navew save that it casts forth several branches below It is baked in the Embers and tastes somewhat like but much better then a great Chesnut The Spaniards have planted Olive-trees there as also Peach-trees and Almond-trees which grow well enough but bear no Fruit. Among the living Creatures particularly to this Island there is a kind of Crevisses which live within the ground and work like Moles There is also abundance of Partridges Quails Black-birds Parrats and other Birds but particularly great store of excellent fish especially VVhales which are of a monstrous bulk upon the Coasts of this Island In the midst of the Island there is a Mountain covered with Trees and over-spread with a Cloud which supplies it with fresh water and that abundantly enough to water the Sugar Canes but what is most remarkable is that the higher the Sun comes over the Horizon the more water falls from the said Cloud The natural Inhabitants of it are Negroes but Forreigners continue white to the third and fourth Generation and it is reported that the lice and fleas wherewith the Negroes are extreamly troubled meddle not with the white people inasmuch as the skins of the former are much more delicate then those of the latter VVithin 35. Leagues of St. Thomas Island South-ward there is another Island which the Portuguez call Rolles Island wherein there are Oranges Citrons Bananas Ananas Ginger Poultry Swine and other refreshments in such plenty that having besides a very good Haven at ten Fathorn water it is a more commodious place then the Cape de Lope Gonsales The Island of Carisco which lies 30. minutes on this side the Line hath no other refreshment but fresh-water and is so neer the Continent that seldome any Ships Anchor there but in great extremity October 22. VVith a South-west wind we got 33. Leagues and about noon were at one degree 35. minutes Latitude North from the Line having very fair weather The 23. The same wind brought excessive heats and advanced us 26. Leagues and 3. degrees one minute Latitude The 24. VVe got but 22. Leagues having continual thunder and lightning which lasted till night The 25. The same South-east wind carried us 32. Leagues taking our course North-North-west The weather was rainy with storms and those winds which the Portuguez call Travados which are very ordinary towards the Coasts of Guiny from which we conceived our selves to be then distant about 150. Leagues The 26. The wind continuing South-east we got 25. Leagues and were at seven degrees Latitude The heat was much greater here then it had been on the other side of the Aequinoctial though the Sun were ten degrees further from our Hemisphere in as much as the Sun which had so lately warmed the Septentrional Hemisphere had not yet had time to warm the Meridional The 27. The wind changed and came to North and by East which obliged us to change our course We got that day but 13. Leagues and about noon were at seven degrees 50. minutes Latitude And as we came further off from the Coasts of
l. 2. daies 114 The 8. to Sabackzar 8. l. 1. day 115 The 9. to Kocks-chaga 5. leagues 1. day ibid The 13. to Suiatzki and the same day opposite to Casan where they find a Caravan conducting a Tartar-Prince and a Factor of the King of Persia's ibid The description of Casan its situation buildings Castle how the Province of the same name conquer'd by the Muscovites which occasions a pleasant diversion the exemplary fidelity of a Weywode the Great Duke forc'd out of Muscovy takes the City of Casan by storm ibid. Melons of extraordinary bigness 116 The 15. they leave Casan come the 17. to the mouth of the River Kama which falls into the Wolga on the left hand 12. leagues from Casan 117 The Iland of Sokol ibid The 18. they come to the River Serdick and afterwards to that of Vtka and see as they pass by the City of Tetus 25. leag from Casan 118 The 19. they pass before the Iland Staritzo which is three leagues in length ibid The fishing of the Muscovites and Tartars ibid Botenska Iland the Cape of Polibno the River Beitma and several Cities ruin'd by Tamerlane ibid The mountain Arbeuchin ibid The River Adrobe the Salt-mountain the River Vssa the mountain Divisagora ibid Iabla-neu-quas or the Cider-valley ibid The mountain Sariol-Kurgan and that of Savobie 119 S. Nicholas's red Snakes ibid The 28. betimes in the morning they come to the City of Samara 60. l. from Casan upon the River of the same name within two wersles of the Wolga ibid The same day they come to the mountain of the Cosaques and opposite to the fall of the River Ascola 120 The River Pantzina the Iland of Zagcrinsko ibid The 30. to the River Zagra the Iland of Sosnon and the mountain Tichi ibid The 31. to the Iland Osino and that of Schismamago to that of Koltof the mountain of Smiowa and the 40. Ilands ibid The fabulous metamorphosis of a Dragon kill'd by a Heroe ibid. SEPTEMBER The 1. they come to the City of Soratof which lies upon a branch of the Wolga 70. leagues from Samara 121 The 2. pass by the Ilands Kriâ—sna and Sapunofka and come to the mountain Achmats-Kigori 10. l. from Soratof ibid 4. leagues lower to the Iland Solotoi and the mountain Solottogori or the Golden mountain that of Craye the mountain of Pillars the River Ruslana the mountain Vrakofskarul 30. l. from Soratof the mountain Kamuschinka and River of the same name ibid. At this place the Don or Tanais is within 7. leag of the Wolga Visits from the chief Persons of the Caravan 122 The River Bolloclea 18. l. from Kamuschinka The first branch of the Wolga 123 The 6. they come to Zariza 70. l. from Soratof on the right side of the River ibid Thence to Astrachan there are only barren lands and heaths The Iland Zerpinske behind which there falls a River into the Wolga whereby there might be a communication with the Don. ibid The 7. they come to the Iland and mountain Nassonofsko 124 Tziberika a Fish of a rare figure ibid The 8. to the Cape Popowizka jurka 14. l. from Zariza and the mountain Kamnagar 8 l lower the Iland and River Wesowoi and that of Wolodinarski-Vtzga Achtobenisna Vtsga a second branch of the Wolga the Iland Ossino an extraordinary kind of Liquorice ibid. The 9. to the little City Tzornogar 40. l. from Zariza its original ibid Carps weiging 30. pound Sandates c. 168 The 10. leave Tzornogar come to the mountain Polowon and the Iland Kissar 125 The 3. and 4. branches of the Wolga the Islands of Coppono and Katarniski ibid The Iland Peruski the 5. branch of the Wolga the excellent fruits of Nagaia Cormorants the 6. and 7. branches of the Wolga ibid The 15. the Ambassadors having pass'd by the Ilands Itziburki and Basan and the River Biltzick come to Astrachan ibid The 7. branch of the Wolga maketh the Iland Dolgoi in which Astrachan lies From Moscou to Astrachan there are above six hundred German leagues A description of Astrachan where they stay neer a month 126 A description of Nagaia the Iland of Dolgoi the Salt-pits 127 Astrachan 12. l. from the Caspian Sea the fruits of Nagaia ibid Its Inhabitants Nagaia when conquer'd by the Muscovites the greatness of the City its Structures Ammunition Garrisons Governours the Tartars not permitted to come into it their manner of life and cloathing wars with the Kalmukes and Tartars of Buchar 128 Their Princes Religion food 129 The Ambassadors visited by the Persians who came along with the Caravan ibid The Cuptzi's Present a visit of the Tartar-Prince and his reception ibid The Cuptzi's visit the Weywode's Present to the Ambassadors the Ambass visit to the Tartar-Prince 130 The Cuptzi's Feast 131 The Tartars much addicted to Hawking the treatment of another Persian Merchant Brugman's imprudence the visit of another Tartar-Prince 132 The Weywode's Present ibid OCTOBER The 1. the Secretary sent to the Weywode Provision made for the continuation of the Voyage ibid The 10. the Amb. leave Astrachan and embark upon the Wolga Simples of extraordinary bigness neer Astrachan 133 The 12. come to Tomanoigor or the Snaky mountain ibid Many Ilands at the mouth of the River the Sepulchre of a Tartar-Saint the Sacrifices of the Tarters dog-fishes several sorts of Birds ibid The 15. come to the mouth of the Wolga and to the entrance of the Caspian Sea where it is very troublesom sailing 134 A Muscovian Slurrâ— the civility of a Persian Pilot an ominous day 135 NOVEMBER The 1. they come before the City of Terki in Circassia having sailed but 60. l. in 16. daies the situation of Terki upon the River Timenski its fortifications Garrison ibid The Cuptzi's Present to the Ambassadors a mutiny in the ship an Eunuch belonging to the King of Persia visits the Ambassadors their Present to the Weywode 136 Their message to the Tartar-Prince his house his reception of those sent to him a collation the curiosity of the Tartar-Ladies 137 The Princess's Present to the Ambass The Tartars enclin'd to theft ibid The Weywode's Present ibid Nov. 10. the Ambassadors leave Terki An Iland in the Caspian Sea 138 A description of the Iland Tzetlan by the Persians called Tzenzeni ibid Come in the sight of the mountain Salatto which is the Caucasus of the Autients in Mengrelia or Colchis mount Ararat 139 Are forc'd by a tempest upon the Coasts of Persia. ibid The Ambass dis-embark with part of their retinue 140 The Ship run a ground 141 A description of the Caspian Sea its names It is a particular Sea having no communication with any other 142 Above a hundred Rivers fall into it yet is it not known what becomes of them ibid The length and breadth of it contrary to the common opinion of Geographers its water is salt Curtius's error the Caspian Sea not known to the Antients 143 It neither ebbs nor flows hath few Havens its fish and fishing
away our baggage The Ambassadors follow'd the next day and three days after viz. the 10. we came to Reuel vvhence we stirr'd not for the space of three weeks But considering at last that the Baltick Sea was not Navigable that time of the year and being withal unwilling to stay there the rest of the Winter vve conceiv'd it vvould be our best course to be gone thence with the soonest and to prosecute our journey by Land through Prussia Pomerania and Mecklenbourg The Ambassadors left Reuel Ian. 30. having tabled most of their retinue with Mr. Henry Kosen and vvith a retinue of ten persons took their way to Riga The two first nights vve pass'd over at Kegel a house belonging to Iohn Muller Counsellor of the City of Reuel my Father-in-law vvhere vve vvere very vvell entertain'd Feb. 2. vve came to Parnau at vvhich place God was pleased to favour me with a great deliverance vvhich vvas thus discharging their Canon at our entrance the Tampion which they had forgotten to take out of one of the pieces pass'd very near me and struck against the vvall of the City Gate where it broke the splinters of it flying about my head with such violence that being stunn'd thereby it was half an hour ere I recover'd my self The City of Parnau is but a small one but hath a good Castle built of wood and after the Muscovian fortification to which the Houses the Gates and the Churches are suitable It is seated upon the little River of Parnau of Parnou which gives it the name and which rising out of the great Forrest near the little River Beca and the Castle of Weissenstein and receiving in its passage the waters of the Rivers Fela and Pernkeia disembougues it self into the Baltick Sea near this City which is divided into two parts the Old and the New 'T is numbred among the Hanseatick Towns though it hath not in a manner any other Commerce than that of Wheat Eric K. of Sueden took it from the Poles in the year 1562. but they recovered it again by stratagem in the year 1565. The Muscovites became Masters of it Iuly 9. 1575. but it was re-united to the Crown of Poland with the rest of Livonia by the Treaty of Peace made between that Crown and the Great Duke In the year 1617. the Suedes took it and have kept it ever since We met there with the Countess Dowager La Tour named Magdalene of the house of Hardek in Austria The Ambassadors sent me with tvvo more of our retinue to complement her and to make proffers of service to her in their names She took it so kindly that not content to make us drink his Highnesse's health three times over she forc'd us to take the bovvls out of her ovvn hands and in the mean time entertain'd us vvith much excellent discourse in commendation of his Highness and that Embassy as also concerning the manners and Religion of the Muscovites vvith a svveetness and gravity vvhich cannot vvell be express'd She vvould needs have the young Counts Christian and Henry her sons go to the Inn vvhere the Ambassadors vvere Lodg'd to complement them vvhich the young Lords perform'd handsomly and to heighten their civility they also stay'd Supper vvith them The next day the Countess sent us all manner of Provisions and Letters for Count Mathew Henry de la Tour her father-in-lavv She sent also to desire the Ambassadors to recommend her sons to his Highness and to assure him of their services when they should be of an age and in a capacity to do him any As we were getting on hors-back our Host shew'd himself an honest man and refus'd to take our money telling us the Countess had sent in most of the Provisions for the Ambassadors Supper and that the rest was not worth the reckoning so that to require his sincerity we gave him twenty Crowns But we were not got a League off the City ere we were overtaken by a man he had sent to return us our money and to tell us the Present was too small in requital of the trouble we had given him We sent back our Harbinger with the Messenger who gave the Host twelve Crowns more wherewith he seem'd to be satisfy'd The 6. We enter'd Riga The next day the Governour visited the Ambassadors and the 10. he made a great Feast for them to which he invited the chiefest of the City Some days following were also spent in Feasting among some or other of our friends Febr. 13. The Ambassadors left Riga having in their Company a certain Ambassador of France who was called Charles de Tallerand and assum'd the quality of Marquess of Exidueil Prince of Chalais Count of Grignol Baron of Marueil and Boswille Lewis xiii King of France and Navarre had sent him with Iames Roussel upon an Embassy into Turky and Muscovy But Roussel his Collegue had done him such ill Offices with the Patriarch that the Great Duke sent him to Siberia where he continu'd three years a prisoner till such time as the malice and artifices of Roussel who endeavour'd nothing so much as to inflame the differences between the Princes being discover'd he was set at liberty after the Partiarch's death During his restraint his diversion had been to learn by heart the four first books of Vergil's Aeneids which he had as they say ad unguen He was a person of an excellent good humour aged about 36. years We took our way through Courland and came the 4. about noon to Mittau This little City is situated in that part of Courland which is called Semgalles six Leagues from Riga and it is the place where the Duke ordinarily resides The Dutchy of Courland was some time part of Livonia from which it is divided by the River Dune but all this Province having been miserably ruin'd by the Suedes and Muscovites and the Archbishop of Riga and the Master of the Teutonick Order having submitted to the Crown of Poland with all they were still possess'd of there Sigismond Augustus King of Poland rais'd Courland to a Dutchy and gave it to Godard Ketler of Nesselrot last Master of the Teutonick Order in Livonia to be held immediately from the Crown of Poland Godard dies May 17. 1587. leaving by Anne the Daughter of Albert Duke of Meklenbourg two sons Frederick who died without issue and William who succeeded his brother in the Dutchy of Courland This William having been dispossess'd by Sigismond III. and the States of Poland was forc'd to live in Exile till that upon the mediation of several Foreign Princes he was re-establish'd in the year 1619. During the first War between Poland and Sueden the City of Mittau was taken by the Suedes who fortifi'd it and restor'd it not to the Duke of Courland till oblig'd thereto by a Cessation agreed on between those two Crowns in the year 1629. William's son who now hath the Dutchy and assumes the quality
be on the Coasts of Denmark which our Captain took for the Isle of Bornholm and we perceived that we had directed our course streight towards the Country of Schonen so that if we had not at the break of day discover'd Land and found we were at 4. fathom water which soon oblig'd us to alter our course there had been an end of both us and our Ship About 9. of the clock we discover'd the Island of Bornholm and the wind being fair made all the fail we could But about ten at night when we thought our selves most secure and made accompt to rest our selves after the precedent night's toil even while Brugman one of the Ambassadors was charging the Master's Mate to be carefull and the other answer'd there was no danger since we had Sea-room enough the Ship being then under all the sail she could make struck against a Rock which was cover'd by the water The shock made such a horrible noise that it made all start up The amazement we were in surpris'd us so that there was not any one but might easily be perswaded that the end of both his Voyage and Life were neer at hand At first we knew not where we were and in regard the Moon was but newly chang'd the night was so dark that we could not see two paces from us We put our â—antern at the Castle and caus'd some Muskets to be discharg'd to see if there were any help to be had neer us But no body made answer and the Ship beginning to lye on one side our affliction began to turn into despair so that most cast themselves on their knees begging of God with horrid cries that he would send them that relief which they could not expect from men The Master himself wept most bitterly and would meddle no further with the conduct of the Ship The Physician and my self were sitting one close by the other with a design to embrace one another and to die together as old and faithful friends in case we should be wrack'd Others took leave one of another or made vows to God which they afterwards so Religiously kept that coming to Reuel they made up a portion for a Poor but Virtuous Maid who was married there The Ambassador Crusius's Son mov'd most compassion He was but 12. years of age and he had cast himself upon the ground importuning Heaven with incessant cries and lamentations and saying Son of David have mercy on me whereto the Minister added Lord if thou wilt not hear us be pleas'd to hear this Child and consider the innocence of his age At last God was so gracious as to preserve us though the Ship struck several times with great violence against the Rock About one in the morning we saw fire whence we inferr'd that we were not far from Land The Ambassadors commanded the Boat to be cast out with design to get into it with each of them a Servant and to go streight towards the fire to see if there were any means to save the rest but no sooner had they thrown in two Cabinets in which were the Credential Letters and some Jewels ere it was full of water which had almost occasion'd the loss of two of our people who had leapt first into it thinking to save themselves in so much that they had much ado to get into the Ship ere the Boat sunk We were forc'd to continue there the rest of that night expecting to see a period of that danger At break of day we discover'd the Isle of Oleand and saw the ruins of a Danish Ship which had been cast away thereabouts a month before The wind being somewhat abated two Fishermen of the Isle came aboard us and Landed the Ambassadors having a very considerable reward for their pains and after them some of their retinue About noon we found the two Cabinets and when the Sea was a little calm'd many people of the Isle came in to our relief to get off our Ship from among those Rocks but with this misfortune that as they would have let down the Anchor which they had carried in the Boat about a hundred paces from the Ship the Boat over-turn'd so that those in it were toss'd into the Sea Our Masters Mate went immediately with one of the Isle boats to their relief and in regard as they were over-turn'd some caught hold of the Boat others of an Oar or somewhat else as also that the Wine they had drunk a little before had somewhat heightned their Courage we had the time to send twice to them and to save all but our Carpenter who was lost for want of having fasten'd on somewhat that might have kept him above water While they were getting off our Ship the waters increas'd so as that the wind coming to the North-West made our passage thence into the Sea the easier Whither we were no sooner gotten but the wind turn'd again to South-West and brought us safely through the streight of Calmer which is so much the more dangerous in that season of the year in as much as the Sea thereabouts is full of Rocks and that even in the Summer time it is ill sailing there by reason of the banks of Sand. The Ship stay'd for the Ambassadors at Calmer whither they got by Land upon the first of November and came aboard neer an old ruin'd fort called Ferstat Being come to Calmer we sent back a Page and a Lacquey to Gottorp to get other Credentials the sea-Sea-water having spoil'd those we had at first It was there also taken into consideration whether it were not our best course to take our way by Land through Sueden or prosecute our Voyage by Sea The latter was resolv'd on and that we might do it with the less danger we laid out for a skilfull Master for the Baltick Sea but there being none to be had we took only two Pilots who conducted us half a League through the Sand banks till we were got into the main Sea The 3. we continu'd our course and pass'd by a Rock called the Suedish Lady which we left on the lar-board From Calmer thither are accounted eight Leagues About noon we spy'd the Castle of Bornholm in the Isle of Oeland At night we doubled the point of the Isle with such a Tempest from the North-East that the fore-part of the Ship was more under water than above it and ever and anon our sails were wash'd by the Waves Another misfortune was that our Pump was out of order in so much that till it could be made to do its Office all the Kettles and other Vessels were little enough to empty out the water This trouble lasted till the next day at noon with so much danger to us that if the wind had not chang'd it would have been impossible for us to escape shipwrack But the wind being somewhat better for us than it had been we kept on our course and came towards night in sight of Gotland The Isle of
Gotland is opposite to the Province of Scandinavia or Schoven which hath also the same name given it at 58. degr of Latitude It is in length 18. German Leagues in breadth between three and four The Country is full of Rocks Firre-Trees 〈◊〉 Juniper-Trees having East-wards many commodious Havens as those of Ostergaar Sleidaf Sanduig Naruig and Heiligolm Ostergaar is a small Isle standing at an equal distance from the two points of the great one with a convenient Harbour for those who can avoid the Sand-banks which thereabouts reach out a good way into the Sea Sleidaf is higher towards the North than Ostergaar and hath a safe Harâ—â—â—â— against all winds the Ships lying under the shelter of four little Isles or rather Mounts 〈◊〉 which break the violence of the Waves There 's but one Town in all the Island but there are above 500. Farms and the Churches are built within a League distance one of another as they are in the Isle of Oeland so that the Steeples give a great direction to the Ships that sail that way The Inhabitants are Danes and the Island was subject to the King of Denmark till that after a tedious War it submitted to the Crown of Sueden to which it payes annually 100. lasts of Pitch All their Traffick lies in Cattel and Wood for building and fire and thence the best deal Boards come I would needs with some other Camerades go and see the Town of Wisby It is built on the descent of a Rock upon the Sea side encompass'd with a good Wall and fortify'd with some bastions The ruins of 14. Churches and several Houses Gates and Walls of Free-stone and Marble which we observ'd there argue it hath been bigger than it now is It is said that the foundations of it were laid about the end of the eighth Age and that it hath been since so populous that it had 12000. Inhabitants for the most part Merchants not accounting the Danes Suedes Vandols Saxons Muscovites Iews Greeks Prussians Poles and Livonians who traded thither There they say were made the first Orders concerning maritime affairs which Lubeck and the other Hanseatick Cities still make use of But now the Port is quite lost so as that Ships cannot get into it The 5. the wind became more boisterous than before so that the Vessel at every great Sea was all under water About 10. at night we sounded at 12. fathom whereupon we chang'd our course and got into the main Sea for fear of running against the Land which if we had we must needs have been cast away The 6. we met a Holland Vessel which directed us towards the Isle of Tageroort whither we came at night but the same night we were again forc'd into the main Sea The 7. at noon we were upon the point of Tageroort but the Masters Mate was mistaken who thinking the wind would have carried us North-ward would perswade us it was Oetgensholm and upon that presumption imprudently engag'd himself in a most dangerous passage called the Hondeshuig He was not convinc'd of his error till he saw the Church-Steeple so that we were forc'd to return into the main with greater hazard than we had run at our entrance into that passage That day we met a bark which had lost its course so that understanding we intended for Reuel she follow'd us a while but at night left us and cast Anchor before Tageroort and as we heard since came safely the next day to Reuel All the afternoon we lost not sight of the coasts of Livonia and at night were within a League of the Isle of Narga which is at the entrance of the Haven of Reuel Our Master and his Mate would ueither go into nor anchor before Tageroort choosing rather the main Sea though in a great Tempest which kept us in action all that night and took away our Main-mast which was soon follow'd by the Mizen and the fore-castle and it was no less than a miracle that our compass was left us without which it had been impossible for us to have kept on our intended course The 8. we perceiv'd that we had pass'd the Haven of Reuel and about ten the weather became to foul that it seem'd rather an Earthquake that should turn the World upside down than a storm Our danger and fears encreas'd till three in the afternoon that one of the Seamen having got up into the scuttle of the sprit-sale told us he discover'd Hogland We got thither by 7 at night and cast Anchor at 19 fathom water There we stayd the 9. and resolved that thence-forward Prayers should be said twice a day to give God thanks for our deliverance the day before from a danger we could not have avoided otherwise than by passing among the Rocks upon the Coasts of Finland as we must have resolv'd to do if we had not discover'd that Island The Ambassadors went ashore to observe the situation of the Country and refresh themselves At night it was consider'd whether we should continue our Voyage by Sea to Narva or return to Reuel but the diversity of Opinions was such that nothing was resolv'd on About 9 at night the Master came to the Ambassadors Lodgings to tell them that the wind being East and forcing the Ship towards the Shore he saw no liklier way to be safe than by making for Reuel The Ambassadors bade him do what he thought most convenient and went aboard but as they were weighing Anchor the wind riss so that there was no possibility of taking the course intended so that the Master and his Counsel chang'd their design and thought it best to ly still at Anchor for fear of running-a-ground But all to no purpose For being near the shore the Orders given could not be put in execution with diligence enough to avoid shipwrack All could be done was to let down the Boat and to set the Ambassadors ashore with some of their retinue After the Ship had struck several times against certain pieces of Rocks whereof there is abundance all along the Coast it split and sunk All the men were sav'd a good part of the goods and seven horses whereof two dy'd the 〈◊〉 day We shelter'd our selves in Fishers huts along the Sea-side where we met with some Livenians that dwelt thereabouts who could speak nothing but the jargon of the country That poor refuge sav'd their lives who had escap'd the wrack else their cloaths being all wet about them most of them would have been starv'd to death in the snow which fell the night following The 10. we thought fit to try whether any more of the goods could be gotten out of the Ship but the rough weather continuing none would venture going near it with a Boat till that in the afternoon some things were gotten out Our Cloaths Books and other things we laid out a-drying the Sea water having injur'd some and utterly spoil'd others The greatest of our losses was that of a
Clock worth four thousand crowns which the horses had broke to pieces by striving to get loose This misfortune was follow'd by another which though we saw at some distance yet distracted us no less and that was want of provisions The Sea-water had spoil'd ours and our fear was that the frost forcing us to winter in the Island we must either be starved or reduc'd to the extremities of feeding on the barks of trees as some that had been cast away there some years before were constrain'd to do We had but little bread left and the Bisket was so soak'd in Salt-water that we were forc'd to boyl it in fresh with a little Cummin or Fennel and so made a Pottage of it for our Servants One day we took in a Brook which falls from the Mountains as many small Fishes as found us two good meals Hogland hath its name from the height of its situation it being seen a great way into the Sea and is about 3 leagues in length and one in breadth You see nothing but Rocks Firr-trees and Thorns We indeed saw some few Hares which in Winter turn white as they do all over Livonia but our Dogs could not follow them through the VVoods and over the Rocks In the mean time it was reported at Reuel that we were all lost rais'd by this that there had been dead bodies found upon the coast of Livonia clad in red which was our Livery as also with this addition that the Bark spoken of before had related that she had seen us carried away with the storm beyond the bay of Reuel Besides it was eight days before they heard from us so that those of our people whom we had left there at our return from Muscovy were seeking out other services when M. Vchterits then Chamberlain to the Ambassadors and now Gentleman of the Privy-chamber to his Highness of Holstein at Gottorp brought them an accompt of us We had the convenience to send him thither in one of the two Finland barks which the tempest had forc'd to that Island on the 3 of November The 17. The Ambassadors embark'd themselves each of them with a retinue of five persons in two Fisher-boats to pass over to the continent from which this Island is distant above 12. leagues Nor were we in less danger now than before for as much as the Boats being small and old were not caulked and were ty'd above only with cords made of barks of trees The sail was a great many rags fasten'd together and so order'd that there was no use to be made of it but when the wind blew right a-stern so that the wind beginning to shift after we had come five leagues the Fisher-men would have tack'd about but we prevail'd with them to let down the sail and to make use of their Oars to get to an Island which was within half a league of us and where we arriv'd that night We found there only two ruin'd hutts we made a fire and pass'd over the night but having neither Bread nor Meat we made our supper on a piece of Milan Cheese we had left The next day we prosecuted our Voyage with a very good wind and fair weather though the Sea was a little rough Having made two leagues a sudden blast coming from the East though the wind were North turn'd the Boat in which I was with the Ambassador Brugman so much upon one side that it took in water the surges at the same time rising half an ell above the brinck of it All the Fisher-men could do was to let down the sail and to run to the other side of the boat to weigh it down The blast being over we kept on our course till a second put us to the same trouble We had three of them in less than two hours and this I think the greatest danger we had met with in our Voyage in as much as the Boat being old and having in it eight Persons all the Silver Plate and other luggage which in a manner fill'd it so as that one wave might have overwhelm'd it and cast us all away But afterwards when the Fisher-men saw the blast coming they turn'd the side of the Boat to the wind that the wave might not come with its full force upon it and by that means we avoided the danger Within three Leagues of Land we had also a violent shower of hail but what is most to be admir'd in all this was that the Boat which carried the Ambassador Crusius though within Pistol-shot of us felt nothing of all this but had fair weather all along Being gotten within half a League of Land the wind shifting to the South was just in our teeth and had oblig'd our Fisher-men to return if the hope of a three-pint-Flagon of strong water which we promis'd them had not given them the courage to let down the sail and to row us ashore This was the 18. at night in Esthonie after we had roved two and twenty dayes upon the Baltick Sea with all the danger that is to be expected by those who trust themselves to the mercy of that Element in so uncertain a season The 22. came to Hogland two other barks forc'd thither by foul weather Those we had left of ours in the Island pass'd in them to the continent whither they came the 24. with the horses and baggage We went thence to Kunda a house belonging to my late Father-in-Law Iohn Muller distant two Leagues from the Sea where we staid three weeks to refresh our selves after so much hardship at Sea Most of us fell sick yet none kept their beds above three dayes Thence we went to Reuel whether we came the second of December with an intention to sojourn there some time which we spent in ordering our Cloaths and the Presents which the salt-water and the other inconveniences ensuing upon the wrack had much prejudiced The Ambassadors having all their people about them at Reuel thought fit to publish the Order which the Duke would have observ'd through the whole Voyage They had brought it with them seal'd with his Highnesse's Great Seal but they added some things thereto the better to prevent the disorders which are but too frequent where there are so many Servants But in regard they contain'd nothing extraordinary we shall not insert them here and only say they were ill observ'd for the Ambassador Brugman having arm'd the Lacquies with Pole-axes which had Pistols in their handles and given order they should not take any affront from the Inhabitants of Reuel there hardly pass'd a day during the three Moneths we staid there in expectation of other Credentials but there was some falling out and fighting In so much that Feb. 11. Isaac Mercier a French-man that waited on the Ambassador Brugman in his Chamber a person of a good humour and not quarrellous hearing the noise of an engagement between the Ambassadors Servants and the Apprentices of the City and desirous to
will after the manner we have before described their whipping These Juglers put the people into continual frights and besot them with so strange a veneration for their Images that in their greatest dangers their recourse is only to them Iacob de la Gardie General of the Suedish Army having in the year 1610. taken the City of Novogorod some part of it was set a-fire and one of the Inhabitants seeing his House all of a flame presented thereto an Image of St. Nicholas entreating it to stay the progress of the furious Element which was ready to ruine him But perceiving the fire went on still he flung his Image into it saying to it that since it would not help him let it help it self and quench the fire if it would It was then also observ'd that the Suedish Souldiers not finding any thing in their Houses carried away the Images of the Muscovites and by that means oblig'd them to follow them and to redeem their Saints at a very dear rate The first thing they teach their Children is to make their reverences and inclinations to the Images At Ladoga I lodg'd at a Womans House who would not give his breakfast to a Child she had who could hardly either stand or speak till he had first made nine inclinations before the Saint and as often as well as he could pronounce it said his Gospodi Nor is it to be thought but that among so great a number of innocent persons there are some so well instructed as to see a glimpse of truth through these thick Clouds of ignorance There was at Russian Narva a rich Merchant who is still living one that came often to visit the Ambassadors and dined with them He discours'd very rationally and would say that he did not approve the opinion which the rest of the Muscovites have of their Saints nor the worship of their Images and he did not expect his Salvation from Colours which he might wipe out with his handkercher and from wood which it was in his power to cast into the fire That he found in the Holy Scripture which he had attentively read over much more solid comforts and such foundations for his happiness as could not be shaken That their Fasting signify'd nothing when instead of eating Flesh they glutted themselves with the best sorts of Fish and the most delicious Hydromel and Aquavitae That bread and water might suffice those who were desirous to fast and that prayer was the best part of that mortification The Ambassadors ask'd him why having all these good sentiments about him he had not withall the Charity to inspire them into his Country-men He answered that it was not his calling and that if he endeavour'd it he should not prevail because he was already look'd on as a Heretick among them That he suffer'd Images in his House but only for the honour of God and to honour the memory of the Saints That he had a Picture of the King of Sueden's and kept it for the Heroick actions done by that Prince and that he conceiv'd he might do the like with those of Iesus Christ and the Saints who had not only done great actions but also Miracles We found by the sequel of his discourse that he knew all the reasons alleged by the Greeks at the Council of Constantinople against those whom they called Iconomachi in the year 787. against which Council Charlemaign called in the year 797. that of Frankford in which the Doctrine of the Greeks concerning Images was condemned and anathematized Not long since a Protopope of Casanskey whose name was Iuan Neronou began to inveigh against the honour done to Images charging those with Idolatry who worshipped Colours and Wood. He said that if there were any veneration due to Images that they were rather to admire in man that of God and to honour the Painter rather than the Images made by him But the Patriarch soon took an order with this Priest degraded him and shut him up in the Monastery called Cameno Monastir upon the River Wolga When the wood of their Images comes to rot they do not cast it away but throw it into the River that the water may carry it away or they bury it in some Garden or Church-yard The Saints of Muscovy as well as those of other places have their Miracles Possevin says they are all Fables and that the stories related of them are ridiculous They have one of a very late date named Sudatworets Philip Metropolite of the House of Colitziou He lived in the reign of the Tyrant Iohn Basilouits and grew famous for the remonstrances he made to that Prince of his wicked life The Tyrant troubled thereat sent him into a Monastery far from Moscou so as that he might be no longer importun'd with his reproaches but the other made the Pen do what his tongue could not and from time to time represented the Judgement of God to the Eyes of the Great Duke so pressingly that the other not able any longer to endure his reprehensions sent one of his Servants to strangle him The Executioner found him ready enough to dy with this desire only that instead of strangling him with a Cord he would run him with a Knife into the Heart which he accordingly did The Monks of the Monastery put him into the Catalogue of their Holy Martyrs and sent his Body to be buried in the Island of Solofka in the White Sea near Archangel where they say he hath done many Miracles The present Patriarch perswaded the Great Duke that while he was Metropolitane of Rostou and Iarislau he had heard that many sick persons had been healed there and that the Body of the Saint was as whole as the day he was kill'd and prevail'd with him to have it translated from Solofka to Moscou The Miracles which are known to have been really done at the translation thereof are these viz. that Knez Michael Levontgewits who was employ'd to see it done going thither with a Diak and his two Sons and having embark'd himself with some of his retinue in a great open Boat he got safely into the Island but it could never be known what became of the three others and all those that were with them The other Miracle was that the Great Duke the Patriarch and all the Court going a league out of Moscou to meet the Saint the Metropolitane of Rostou and Iaroslau named Warlam being a corpulent fat Man and about 70. years of age wearied with so small a Journey fell down stock-dead As soon as he came to the shrine Which at least is as certain as what the Muscovites say of the great number of the blind dumb deaf lame persons troubled with agues and paraliticks whom that body hath healed since it was placed in the great Church of the Castle At first no week pass'd but it did five or six Miracles but now it doth not any at all and they say it is by reason of the incredulity of the people that that
those places where they find the best Pasture for their Cattel When that begins to fail they put their Huts into Carts and their Wives Children and Goods upon Camels Oxen and Horses and so they ramble up and down the Country whence it comes that the Muscovites call them Poloutski Vagabonds At the beginning of Winter they all come near and about Astrachan and lodge themselves in several crews or troops which lye not at so great a distance but that they can relieve one another against the Malmukes Tartars otherwise called the Tartars of Buchar their common and irreconcilable enemies who make their incursions up and down the Country from Astrachan and the Caspian Sea as far as Sorat of The Tartars who live near the river Iaika are their tormentors on the other side disturbing their quiet by continual Alarms when the river is frozen Whence it comes that the Muscovites to prevent their being ruin'd by the incursions of those people furnish them with Arms out of the Great Duke's Magazine whether they are oblig'd to return them as soon as the River and the ways are thaw'd for they are not permitted to have any either defensive or offensive Arms in the Summer 'T is true they do not pay the Great Duke any Taxes or impositions but are oblig'd to serve him against his Enemies which they do the more gladly and without any compulsion out of the hope of booty as do also those of Daguestan whom we shall speak of hereafter These Tartars have Princes of their own as also Commanders in time of War and particular Judges of their own Nation but lest they should do any thing contrary to their allegiance to the Great Duke there are always some of their Myrses or Princes kept as Hostages in the Castle of Astrachan The Tartars of Nagaia and Chrim are for the most part of little stature and fat having large faces and little eyes and being of an Olive-colour The men have ordinarily as many wrinkles in their faces as old Women little beard and the head all shaven All they have about them is a Casaque or Garment of a coarse grey Cloath upon which those of Nagaia wear for the most part a loose Mantle of black Sheep-kin with a Cap of the same stuff the Wool-side outward The Women who are not unhandsom are commonly clad in white linnen Cloath and have about their heads a Coif of the same stuff folded and round like those pots which some make use of in the Wars having in the middle a hole fit to put a plume of feathers in Upon this Coif and on both sides there hang a great many Copecs or Muscovian Pence They many times vow their first-born or some one of their other Children to God or some Imam or Saint And that these Nazarites may be distinguish'd from others if it be a Girl she wears a Ring with a Ruby a Turqueze stone or Coral in the Nostril If a Boy he wears it in his right ear The Persians have the same custom but of that more at large hereafter Children go stark naked and are all big-belly'd The Tartars live upon what their Cattel their hunting and fishing supplies them with Their Cattel are large and fair as that of Poland Their sheep as also those of Persia have great tayls which are all fat weighing 20. or 30. pounds the ears hanging down as our Spaniels flat-nosed Their Horses are little and mishapen but strong and hardy They have some Camels but they have most of them two bunches on their backs which they call Buggur those which have but one and by them called Towe are very scarce among them Their ordinary food is fish dry'd in the Sun which serves them instead of bread They have also certain Cakes made of Meal Rice and Millet fry'd in Oyl or Honey They eat Camels and Horse-flesh and drink water and milk Mares milk they much esteem with this they treated our Ambassadors when we gave them a Visit taking it out of a nasty Leather-bag to present it to us They are for the most part Mahumetans of the Turkish Sect hating that of the Persians Some have made profession of the Muscovian Religion and have been baptiz'd They receiv'd us civilly at least as far as that Nation is capable of civility One of their Princes would have given the Ambassadors the divertisement of Hawking but the Weywode would not permit it The time we stay'd at Astrachan was spent in providing all things necessary for the prosecution of our Voyage The Persians of the Caravanne and the Tartarian Prince sent often some of their people to complement us they also made us Presents and came in peâ—son to Visit us For we had hardly cast Anchor before Astrachan and made known our arrival by the discharging of the great Guns but the Cuptzi and the other Persian Merchants who were there but a little before us sent us a noble Present of all sorts of fruit Arpus's Melons Apples Apricocks Peaches and Grapes with this excuse that being as we were strangers in the Countrey they could make us no better Presents but when we were come to Persia they would be absolutely at our disposal The Ambassadors having answer'd this civility sent them as also to the Tartarian Prince some of all sorts of distill'd waters and sweet meatâ— The next day after our arrival we were Visited by many Persian Merchants who were desirous to see our ship Not one among them but brought some Present of fruit according to the custom of their Countrey which permits them not to come empty-handed before persons of quality They treaâ—ed us wâ—th much kindness and familiarity which the more delightfully surpriz'd us 〈◊〉 that we had but then parted from a Nation famous for its incivility and barbarism And wâ—ereas thencâ— forward we were to converse and negotiate with Persians we thought it not amiss to allow them the liberty to do what they pleas'd in our ship and were extremely pleas'd to see them get all so heartily and so kindly drunk that some as they parted fell into the water nay one of their Merchants an aged man falling fast asleep upon the Deck stay'd there all night This good man was so kind in his Wine that taking a glass of French-wine from one of the Ambassadors who had drunk to him and perceiving they made him this complement that after the excellent Wines of his own Countrey he could not taste those of ours he made answer that though it were poyson yet coming from the Ambassadors hand he would take it off The 17. The Persian Cuptzi sent us a Present of two sacks of Rice the grain whereof was very white and very â—ig and a Vessel of preserv'd Garlick which was very pleasant to the taste How the Persians preserve it shall be said hereafter Many of the Cuptzi's Domesticks came also to see us and brought along with them some Mariners who were astonish'd at the bigness of our ship and said
Kuthum and the Moores of Guiny Bombu As to their feet leggs neck and colour they are like other Geese but they are bigger in body than Swans Their Bills are above a foot and a half long and two fingers broad and forked at the end Under their Bills they have a great bag of shrivell'd skin which they can dilate so as that it is able to contain near three Gallons of liquor and they make use of it as a reservatory for the fish they take till such time as they can swallow them down For their throats are so wide that people are not only oblig'd to shut them when they make use of these Birds in fishing as they often do but also if we believe Franciscus Sanctius it was discover'd that one of these Birds which was taken upon its having overcharg'd the said bag had swallow'd down a Moor-child upon the Coasts of Africk The Persians are very expert in dressing the skins of them and making Tabours thereof or covering therewith some other Musical Instruments The Ambassador Crusius kill'd one of them upon the Caspian Sea side which was above two ells and a half between the extremities of the Wings and above seven foot from the head to the feet Franciscus Fernandez in his History of the living-Creatures and Plants of Mexico sayes that in those parts there are some that have teeth within their Bills but we are not to go out of Africa into America We saw hereabouts another kind of Bird much after the form of wild Ducks save that they are somewhat bigger and black as Crows and have longer necks and the end of their bills forked The Muscovites call them Baclan and they are seen only in the night time their quills are harder and bigger than those of Crows and very fit for designers The 15. we came to the mouth of the River Wolga and the entrance into the Caspian Sea which is 12. leagues from Astrachan and full of small Islands covered â—â—th Reeds Canes till a man comes six leagues within the Sea Some attribute to the Wolga as many mouths as there are Islands thereabouts but they are mistaken for those Islands are to be accompted rather made by the Sea than the River The bottome is all muddy having but between four or four foot and a half water which put us to inexpressible trouble and took up our time so as that we hardly got four leagues in seven dayes Our worst dayes were the 18. and 19. of October The 18. we were got on a Bank at five foot water and having spent as many hours in getting off we found indeed six foot water but soon discover'd that it was only a pit which of all sides had Banks at four and four foot and a half water Having with no less trouble got again to the Bank where we had five foot water the wind being turn'd to the North-west the water fell so sensibly that we had but three foot the Ship being as it were fasten'd in the mud We unloaded part of our Provisions into the Tartarian Boat that went before us and set all our people on work to get off but though they took incredible pains so as that they had not the leasure either to eat or drink yet could they do no good so that all could be done was patiently to expect the return of the water which we could not hope for but with the change of the wind This was no small affliction to those who consider'd that we were there at the mercy of the Cosaques who might easily have taken us prisoners and forc'd us to ransome our selves With all these misfortunes there happen'd to be such a thick mist that we could not see from one end of the Ship to the other and occasion'd a great oversight in us by firing a great Gun according to the order of the Ambassador Brugman at a Muscovian Boat that pass'd somewhat near our Ship Those who were in the Boat return'd us their curses and told us that they might as freely pass that way as we who were Strangers and went by the Great Duke's permission whom we were oblig'd to acknowledge for Soveraign of that Sea and their Prince that since we were so much given to shooting we might keep our powder to be us'd against the Cosaques who not far thence expected us This reproach caus'd two other Boats to fare the better and our selves also for instead of injurious speeches they sent us some of the fruits of Circassia to wit an excellent kind of Pears Nuts and Medlars Oct. 21. at night we first perceiv'd that the water was risen to five foot which begat in us a hope that we might put off to Sea The Tempest which rose the 22. with a South-south-eastwind brought it up to nine foot but it was so violent that not daring to make use of our Sails we were forc'd to continue still at Anchor and expect fairer weather which came not till five dayes after The 23. in the morning the sky being clear I observ'd the Sun at its rising and found that in respect of the Compass it rose 22. degrees more towards the South than it should by which means we discover'd that in that place the needle declin'd 22. degrees from the North towards the West The 27. the Tempest being over we return'd all our things into the Ship and dismiss'd our Boat and having hoised Sail got into the Sea but we hardly made a league ere we were again in the mud and oblig'd to send for the Boat But perceiving we had water enough the 28. and seeing thirteen Sail behind us coming out of the Wolga whom we conceiv'd to be the Caravan we order'd the Boat to be sent back It was the Tartar-Prince two Merchants of Persia and five hundred Muscovian Musketiers with their Colonel who were going to relieve the Garrison of Terki but what put us most to a loss was that finding the Muscovian Pilot whom we had taken up at Astrachan absolutely ignorant in the business of Navigation and the Maps by which we intended to direct our course absolutely false we knew not what resolution to take We resolv'd at last to address our selves to the Officer that commanded the 500. Musketiers and to send to him in the evening while all the ships lay at Anchor to entreat his assistance and advice in that conjuncture and to desire him to give us an able man that might be our Pilot on the Caspian Sea He came aboard us and having drunk sufficiently he made us the greatest protestations of friendship in the World and told us that the trouble it was to him to see us in those difficulties had bereft him of his sleep that his joy to find us in good health was so much the more extraordinary and that he would not fail to send the Weywode notice of it by an express Messenger that all under his Command were at our service and that as soon as he were got aboard he would
by that means easily discover whereabouts they are The 11. we continu'd our Voyage presently after Sun-rising taking our course along the Isle Southward At the extremity of the Isle there is a kind of Streight near a Cape or Promontory which comes out of the Continent into the Sea much about the same place where on the Isle side a great Sand-bank advances it self toward the Land and so makes but a narrow passage Which oblig'd us to cast Anchor that we might have the more convenience of Sounding so to avoid the flats or shallows which make Navigation very dangerous thereabouts We found at first but two fathom water but soon after we were at six or seven fathom insomuch that the Wind becoming more favourable we took our course South-South-west directly towards Derbent along the shore and in sight of it After mid-night the Wind being not so much for us as before we were forc'd to laveer it all the remainder of the Night but we advanc'd little or nothing insomuch that a Tempest rising thereupon we at last resolv'd to cast Anchor which we did at twelve fathom water We lay at Anchor all the 12th till 9. at night and then the Wind coming to the North we set sail with a favourable Wind taking our course to the South-South-east About 11. the same night we found between 20 and thirty fathom water and an hour after no bottom so that the wind being turn'd again to an absolute Tempest we conceiv'd that it would be dangerous for us to bear much sail upon a Sea we were not acquainted with and that in the Night time Whereupon having furl'd them up we let the Ship go directly before the wind by which means we got two Leagues in less than an hour We had besides our double Shallop two other Boats one whereof which we had bought of the Muscovites was only for their convenience who sounded the depth of the Water and the other serv'd for the unloading of our Ship which drew both of them after her There were two Sea-men appointed for the guiding of the Shallop which having in it only certain small Pieces Bullets Chains Cables Pitch and other things necessary for Navigation was made so shallow that being ever and anon fill'd with water the Sea-men finding themselves no longer able to guide it came aboard the Ship and fasten'd the Shallop to the stern The other Boats were soon over-whelm'd with water and lost The Shallop held out a while but at length follow'd the others and this prov'd the beginning of our wrack upon the Caspian Sea Our Ship which was built only of Firr and had been much endammag'd by the Sand-banks of the Wolga bow'd under the high and violent waves of that Sea as if it had been a Snake and open'd in so many places that we were forc'd to be alwayes at the Pump and continually employ'd in emptying the water that came in of all sides Our Persian Pilot had not the least share of the common fear and distraction we were all in and no doubt wish'd himself in his own Ship or nearer Land in regard that had we been cast away there we had all inevitably perish'd Nov. 13. at the break of day we perceiv'd that we had still kept in sight of Land and we particularly discovered the Mountain of Derbent which as we conceived could not be above ten Leagues distant from us The Tempest abating a little of its Violence we hois'd the mizen Sail and afterwards the main Sail with a resolution to run the Ship strait a-ground But having the Night before taken our course too high and the wind continuing still from the North-west we were forc'd to comply with it and to our no small regret pass beyond the City of Derbent along the Persian Coast which in that place reaches from North to South but so as that we could not find any Road or Haven where we might save our selves for as much as there being only Rocks at the bottom for the space of six Leagues from the Land into the Sea it is impossible to make the Anchor take any hold At last about four in the afternoon we cast Anchor at four fathom water before the Village of Niasebeth which our Authors call Nisavay the bottom muddy but we thought not our selves more safe at Anchor than when we were toss'd up and down in the main Sea The waves were so violent by reason of the extraordinary roughness of the Sea that it was not long ere they broke the hindges of the Rudder which oblig'd us to take it quite off and to fasten it with a Cable behind the Ship lest beating against the Castle it should have broke it all to pieces the Water coming still into the Ship so fast that we were forc'd to spend the remainder of that day and all the night following in emptying it The Tempest abated a little of its violence the next morning being the the 14. of November and invited us to think of some course for the disembarking of our selves but we had neither Boat nor Shallop to help us to Land and though we had caus'd several Volleyes of great and small shot to be discharg'd to oblige the Inhabitants of the Countrey to come in to our relief yet could we not perceive any body but we had hardly made a shift to clap a certain number of deal Boards together like a flat-bottom'd Boat ere we saw coming towards us two Boats which the Kaucha or Judge of the Village had sent to our relief in that extremity They brought us a present of two baggs of Apples with a very obliging Complement protesting that they were no less glad at our arrival than we might be at theirs Which done they exhorted the Ambassadors to get out of the Ship as soon as they could possibly taking along with them what they accompted of greatest Value and not to be over-confident of the clam which no doubt would not last many hours The Ambassadors took their advice and having put into the Boats what they thought most considerable they ordered some part of their retinue to go in also and certain Soldiers with their Officers leaving in the ship the Sieur Vchterits their Steward and the Secretary of the Embassy with an intent to send for them as soon as they were landed themselves The Kaucha was on Horse-back at the Sea-side and perceiving that the Boats could not come near enough by reason of the shallowness of the water he alighted and sent the Ambassadors his Horse for their more convenient Landing And thus it was that the Ambassadors first set foot in Persia. But as soon as they were got a-shore the Tempest grew more violent than it had been before insomuch that it was impossible for them to send back the Boats which put us that were left aboard to the utmost hazard of Shipwrack and Life The Ship being now in a manner quite unloaden was toss'd up and down like a Ball by the Waves
the Sea raising her one while up to the Clouds another swallowing her up in its abysses There was constantly above a foot water upon the Deck so that we were not able to stay upon it and at last the Ship opening above just in the middle we began to fear the absolute dissolution of her We observ'd also by the Trees that were upon the Sea-side that the Anchor was loose and that the wind had carry'd us above a quarter of a League from the place where he had disembarked the Ambassadors whereupon we cast two others both which were lost about 11. the same night as also our Rudder The biggest Anchor held still but the Vessel drew so much water that the Pump being of no further use we were forc'd to empty her with Kettles About midnight the wind came to the East and broke off our main and mizen Masts and over-turn'd them into the Sea the Ship shaking in that interim with so much violence that the edges of her were ever and anon even with the water The Sea-men intreated the Secretary to give them leave to cut the Ropes that still held her to see if that would deliver us out of the extremity we were in which he made no difficulty to grant them We had not eaten ought in three dayes and watching with continual labour had brought us so low that having lost all courage together with the hope of ever saving our Lives all our thoughts were taken up with the disposal of our selves for Death Our Carpenter was the only person who had the courage to go under Decks and to take so large a dose of Aquavitae that being come up on the Deck he fell down dead at our feet Nor indeed could we have imagin'd him to be otherwise if the Exhaltations of the Aquavitae that ascended from his stomach had not discover'd the nature of his indisposition The Sea-men remitted nothing of their labour all this time and exhorted the rest to be of good courage putting us in hope that within some few hours either the weather would change or the Ambassadors would not fail to relieve us as indeed they were both of them earnest to do all lay in their power for our preservation Nay the Ambassador Brugman would with his Sword drawn have forc'd some of our people to come in the two Boats to look after us but he could by no means prevail with them to hazard themselves Perceiving the day slipp'd away without any hope of relief and fearing the Tempest might grow more violent the night following I took the Master's-mate aside and was desirous to know of him whether the Tempest continuing in the height it was then at it would not be our best course to run the Ship a-ground to save the men His answer was that he believ'd the Ship could not make any great resistance and that it were not amiss I took the advice of the other Officers and propose it to the Captain and the Master who both confess'd that the ship was in so ill a plight that they were confident the Ambassador Brugman himself would have commanded her to be run a-ground had he been among them and yet they were withall of opinion that continuing their labour for some hours longer it was not impossible but the Vessel might be saved But they discover'd by their discourse their main fear to be that when there were no ship they would be look'd on as useless persons and that there might be some dispute about their wages for the rest of the Voyage Hence it came that they were unwilling the ship should be run a-ground But the Sieur Vchterits and the Secretary overcome with the importunities of the rest of the company to have that course taken in so great an extremity the Captain and Masters-mate at last gave their consent provided a promise were made them in Writing that the Ambassadors should not call them to an accompt for their so doing which was accordingly done and the Secretary drew up an Act to that purpose which was signed by all But the Captain and Master beginning to make new difficulties after they had gotten a discharge as aforesaid all our people would have mutini'd and cry'd out that if they delay'd the running of the ship a-ground any longer they should answer before the Tribunal of God to give an accompt for what should happen thereupon The Captain would have excus'd himself alleging that though the ship were run a-ground as was desired yet were it impossible for him to save all our people but answer was made him that they were resolv'd to run the hazard of it and he was so earnestly press'd thereto that he consented after he had obliged the Sieur Vchterits and the Secretary of the Embassy to give the first stroak upon the Cable which when they had done the Sea-men soon made an end and having struck the only sayl we had left us we made strait to land and run the ship a-ground about thirty pearches distant from the place where the Ambassadors and all our friends expected us with no less trouble for us than we had for our selves Nay some of them to make a greater expression of their affection came a good way into the water and carry'd us ashore It prov'd no great trouble to us to justifie the resolution we had taken of running the Ship a-ground in regard that as to that particular the Ambassador Brugman himself prevented us and told us he had been long before resolv'd to send the Captain orders to do it but that he could not meet with any person that would undertake the execution thereof As concerning the Caspian Sea it hath not in all places the same name but it is changed either according to the diversity of the Inhabitants that live about it or the Provinces that border upon it It was called antiently the Sea of Chosar from the Name of the eldest Son of Thogarma who was the Son of Gomer and Grand-child of Iaphet third Son to Nubius's Geography calls it the Sea of Travisthan The Moors call this Sea as they do also the Gulf of Arabia Bohar Corsuin and the Persians call it Kulsum which name they also give the Red Sea The Greek and Latine Authors call it the Hyrcanian Sea as also Mare Caspium and Caspianum The Persians call it by another name the Sea of Baku from the City of Bakuje in the Province of Schirwan and the Muscovites name it Gualenskoi-more But a man must be very cautious how he credits what is affirmed by Dionysius Afer Pomponius Mela Pliny Solinus and those who follow them as Strabo Martianus Capella St. Basil the Great Macrobius and others that it is only a Sinus or Gulf of the great Sea of the Indies or of the Tartarian Sea or that it hath some communication which the Euxine Sea and Paulus Meotides by the River Tanais in as much as it is most certain that it hath not any communication at all with
in his 53 Exercitation that the water of all Seas is sweet or fresh at the bottom nor yet to examine the Reasons alleged by him for that opinion as falling not under the subject of our Relation But this we shall presume to affirm that the Caspian Sea was not much known to the Greeks in the time of Alexander since Arrian says in the seventh Book of his History that that great Conquerour issu'd out his commands that Timber should be fell'd in the neighbouring Mountains for the building of a Fleet which he intended to employ in the discovery of that Sea It is certain also that Q. Curtius speaks not of it otherwise than according to the knowledge which some had thereof in a time when that of the Romans had not pass'd the Euphrates no more than their Arms. For though Pliny says lib. 6. ch 17. of his Natural History that Seleuchus and Antiochus the Successors of Alexander made a discovery of that Sea by Patroclus their Admiral yet he is withall forc'd to acknowledge that there were many other things to be discovered as it was also our intention to make use to that purpose of our Ship and Shallop during the aboad we should make at the Court of Persia if our misfortune in being cast away upon this Sea had not defeated us of our expectations Certain it is that this Sea does neither Ebb nor Flow nay that indeed it is not capable of either forasmuch as it hath no communication or correspondence with the other which in that particular follows the motion of the Moon The Persians Tartars and Muscovites seldome venture upon this Sea but in the Summer-time and then dare they not hazard themselves far into it for sailing only in wretched small Barks or Boats they keep as near as they can to the shore and never are out of sight of Land It hath in a manner no safe Havens or Harbours The best it hath is the same we spoke of before near Terki between the Isle of Tzenzeni and the Continent at which place the Persians are wont to cast Anchor and stay for a night The havens of Baku Lenkeran and Ferabath are none of the worst nor are they on the other side the safest and the best Haven of all this Sea is on the side of the grand Tartary and near the City of Minkischlak which may be found in the Itinerary of Anthony Ienkinson under the name of Manguslave but misnamed But how ere it be Haven'd we may confidently affirm this that we have been long enough upon the Caspian Sea and its Coasts to undeceive those who are apt to believe what is deliver'd by Petreius in his History of Muscovy to wit that the water of it is as black as Ink and that it is full of Islands which are well stored with Inhabitants and have in them a great number of Cities and Villages both which we affirm to be absolutely false For the water of it is of the same Colour as that of all other Seas and though we discover'd but some part of the Caspian Sea yet having made particular enquiry as to this particular all the Persians Tartars and Muscovites I ever discoursed with concerning it unanimously assur'd me that in all that Sea there is but one Island wherein there is I will not say either City or Village but so much as a House unless it be in that of Ensil near Ferabath where the pastures being very good such as keep Cattel have made certain Huts not so much for their setled Habitations as to prevent the injuries of the Weather at certain times I also enquired of the Inhabitants of Kilan whether the Caspian Sea bred such an infinite number of great Serpents as Q. Curtius would make us believe but they all assur'd me they had never seen any and that it was a thing they never had heard spoken of before no more than they had of a certain great round Fish without a Head whereof Ambrosius Contarinus speaks in the relation of his Travels which Father Bizarrus hath Printed together with his History of Perisa He sayes that this Fish is an ell and a half Diameter and that there is a certain Liquor drawn out of it which the Persians use in their Lamps and to grease the Camels But the Persians told me that they stood not in need of any such Oyl to burn since that near the City of Baku under the Mountain of Barmach there are inexhaustible sources of a certain Liquor which they call Nefla and make use of in their Lamps And of this there is daily such great quantities taken up that it is transported all over the Kingdome Certain indeed it is that there may be seen in those parts a certain kind of Fish which they call Naka that is Glutton which hath a very short Nose and the Head as it were within the Belly having a round Tail and being seven or eight foot in breadth and not much less in length It fastens it self with the Tail to Fisher-mens Boats and if they be not very carefull over-turns them The Persians told us also that the white Fishes of which we have spoken heretofore do the same and that thence it comes though the weather be ever so calm the Fisher-men never venture far into the Sea This is the only Creature which may in some measure make good what Pomponius Mela sayes in his Geography to wit that the Caspian Sea breeds so great a number of monstrous Fishes which he calls Belluae wild Beasts that that is one of the main Reasons why it is not Navigable This fish delights much in the Liver and Flesh of Beef and Mutton whence it is that the Inhabitants of Kilan especially those who live towards the Mountain of Sahebelan as being the most hindred in their Fishing make baits thereof wherewith they cover strong and sharp Hooks fasten'd to Great Cords with which they draw them to Land Nor are we to credit what the same Bizarrus and Contarinus affirm when they say that there is no other fish in the Caspian Sea for on the contrary it is extremely well stor'd with fish and there are in it abundance of Salmons and Sturgeons as also a kind of Herrings nay there are in it some fish which in other places are numbred among the fresh-water-fish and are had only in ponds as for instance Breams which they call Chascham and Barbels which they call Schwit but the latter are tough and insipid if they exceed two foot in length There is also a kind of Trouts which they call Suggaht These are not eaten fresh but falted and hung up in the smoke and their way of dressing them is to lay them on the hearth with a clean linnen Cloath about them and then to cover them with hot ashes till such time as they are ready being thus ordered they make a very pleasant and delicious dish There are no Pikes nor Eels in all Persia insomuch that those Persians whom the King
places to conduct Strangers at their departure with the same Ceremonies as they had receiv'd them withall it being according to their perswasion an incivility to bring such as they had before kindly entertain'd out of their Lodgings Accordingly after we had travell'd about a League we met him in the fields and with him a Sulthan of Tabris who being Marshal in the Persian Army had about him a considerable number of people who were all cover'd with Tygres and Lynx's skins and by their countenances discover'd the quality of their Master The Governour carried the Ambassador Crusius into the Ottaks or Huts of the Tartarian shepherds not much out of the High-way whither he had brought abundance of cold Meat Fruits and Conserves Having taken leave of him we prosecuted our journey over a high and craggy Mountain till we came to the Village of Busum which lies in a bottom four Leagues from Ardebil There we over-took our Baggage and our Artillery but the Wheels of the Carriages were so spent that the Ambassador Brugman was with much ado perswaded that it were more convenient to leave the six greater Pieces there upon the promise made by the Mehemander that he would get an order from the King to the Governour of Ardebil to have them sent after us and to that end he took the bore and size of them We took along with us the two little brass Pieces weighing each of them 300. weight and four murchering Pieces Iune the 13. we continu'd our journey through very bad way and over Mountains with such dreadfull precipices that not thinking it safe to trust the Beasts with the Litter wherein the Ambassador Brugman lay we had it carried by men In the Vallies we found many great Villages and Huts and excellent Meadows all cover'd with fair Cattel Having travell'd five Leagues or better that day we came at night to a Village called Sengoa where we found a Melik or Receiver general of the whole Province of Chalcal which begins at that Village and reaches as far as the River Kisilosein His name was Baindur and he had succeeded his Father in that employment who had been so much in favour with Schach-Abas that with one of the VVomen of his Seraglio whom he married he gave him two or three great Lordships The 14. our way lay still over high Mountains yet in our way we pass'd through three Villages where our Mehemandar fail'd not according to his custom to take up Horses pretending they were for us that the Countrey people might be oblig'd to redeem them Having travell'd four farsangs or leagues we came into a very pleasant Valley where we lodg'd near a delightfull Spring And whereas we had some occasion to stay there till the next day at noon I had the leasure to observe the height of the Sun there and found that we were at thirty seven degrees and twenty minutes of the Line In this place we saw green Grass-Hoppers which were above three Inches in length and one and a half in compass The 15. presently after Dinner we set forward on our journey and the Ambassador Brugman finding himself a little more hearty got on Hors-back with the rest Before we got to the dreadful Mountain Taurus which the Persians call Perdelis we came to a bottom which presented it self to our view like an Abyss We were two hours in getting down to it and above three in getting out of it though between the points of the Mountains there seem'd not to be half a League distance It is a most dangerous passage for Travellers who are oblig'd to come in strong parties for fear of falling into the hands of Robbers who discover at a distance the number of passengers and accordingly judge whether they can engage them or must let them alone There runs through the bottom the River Kisilosein which falls into it through Rocks and Precipices with an inconceivable swiftness and a noise that stuns the passengers The waters of it are whitish whence it comes that in the Province of Kilan where it falls into the Caspian Sea it is in Talisman called Isperuth Schach-Tamas built a very fair Bridge over it of Brick containing nine Arches The way was planted on both sides with wild Almond-Trees Cypress and Sena-Trees Having cross'd the River we came to the Ascent which was very steepy though it went still winding till it came to the top of the Mountain and it was so hard to get up that to advance ought we were many times forc'd to step up as if we got up a pair of stairs having in the mean time on our left hand Precipices and Abysses so dreadfull to look on that the Mule of a Muscovian Ambassador falling down there was never after seen or heard of insomuch that thinking it not safe to ride it up we alighted and led our Horses By that time we were got to the top of the Mountain it was night and that so dark that we lost our way in the absence of our Mehemandar who had stay'd behind in some Villages in the bottom We were gotten into very dangerous wayes and went still a-foot though the trouble we had been at which had put us all into a sweat weariness and the cold which beat into our faces might well have prevail'd with us to make use of our Horses We were three whole hours ere we overcame the darkness of the night and all other imaginable inconveniences but at last about midnight we got to the Village of Keintze four Leagues from our last Lodging We stay'd there all the next day as well in expectation of our Mehemandar and to give our Horses a little rest as to refresh our selves after the precedent day's weariness with the Divertisement which Wine our Musick and the noise of our Artillery could afford us We intended to give our Mehemandar a sharp reprehension and reproach him with his negligence but he soon stopp'd our mouths telling us that he could not but acknowledge himself oblig'd by his charge to wait on the Ambassadors and that he should not have neglected their service but that he had not the heart to hear the injurious and blasphemous expressions which fell every foot from the Ambassador Brugman which yet should not hinder him from taking order that we should be plentifully supply'd with Provisions wherein to give him his due he failed not and contributed much to the good Cheer we made that day The 17. we left Keintze after the mid-day's great heat was a little over but our Mehemandar instead of Conducting us along the High-way made us turn on the right hand and Lodg'd us in a Village called Hatzimir seated in a bottom which was of all sides encompass'd with Rocks The Melik or Receiver of the place treated us with certain Basins of fruit Apricocks and Grapes which were not fully ripe and a sack of Wine wherewith we made a Collation which serv'd us for a Supper for our Cook
frightned thereat that hanging his Cytimar about his Neck he went in that posture to the King's Chamber door according to the custom observ'd by such as know they have deserv'd death and by that submission beg their Pardon The King sent him word he might come in whereto the other having made answer that he was not worthy to set his foot within the King's Chamber having abus'd his goodness as he had Schach-Abas comes out of the Room and took off the Cymitar from about his Neck and deliver'd it to him as an assurance of his favour But he strictly forbad him the drinking of any Wine ever after in as much as being got drunk he knew not what he did Some time after Emir-Kune-Chan having in a fight been wounded in the Arm and the Physicians having given it as their opinion that that abstinence would be prejudicial to his health the King did not only take off the prohibition he had made him but sent him a certain number of Mules loaden with the best Wine in the Countrey The Persians hate and contemn Cowards and the Officers who neglect their duty in the Wars are most severely punish'd An instance hereof was seen in Aliculi-Chan Governour of Shorosan who having let slip the opportunity of engaging Tameras Prince of Georgia though he might have fought him with advantage Schach-Abas caus'd him to be dress'd in Woman's Cloaths and so sent him to the Army where he was walk'd up and down all day among the Soldiers The allowance of a Hors-man is three hundred Crowns per ann towards the keeping of himself and his Horse and that of a Muskettier two hundred They have the reputation not to be over-scrupulous in the keeping of their word as was seen in the Capitulation they granted the Garrison of Iruan which was very ill observ'd Those who speak of the Wealth of the King of Persia think they speak of a vast and incredible sum when they assign him a yearly Revenue of eight Millions of Gold and imagine they raise the Reader into admiration when they affirm that the Province of Candahar alone brings in yearly near a Million of Gold that the Cities of Bagdat and Iruan with the Country thereabouts pay in a manner as much and that it hath been found by the Register's Office of the Chancery that the King gets out of the Suburbs of Ispahan and the Villages within the Baylywick thereof near forty thousand Crowns But those who know that the Province of Normandy it self payes yearly such a sum as amounts to almost as much as all the King of Persia's Revenue will grant there is no hyperbole in what we have affirm'd This Revenue was very much diminish'd in the time of King Tamas when the Turks and other neighbouring Princes over-run Persia so as that they were possess'd of several Provinces belonging to that Crown Besides there is hardly any Bridge or Passage not only upon the Frontiers but also all over the Kingdom nay in all Cities almost but there is somewhat to be paid without any distinction of persons Foreiners or Natives All Merchandises pay and the King takes upon every Bail of Silk ten Crowns There is no Horse sold but pays xv d. to the King an Ox as much and an Ass one half and a Sheep which are as thick as Ants all over the Countrey iij. d. a piece The King lets out the Caravanseras which are in Cities and are appointed for Lodgings for Foremers and VVare-houses for Merchants especially at Ispahan where there are twenty five of them of which not any payes less then five thousand Crowns per ann He Farms out also the Fishing of the Rivers the Baths and Stoves the places of publick Prostitution and the Springs of Nefte He sells also the water which comes into the Fountains and raises only from the River of Senderut at Ispahan the yearly sum of sixteen thousand Crowns All the Armenian Christians whereof there is a very great number in Persia pay yearly a Poll-money of two Crowns for every head Nay what is more there is not a person those only excepted who are maintain'd by or have some relation to the King but payes a Tax proportionably to what he gets even to the very Midwife I say nothing here of the Presents brought the king from all parts and which fall by several Chanels into the Prince's Treasury The great Lords though they make good the king's Revenue yet abate nought of their own advantages and find wayes to fleece the Countrey so as that it is not to be admir'd there is so little wealth to be found among the people For there is nothing so true as what a certain Emperour sometime said that it is impossible the spleen should be swollen in any body and that the other Members of the same body should not be wasted and become Hectick 'T was also Schach-Abas who ordered the melting down of seven thousand and two hundred Marks of Gold for the making of the Pâ—ate we have mentioned elsewhere which his Successors still produce at the entertainments they make Foreiners and consists for the most part in Dishes Pots Flaggons and other Drinking-Cups What we said before of the Military Officers to wit that they were most of them but meanly clad is as true in those Officers who belong to the Court For there was hardly any one who could make ostentation of but ordinary Parentage The Eatemad Dowlet or Chancellor who was the President of the king's Council the Soul of affairs the principal Minister of State and as it were Viceroy of Persia was the Son of one who got his livelyhood by writing at Mesanderan as we have said elsewhere These Scriveners as I may call them are employ'd only in the Coppying and Transcribing of Books in regard they have not as yet ia this Countrey the use of Printing as we have in Europe He is called Eahtemad Dowlet in regard he hath the oversight of the kings Revenues and Treasury This was the most self-concern'd person of all that ever had the management of publick affairs as a Minister of State For there was no business done at Court whereof he made not some advantage and there was no charge or employment to be gotten but the person petitioning for it must have made his agreement with the Chancellor whose exactions were in this particular excessive not only upon the accompt of the Presents which being made by him twice every year to the Court rendred the king himself in a manner a complice of his concussions but also upon this consideration that being an Eunuch all the Wealth he got was at his death to fall to the king The Kurtzi-baschi who had the command of ten thousand Horse whom Schach-Ismael appointed as a standing Army to be constantly maintain'd named Tzani-Chan was a Peasant's Son of Schamlu who in the time of Schach-Abas had been a Menial servant to a Lord of the Court These Horse in time of Peace
troubled at any thing the Tartars could do in regard we knew not how far we should credit their relation However we thought good to make our advantage of it upon this reflection that we found no order taken for our departure thence and that there came thither a party of forty Tartars of Boinak that Messengers pass'd to and fro as if it were in order to the execution of some great design The Ambassadors having call'd together the chief of the retinue represented the danger we were in put it to the question what were best to be done It was urg'd that it had been more prudence to treat those Barbarians kindly than to have exasperated them as had been done but since there was no recalling of what was past that the only way was to take courage and â—ell our lives at the dearest rate we could That having on both sides of us inaccessible Rocks the Sea behind and the Tartars before us it would be more honourable for us to dy nobly than fall alive into the hands of the Tartars Our greatest misfortune was that there were differences among our selves The Ambassador Brugman carried on his private designs and found fault with whatever others advis'd especially those among us who any way pretended to Learning Certain it is that instead of contributing his endeavours to our preservation he would have contriv'd our ruin could he have done it without danger to himself We understood since that it was really the design of the Tartars to set upon us and that they had done it if the Schemkal out of hopes to have the whole booty himself and trapann'd us an other way had not prevented them He sent an Express to tell us that we should take our way over the Bridge of Boats above the City of his ordinary residence that if we took any other even that of the Sea-side where we might have cross'd the River by Boat he should treat us as Enemies The Messenger he sent us having concluded his discourse rose up and would have been gone but the Muscovian Ambassador taking him by the arm said to him Friend go and tell thy Schemkal that he is not to appoint us our way we shall take that we think fit 't is true it well be no hard matter for him to cut off a handful of people but let him know that the Czaar who is most concern'd in this Embassy will resent it and revenge our deaths with the greatest cruelty imaginable This sharp and resolute answer made the Tartars quit the design they had to set upon us as they intended and oblig'd them to change their manner of proceeding So that Apr. 20. we were visited by four Tartar-Princes who din'd with the Ambassadors in their Tent and were not ill treated considering the place we were then at All their discourse was only of robbing and stealing and selling men nay one of them said that all the week before he had stoln but one poor Girl After they were gone the Prince of Osmin's Brother came to visit us He express'd somewhat of civility and made us great proffers of his services After him came the Daruga of the City of Tarku We ask'd him why we were not furnish'd with conveniences of carriadge for our Baggage He ingenuously told us that we were not to expect any till we had made a Present to Surkou Chan. The next day there was one sent him to wit a pair of gold Bracelers a pound of Tabacco a Pistol a Firelock a barel of Powder two pieces of Persia-Satin and several sorts of Spices with this message withall that a barel of Aquavitae should be sent him as soon as we came to Terki This Present took him so as that he prefently promis'd we should have all conveniences for mony and invited the Ambassadors to come and dine with him It was taken into consideration whether they should go or not but at last it was resolv'd they should taking along with them four other persons The cloath was laid upon the ground according to the Persian way and the whole entertainment consisted in four dishes wherein there were little slices of Mutton drawn upon sticks some Whitings and Curds and in four other lesser dishes Rice with pieces of Mutton in it and raisins of the Sun The Carver sate in the middle of the dishes and having broke a long thin Cake he cast a piece of it to every one of the Guests He also tore the pieces of Meat and the Fish but all was done only by his hands which were as black as his face so that the fat running between his fingers and mingling with the dirt from which it took another colour almost turn'd our stomacks But there was a necessity we should comply Our drink was only water in great glasses and afterwards Aquavitae in silver Cups After dinner they would needs hear our Musick which we sent for and after a divertisement of three hours there was meat brought in again I observ'd among other things the Liver and Rump of a Sheep which was all fat and weigh'd at least five or six pound One of the Carvers for at this second treatment there were three minc'd the meat very small salted it well and serv'd every man by handfuls The meat look'd as if it had been chew'd before yet was it not so bad as against our stomacks After the treatment we return'd to our Quarters The next day Apr. 21. one of the other Princes named Iman Myrsa invited the Ambassadors to dinner He was very young as being not full eighteen years of age and born between a Brother of Chan's and a woman by birth a Kasamuka His Servant told us that Surkou Chan usurp'd the Principality from him and that his life was in some danger by reason of his Uncle The cloath was laid in a great Hall where we sate down with Imam Myrsa and some other Lords of the Country in Chairs at a low Table We were better treated than we had been the day before and the Meat was better drest Among other dishes there was brought in a whole Lamb roasted whereof every one carv'd himself what he pleas'd They used no knives but tore the Meat in pieces and I observ'd that when one had left any Meat about the bone his next neighbour took it up and pick'd it and many times it went to a third and fourth hand till at last he who could find nothing about it would try what there was within and get out the marrow Their drinking Vessels are of Cows-horns and their drink a sort of liquor called Bragga which they make of Millet and in colour and consistence looks like the lees of beet They think it very delicious and drink freely of it as they do also of Aquavitae and grow of a sudden so drunk that notwithstanding the presence of their Pâ—ince they made such a noise as would have drown'd Thunder it self The Tartars having thus treated us we took leave
find whether it be fit to sacrifize they cut off the privy members which they cast against the wall if they do not stick thereto they are oblig'd to kill another but if they do they proceed with the Ceremonies fleaing it and stretching the skin upon the top of a long pole before which they offer their sacrifice and boil and roast the Flesh which they afterwards eat The Feast ended the men rise and go and adore the skin and the prayers concluded the women withdraw The men stay and grow so bestially drunk with their Bragga or Aquavitae that they seldom part without fighting This skin is left upon the pole till another person of quality dies and then the former is taken away and another set up instead of it We saw neer Terki both going and coming not far from the Princess Bika's house one of these stretch'd skins with the head and the horns on upon the black cross The pole was planted in a quick-set hedge only to keep the Dogs from coming neer it and by their pissing against it profaning the Mystery They interr their dead very honourably adorn their Sepulchres with pillars and build houses over those of persons of quality We saw one over the Sepulchre of Mussal's Brother the boards whereof were of diverse colours plac'd checquerwise having upon the roof several wooden Statues poorly done which represented the hunting of some wild Beast To express their sorrow for the departure of their friends they tear their forehead arms and breasts with their nails after a barbarous manner so that the blood comes out in abundance Their mourning continues till the wounds are healed and if they would have it last longer they renew them by opening the scratches in the same manner May. 21. we began to set things in order for the prosecution of our journey We had a Desert of seventy leagues to travel over and to find horses for all the Company to ride would have been too great an expence Wherefore we agreed with the Waggoners of Terki at nine Crowns a Wagon drawn by two horses which might carry each of them three or four persons to Astrachan There joyned with us a Caravan of Merchants of several Nations as Persians Turks Greeks Armenians and Muscovites so that then we had above two hundred Wagons in our Company But the Provisions allow'd us were but small for so great a journey to wit to every man with the Suchari and a loaf of mouldy brown bread half a dry'd Salmon that stunk without any drink For the Tartars pretending they had bargain'd only for the cariadge of men would not receive any barrels or other vessels into the Wagons and the Ambassador Brugman would not be at the charge of a Wagon purposely to carry beer or water for us though he made good provision of all for himself and his Favourites And indeed we stood not much upon it out of an imagination it was impossible we should want water but we had time enough to repent us of that presumption We left Terki the fourth of Iune in the afternoon and soon entred into that dreadful Heath taking our way on the left hand and turning from the Caspian Sea 'T is a thing strange yet very certain that in eleven daies journey we saw neither City nor Village nor tree nor hill nor any River but that of Kisilar contrary to what all Maps represent thereof Nay during all that time we saw not so much as one Bird but only a vast Plain desert sandy and cover'd in some places with a little grass and pits or standing pooles of salt or corrupt and stinking water We got the first day but two leagues and lodg'd at night neer one of those standing pools The 5. we encamped neer the River Kisilar The 6. we travell'd six leagues and lodg'd neer one of those pools These three first daies we took our way towards the West-north-west and East-north-east to the River Wolga The 7. we got six leagues further through a great Fenn which we had much ado to pass Heat and thirst troubled us extremely but not so much as the Flies Wasps Gnats and other infects which both men and horses found it no small difficulty to keep off The Camels which have no tails to keep away those infects as the horses have were all bloody and full of swellings The 8. we were going before day and having travell'd 4. leagues we gave our horses a little rest and provender at the entrance of a very sandy road In the afternoon we got four leagues further and lodg'd at night neer a standing pool The Tartars perceiving that one of their horses was like to miscarry by the way prevented him cut his throat and shar'd him among themselves At night they roasted him making a fire of little bushes of thorns and reeds and were very merry The 9. we travell'd seven leagues and lodg'd neer a pool which the overflowing of the Sea made thereabouts The water was so bad as was also that of all the rest that we were forc'd to stop our noses while we drunk it The 10. we got seven leagues further to a place cover'd with Reeds where we found a little fresh water deriv'd thither from the Wolga The 11. we got seven leagues further to a standing pool made there by the inundation of the Wolga The water is not salt but so dead and stinking that there was no drinking of it That day twelve great wild Boars cross'd out way Some Tartars on horse-back came riding after them and as ill fortune would have it there came two of them close by our Waggon The horses were frightned and fell a-running so that the Physician and Steward fell out of the Waggon with the Baggage The Siâ—ur Vchterits and my self who sate in the fore-part of the Waggon considering there was no getting out without danger kept our places till the horses being not able to go any further stopp'd at the entrance of a Fenn The 12. we travell'd eight leagues and found in our way upon the ground a Neast wherein there were two Birds not quite fledg'd Some were of opinion they were young Eagles VVe pass'd by two salt marshes the scent whereof was somewhat like that of a Violet and very delightful The 13. we travell'd eight leagues further lodg'd at night in a place whence we could discover the City of Astrachan The 14. we got three leagues and lodg'd on the side of the Wolga over against Astrachan All our people who had not drunk any fresh water since their coming from Terki ran up to their knees in the River to drink with greater ease Assoon as they had notice at Astrachan of our arrival they presently came to visit us and he who had the keeping of the Provisions sent thither for us brought us a sack full of bread Neats-tongues hung-Beef a tun of Beer and a barrel of Aquavitae We continu'd that day on the River-side to give the Weywode time to assign
put it at 25. degr yet is the observation which the Hollanders have made of it and which we here follow very just and exact it being certain that most of the Maps that have been yet made and particularly that of Persia are very defective Their errour proceeds hence that they put the Caspian Sea too high and consequently allow Persia a greater breadth from North to South then it really hath For they put the City of Resht at 41. degrees whereas it is at 37. and so the breadth of all Persia can be but 10. degrees taking it from Gamron to Rescht or 12. at most if we should grant Ormus to be at 25. degrees so that Boterus is extreamly mistaken when he allows Persia the extent of 18. degrees It is not long since that this place was but a little Village consisting of some few Huts which the Fishermen had set up for their conveniencies and it is since the reduction of Ormus that the goodness of the Port hath rais'd it to a City of great Trade The Dutch and English Ships and the Moor Bottoms which come there daily by reason of the convenience of the Road and the Merchants of Ispahan Schiras and Laar who bring their stuffes thither as Velvet Taffaâ—a raw-Silk c. and exchange them for others will in time make this City one of the most considerable of all the East It is seated upon the Persian Gulf between two good Castles which defend it against the descent of Pirates and keep the entrance of the Haven where there is a square Redoubt with four pieces of Canon upon it The Fortifications of the Castle are antick with round Bastions but very well furnished with great Guns The Haven is so commodious that Ships may anchor very safely at five or six fathom water The houses at Gamron built of a certain stone which they make of stiff Clay Sand shredded-Straw and Horse-dung mixt together whereof having set a Layer they cover it with a Layer of Straw or Fagots and then another Layer of Clay and Straw and so alternately till they have brought it six or seven foot high then they set fire to it and so bake the Stone and to fasten and cement them together they make a composition of the same Paste with salt-Salt-water and some Lime and by that means make a kind of Mortar which is almost as hard as the Stone it self The best Houses are those of the Sulthan or Governour of the City and the Lodgings or Ware houses of the Dutch and English which lie so near the Sea that at High-water the Tide comes up to the walls of them which is a great convenience for the loading and unloading of their Merchandizes The lower rooms serve for Kitchins and Ware-houses and the upper for Lodgings which are the more commodious in this respect that being high they are the more fit to receive the wind of all sides so in some measure to moderate the excessive heat of the Sun The meaner sort of people have no other covering over them then what they make with the branches and leaves of Date-trees which they call Adap and are the only trees that find them fruit and timber for building The Streets are narrow irregular and not kept clean The Air is very unwholsom thereabouts by reason of the excessive heat as also of the continual change of the Winds which râ—ign there and which in the space of twenty four hours go through all the points of the Compass For in the morning they have an East-wind which is extreamly cold about noon a South-wind which brings insupportable heats along with it in the evening a West-wind which coming fromwards Arabia brings sufficient heats with it and at midnight a North-wind which comes out of the Mountains of the Country and is cold enough It rains so seldom that it was observed in the year 1632. that with the rising of the Wind there falling a great shower after a continual drought of three years the Inhabitants kept a day of publick thanksgiving for it Whence it comes that in the Country all about this City there is not so much as a Grass to be seen unless it be in some Gardens where they are forc'd twice or thrice every day to water the Pot-herbs and Pulse which they sow in them and among the rest particularly Garlick Onions Chibols Radishes and Cucumbers But the Isle of Kismisch which is but three Leagues distant from Gamron and which is 15. Leagues in length and three in breadth supplies the City with all sorts of Fruits For in the moneth of Iune and during the greatest heats of Summer they have Grapes Damsens Peaches Mangas Quinces Oranges Lemons and Pomegranates red and white In October they have Melons Citruls Cucumbers Radishes Onions Turneps Almonds Pistachoes Apples Pears and several other Fruits which are very excellent and in such abundance that they are cheaper there then in any other place of Persia. The Inhabitants live for the most part upon Fruits and Pulse and the Fish which they take in the neighbouring Sea and find more wholsom and delicious then Flesh which meeting with but little good sustenance by reason of the extraordinary heats must thereabouts be of ill nourishment and in a manner without any taste Among other sorts of Fish they take there abundance of Pilchards and Smelts as also Oysters and Crabs They have good store of Cattle as Oxen Cows Sheep Goats and several other Creatures but they have such abundance of Goats that they are sold for six or eight pence a piece There are also a sort of Rams that have four horns but no wild Fowl at all Their ordinary drink is only Water unless it be that some have a little Aqua vitae made of Dates or Rice Schiras Wine which is brought thither only in Bottles is very scarce and very dear there nay the fair Water which they get two Leagues from the City is sold at such a rate that what I and my servants spent cost me about two pence every day Persons of quality and Merchants are clad after the Persian mode but all the rest go naked and cover only the privy parts The Women wear about their arms and legs a great many Rings or Plates of Silver Brass or Iron according to their conditions and abilities They fasten to their hair a Bodkin or a long flat piece of Silver gilt or Brass which hangs down over the middle of their foreheads to the end of the nose and they thrust through the left nostril a Gold Ring having in the middle a Turquese a Granat or haply a little Gold Knob or Button enamell'd or simple and the Pendants they wear in their ears are so heavy that if those were not well fastned to their heads they would go near to force them thence The great heats begin to abate in October and so from that time till the beginning of May is the season of greatest trading Then it
arrival at Suratta I found my health perfectly recover'd though I must also acknowledge as much contributing thereto my using of Thé to which I had so accustomed my self that I ordinarily took it twice or thrice a day The contrary wind prevented our departure the day that we came aboard so that we lay at Anchor all the night following and the next day being the seventh we set sail taking our course towards the Isle of Ormus but towards night there rose so great a tempest together with a West-wind that to avoid running upon the shore we were forced to cast Anchor in sight of the Isle Sunday being the eighth we laveer'd it with a West-wind endeavouring to pass between the Isles of Ormus and Kismich which are four Leagues distant one from the other About two in the afternoon we cast over-board the body of a young Sea-man who died of the Bloudy-flux two dayes before This Ceremony which I had not seen before put me into so much the greater fright in that being still troubled with the same disease I imagined they would shortly do as much by me The night following we pass'd in sight of the two Islands we spoke of last to wit Ormus and Kismich and the next day being the ninth we discovered the Continent of Arabia taking our course along the Coast which is thereabouts without any danger Tuesday 10. A calm staid us at the same place and the 11. we put off from the Coasts of Arabia to make towards those of Persia which we still kept in sight of till Thursday night April 12. Then a good West-north-west wind rising we took our course towards the East-south-east at 25. degrees 50. minutes elevation Friday morning we could perceive no Land but had sight of a Pirate who by his making ever and anon more or less sail discover'd he had somewhat to say to us One while he came somewhat near us another he kept at a great distance but at last perceiving we made it our business to get the wind of him he made towards the Isle of Zocotora This Island is seated at 21. degrees 40. minutes at the entrance of the Red-sea having towards the South-west and North-east the Country of Melinda or Aethiopia and towards the South Arabia from which it is distant about sixteen Leagues It is about 25. Leagues in length but not above ten in breadth having on all sides very good riding for Ships and safe Harbours It is indifferently well peopled and is subject to the King of Arabia under whom it is governed by a Sulthan The Inhabitants are of low stature and rather lean then fat of a duskish complexion and very laborious Their only sustenance is Fish and Fruits living very temperately They treat their Wives whom they buy in Arabia with much civility and have a certain respect for them but will not permit Strangers to see them They are very crafty in their trading and delight much in it though they have but few things to sell. And whereas they adulterate almost all their Commodities they are accordingly distrustful of those which are brought to them They reduce Dates into a paste and it serves them instead of Bread The Island affords very few Oranges and those not very good Tobacco and Citruls There are also some Cocos-trees but not many the fruit not coming to ripeness there by reason the ground is very full of stones Their main wealth consists in Aloes the juyce whereof they gather in bladders or Goats-skins and dry it in the Sun They have also the gummy juyce called Dragons-bloud and Civet which may be bought there at about three or four Crowns an Ounce but those who are not very well skill'd in that Drug are many times cheated for the Inhabitants of the Island put Grease and other nasty stuff into it They keep abundance of Civet-cats about their houses but they have very little tame Fowl wild none at all They have Camels Asses Oxen Cows Sheep and Goats whose hair about the thighs is curl'd much after the manner that Satyrs are painted The Town where the Sulthan hath his residence is called Tamary and hath in it a Fort which is distant from the Sea about a Canon-shot with four Guns Their Arms are a kind of broad Swords whereof the hilt is very large but without any guard In their Girdles they wear also Poniards the blades whereof are above three fingers broad towards the handle but very sharp towards the point They are so curious as to have something of Silver or Copper about the handles but their Fire-arms are not well kept and yet they are very expert at the handling of them as they are also in mannaging those little Bucklers wherewith they defend themselves in fight Ships may take in fresh water there without any trouble for the waters which come from the Mountains fall into the Sea like a River They have no other Boats then such as are absolutely flat-bottom'd which they make use of in their fishing which is very good thereabouts They have this common with the Arabians and other Mahumetans that they eat no Swines flesh but even in Tamary it self there is no Mosquey nor any other place for them to meet at to do their Devotions These they do morning and evening at the rising and setting of the Sun to which they make very low reverences and mutter certain words between their teeth this they do also three or four times a day besides The 14. of April we were at 23. degrees 24. minutes The 15. at 22. degrees 40. minutes The 16. at 22. degrees 40. min. The 17. at 21. degrees 55. minutes This day the Captain of our Ship fell sick of a burning Feayer The 18. at 21. degrees 8. minutes The 19. at 20. deg 42. min. The 20. at 20. deg 50. min. The 22. at 29. deg 50. min. The 23. at 20. degrees 18. minutes latitude The 25. of April we came before the City of Surat and cast Anchor two Leagues from Land by reason it being the Captains intention not to stay there above three or four dayes he would be sure of the convenience of parting thence when he pleas'd Besides there is no Road along that Coast where Ships can lye with any safety from May to September by reason of the continual Tempests and furious winds which reign there during that time whereas on the Eastern Coast of the Indies in the Gulf of Bengala it is fair and calm at that time The year is divided into three very different seasons for in the moneths of February March April and May it is extreamly hot weather in Iune Iuly August and September there is nothing but continual Rains with Thunder and Lighting and the moneths of October November December and Ianuary are cold at least as far as is consistent with the Climate April 26. The Captin sent one to the President of the English at Surat to give him notice of his Arrival The
President sent him back the 28. accompanied by two young Merchants of the same Nation who brought Orders to the Captain and in the Presidents name intreated me to come with the soonest to Surat where he should make good in effect those proffers which they were then come to make to me of his service Having acknowledged the Captain 's civility by a small Present and leaving him very sick and much troubled at our separation after the friendship we had contracted together I left the Ship the 29. of April Within a League of the Road we entred into the River upon which Surat is seated and which hath on both sides a very fertile soil and many fair Gardens with pleasant Country-houses which being all white a colour it seems the Indians are much in love with afford a noble prospect amidst the greeness whereby they are encompassed But this River which is the Tapte called by others Tynde is so shallow at the mouth of it that Barks of 70. or 80. Tun can hardly come into it We came ashore near the Sulthan's Palace and went immediately to the Custom-house to have our things search'd by the Officers there which is done with such exactness in this place that they think it not enough to open Chests and Portmantles but examine peoples clothes and pockets The Sulthan or Governour nay the Customers themselves oblige Merchants and Passengers to part with at the price they shall think fit to put upon them those Goods and Commodities which they had brought for their own private use Accordingly the Sulthan himself who came to the Custom-house as soon as we were got thither having found among my things a bracelet of yellow Amber and a Diamond would needs buy them both of me whereto when I made him answer that I was no Merchant and that I valued those things only for their sakes who had bestow'd them on me he was pleas'd to return me the Diamond but detain'd the Bracelet telling me I should have it again when I honour'd him with a Visit. The respect and deference which the other Merchants have for the President was very remarkable as also the order which was there observed in all things especially at Divine Service which was said twice a day in the morning at six and at eight at night and on Sundayes thrice No person in the house but had his particular Function and their certain hours assign'd them as well for work as recreation Our divertisement was thus ordered On Fridayes after Prayers there was a particular Assembly at which met with us three other Merchants who were of kin to the President and had left as well as he their Wives in England which day being that of their departure from England they had appointed it for to make a commemoration thereof and drink their Wives healths Some made their advantage of this meeting to get more then they could well carry away though every man was at liberty to drink what he pleas'd and to mix the Sack as he thought fit or to drink Palepuntz which is a kind of drink consisting of Aqua vitae Rose-water juice of Citrons and Sugar At our ordinary meetings every day we took only Thé which is commonly used all over the Indies not only among those of the Country but also among the Dutch and English who take it as a Drug that cleaness the Stomach and digests the superfluous humours by a temperate heat particular thereto The Persians instead of Thé drink their Kahwa which cools and abates the natural heat which Thé preserves The English have a fair Garden without the City whither we constantly went on Sundayes after Sermon and sometimes also on other dayes of the week where our Exercise was shooting at Butts at which I made a shift to get a hundred Mamoudis or five pound sterling every week After these divertisements we had a Collation of Fruit and Preserves and bath'd our selves in a Tanke or Cistern which had five foot water where some Dutch Gentlewomen serv'd and entertain'd us with much civility What troubled me most was that my little acquaintance with the English Tongue made me incapable of Conversation unless it were with the President who spoke Dutch But before I relate what happened to me in this Voyage and what I saw during my stay at Surat it will not be amiss to give here a general but short description of the Mogul's Country and the Provinces whereof it consists so to make the readier way for what we shall have to say of it hereafter The Country properly called India which the Persians and Arabians name Indosthan reaches on the West-side from the River Indus or Sindo and the Kingdom of the same name the Inhabitants whereof are called Abint or from the Frontiers of the Kingdom of Maecon which some call Gelsche Macquerona whereof the Inhabitants are Baloches or Baluches as far as Ganges The Ancients called this Province Carmania and it hath a Port or Haven called Guader at 25. degrees on this side the line The Persians and Arabians call the Kingdom of Sindo Diul The same Persians and the Indosthans call the River Indus Pangab that is to say five waters because so many Rivers come into it before it falls into the Sea under that famous name The first is that of Bugal or Begal which rises near Kabul The second is called Chanab and rises in the Province of Quesmir or Cassimier fifteen dayes journey above Lahor towards the North. The third is that of Ravy or Ravee which runs by Lahor and rises not far from it The two others viz. Via and Osuid or Sind come from a great distance and meet near Bakar which lies at an equal distance between Lahor and the Sea Whence it is to be inferr'd that those Geographers are in an errour who put this River at 24. degrees on this side the Line and confound it with that which runs by Diul Some say the great Mogul's Kingdom is of so vast an extent that a Caravan would have much ado to travel through it in two years but these are Fables It s certain Frontiers according to the description of Edward Terrin are on the East-side the Kingdom of Mavy on the West part of Persia and the South-Sea on the North Mount Caucasus and great Tartaria and on the South the Kingdom of Decan and the Gulf of Bengala containing thirty and seven great Provinces which were heretofore so many Kingdoms to wit Candahar which takes its name from or derives it to the chief City is the most Western Province of all the Indies and lies upon the Territories of the King of Persia who hath several times been Master of it It is indeed for this Province that the Kings of Persia are in continual war almost with the great Mogul as they are in Turkey side for Badgat and Ervan The Province of Kabul which is no doubt the richest of all the Kingdom derives its name also from the
they wear a Hat Great honours are done to them after their death and after their Corps hath been attended certain dayes they are burnt with Sandale-wood they cast the Ashes into the River and inteâ—r the â—ones near the place they liv'd in Pegu yields no Corn at all but in recompence they have more Rice then they can spend in so much that they can afford some to their Neighbours They have a custom to make a Drug of certain little Fishes which they pound in a Mortar and being so brought to a Paste they lay it in the Sun to putrifie till it be quite corrupted and grows moist and then they use it in their Sauces instead of Oyl or Butter making a dainty of that which it were not possible for us to endure the smell of Sodomy was heretofore so common in those parts that to extirpate this Vice which had near destroy'd the whole Species one of the Queens of Pegu ordain'd by Edict that every Man should carry in his Yard a little Bell which would make it swell in such sort that he should not be able to do Nature any violence And to the end the Women should not be frustrated of their due their Virginity was to be taken away while they were yet very young by means of a Composition of contrary operation to that used by common Women to heighten the pleasures of their Gallants These little Bells are put in betwixt the skin and the flesh and to effect the operation they cast them into a sleep with a certain Drink to make them insensible of the pain they are put to by the Incision whereof notwithstanding they are cur'd in few dayes For their greater aversion from Sodomy they paint the Boyes at seven or eight years of age with a certain blew which extending with the skin as it grows changes into another colour and makes them look most horribly The Women on the contrary do all they can to appear lovely and attract the Men covering their privy parts only with a thin piece of Linnen which sits not so close but the least wind shews all they have All of them in general make their Teeth black and Men when they ride on horseback fill their Mouths with something that puâ—fs out their Checks They who marry buy their Wives of their Parents and when they are cloy'd send them home again but the money belongs to the Wife who on her side is obliged to restitution if shâ— part with her Husband without cause The King is Heir to all that dye without Children and they who have Children can leave them but two thirds of their Estate the rest belongs to the King The best Commodities to be brought to Pegu and which may be sold to greatest profit are Stuffes and Linnen-clothes from Saint Thomas Musulipatam and Bengala Pepper Cinnamon Nutmegs Optum and Sandale-wood c. by reason they have no other Spices then Ginger At Pegu they take in no other Merchandizes then Silver and Rice which they transport to Malacca In bargaining they make no words at all they do no more but give their Hand cover'd with a Handkerchief and in grasping or moving their Fingers they make their meaning known For borrowing of money they stick not to pawn their Wives and Children but if the Creditour enjoyes them carnally during that time he is then paid and the Debtour acquitted Siam one of the most considerable Kingdoms of the Indies lying at eighteen degrees on this side the Line hath on the North the Kingdoms of Pegu and Auva on the West the Gulf of Bengala from the Haven of Martanan to the Town of Tavaga towards the East Patana whence the Coast runs first Northwards to thirteen degrees and a half comprehending in this space the Gulf of Siam And lastly Southward to twelve degrees lying more at a distance from the Sea it joyns Eastward on the Desarts of Cambodia and the Kingdoms of Iangoma Tangou and Lansiaugh to eighteen degrees towards the forementioned Kingdoms of Pegu and Auva making as it were a semi-circle containing near upon four hundred and fifty Leagues The Country in some parts is rough and mountainous in other parts covered with Woods and to the Seawards 't is low and marshy and generally flat good and fertile yielding in abundance all necessaries for livelihood and having on the Gulfes divers Isles Rivers Bayes Harbours and Roads commodious for the transportation of such things as they themselves can spare The River called Menam that is Mother of the waters is one of the greatest India hath The breadth of it is not great but its length such that hitherto no man hath discovered the head of it It sends its Current from North to South passing through the Kingdoms of Pegu and Auva and at last running through Siam by three Streams it falls into the Gulf of Siam One quality it hath common with the Nile and Ganges that it yearly overflows the adjacent Country for the space of five moneths together destroying in that time all Worms and Insects and leaving when it retires a slime or moist soil proper for the increase of Rice That Channel of this River which is most commodious for Barks or Vessels is that which lies most Eastwards at thirteen degrees and a half elevation but what makes it almost useless is that there lies a Shelf a League in length or better at the mouth of the River which at low-water holds not above five or six foot water At high-water it holds fifteen or sixteen foot and in September October and November seventeen or eighteen foot Vessels of greater burthen ordinarily stay in the Road two Leagues from the Shelf where having at no time less then five or six fathom water they ride secure They who venture to come over the Shelf with the Tide may go up along the River to the City of Banckock six Leagues from the Sea and thence may pass by boat in five or six dayes as high as the City of India twenty four Leagues within the Land except in the moneths before mentioned during which season the River is innavigable The Provinces of this vast Kingdom are all very populous though not equally for such as have the Commodity of Rivers and Havens far exceed those that lye more remote It would be very difficult to reckon all the Towns of this great Dominion wherefore we will here give only an account of the principal and most considerable either for greatness or as the most considerable of the several Provinces The chief of the Kingdom is India by some called Odya then Camboya Campaa Sincapura Picelouck Surkelouck Capheng Soucethay Kephinpet Conseywan Pytsyay Pitsedi Lidure Tenou Mormelon Martenoy Lygor Bordelong Tanasserim where the Portuguez drive a good Trade Banckock Pipry Mergy c. Besides which there are many more which rather deserve a place in a Map then in the Relation of a particular Mans Travels The City of India the ordinary Residence
his younger Brother alive at this day 'T is not long since the King of Siam had the satisfaction to have two young white Elephants together but they both dyed in a short time The Indians do believe that a white Elephant hath something in it of divine and say they respect it not only for the colour but they observe in him that he looks to be treated as a Prince and that he is troubled when other Elephants render not him the honour due to him The King of Siam is a Pagan nor do his Subjects know any other Religion They have divers Mosquees Monasteries and Chappels where their Ecclesiasticks retire and assemble to do their Devotions They are discerned from other buildings by the gilt Towers and Pyramides There are infinite Pagodes of Gold Silver Stone Timber and other materials of all sizes some of twenty some thirty fourty fifty foot and amongst the rest one which sits which if it stood would be sixscore foot in height Their ecclesiasticks are very exemplary in their life having amongst them a kind of Hierarchy under the direction of the High-Priest of the Grand Mosquey of the City of India to whom all the rest yield obedience In matters of Religion his Authority is great but in Temporals he acknowledges the King and yields him the same respect as his other Subjects do In the City of India there are above thirty thousand of these Ecclesiasticks who are easily known by their habit for they all wear Garments of a yellow Linnen-cloath and have their Crowns shav'd Amongst them they chuse the most learn'd and accomplish'd for Priests and to take charge of the Mosqueys These are as Parsons amongst them who on Festival dayes preach to the people and sacrifice to their Idols They are prohibited the company of Women on pain of being burnt alive but their Vows are not so indispensible but such as have not the gift of Continency are allowed to change their profession every Mosquey hath a Convent belonging to it for entertainment of Priests design'd for the service which is regularly said morning and evening They live partly on the Revenue of the Mosqueys and partly on Gratuities given them by the King and Nobility in the way of Almes but they have their chiefest livelihood at the peoples Charge by begging every day through the City like our Friars Mendicants They have likewise Religious Women and Beguins who are aged devout Women who inhabit near the Mosqueys that they may be present at all the Church-Services but these make no Vow nor are obliged to any particular rule of Discipline They believe there is one God who created the Universe and hath under him divers other Gods by whom he governs the World They believe the Soul is immortal and that at its departure out of the Body it goes either to injoy beatitude or into eternal torments having first passed through other Bodies This is the ground of their Religion which they say they have received from time immemorable by Tradition of Saints whom they have exalted to Deities and now do part of their Devotions to them They hold likewise that good works will save them and in particular their Charity which they direct not to men alone but to Beasts likewise And hence it is that on Festival dayes the people bring Birds and Fish hard by the Mosqueys which they buy on purpose to set them at liberty because with the Benjans they believe a Metempsychosis or transmigration of Souls In their Ceremonies they use abundance of lights which they set up before their Pagodes in time of Service They likewise Incense them and adorn them with Flowers and precious Stones They have no certain day in the week design'd for their Devotions but they have some in particular every quarter of the Moon and observe moreover a sort of Lent for three moneths during which they abstain from several sorts of Meat They pray for the dead and bury them with many Ceremonies They wash shave and perfume the Corps in the presence of the Ecclesiasticks then they are brought near the Mosqueys where the Corps is burnt and the Ashes buried in the same place under a rich Tomb or stately Pyramide according to the degree and abilities of the deceased The nearest Relations shave themselves give Alms procure the Priests to say Prayers and attend the body with Musick Theatrical Representations and Fire-works so as these Obsequies put them to great charges They never dispute with any of a contrary Religion but believe that by living well they may be saved in any Religion though they are so fixt to their own that there is no hope of ever introducing another The Portuguez endeavoured to catechise some but with as little effect as the Mahumetans who would have brought in the Alcoran The inferiour people here invoke the Devil contrary to the doctrine of their Ecclesiasticks who incessantly preach against this abomination but hitherto they cannot pluck up this rooted wickedness which they sucked in with their first Milk The Siameses are comely and well proportioned but ill Souldiers though cruel and insolent enough after Victory They are rather black then brown ingenious in Commerce but they are cautious dissident dissemblers unconstant false and lyars The Men are lazy and care for no employment which requires labour such they leave to their Women and Slaves leaving affairs and husbandring of land to their charges while they walk the Streets or make their addresses at Court They cover themselves with a painted Cloath from the Navel to the Kâ—ces Men wear short Shirts with sleeves hanging to their Elbows and Women hide their Breasts with a linnen Cloath which is fastned about their Neck All observe one fashion in Clothes so as Persons of Quality are not to be distinguished from others but by their Train which consists of about five and twenty or thirty Slaves Their Houses are made of Timber or Canes of a fashion peculiar to the Country and covered with Coco leaves they are raised three or four foot from the ground and in every partition have several windows which is very commodious They have no other moveables then what are necessary for the Chamber and Kitchin and their diet is Rice Fish and Pulse and they drink nothing but Water but at Feasts they make better cheer and are willing to be invited to be drunk with Arac or Strong-water Ecclesiasticks meddle not in the marriages of Persons of Quality by reason the parties are content to confide in each other for the conditions agreed upon and obtaining the consent of their Parents they consummate the marriage But they ever reserve liberty of separation with an equal division of Goods and Children without License of any Magistrate and to marry again with whom and as oft as they will Their contract with their Concubines is of a different kind for they are considered but as Slaves and under the authority of
Silver or Iron so polished they might be taken for Silver The King of Cambodia is nothing so powerful as the two Kings whom we last mentioned for an Army of twenty five or thirty thousand is the most he can draw into the Field so as were the Siameses more Martial they might with small trouble make Cambodia subject to their King The Nobility of the Court are divided into Ockinas Tomimas Tonimnes Nampras and Sabandars each in his degree but for the best part without any particular charge except the first who are most considerable in publick Assemblies distinguished by little Cabinets of Gold carried after them wherein are Cardamum and other Drugs to rub their Lips Cissars to cut their Bettele by them called Pynang and for the Lime Areca and Bettele which they chew continually In the presence of the King whether it be for Councel or Complement they stand in a semi-circle and behind them the Tommaes known from the others by their Bottles of Silver No address is made to the King but by mediation of these Ockinas for though the Priests are next his Person between him and the Ockinas and converse familiarly with him they esteem it notwithstanding a king of Sacriledge for an Ecclesiastick to meddle in secular Affairs so as none but the Ockinas communicate general or particular Affairs to him of which 't is their Office to take cognizance as also of the Kings Orders upon their report In the whole Town there is but one Pagode or Mosquee wherein there are three bigger and three lesser Statues It is supported with wooden Pillars varnished black with a folliage of Gold and the floor covered with Mats Their Priests have no houses near the Pagode and when the chief of their Ecclesiasticks dyes they build him a Monument of Stone which at the bottom is four-square and upwards to the top grows round like a Pear The Portuguez are so well settled here that the Hollanders cannot hope to carry on any Trade till they have first destroyed that of the Portuguez At their first Arrival in the year 1637. they committed the management of their Affairs to an adoptive Son of the Queen to whom the King had given the name of Tisnecha and the honour of Nampra and they used the credit of the Chabandar of the Iaponeses in hope by this means they might gain a small establishment But the friendship they had contracted with the King of Siam and the Artifices of the Portuguez bred them difficulties they could not master otherwise they might have laded there yearly eighty or a hundred thousand Deer-skins besides Neat and Buffles hides above a hundred Picols of black Lacque at ten Thails the Picol above three or four hundred Picols of Benjamin at seventeen or eighteen Thales the Picol and might have vented their Cotton-yarn and Cloath for above sixty or seventy in the hundred profit Provisions in these parts are so plentiful that the Inhabitants having so much more then they have use for sell them in a manner for nothing specially Venison Beef Pork Goats Hares Kids Cranes Herns and all sorts of Poultry as likewise Oranges Citrons Mangas Cocoes c. but to judge the better of the fertility of this Soyl take notice that the people of Quinam alone fetch yearly thence two thousand Coyangs of Rice five Coyangs making four Lestes or eight Tuns at seventeen or eighteen Thails the Coyang And so much by way of Account of the small Kingdom of Cambodia That Tongue of Land is called Malacca which in form of a Peninsula extends it self from the Kingdom of Siam from the South-east towards the North-west even to the Equinoctial Line betwixt the Gulfs of Bengala and Siam or Cambodia and contains besides the City of Malacca whence it derives its name the Kingdom of Iahor and Patana The Country was discovered by Alphonso d' Albuquerque in the year 1511. since when the Portuguez have kept their ground there so firmly that none yet can supplant them Malacca is scituate upon the strait that divides the Isle of Sumatra from the Continent on this side the Line two Degrees and half in a large Plain where there is but only one Mountain the foot whereof is almost wholly taken up with the Town leaving only a small space open towards the North-east About eighteen hundred paces may be the compass of it for six hundred whereof it lies on the Sea-coast enclosed with a good Wall as likewise on the River-side which bounds another third of the Town and on the Land-side 't is fortified with four regular Bastions The first which is on the River-side is called the Bastion of Saint Domingo another on the Sea-shore Saint Iago and two more betwixt these two called Madre de Dios and Vnze mil Vergenes from that of Saint Iago to that of Madre de Dios there is a good Pallisado of eighteen foot high and between those of Madre de Dios to Saint Domingo a sufficient Ditch The Colledge of the Iesuits also called Saint Pauls which serves likewise for a Parish Church stands on the top of the Hill whence it commands the Town and the Country near about it There is likewise another rising ground about a Cannon shot from the City where there is a Convent of Iacobins The River there which runs North-west is not very broad and at high-high-water it mixes with the Sea but is fresh at low-water There is a Bridge over it though one side is without comparison much higher then the other by reason the Land South-east is so low and marshy that it cannot be broken but water comes in immediately and in some places 't is absolutely drown'd No week passes but it rains two or three times unless it be in Ianuary February and March The Ebb there leaves open above two thousand paces of shore which being nothing but a deep mud affords no landing at low-water Before the City lye two Islands one the Portuguez call Ilha da Naos about a Canon-shot distant from the City the other Ilha de Pedra for the Quarries where they get Free-stone for their building and lyes something more remote The Caracks and Gallions cast Anchor betwixt these Islands at four or five fathom water but Frigots and Barks enter the River and Vessels of a middle rate shelter under the Ilha da Naos between the River and the City In the City of Malacca its Suburbs and the neighbouring Towns possessed by the Portuguez there may be about twelve thousand Inhabitants thus accounted in the Parish of Saint Thomas in the place they call Camp clein a thousand in the Suburbs towards the River eighteen hundred in the Parish of Saint Lawrence two thousand and in Senhora Nossa de Pidaede as many in Nossa Senhora da Guadalupe five Leagues thence about seven or eight hundred and within the walls of the City three thousand making at most not above three thousand fighting men Amongst them there are not above three hundred
natural Portuguez the greatest part are Mestizes or Malâ—yans The City is so commodiously scituate for Commerce with China and the Moluques whereof the Portuguez having experience to hinder other Nations from footing there gave out that the Air was unwholsome that it was not inhabitable especially for Forraigners while they notwithstanding continued there and followed their business They are possessed of no more then the City and Suburbs and five Leagues off upon the same River the Town of Nostra Senhora de Guadalupe for about half a League thence live the Manancambos Subjects to the King of Iahor but that would not have hindred the Portuguez from making it one of the most considerable places of the Indies if the Hollanders did not disturb their Commerce and find work for the King of Spain's Armies in that part of the Universe At the request of the King of Iahor in the year 1606. they came down into Malacca and besieg'd the chief City upon promise they should be possest of it but the aid that King brought them was so inconsiderable that they were constrain'd to raise the Siege yet not till they had so ruin'd the place that it could never since be repaired six thousand lives being lost in the Siege On the other side since the Hollanders got such strong hold in Ceylon and Iava the Portuguez trade with China and the Moluques is quite lost by reason they are no more Masters of that Sea But what more and more ruines the City is the avatice of the Governours who will not accept of that Government but on condition to inrich themselves two hundred thousand Crowns in three years to raise which sum they are forc'd to oppress the Inhabitants as well as Strangers which oppressions will in time so ruine the Commerce of this place that for the future the Portuguez must make no great account of it The Kingdom of Patana is not so great as that of Iahor but without comparison more populous for some that have dealt there for the Hollanders and have staid there a sufficient time affirm they have seen Records that assert the King of Patana can raise an Army of an hundred and fourscore thousand men True it is the Patanans are bad Souldiers and very improper for war but we speak of the number not the quality and say that the City of Patanan the Metropolis of the Kingdom can alone set forth at least ten thousand that is the Malayans four thousand the Chineses three and the Siameses as many The City of Patana stands upon the Sea-side but the Haven is two thousand paces thence The Houses are of Timber or Canes and well and handsomly built The Kings Palace is surrounded with a Pallisado and the Mosquey is made of Brick As to the Inhabitants they may be said rather brown then Olive-coloured of body well proportioned but they are haughty and proud yet this rather in their Comportment then Conversation wherein they are very affable for the Queen her self admitted the Hollanders to come into her Bark with her Noble men and excused it that the severity their Sex observe neither permitted her to see them more often nor to admit them to her Retirement to which she was oblieged since here Widowhood The Chineses and Siameses who have lived any time there are ingenious and understand Navigation but the Malayans meddle only with Husbandry and Fishing living miserably and drinking nothing but Water They have no liking to Wine and for Arac and Aquavitae they have an aversion but Women they love and prefer that pleasure before all others wherefore there is not a Man who besides four or five lawful Wives hath not as many Concubines Simple â—ornication they allow of and hold it no sin but Adultery they punish severely This is a Crime unpardonable and for which the Father or Son or one of the nearest Relations is obliged to be Executioner the manner of death being left to the person guilty yet is this Crime so common that they would dispeople the Country should they punish all that are guilty of it Their wealth consists in Land and Slaves whom they feed with nothing but Rice and a little Fish yet make great profit out of their labour Only the Chineses and the Mestizes betake themselves to any Trade or apply themselves to Traffick which they chiefly have in Siam Burdelon Lugor Cambodia Cochinchina Macasser Grece Pahan Iambi Iohor Bantam Bandar Malfin Suchidanar and other places upon the same Coast or Countrey where they carry all sorts of China Commodities Purcelane Skins Pots Kettles and other Iron Utensils as likewise Flesh powder'd and smoak'd Fish dry and salted Cloath which they have from the Hollanders and Chineses From their Neighbours they fetch Timber to build withall Rottang that is Cordage of Cocoe Oyle of the same Fruits dry'd and preserv'd Skins of Neat Buffles Goats Pepper and particularly a Drug they call Saroyboura These are only Swallow-nests which they find on Rocks by the Sea-side and are of such esteem in China that they sell them for three or four Crowns the pound There are two sorts of them the white which are much in request and are sold for six seven or eight Campans the China Catti but the grey are not so dear and not worth three or four Campans the Catti which amounts not to above eleven Sols or a Mamide of Cambaya Though the Country lye not far from the Equinoctial yet is the Air good and wholsom though the heats are exceeding great Summer begins there in February and lasts to the end of October there falls continual Rains during November December and Ianuary with a North-west wind They Till the Earth with Oxen and Buffles and sow nothing but Rice of which they get great abundance They have for every moneth several Fruits and Hens that lay twice a day by reason whereof the Country abounds in all sorts of provisions for the belly as Rice Oxen Goats Geese Ducks Hens Capons Peacocks Deer Hares Coneys Fowl and Venison and specially in Fruits whereof they have above a hundred several sorts as Durians Mangosthans Annas Lanciats Ramboutammas Pissans Oranges and Lemmons and above all Lemmons gibol called in France China Oranges bought there five or six hundred for a Campan Mamplans Batians and Centals c. whereof more hereafter The Inhabitants breed no Swine but the Forrests are so full of wild ones that they are forc'd to hunt them to prevent the destruction of their Rice which being taken they bury them in the ground as being Mahumetans and eat none themselves nor suffer others In the Forrest likewise there are abundance of Tygers and Apes which are no less pernicious to the Fields then the wild Swine are but the wild Elephants of which there are likewise great numbers are very harmless They are taken by hunting turning a tame Elephant amongst them with whom they presently fight and while they are in the fury they tye their hinder feet
their Mesquites they have many meetings where they eat together of what is brought thither by every one They have likewise some such Assemblies upon a Mountain which is in a Wood in the middle of the Island where the Inhabitants of Puldrim Puloway and Lantor their Allies meet them to consider of publick matters After they have treated of publick Affairs they sit down on the ground and they serve to every one upon a Banana leaf which serves them instead of a Trencher a Morsel of Sagu which is their Bread and a little Rice steep'd in broath which they eat by handfuls During the Feast the Gentlemen to entertain the Guests have a kind of Skirmish They are almost in continual war with their Neighbours and keep constant Guards upon the Coast as well to surprize others as to prevent their being surprized themselves Their Arms are the Cimetar with them called a Phahang and a Buckler of wood above four foot long They handle their Weapons with much address being train'd to it from their infancy They have likewise Fire-arms but in war they chiefly use a sort of Lance of eight or ten foot long made of an exceeding hard wood which they cast with such force that they will run a Man quite through with it Having cast their Lances for commonly they carry two they fall to their Sword which hangs at their left side under their Buckler or to another sort of Weapon which they dart and pull back with a string whereto they tye a short Truncheon having at the end a crooked iron that is exceeding sharp and dangerous Some use Corslets but these are Persons of Quality others contenting themselves with Casks of Steel and made like Cocks-combs Their Gallies are very light having on both sides in a manner even with the water two Scaffolds like wings where the Slaves are set to row They are three to every seat and every one hath an Oar which is properly but a deep wooden Shovel which they thrust as far as they can into the Sea and when they draw it back they bring it about their heads to cast out the water which they do so fast and with such sleight that a Ship must be a good Sailor that shall with a good wind take one of these Gallies In the Isle of Banda 't is no rarity to meet with people of sixscore years of age and above They believe that who fails to pray for the dead shall have no resurrection whereas otherwise with the Mahumetans they believe the resurrection of the dead Women that are present at the death of a friend cry out with all violence as if by this means they would fetch the Soul back again but seeing it comes not they interr the Corps which is born by ten or twelve persons on their Shoulders in a Biere or Coffin covered with white Linnen the Men going before the Women behind The Corps being laid in the ground they return to the house of the deceased where they dine together then they burn Incense over the Grave for four and twenty hours and at night set a burning Lamp over it in a Hut made for that purpose The Men mind nothing but their recreation and walking up and down and leave all the work to be done by their Wives whose chiefest business is to break the Nutmeg shell and dry the Nut and Mace wherein consists their greatest revenue This excellent fruit for ought I could ever learn grows only in the Isle of Banda which the Inhabitants call Bandan or rather in the six Isles 't is composed of that is Gunaxi Nera and Lantor betwixt which lies the Road for the Vessels that are bound thither Puloway Pulorim and Bassingin It is a thing to be admired that these six little Islands should furnish the whole World with Nutmegs if it were not certain that except a few Duriaons Nancan Bananas Oranges and Cocoes that grow there they produce not any thing else and the Islands are so covered with Nutmeg-trees that excluding only the fiery Mountain in the Isle of Gunapi there is not a foot of Land but is employed and the Trees at all times loaden with fruit and flowers green or ripe They chiefly gather them thrice a year that is in April August and December but that which ripens in April is the best The Tree is not unlike a Peach-tree only the leaves are more short and round The Fruit is covered with a husk as thick as that of our Wallnuts which being opened there appears a very thin leaf upon a hard shell yet does it not so cover it but that the shell is to be seen in several places and this is that they call the Nutmeg flower or Mace and the shell must be broken to come at the fruit The flower is of a lively carnation while the Nut is green but afterwards it changes and draws towards an Orange colour especially when it parts from the shell The Inhabitants preserve it in the shell with Salt or Sugar and make a very excellent Preserve The Natives call the Nutmeg Palla and Mace Bunapalla This Spice comforts the Brain helps the Memory expels Wind cleanses the Reins and stayes Looseness Mace hath almost the same vertues but 't is much more proper for Sauces Oyl of Nutmegs strengthens the Sinews procures Sleep stayes Defluxions and cures the pains in the Stomack and of powder of Nutmeg or Mace mixt with the Oyl of Roses they make an Unguent soveraign against such Griefs as proceed from Indigestion The Hollanders have built here two Forts which they call Nassau and Belgica where the Road is so good that Vessels come up within Musket-shot and ride safely at nine or ten fathom water The Island is inhabited with about ten or eleven thousand persons yet would it be hard to draw out five hundred Men fit to bear Arms. Here they drive a good round trade in Garments brought from Coromandel Rice Purcelane Velvet Damask Taffaty Scarlet Provisions and Ammunirion for the Forts The Inhabitants are obstinate and mutinous so as the Hollanders cannot assure the possession of this Isle but by force alone In their Relations of the Isle of Nera they report there are Serpents so great that one day the Author of the twentieth Relation observing his Poultry dayly to decrease and being told by the Natives there were Serpents that devoured them he had then watch'd so carefully that they took one which about midnight was crept into the Hen-roost and had made a strange havock The Servants who kill'd it found in the belly five Hens one Duck and a sucking Pig which they made no difficulty to eat of no more then they did of the Serpent it self Though some comprehend in the number of the Molucques many of the Islands that fill up this Oriental Archipelago yet properly there are called by the name of the Moluccaes but the five following Islands Ternate Tidar Motiel Machiam and Bachiam by the ancient
35. degrees Latitude We took in all our Sails and let down the Yards preparing our selves by that means against the Tempests which are very frequent and in a manner unavoidable about the Cape of Good hope and we hover'd up and down in that posture all the next day April 20. We perceiv'd that the Water was somewhat more whitish then it is in the main Sea and saw abundance of those Birds which the Portuguez call Mangas de valeudo and are a kind of Sea Mews being white all over the bodies and having black wings They have also this in particular that in their flight they beat their wings one against the other whereas the common Sea-Mews seldom do it but glide through the Air in an uninterrupted and even flight It is observed that where these Birds are seen there is ground within a hundred or hundred and fifty fathom at most Accordingly upon trial we found it at eighty fathom We saw also the same day a sort of Black-birds that had only â—â—â—ttle white upon the breast The Englishâ—ffirm â—ffirm they are Birds presaging misfortune as being the infallible fore-runners of a great Tempest The same day we had one with the West-north-west wind which on the 24. turn'd to a North-west During that time we were forc'd to go before the Wind the Water coming into the Ship with such violence that it took off our Carpenter but he was so fortunate as to lay hold on a Rope was cast him by which he was got aboard again We found ground at eighty fathom and in regard the Earth which stuck to the Plummet was â—lack we inferred thence that we were not far from the Cap d' Agulhas which is sixty Leagues from that of Good hope The 15. The Tempest increased so that we began to despair of escaping in regard the current of the Sea forced us towards the Coasts where we had inevitably been wrack'd if it had continued We were at thirty six degrees twenty minutes beyond the Line and this day we had like to have been destroyed by fire occasioned by a Lamp in the Presidents Chamber but it was soon put out The Storm continued all the next day Our Sea-men seeing about the Ship many of those Fish called Pesce Puercos would thence perswade us that it would not be long ere the weather changed and that the Wind would blow from the same quarter that those Fishes came Accordingly about two in the afternoon the Wind came to the North-west and the Tempest ceased so that we could spread our Sails The 27. We had no Wind at all but in the afternoon it came to the North-west which obliged us to take our Course to the North-north-west failing two Leagues an hour We saw that day a great number of Trombas from which we inferred we were not far from the Cape of Good hope These Yrombas are a kind of great Canes about the bigness of a mans arm and three or four foot long which flote upon the water with their roots as if the Sea had forced them away from the neighbouring Coast yet can it not be said whence they come nor that they are seen any where but about that Cape April 28. We discovered the Coast which before us reach'd from North to West Some thought at first it was Gabo-Falso or the Cape of Good hope but finding ground at forty Fathom and at thirty four degrees forty minutes they were soon convinced that it was the Cap d' Agulhas whence it came that we went all that day laveering with a North-west wind The 29. The Wind came to the South-east so that we continued our course to the North-west keeping still in sight of the Land That day we took as many Fith as found the whole company two or three good meals The night following the Wind changed and came to the North-west obliging us to laveer but being in a manner directly contrary we advanced but little Taking the Altitude of the Sun that day we found our selves at 34. degrees 27. minutes and consequently that we wanted 24. Leagues of being at the Altitude of Capâ—d ' Agulhas April 30. We continued laveering along the Coast the Wind being still contrary May 1. The wind coming to the North-east by East we kept along the Coast and perceived a very high shore which was at last known to be Cabo Falso which is within seven Leagues of that of Good hope It is called Cabo Falso because it is seen at a great distance extending it self into the Sea much after the same manner as the other though it be not so high The 2. A North-east wind brought us in sight of the Cape of Good hope but turning immediately to the North-west we could not possibly enter the Bay which obliged us to make off the Coast and get into the main Sea taking our course towards the South The next day with a North-west wind we had a great tempest which yet hindred us not from getting somewhat nearer the Coast. That day we cast one of our Sea men over-board with the ordinary Ceremonies used at funerals upon such occasions This was the third man died out of our Ship since our departure from Goa May 4. We doubled one of the points of the Cape of Good hope which is about ten Leagues distant from the Road or Bay and much about the same time we discovered the Mountain which the Dutch in the year 1601. named the Tafelherg it being flat and square at the top like a Table It was our intention to get into the Bay which is at the foot of the Mountain and at 34. Degrees four Minutes within fifteen Leagues of the Cape but the wind being contrary obliged us to keep along the Coast endeavouring to make the best advantage we could of it The 5. At Sun-rising we were out of sight of Land whereupon we changed our course taking it North-east and turning the prow of the Ship towards the Coast which we discovered about noon About two in the afternoon we passed in sight of the Island called St. Elizabeth which is inhabited and at night we got into the Bay and cast anchor at seven fathom water This Promontory of the Continent of Africk which extends it self into the Sea towards the South at 36. Degrees beyond the Line was named Cabo de bâ—n ' Speranza by Iohn II. King of Portugal under whom it was discovered by Bartholomew Dias about the year 1493. That Prince would needs call it so out of the hopes he conceived to discover afterwards the wealth of the East-Indies and other Nations have continued that name upon this account that having once doubled the Cape there is some assurance of compleating the Voyage whereof the Cape makes one half as lying in a manner at the equal distance of two thousand five hundred Leagues between Europe and the most Easterly Coast of the Indies Most Ships take in refreshments at this place and the Dutch are wont
new Company of 500. Tun burthen and came out of England some four moneths before under the command of Captain Hall who being sick and not able to stir sent to the President to desire him he would honour him so far as to come aboard his Vessel which he did taking along with him the Physitian and my self He not only treated us kindly but also proffer'd to supply us with Cordage and Sails in case we met not with any Vessels of the old Company at Madagascar whither it was resolved they should make all the haste they could Captain Hall's Ship being less and not so loaden as ours going before with a South-east wind The first of Iuly he was got out of sight and in the evening we discovered the Coast. VVe doubted not but it was Madagascar and so had a watch set in the night to see we came not too near it as also that we put not off too â—ar from it It being on the one side hard to approach it having once lost the Altitude and on the other dangerous to approach it in the night time by reason of the Rocks that are at the point of the Island and especially by reason of the little Island at the entrance of the Bay The 2. We arrived at Madagascar and got into the Bay of Saint Augustinâ— finding no bottom till within a quarter of a League of Land where we cast Anchor at 25. fathom water glad we were got into a Harbour after so many dangers escaped Our joy was hightâ—ed by our finding in the Bay two English ships belonging to the same Company one whereof was upon her return for England the other bound for the Indies It was but three months since the latter came from England commanded by Captain Willis being 1400. Tun burthen Her name was the London and she was one of the noblest Vessels I ever saw The Captain came immediately aboard us accompanied by a young Merchant and proffer'd the President to supply him with all things necessary for the prosecution of his Voyage The 3. The Officers of all the three ships had a meeting aboard ours to consider what course they should take with the Inhabitants that they might not hold their provisions at too dear a rate and it was resolved that what ever were bought should be bought upon a common account and to that end every one should bring out the commodities they were willing to truck which should be put off by the Secretaries of the three Ships The Glass-bracelets beads and Agats we had brought from the Indies were incomparably beyond what they were laden with out of Europe so that it was resolved ours should not be produced till the others were sold. By this means we bought every day four Oxen for forty pair of Glass-bracelets which the Inhabitants call Rangus a Sheep for two and a Calf for three Rangus and for a brass ring ten or twelve inches about a man might have an Oxe worth here six or seven pound The 4. The President Captain Willis and Captain Hall went up the River to discover the Countrey and to see what Cattle was brought down to the Bay We found neer Captain Willis's Tent about thirty men and some women who had brought milk to sell. They had brought also about twenty Oxen Sheep and Goats but hearing there was a greater number coming after them we provided our selves only for three dayes The 6. The President invited the two Captains and all the Officers of both the other Ships to dinner and some dayes after Captain Willis treated the whole Company In the afternoon he entertain'd us with a Comedy which lasted above three hours The 14. Captain Hall went on his Voyage towards the Indies and the 16. Captain Willis went away also having supplied us with all things necessary for the prosecution of ours He intended to touch at the Maldives and stay there till the 20. of August that he might arrive at Surat in the Winter We accompanied him to the Island at the entrance of the Bay and having taken leave of him went into the Island where we found abundance of odd Shells of divers forms several sorts of Fish cast up there by the Sea and rotted Cocos which the Wind had forced thither from the Eastern Coast of Madagascar where some grows but not from the Coast of the Saint Augustines Bay which is opposite to the West The 21. The President took up his Lodging in the Tent pitched for him on the Sea-side intending to continue there till he imbark'd in order to our return They made there also certain Huts for the Souldiers that were about him as also for such as were repairing some things belonging to the Ship and for the Butchers who kill'd and salted the Beef for the Provision of the Ship but on Sundayes all came aboard where there was a Sermon About four Leagues from the Haven there lives a Lord who had three Sons the eldest of whom was named Massar They came all three to see us with a retinue of about a hundred men arm'd with a kind of Pikes They brought along with them about three hundred Oxen some Sheep Goats Poultry Citrons and Oranges to truck for our Commodities Being come near the President they made a little halt to observe what posture we were in and at last the eldest of the three Brothers came up and bestowed on the President twelve Goats and his two Wives gave him each of them a fat Capon The President presented him with three Strings of Glass Coral each of his Brothers with two and each of the Wives with a Bracelet This signified but very little to us but they highly valued them They planted a great Pole in the ground as a mark of the Alliance they made with us promising severely to punish such as should injure us and desiring us to take such a course as no disorder might happen on our side They desired to hear our Musick and seem'd to be much pleased with it They sold us ten fat Oxen some Sheep Goats and Poultry They sold us a fat Sheep the Tail whereof weighed twenty or twenty four pound for seven or eight grains of Coral or Agat and a Capon for three or four grains of counterfeit Coral They would not meddle with our money as being so happy as not to know the value of a thing which occasions the misery of other parts of the World During the six weeks we staid in the Island most of our diversion was shooting at Buts or fishing with the Angle-rod We took good store of Fish and some Oysters which the Inhabitants call Oring These stick to the Trees and Bushes that are upon the Sea-side being at high-high-water cover'd with the Tide They are large and as delicate as any England affords From the fifth to the eighth of August there were such abundance of Grashoppers that they deprived us of the fight of the Sun The Inhabitants eat them but they
from the Coasts of Africk and hath a very good Haven towards the Continent at 16. fathome water The Coast of the Isle is but one continued Rock but there grows such abundance of delicate Herbs in the Island that it may be presum'd it would afford as great conveniencies and refreshments as that of St. Helene if it were planted with Citron-trees and Orange-trees and stock'd with Cattle 'T is true it hath no fresh water but what falls from the sky which in all likelihood is the reason that seldom any touch at it though there come thither such store of Sea-wolves that in a few dayes there might be as much fat gotten as would load a Vessel of 600 Tun. These creatures are called Sea-wolves though they are more like Bears both in colour and the making of their heads save that the snowt of these is somewhat sharper They have only two paws under the breast and draw the lower part of the body after them as if it were a taile yet are they so swift that it is as much as a man can do to overtake them running It is a cruel and fierce beast which fears not to set upon two or three men together and his teeth are so close and strong that he can therewith easily break the handle of a Patizan There is also in the same place a kind of Badger the flesh whereof is as delicate and wholsome as that of Lambs the birds call'd Pinguins are there better and more tender then any where else and in regard few Ships come thither these birds and some others are so tame and so little afraid of a man that he needs only put out his hand to take them The 16th The wind was contrary we being at 32. degrees Latitude The next day and the 18. with a North-north-west and South-west wind we got 64. Leagues and came to 29. degrees 16. minutes Latitude The 19. With a good South-south-west vvind vve got 40 Leagues to the North-west and were at 28 degrees Latitude The 20. With a South-east wind we got 34 Leagues continuing the same course to the North-west The 21th 28 Leagues with the same wind and keeping on the same course The 22th 20 Leagues with the same wind and in the same course The 23th 24 Leagues with the same wind taking our course West-north-west The 24th We got with the same vvind 30 Leagues continuing our course to the West-north-vvest The 25th We had so great a calm that vve advanced not any thing at all The 26th We got but 20 Leagues vvith a little East-south-east vvind continuing the same course The 27th We got 36. Leagues vvith a North-east vvind pursuing the same course and vvere come to 21 degrees Latitude The 28th With the same vvind and holding the same course vve got 46. Leagues and vvere at 20 degrees Latitude 29th With an East-north-east vvind vve got 20 Leagues continuing the same course The 30. Keeping the same course to the North-vvest vve advanced 25 Leagues October the first a South-vvest vvinde put us forvvard 25 Leagues keeping our course to North-vvest and vve got that day to 17 degrees Latitude The 2. With the same vvind vve got 25 Leagues keeping on in the same course till vve vvere come to sixteen degrees sixteen minutes Latitude The 3d. With the same vvind and in the same course 28 Leagues The 4th With the same vvind taking our course to the vvest 20 Leagues The 5th In the same course 16 Leagues The 6th We got 15 Leagues vvith a South-east vvind and came that day to the Island of St. Helene This Island lies at 16. degrees 12 minutes beyond the Aequinoctial and vvas so called by the Portuguez upon its being discovered the one and tvventieth of May on vvhich day is celebrated the memory of Saint Helene Mother to Constantine the Great It is distant from the Coast of Angola 350. Leagues from that of the Cape of Good hope 550. and from that of Bresil 510. So that it is somevvhat strange that at so great a distance from the continent the Sea should start out an Island about 7 Leagues in compass It is so fertile that there is not any Province in Europe affords such plenty of excellent fruits and breeds so many creatures as this Island Some affirm it afforded neither vvhen it vvas first discovered by the Portuguez and that the fevv Trees they planted and the little stock of Cattle they left there hath so furnished it that it is able sufficiently to refresh all the fleets that come thither At this place a man may have at any time of the year Figs Pomegranats Citrons and Oranges and there are Goats Swine Barbary-Hens Feasants Partridges Quailes Peacocks Pigeons and great store of all sorts of Birds as also salt for the keeping of them so that Ships might be sufficiently provided with all things if they would stay there any time The Sea supplies it with more Fish then can be consumed and the Earth brings forth so many excellent Herbs that the Portuguez unwilling to retard their Voyage leave at this place their sick men who recover their health within a few days and having only a little Oyl Rice Bisket and Spice make a shift to live there till the Ships come thither the next year Its Mountains are so high that they reach above the Clouds and are seen at Sea at the distance of 14 Leagues The Trees wherewith they are covered bring forth no Fruit and are fit only for firing but the Valleys are extreamly pleasant The King of Portugal would not have any establishment to be made there upon these reflections that all Ships passing that way might find refreshment there and that it would be a hard matter to keep the said Island against all the other Nations who are concerned in its being still free inasmuch as were it not for that Vessels many times would be forc'd upon the Coasts of Guiny where water is not to be had at all times and where they should be obliged to stay for Rain which would be so great an inconvenience that many of the men would in the mean time droop and die The fertility of this Island proceeds chiefly from the daily rain which falls there but they are transient showrs soon over so that the Sun shining presently after and that by intervals it must needs very much advance the maturation of all things There are three places where fresh water may be taken in to wit where the three Rivers which come out of the Mountain fall into the Sea They breed abundance of Snakes but the Dutch eat them and prefer them before Eels At 190 Leagues North-west of the Island of Saint Helene is that of the Ascension so called by the Portuguez upon its being discovered upon Ascention-day It lies at 8. degrees 30. minutes South of the Line and hath also very high mountains but it affords no fresh water nor any other refreshment nay it hath not so much as
prudence and secrecy about publick Affairs which concern the greatness and safety of the State and that they impartially dispose punishments and rewards The Prince when he makes choice of any for his Council regards principally their Age and he bestows the place of Judicature on such among them as have most experience and are best acquainted with Affairs These fit every day to hear Causes and decide Differences They know nothing of our Military discipline but their way of making war hath something particular in it which is this All that are able to bear Arms are disposed into several Regiments and lodged in Quarters appointed for that purpose under their Colonels whom they call Iugarases so that as soon as there is any occasion the Orders are dispatched from Quarter to Quarter and by that means a powerful Army is raised in a few dayes without any need of making new Levies in as much as the places are kept for the Sons of the Souldiers who succeed their Fathers and put the Prince to no charge but what he allows them by way of salary since they bring their provisions and baggage along with them The names of buying and selling are not yet known among them for having neither Gold nor Silver coined they truck and exchange all as well among themselves as with Forreigners Their greatest Commerce consists in trucking of Hides and Slaves Of these they have only such as they take in war which being many times civil among themselves they make the best advantage they can of them They have among them some distinction of Nobility and Peasantry and call the former Sahibibos who are a kind of Knights for whom they have a great respect but not so much as they bear the Grandees whom they call Thubalas out of which rank they chuse their King provided he be full thirty years of age When the Portuguez discovered the Country of the Ialofes there reign'd a very powerful Prince named Brabiran who dying left three Sons by two several Wives By the former he had Cibitam and Camba and by the second who was the Widow of another Prince Father of Beomi Biran who was chosen King after the Fathers death His two elder Brethren envying the greatness of that Prince declared themselves so openly against him that Biran who had great assurances of the affection and fidelity of Beomi his Brother by the same Mother took him so much into favour that he seem'd to have reserved to himself only the name of King But that extraordinary favour prov'd fatal to both for Biran was kill'd by his Brethren and Beomi who thought to make his advantage of that Fratricide to get himself chosen took up Arms against the two Brethren He got together a considerable Army but being afterwards forsaken by his Friends he was forc'd to apply himself to Portugal for relief King Iohn II. having got him instructed in the Christian Religion had him baptized with all his Family and sent him back with a considerable Fleet under the conduct of Pedro Vaz de Cogna whom he ordered to build a Fort at the mouth of the River Zanaga it being his design to get further into Africk as far as the Country of Prester Iohn whereof he had but a confused knowledge But that great design proved abortive and miscarried at the beginning through the cowardice of Pedro Vaz who minding his convenience more then his honour demolished the Fort he had newly built and not able to endure the just reproaches which Beomi made him upon that occasion he kill'd him with his own hands the King of Portugal not expressing the least resentment of so base an action The Islands which the Portuguez call As Ilhas Verdes and the Dutch the Salt-Islands lye over against Cabo Verde and were not discovered by the Portuguez till the year 1472. Some are of opinion they are the Gorgonides of Ptolomy but I dare not affirm that that great Person who hath left us so confused an account of that Coast of Africk knew any thing of these Islands whereof the nearest is 70. and the most remote 160. Leagues distant from the Continent They reach from the 15. to the 19. degree and are in number ten to wit St. Iago St. Antonio Santa Lucia Sant Vincenle St. Nicholas Ilha blanca Ilha de sal Ilha de Mayo Ilha de Eogo and Ilha de Boa Vista It is probable the Portuguez gave them the general name of Ilhas Verdes or the Green-Islands either from the Cape we spoke of before or from the verdure which floats upon the water in those parts and which the Portuguez call Sargasso from its resemblance to Water-cresses The Sea is so covered there with from the twentieth to the twenty fourth degree that they seem to be floating Islands intended to block up the passage of Ships Nay this Herb is so thick thereabouts that without a pretty strong Gale of wind it would be no easie matter to pass that way Yet can it not be faiâ—â— whence the said verdure comes to that place where the Sea hath no bottom there being not any but in those parts at above a hundred and fifty Leagues from the Coasts of Africk They were desert and not inhabited when the Portuguez discovered them but now they are cultivated and bring forth plenty of Rice Millet Abruin or Turkish wheat Oranges Citrons Bananas Annanas Ignaues Potatoes Melons Citruls Cowcumbers Figs and Raisins twice a year The Islands of Mayo de Sal and de Boa Vista are so stored with Cattle that they load whole Ships thence for Brasil The same Islands yield also such abundance of Salt that the Dutch have taken occasion thence to name them the Salt-Islands The same Portuguez brought thither Barbary and common Hens Peacocks and Pidgeons which are so increased there that with the Partridges Quails and other smaller Birds whereof there is plenty people may fare very well at an easie rate There are also among others a kind of Birds which the Portuguez call Flamencos that are white all over the body and have wings of a lively red near the colour of fire and are as big as Swans They have above all abundance of Conies and the Sea supplies them with so much Fish that at all times a man may find there many Portugal Vessels fishing for the provision of Bresil Whence it may be inferred they lie very conveniently for the refreshing of such Ships as are bound for the Indies in as much as going thither they may easily put in at the Island of Mayo and coming thence at that of St. Anthony so as the Portuguez who live there cannot hinder them The Island of St. Iago is the chiefest of them as being the residence of the Governour and Archbishop whose spiritual jurisdiction extends not only over these Islands but also over all the Portuguez are possessed of upon the Coasts of Africk as far as the Câ—pe of Good hope November 4. With a North-east
being in danger of sinking two of the four desisted from an enterprise wherein they thought to meet with more danger then in staying a while longer among the Turks so that only two one English man the other a Dutch-man ventured themselves in it All the tackling they had was only two oars and a little Sail all the provisions a little bread and fresh water and so they put to Sea without either Compass or Astrolabe insomuch that being the first day overtaken by Tempest which at every wave fill'd their boat they were forc'd to go as the wind drove them without keeping any course They were continually imploy'd in casting out the water the Sea had spoiled their bread and they were almost quite spent inasmuch as they could not take any rest when they were cast upon the Coasts of Barbary There they found a little wood wherewith they somewhat enlarg'd their boat but they narrowly escap'd being taken and kill'd by the Moors and had much ado to get to Sea again What troubled them most was thirst but they made some shift for that with the blood of some Tortoises they took and at last after ten days floating up and down they arrived upon the Coasts of Spain at the Cape of St. Martin between Alicant and Valentia Those of the Country seeing them at a distance sent a boat to meet them carried them bread and wine treated them very civilly and found them passage for England The sixth of Ianuary being Twelfth-day the King of England touched many that were troubled with the Evil. The Ceremony ended my Lord of Strafford brought me to his Majesty who was pleased to honour me with the kissing of his hand The next day the same Lord procured me the like Honour from the Queen besides which he did me several other extraordinary favours upon all occasions Afterwards I went often to Court where their Majesties were pleased I should entertain them with some particulars of my Travels especially as to what I had observed in Muscovy and Persia I continued at London near three months partly to refresh my self after so long a Voyage and partly in expectation of some mony from my own Prince that I night make some acknowledgments of my Obligations to those who had treated me so kindly from the day of my arrival at Surat to that time and set my self in a posture of returning into my own Country Of the time of my abode in England I spent some at Court where I had made several acquaintances and some in viewing the publick and private Structures of the famous City of London as also several places near it as among others Enfield Tibulls White-Hall Saint Iame's Hampton-Court Windsor Westminster-Hall and the Abbey the Tower Greenwich c. Of the places above mentioned here in England as also some of those he passed through in the Low-Countries the Author gives a short description But in regard what he says of the former is known to most English-men who are in any measure acquainted with the things remarkable in their own Country and what he delivers of the latter affords no extraordinary satisfaction to the curious for whose diversion works of this nature are intended we thought fit to forbear the insertion thereof that we might make the more haste to bring him to the end of his Travels which shall be done according to his ordinary method March the 20. taking water at Graves-end whence I went to Rochester and so came the twenty fourth to Dover The next day I embarked thence for Dunkirk whither I got the same day The next I embarked thence for Newport where I stayed only one night and got the next day to Bruges The 29th I came to Gaunt which I left the first of April and got that night to Brussels the chief city of the Dutchy of Brabant At Brussels I staid two dayes and came the fourth to Louvain which I left the fifth and got the same day to Macchlin about four Leagues distant from Louvain The 6th I left Macchlin and came to Aâ—werp where having staid two dayes and leaving it the ninth I got the next day to Breda where I stayed only the remainder of it and went the next day to Bois-le-due or Boldâ—e five Leagues from Bredâ— April the twelfth I went to Saint Gertrudenberg with an intention there to take boat for Rotterdam as I did the same day The thirteenth I came to Rotterdam whence I went the same day to Delf thence to the Hague thence to Leiden and thence to Haerlem The City is the biggest of any in Holland next Amsterdam and pretends to the invention of PRINTING and would have the Glory of it due to one of its Citizens named Laurence Câ—ster who in the year M. CCCC.XX framed the first Characters of Beech-wood and afterwards found out the Ink now used by Printers nay changed the Wooden Characters into Leaden ones and afterwards those into Tinâ—e in so much that in the year 1440. the Mystery was almost in its perfection They are so fully perswaded as to this in the City of Haerlem that the Senate would Eternize the Memory of LAVRENCE COSTER by the Inscription set upon the House he lived in Which is this MEMORIAE SACRUM TYPOGRAPHIA ARS ARTIUM OMNIUM CONSERVATRIX NUNC PRIMUM INVENTA CIRCA ANNUM M. CCCC.XL I left Haerlem about six in the Evening and came at nine the same night to Amsterdam Of this place I had heard so much even in the Indies that I had framed to my self a certain Idaea of its greatness but what the more surprised me was That going out of my Lodging the next morning I had much ado to get through the throâ—g of people walking up and down the Streets in such numbers as if there had been some Faire All the other parts of the World seem'd to have sent their Factours thither and that the East and North had brought thither all their Commodities whereof there were in the â—â—ops 〈◊〉 the Patterns whereas the main Stock was disposed into Store-houses publick Weighing-places upon sledges in the streets upon the Kayes in the flat-bottomed boats which unload the great Ships and others which serve for Store-houses for the Wheat It was at some losâ— which I should rather admire in that great City whether the Commerce of it which is greater then that of all the other Cities of the Low-Countries put together the neatness of its Streets especially that of the New City the sweetness and cleanlines of its house the Magnificence of its publick and private Structures the abundance of Ships and Barks which come thither and go thenec every day the largeness of its Port wherein there are at all times seven or eight hundred Ships or the Order and Policy observed by the Magistrate in all things relating to the 〈◊〉 of the City the well fâ—â—e of its Inhabitants and the improvement of Trade by which only the City subsists and causes to subsist that powerful State whereof it