Ambition and Avarice the World cannot satiate These are the Idols that will not be appeased without Humane Sacrifices These the wild Boars that waste our Arcadia's But where is the Hercules And now to give you a Geographical Account of this Earth I must tell you in the first place that the Earth and Waters together make a round Body commonly called Terrestrial but more properly Terr-Aqueous Globe Terr-Aqueous because it consists of Earth and Waters and Globe from its Figure Now this Globe is all surrounded with the Air and hangs in the midst of it Phil. How is it possible for the Earth and Waters together to make a round Body when there are so many Mountains and some of them of a prodigious height Sophr. Those Mountains in respect to the Globe are nothing if compared to the greatness of it Witness el Pico one of the highest Hills in the known World and yet not above two Leagues high perpendicularly And what is I pray the disproportion of two Leagues in a Body which no less than 1200. only to the Center or the middle point Phil. Do you say so How big is then the Terr-Aqueous Globe about Sophr. It is no less than 360. Degrees which at 20. Leagues or 60. miles a Degree comes to 7200. leagues or 21600. miles And yet 't is all but a Point if compared with Heaven Now the Diameter being in all round Bodies the third part of the Circumference it follows that the Diameter of the Terrestrial Globe is 2400. leagues and consequently the Semi-Diameter which reaches but to the Center 1200. leagues Phil. I am satisfied as to that but I am gravelled upon another account For I cannot conceive how so great and so heavy a Body as is the Terr-Aqueous Globe as you call it should hang in the Air without any support when if we throw but a stone into the Air it presently falls down Sophr. The Reason is because all heavy things do naturally incline to their Center which is thought to have an attractive faculty to that purpose The next Thing we must consider is that one part of the Earth is visible and the other part under Water Now the Question is you will say which of the two Superficies is greater that of the Earth or that of the Water But this we cannot tell certainly because one great Part of the Terr-Aqueous Globe is as yet unknown to us And if we speak only of that Part which is known there is no doubt in case that we do reckon Lakes and Rivers but that the Superficies of the Water exceeds that of the Land Otherwise I find no great odds betwixt the Sea and the Land 'T is true the Sea gets ground now and then and incroaches upon the Land but 't is as true on the other side that it leaves some places dry Witness Zealand which formerly was under the Sea as we may guess by the great Bonefishes and Anchors that have been digged up there and now is a pleasant fertile and populous Countrey But however all this is nothing if compared to the whole Superficies of the Earth and Waters And so Philalethes we have hitherto spoke of the Earth and Waters as an Aggregate Body now we must treat of them separately First You must know the Land as it is more or less incompassed with Water is principally divided Into Continents Islands Peninsules A Continent otherwise called Firm Land is a great part of Earth but partly watered by the Sea as France and Germany An Island is a part of Earth invironed round about with Water as great Britain and Ireland A Peninsule is a part of Earth almost surrounded with Water and only joyned to the Continent by a narrow neck of Land as Morea in Greece Now in Continents Islands and Peninsule's are to be considered these natural Parts following Viz. Isthmus or Neck of Land Cape or Promontory Point or Foreland Coast or Sea-Coast Shore or Bank Hill Mount or Mountain Valley or Dale Pit or Precipice Marsh Mere or Fens Plain or Champaign Ground Downs Heaths Forrest or Wood. Desart or Wilderness An Isthmus is a narrow Neck of Land that joyns a Peninsule to a Continent A Cape or Promontory is a Hill that shoots forth into the Sea A Point or Foreland is a narrow piece of Ground that runs point-wise into the Sea A Coast or Sea-Coast is that part of a Country which lies by the Sea-side A Shore the very extremity of Land that borders upon any Water and if raised much higher than the Water then it is termed a Bank A Hill is a part of Earth rising more or less above the neighbouring Ground but if it be of a great height or extent then it is also called by the name of Mount or Mountain A Valley or a Dale is a low Ground that lies at the bottom of a Hill or betwixt two distinct Hills A Pit or Precipice is a great fall of Earth apt to strike with horror those that look down into it Marsh Meers Fens or Marshy Ground a Quantity of Land so intermixt with Water that it is not passable but in a great Drought or hard Frost A Plain or Champaign Ground is a great plot of Ground lying level and open Which if upon a Hill is called Downs and if overgrown with Heath is named a Heath By a Forrest or Wood is properly meant a great Plot of Ground covered with Trees unplanted and growing of their own accord Lastly we call a Desart or Wilderness a vast quantity of Barren and uninhabited Land Phil. To make some useful Reflections upon what is said I desire to know in the first place which are the chiefest and most remarkable Islands Sophr. To answer your Desire there is first in Europe Great Brittain and Ireland both surrounded with the Ocean These are the two largest Islands of Europe and great Brittain as it is one of the best so 't is one of the greatest Islands in the World Then in the Mediterranean if you begin from the Streights you will find these goodly Islands East of Spain viz. Yvica Majorca and Minorca the two last being the Baleares Insulae of the Ancients Further Eastward you will meet with Sardinia and North of that with Corsica Then at the very Foot of Italy is Sicily the greatest Island in the Mediterranean Not much Inferiour to which is Candia formerly called Creet lying South-East of Morea in Greece In the Archipelago or the Aegean Sea a Sea which swarms with Islands the principal Island for bigness is the Negropont formerly known by the name of Euboea As to the Northern Sea called the Baltick there are few Islands of any great note besides Zealand and Fuinen which make part of Denmark and in the first of which you will find Copenhagen the Royal Seat of that Kingdom Secondly In Asia the chief Islands for bigness and first in the Mediterranean are Cyprus in the furthest parts of the Sea towards the East Next to which is the Isle of
extending from the Borders of Austria to the Black Sea and so dividing Hungary Transilvania and Moldavia from Poland 5. Mount Haemus reaching from the Gulf of Venice as far as the Black Sea and so parting Greece from Servia and Bulgaria 6. The Dofrine Hills a vast and continual Ridge of Mountains which divide Norway from Sweden In the other Parts of the World you have first in Asia Taurus of which Caucasus is a part and Imaus greater than any in Europe That running a vast way from West to East and This from North to South In Africk Atlas extending from the Atlantick Ocean a prodigious way Eastward besides the Mountains of the Moon in the South parts In the Northern America the Mountains of New Mexico which run also North of Florida And in the Southern America the Andes reaching from the North parts of Peru to the Streights of Magellan above three thousand Miles Those are Philalethes the greatest and most noted Mountains in the World All of them generally of a Rocky Substance and in most places overspread with Forests None of them free from Snow even in the heat of Summer In short they are all troublesom and very dangerous to travel over by reason of their steep and tedious Ascents narrow ways and craggy Rocks deep and dreadful Precipices fierce Whirl-winds and huge Balls of Snow which sometimes tumble down from the top with great noise and violence And yet which is Remarkable amongst some of these dreadful Hills as the Alps there are Valleys incredibly fruitful and temperate with Towns and Villages in them Generally these Hills are Impassable except in a few Places which therefore were by the Romans called Portae or from the Greek Pylae or Thermopylae And as from Lakes so from these Mountains spring many of the greatest Rivers Some produce Metals as Gold Silver Iron c. and others produce none at all Now the lesser sort of Hills are commonly Sandy Chalky or Clammy And some of these as Mount Aetna in Sicily Vesuvius in the Kingdom of Naples and Hecla in Iseland are famous for those dreadful Fires which sometimes do break out of them Phil. Pray what 's the cause of those frequent Eruptions of Fire and Vomiting of Flames Sophr. The great Abundance of Sulphureous Matter contained in the bosom of those Hills the Wind which gets in at the chinks blowing the Fire and the Water on the other side adding to the force of it Phil. Then 't is to be supposed that when the Combustible Matter shall be wasted the Conflagration shall cease Sophr. Sure enough And therefore in Tercera and St. Michael two of the Azores Islands there are now no such Fires to be seen as there has been formerly but only now and then a Smoak And 't is observable that in the Ascension Island and St. Helena the Soil is so like Ashes that it may be credibly supposed there have been formerly some Fires of this kind Phil. But do you think Sophronius the Hills are of as old standing as the World Sophr. For my part I am inclined to believe the greatest Hills were created at first as they are Not that I think as some do that God having first made the Earth perfectly Round without any hollowness or one part higher than another and then contrived hollow places in the Earth to contain the Waters the Hills came of that Earth which made room for the Waters For certainly as many more Mountains as there are in the World could not fill up all those Concavities And yet I am apt to think that some Hills have been raised accidentally as those Sandy Hills near the Sea in the Low Countreys wherein are found many shells For 't is very probable those Shells were carried thither with the Sand by some violent Winds and afterwards compacted together by succeeding Rains and so hardened in process of time Phil. I confess 't is not unlikely Now I would sain know Sophronius whether or no there be Concavity's or hollow places Windings and Turnings Precipices and the like in the Bowels of the Earth Sophr. There 's no doubt of it if you consider the nature of Earth-quakes and those Rivers that having run a good way under ground come up again Phil. What have you now to say as to Forrests and Desarts Soph. In Europe the Forest of most note was the Hercynian Forest which over-run not only a great part of Germany but following the course of the Danube spread it self over Hungary and Transilvania and from thence on the left hand over Poland and Moscovy A Wood so formidable to the Romans that when they had gone 60. days Journey through it they came back and durst not venture to search the end of it But in Germany the greatest part thereof is long since consumed and no place there so much overspread with it as Bohemia In Poland and Moscovy this Forrest is the most visible and in the last especially Which is so over-run with it that when I was there an Attendant on the Right Honourable the Earl of Carlisle his Majesties Embassador to the Court of Moscovy we travelled 15 hundred miles through that Countrey and all within that Forrest Next to which for Fame was the Forrest called Ardennes in the Lower Germany Which in the time of Caesar extended from the Rhine one way as far as Tournay in Flanders and was in Compass at least 500. miles An inconsiderable Length you will say in comparison to that of Hercynia But now 't is not above 30. Leagues in length reaching but from Thionville in Luxemburg to Liege And yet not all that Woodland neither though within the Verge of that Forrest there being in that Tract of Ground many Villages and a great deal of Arable Land In short I shall observe to you that most of our European Forrests are of Fruitless Tree as Oak Beech Pine Juniper Alder and Maple-tree of Elm Ash and Poplar-tree but above all of Firr Though there are some indeed of Olive Orange and Myrtle-trees But in Asia there are whole Forrests of Cedar Cinamon Nutmeg and Clove-trees In Africk of Limon Orange Palme and Tamarind-trees And lastly America is famous for its Cedars but particularly for that red and exceeding hard Wood called Brasil from the name of a Country there which has whole Forrests thereof As to Desarts or Wildernesses properly so called they are either Sandy Stony or Moorish In Europe we are little troubled with them But in Asia there 's enough of 'em and especially in that part of Arabia which from hence is called Arabia Deserta A Countrey say's Melchior who had travelled in it where are sound neither Men nor Beasts no not so much as Birds or Trees Grass or Pasture but only Stony High and Craggy Mountains In short 't is a wild Place and full of vast Desarts so wast and desolate that such as travel there must carry their Provisions with them and guide themselves in their Journey by the course of the Stars 'T is
true that towards Euphrates and near the Mountains of Arabia foelix it has some few Towns resorted to by Merchants But this is only in those Parts North-West of China there 's a notable Desart a Sandy one called Xamo Desertum the Desart of Lop or Xamo through some part of which runs Hoang the great River of China As for Africk Desarts are as common there as Forrests in Europe And there is a good Part of it lying betwixt Biledulgerid Northward and the Negroes Land Southward that is but a continual Desart 'T is that we call in Latin Lybia Deserta or by the name of the Country Zara which signifies a Desart or Wilderness In America 't is said there are likewise vast Desarts but we have as yet no good Account of them So Philalethes I shall conclude with these Reflections upon the different Nature of Country's as Parts of the Earth For whereas some Country's are Flat and only set out with some pleasant little Hills here and there others are Mountainous full of huge Hills and dreadful Precipices Some are Fat and Marshy when others are Sand or Stony Some Country's are fruitful irrigated with fair and Navigable Rivers and in short bless'd with all Necessaries whilst others are barren unhappy and full of Desarts fit only to bring forth wild and venomous Beasts Some produce one Thing some another according to that of Ovid Nec eadem Tellus parit omnia Vitibus illa Convenit haec Oleis hîc bene Farra virent Some Country's injoy a Temperate Air as most Country's of Europe whilst some are e'en Scorched by an extream Heat of the Sun and others Frozen up almost all the Year round And here it is that they have almost a continual Day-light for six Months and as long a time of continual Darkness whilst most part of the World enjoys in the space of 24 hours the more convenient and daily Vicissitude of Day and Night more or less Again some Country's but Islands especially are extremely subject to Fogs Winds Rain and Change of Weather whilst Country's remote from the Sea do commonly enjoy a purer Air a more Serene Sky and such Weather as is suitable to the Season Those are commonly Unhealthful and subject to divers Diseases These nothing near so much In fine some Country's as in the East are much subject to Earth-quakes some as the Caribby Islands to Hurricanes and dreadful Tempests and others as Sicily and Iseland to Deluges of Fire The Fifth Discourse Of the Waters SOphr In our last Discourse I have given you Philalethes such an Account of the visible Earth as might fill your Expectation Now I shall make it my business to be as Accurate in the Description of the Waters which as I said before make up together with the Earth the Terr-Aqueous Globe In order to which I must tell you in the first place that as the Earth is chiefly divided into Continents Islands and Peninsules so are the Waters principally divided into Seas Lakes and Rivers By the Sea in general is meant that great Body of Waters which is thought to incompass the Earth on every side and is properly called by the Name of Ocean But there are particular Seas which flow out of the Ocean through a narrow Passage and stretch themselves a long way through several Country's therefore called Inland Seas as the Mediterranean the Baltick and Red-Sea of which more afterwards A Lake is a considerable Body of Waters having no visible Intercourse with the Sea or influx into it as the Lake of Geneva A River is a Water-course issuing from some Spring or Lake and continually running in its proper Channel till it emptys it self either into the Sea immediately or else into a greater River The Place where it begins is called Spring Head or Source where it runs into another Fall Influx or Confluence and where it loses it self in any Sea that is properly termed the Mouth of the River But next to Seas Lakes and Rivers I must explain unto you these Words Viz. Gulf. Bay Creek Streight Haven Pond Torrent Brook Spring A Gulf is properly a part of the Sea that makes a crooked or circling Shore of a large extent as the Gulf of Bengala in the East-Indies and that of Mexico in America A Bay is nothing else but a midling sort of Gulf Though I confess there are great Gulfs which bear the name of Bay as North of America Baffins Hudsons and Buttons Bay A Creek is a little Bay A Streight is an Arm or a narrow Passage of a Sea as the Streights of Magellan Gibraltar and the Hellespont A Haven or an Harbour is a safe Place for Ships to ride at Anchor A Pond or Pool is but a small Body of standing Waters apt to be dryed up in Summer if not fed with some Spring or other A Torrent is a rapid Water caused by some great Rain or Thaw and so rushing down the Hills with great swiftness A Brook or Rivulet is but a little running Stream of a small extent And by a Spring or Fountain is meant a little Stream immediately Springing out of the Ground Now to follow the same Method we used in the Description of the Earth I must give you Philalethes a particular Account of the Seas Lakes Rivers c. The Ocean which surrounds the World may be divided according to its four Quarters into Northern Eastern Southern Western The Northern Ocean is that which lies North of Europe Asia and the Northern America and so parts them from Terra Borealis But it is also called the Frozen Sea as being commonly clogged with Ice in Winter-time The Eastern lyes between Asia and America called Eastern in respect to Asia But about the Southern America it is best known by the name of Mar del zur or South Sea or by the name of Pacifick The Southern Ocean ly's South of Asia Africk and America and so parts them from Terra Australis The Western lies betwixt Europe and Africk of one side and America on the other side called Western because it ly's West of Europe and Africk But towards America it is named Mar del North or the North Sea Now the Ocean has several particular Names commonly taken from the adjacent Country's So about Brittain it is called the Brittish Sea about Ireland Irish Sea about the lower Germany the German Sea or the German Ocean and about Spain the Spanish Sea Towards the East-Indies it is named the Indian Sea On the West side of Africk from Atlas the great African Mountain it bears the name of Atlantick Sea or Atlantick Ocean and towards Aethiopia it is from hence called Aethiopick But besides the Ocean there are some Inland Seas into which the Ocean diffuses it self As the Mediterranean which runs Eastward from the Streights of Gibraltar above a thousand Leagues betwixt Europe Northwards and Africk Southwards as far as the Shore of Asia Therefore 't is called the Mediterranean that is the Midland Sea from the Latin Mare
runs betwixt the Northern America and the Island of California came to be so called I am as yet to seek But towards Cabo Verde in Africk the Atlantick Ocean looks so green with a kind of herb that in calm weather one would take it to be Land and from that herb which is something like Water-cresses the Portugueze call this Sea Mare di Sargasso In the Year 1599. the Sea towards the Mouth of Rio de la Plata in the Southern America appeared as red as Blood to the Hollanders that were upon that Road but then it was occasioned by certain red Worms wherewith the Sea was covered and which they saw swim upon the Water Now from the Depth and Colour of the Sea I proceed to its Saltness For it is generally Salt but chiefly in the Torrid Zone except where great Rivers disimbogue themselves into the Sea by several Mouth And it is observable that the Salter the Sea is the heavier it is and less apt to be frozen Lastly there are several Motions of the Sea and first a general Motion from East to West Secondly the Tide or the Flux and Reflux when the Sea flows in for some hours and then go's off again The Cause of which is Arcanum Naturae a Secret of Nature which puzzles still the ablest Philosophers Now the greatest Tides are upon a Full Moon and New Moon and likewise in the Spring and Fall But in some Places the Flux is greater than in others and there is some Seas where it is scarce discernable The Baltick Sea has none and the Mediterranean so little that except the Gulf of Venice 't is hardly to be seen To be short in most Places where there is a Tide the Sea flows constantly during 6 hours and 12 minutes and then ebbs in the same proportion of time Whereas in the Garonne one of the chief Rivers of France 't is flowing water during seven hours and ebbing water but five And towards Zenega a branch of the River Niger in Africk the Tide flows but four hours and ebbs as long again The Sea has also some proper Currents in some Places As between the Cape of Good Hope and Madagascar the great African Island where the Sea moves Southwestward so strongly that it is hard to overcome that Current even with a fair Wind. Whereas from Madagascar to the Cape a Ship may come with ease by the savour of that strong Current without the help of any Wind. In the West Indies there is also a violent Current that is the Streights of Bahama so called from an Island of that name towards Florida The same it is with those Places where great Rivers fall into the Sea As betwixt Loango and Congo in Africa where the great River Zaire empty's it self into the Ocean with such a rapidity that no Ship as my Author say's can get above half a League a day forward towards the Shore Phil. I long to know the nature of Whirlpools Sophr. This is another Motion of the Sea proper to some particular Places As that of the Aegean Sea in the famous Euripus of old betwixt Eubaea an Island now known by the name of Negropont and Achaia in Greece Reported to ebb and flow seven times in one day The Reason of which when Aristotle could not find it is said but hardly believed that he threw himself into the Sea with these words Quia ego non Capio te tu Copies me Sicily has been also most famous for her Charybdis a Gulf or Whirlpool of which and Scylla opposite to it in Italy many fabulous Things are reported by the ancient Poets Wherefore Florus the Historian calls the Fare of Messina Fabulosis infame Monstris Fretum However it is said of this Charybdis that it attracts and devours all Vessels that come too nigh it then casts up their Wracks at the Shore of Tauromenium now called Taormina And as to Scylla 't is but a Rock that stands dangerously on the side of Italy with many little Rocks that shoot out at the foot of it On which the Water beating very strongly makes that Noise the Poets seigned to be the Barking of Dogs Now the Passage between these two being to unskilfull Mariners exceeding Perillous gave beginning to the Proverb Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdim Upon the Coast of Normandy in France and not far from Havre de Grace there is a kind of Whirl-pool which draws a Ship to it with great Force but beats her off at last But the greatest of all the Whirlpools we know of is the Maelstroom upon the Coast of Norway This is some four Leagues about and for the space of six hours it swallows up whatever comes near it then brings it up again six hours after with a dreadful noise Phil. What other Motion of the Sea have you to speak of Sophr. That which is caused by the Winds And these you know when strong and violent make the Sea rage and foam with an hideous noise A fearful Object to see this Element which in a Calm looks like an Azure Field become in a Storm a continual Series of tumbling Mountains and Abysses of Water Me miserum quanti Montes volvuntur aquarum Jam jam tacturos Sydera summa putes Quantae diducto subsidunt Aequore Valles Jam jam tacturos Tartara nigra putes Thus Ovid bemoans himself in his Book De Tristibus where he makes an excellent Description of a Storm he met with in his way to Pontus Phil. I understand you Sophronius and certainly a Man must be void of Sense that exposes himself voluntarily to the Mercy of that Element Sophr. Not so neither Philalethes The Sea as well as the Land was made for the service of Man and from it we reap many great Advantages By the Sea we have the opportunity of an Intercourse with the remotest Country's And if all men had been of your Temper how should so many fair Islands have been peopled that are now flourishing In fine if no Body had had Courage enough to venture upon the Sea how should we be acquainted with the Wonders of it Phil. For my part I confess I am not cut out for the Sea I love to go upon sure Ground and I am for that Element which is most proper for Mankind In short I like the Proverb Praise the Sea but keep on Land Sophr. There is nothing to the World so formidable but one may use himself to it If the Sea be sometimes troublesome and cruel it is as often pleasant and delightful and those that are used to it can hardly live from it Phil. Well I wish 'em well to do Trahit sua quemque Voluptas every one as he likes I have kit a puking Stomack I cannot indure to be tossed And when all is done those that go to Sea are in continual Danger of Fire Water and Pirats If one be Sea-sick what Agony and what help is there for it Who can expect a Relief in such a Case either
because the Sun-Beams reach higher in Summer-time than they do in Winter therefore 't is to be concluded that in Summer the Middle Region is lesser and the Lower greater than in Winter Now 't is the General Opinion of Philosophers that the Supream or Upper Region is accidentally warm either by reason of the fiery and Sulphureous Exhalations which ascend thither or because of the violent Motion of the Spheres from East to West or lastly according to Aristotle because it is next to the Elementary Fire which he places in the Concave of the Moon The Middle Region is cold And the Lower is sometimes warm and sometimes cold according as the Sun affects it with its Beams by its nearness or remoteness Phil. But what is that we call Wind Sophr. 'T is nothing else but an Agitation or a strong Motion of the Air occasioned chiefly by the Sun and by Vapours and Exhalations For the Sun by its natural brightness does rarifie the Air and this being rarify'd requires more room and so struggles hard for 't On the other side the Exhalations from the Earth and Vapours from the Water being raised in great quantity and with some Violence up to the middle Region of the Air do often occasion a Wind by their Conflict with the cold Air they meet in that Region But there are other Causes assigned for the Wind. As the Clouds when they rarifie or when by their descent they press the Air. To which add the Snow and Ice especially in Mountainous places that often turn into Wind. Which is the Reason why the Streight of Magellan having on both sides of it high Mountains always covered with Snow is subject to those Counter-Winds which beat with equal Fury on all parts thereof Insomuch that which way soever a man Steer his Course he shall be sure to have the Wind against him Now the Winds move cross ways that is neither upwards nor downwards The Reason is because when the Air is pressed down still there arise more Vapours which beat it back Phil. But how many sorts of Winds do you reckon Sophr. A great many And they are chiefly divided into Cardinal and Collateral We call Cardinal Winds those that blow exactly from the four Quarters of the World North South East and West from whence we call them generally North South East and West Winds Phil. But how shall I know the one from the other Sophr. If you do but know the North you know all For it is but turning your face streight to the North and then you have the East on your right hand the West on the left and the South just behind you opposite to the North. But then by the East you must understand the East Equinoctial that is where the Sun rises in an Equinox and accordingly by the West you must understand the West Equinoctial where the Sun Sets in an Equinox Phil. Now what do you mean Sophronius by Collateral Winds Sophr. You must know there are no less than 28. of these that is seven betwixt two Cardinal ones as betwixt North and East East and South South and West West and North. Amongst which those that are just in the middle betwixt two Cardinal Winds are counted the chiefest So reckoning the four Cardinal Winds there are in all 32. Winds the Names of which you have in their Order in the following Scheme See the Figure of the Winds And now Philalethes I must observe to you 1. That in Spring and Autumn Winds are commonly more brief and more violent than either in a hot Summer or a frosty Winter 2. That Winds are more frequent from the East then from the West especially in the Torrid Zone In England the East-Wind is most common in the Spring and is counted an unwholsom Wind both to Plants and Living Creatures according to the Proverb that says Wind from the East is neither good for Man nor Beast But in Summer-time the South-West Wind does most times predominate 3. That East and North Winds are commonly both colder and stronger than either West or South Winds especially in our Zone 4. That Winds are convenient for two things principally that is for Navigation and except the East Wind to purifie the Air. Phil. There are those who pretend to foresee what Wind will blow What do you think of it Sophronius Sophr. I confess one may give sometimes a shrewd guess the Mariners those Amphibious Creatures that live most upon Wind and Water have a pecular Gift that way The Ancients guessed at it by the sight of some Birds of a Dolphin or of some Meteor or other Now our Sea-men when they see a small Cloud of a pale or blackish colour they conclude a Wind from thence So when the Sun does not rise clear but seems to be spotted or when it is overcast with a pale or a black Cloud it presages either Wind or Rain The sames is observed of the Sun if it look pale when it sets And then if clouded with black Clouds 't is a sign of a North Wind. The Moon when it looks red is lookt upon as a certain sign of windy weather according to the Verse Pallida Luna pluit Rubicunda flat Alba serenat And so is the Circle about the Moon There are other Signs of Winds as when the Sea makes a grumbling Noise inwardly Lastly a great deal of Rain is usually followed with a strong Wind. Phil. What kind of Wind is that which is called a Trade-Wind Sophr. 'T is a Wind which blows constantly at a set time of the Year and continues for a long time together Such were the Etesiae amongst the ancient Greeks for so they call'd the North-winds that blew constantly every Year for 40. days together in the Dog-days Phil. What do you mean by an Hurricane Sophr. A Tempestuous Gust of Wind such as destroys most Ships at Sea that are in its way pulls down Houses and pulls up Trees by the root The word is come from the West-Indies and particularly from the Caribby-Islands where they have once in two or three years in July or thereabouts most dreadful Hurricanes thus described by Sea-men First the Sun exhales a great quantity of Water from the Sea into a Cloud and then it gushes down with great violence followed with a terrible Tempest of Wind which lasts about two or three hours and sometimes longer By which means the Sea rages so furiously that no Ship almost can hold out and few Houses at Land in its way escape being destroyed In July 1666. The Lord Willoughby of Parham sailing betwixt Barbados and St. Christophers had the ill fortune to be lost in an Hurricane with divers English Ships In short an Hurricane can be compared to nothing so well as to a violent Earth-quake Phil. Now you put me in mind of Earthquakes pray what is the occasion of them Sophr. Nothing but Subterranean Winds that force their passage out of the Earth with great violence whereby sometimes whole Cities are swallowed
Mediterraneum And the Grecians upon the same account termed it in their Language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Inland Sea By the Spaniards it is usually called Mar di Levante because it runs East from Spain In the Scriptures it is called the Great Sea as Numb 34. where it is said You shall have the great Sea for a Border And that in opposition to the Dead-Sea and the Sea of Galilee lying on the other side of the Land of Palestine which are properly but Lakes of an indifferent compass But as the Camelion is said to apply it self to the colour of the nearest adjacent Body so this Sea takes its denomination from the nearest Shores And accordingly the Romans of old gave it these several Names as Mare Hispanicum or Ibericum Balearicum Gallicum Ligusticum Tuscum or Tyrrhenum Liburnicum Corsicum Sardinium Siculum Ausonium Ionium Creticum c. Phil. Then I was all this while under a great Mistake For I took them all for want of better skill to be so many distinct Seas from the Mediterranean and so could never find them out to fix them in my mind Sophr. You see what it is to be left without a Guide in the dark Phil. But whereabouts is the Adriatick Sea Sophr. The Adriatick is that which is called now a days from Venice the Gulf of Venice a Sea or Gulf which runs up a great way North-west-ward betwixt Italy of one side part of Greece and Sclavonia on the other side 'T is properly but a Part or Limb of the Mediterranean which makes an Excursion that way And of this Mare Illyricum and Dalmaticum were but Parts Phil. What Sea is that which is called the Aegean Sea Sophr. The same that is now termed the Archipelago being likewise but an Excursion of the Mediterranean to the Northward A Sea remarkable for its Swarm of Islands and for parting so far as it runs Europe from Asia About the Island Myrtos it was called Myrtoum about Icaria Icarium and so from Carpathus it took the name of Carpathium Phil. Whereabout is the Propontis Sophr. The Propontis now called the Sea of Marmora is a Sea that ly's betwixt the Archipelago Southward and the Black Sea Northward being parted from that by the Streights called Hellespont or the Streights of Gallipoly and from this by the Thracian Bosphorus or the Streights of Constantinople This Sea continues the Separation of Europe from Asia And so doth the Black Sea otherwise called Pont Euxin or the Euxine Sea A huge Sea that spreads it self a great way to the Eastward Phil. Doth not the Palus Maeotis lie hereabouts Sophr. Right North from the Black Sea there being but the Cimmerian Bosphorus or the Streight of Caffa between A Sea much lesser than the Euxine but bigger than the Propontis And therefore the Name of Palus Maeotis or Maeotick Fens is a Name much below the greatness of it It is now called otherwise the Sea of Zabache from a Fish of that name caught here at some times of the Year Pliny calls it the Mother of the Sea as if the Mediterranean had its Original from hence and not from the Ocean The same is also a Boundary betwixt Europe and Asia But in the North of Europe and altogether within the Bounds of it there is also an Inland Sea commonly called the Baltick and by the Durch Oost Zee which washes on the North-side the Shore of Sweden and on the South-side part of Denmark Germany and Poland The same begins at the Streights called the Sund and ends in two considerable Gulfs the one called the Gulf of Bothnia and the other the Gulf of Finland from two Provinces of that Name about which they lye both under the Crown of Sweden The first of those Gulss being the greater of the two runs Northwards and the other Eastwards Further Northward betwixt Lapland and Moscovy you will find the White Sea a pretty large Arm of the Northern Ocean which runs from North to South Betwixt Asia and Africk is the Red Sea otherwise called the Sea of Mecca or the Gulf if Arabia This begins at the Streights of Babelmandel from whence it runs Northward as far as the Isthmus of Sues above 400 Leagues but the breadth of it is not proportionable This is the Sea so famous for the miraculous Passage of the Children of Israel and the drowning Pharaoh King of Egypt Betwixt Arabia foelix and Persia ly's an Inland Sea commonly called the Persian Gulf or the Gulf of Persia or else the Gulf of Balsora or the Gulf of Elcatif from two Towns of the greatest note upon the Sea that lying just upon the fall of Euphrates into it Northward and this 90. Leagues South of that in Arabia foelix This Sea is a pretty large Arm of the Southern Ocean which breaks in at the Streights of Mossandan whilst the River Euphrates falls in at the other end The continual clashing of which two great Waters makes this a turbulent and unruly Sea In the Northern America you will find as large a Sea as that by the name of Hudson's Bay and the way to it through Hudson's Streights From whence it runs full South betwixt Estotiland Eastward and New South-wales Westward West from this Sea you will find Buttons Bay And about Terra Borealis the Sea called Baffin's Bay Thus Philalethes you have a brief and general Account of the Seas What remains is to give you an Account of their respective Gulfs and Streights The chiefest Gulfs of the Ocean I mean such as do only make a circling Shore are in Europe the little but famous Gulf in Holland called the Zuyder Zee or South Sea upon which Amsterdam is Seated about France the Aquitanick Ocean so called from Aquitain of which the Province of Guienne is a part and about Spain the Gulf of Cadiz In Asia there is the Gulf of Ormuz South of Persia then the great Gulf of Bengala in the Indies the Gulf of Sian further Eastward the Gulf of Tunquin or Cochinchine further towards China that of Nanquin in the North Parts of China a great Gulf North of Japon and lastly another large Gulf on the North of Tartary In Africk there is a great Gulf towards Guinea In America you will find St. Laurences Gulf and the Gulf of Mexico this last one of the greatest that are And as the Ocean so the Mediterranean has several remarkable Gulfs As That of Valencia in Spain the Gulf of Lyon in France and on the Coast of Italy the Gulfs of Genoa Gaeta Naples Salerno Policastro St. Eufemia Squillaci or delli Castelli and Taranto On the Coast of Greece the Gulfs of Larta Lepanto Arcadia Coron or Calamata Colochina or Castel Rampani Those of the Gulf of Venice are on the side of Italy the Gulfs of Manfredonia and Trieste and on the other side Those of Carnero Narenza Drino and Valona Those of the Archipelago anciently so famous in Greece are now known by the Names of Napoli Engia Negroponte Ziton
Armiro Salonichi Aiomama or St. Anna Monte Santo Contessa and Caridia all upon the Coast of Greece As to the Baltick Sea besides the great Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland in which it ends those of most note are the Gulfs of Lubeck Dantzick and Riga And so I proceed to Streights From what has been said before it doth appear that there are three sorts of Streights Some that afford a Passage out of one part of the Ocean into another some out of the Ocean into an Inland Sea and others out of one Inland Sea into another Phil. Pray let us have them all together Sophr. As to Those that make way from one part of the Ocean into another there is none of note either in Europe or Africk Unless we should reckon in Europe the Channel for one and the Irish Sea for another In Asia there are many as the Streights of Weygatz betwixt Nova Zemla in Terra Borealis and some North Parts of the Asian Tartary of Uriez near the Land of Jesso of Zungar betwixt Japon and Yupi in Tartary of Manille South of a great Island of that name the chief of the Philippine of Macassar South of Celebes another great Island in the Indian Sea of Palambua East of the great Island called Java of Bantam betwixt Java and Sumatra of Malacca betwixt Malacca in the Golden Chersonese and the Island Sumatra and lastly of Chilao betwixt the Indian Peninsule on this side Ganges and the Island called Ceylon In America there 's the Streights of Magellan betwixt the Southern America and del Fuego To which we may add Mare Vermejo or the Vermilion Sea betwixt New Mexico an Island of California which though never so long is properly but a Streight of this nature Those that make way from the Ocean into Inland Seas are in Europe the Sund which gives an entrance into the Baltick and betwixt Europe and Africk the famous Streights of Gibraltar otherwise called only the Streights which is an Inlet into the Mediterranean In Asia there is the Streights of Babelmandel which afford a Passage into the Red Sea and of Mossandan into the Persian Gulf North of America you will find the Streights of Davis that lead into Baffin's Bay and That of Hudson which brings one into Hudson's Bay Lastly there are three Streights that afford a Passage out of one Inland Sea into another Viz. the Hellespont now called the Streights of Gallipoli and by the French les Dardanelles or le Bras S. George betwixt the Archipelago and the Propontis or Sea of Marmora Then the Thracian Bosphorus or the Streights of Constantinople betwixt the said Propontis and the Euxine or Black Sea Thirdly Bosphorus Cimmerius now the Streights of Caffa betwixt that Sea and Palus Maeotis Phil. Is not the Hellespont that little Channel about a mile broad over which the Persian King Xerxes intending to Invade all Greece made a Bridge of Ships and so wasted over his propigious Army of above two Millions of Men Sophr. The very same But a Sudden Tempest being risen whereby this Prodigious Bridg was dangerously battered Xerxes was so incensed against this Sea that he caused it to be beaten with 300. Stripes and cast a pair of Fetters into it to make it know to whom it was Subject Yet at last his Fleet was so broken both by the Valour of the Greeks and the Fury of the Sea that he was fain to fly away over this Hellespont and to make use of a poor Fisher-boat Phil. So the proud King was fain to stoop at last and run away with shame A very fit Reward for so extravagant a Pride Sophr. Thus having taken a Survey of the Seas Gulfs and Streights now we shall make if you think fit some Useful Reflections upon the Sea and examine its Height Depth Colour Tast and several Motions Phil. Do you believe Sophronius the Sea is higher than the Land or no Sophr. There are many that do and who conclude it therefore a Miracle that the Land is not overflown For my part I do allow of a Globosity in the Sea but not such as may indanger the Land except where the Ground by the Sea-side is lower than ordinary And in such a case the Inhabitants truly don 't rely upon Miracles but are fain to raise Banks in order to prevent an Invasion of the Sea which never fails to incroach upon the Land when there is any way for it But the very Course of the Rivers down to the Sea does manifestly prove the Sea to be no higher than the Land but rather lower In short we must conclude that if the Sea were higher than the Rivers that would certainly come down into their Channels and drown not only the Land but the Rivers So natural it is for Water where there is the least descent to move that way one part following still another without intermission Phil. I am very well satisfied as to this Point Let us now proceed if you please to the Depth of the Sea Sophr. It s Depth is very unequal For as the Land has Hills both great and small Valleys and Precipices so there are in the Sea Shelves Rocks Whirl-pools and Places not to be fadomed To be short the further from Land is the Sea the deeper it is commonly and in some places it has been found no less than five or six miles deep As for the Colour of the Sea it appears generally to be of a Sky-colour But Northward it looks darkish in the Torrid Zone Brownish and in some other Places Whitish and Yellowish Phil. I wonder Sophronius you should forget the Red Colour amongst all the rest Or else how comes the Red Sea to be so called Sophr. Not from the Redness of the Waters nor from that of the Sands as some conceiv'd the Sea and Sands being found by latter Observation to be coloured here as in other places But you must know this Sea was originally called the Sea of Edom because it took beginning on the Coasts of that Countrey Now Edom in Hebrew signifies Red as appears Gen 25.30 A Nick-name first given to Esau and from him afterwards to Mount Seir or the Land of Edom Gen. 36.31 and then to the Neighbouring Sea Which by the Greeks was rendred Erythraeum and by the Latines Rubrum Whence the Name of the Red Sea became known to all but the Reason of the Name to few So the White Sea in the Northern Parts of Europe is probably so called because it washes the Shore of White Russia or Moscovy For I guess it must be from hence the Moscovites call it Bella More and we accordingly White Sea I am sure by my own Experience that it cannot be from any Whiteness it has Neither has the Black Sea took that Name from its Blackness but either from the great Mists that arise from thence or from the frequent Shipwracks that happen there the Shore being very dangerous by reason of its Rocks and Sands How Mare Vermejo or the Vermilion Sea that
from those which are in the same condition or from them who being in health do but make sport with the. Sick What Cordial think ye is the smell of Pitch and Tar What Lodging a Hammock hung up in the Air or a close and fusty Cabbin It makes me dry to think of their Salt Vittles and my Teeth as strong as they are tremble with the very Thoughts of cracking a Stone-hard Bisket when I might have a new Roll at home And to digest those hard Vittles what Place is there to walk in A Deck so tossed to and fro that every step one runs the hazard of a fall and of a boisterous rude Sea about ones ears into the Bargain Sophr. What a fine Speech you made now Philalethes I see you can make the worst of any Thing But I am sorry to see you so unmanly and all your Rhetorick serves only to set out your Faint-heartedness I wonder how you dare venture to go along the Streets for the Tiles may chance to tumble upon your head and how can you with a safe conscience walk the length of your Room when who knows but that you may shake the Foundations of the House I see you are in a Fright and therefore let us leave the Sea to take a view of the chief Lakes and Rivers But you must know before-hand Philalethes that some of them are like so many Seas Phil. 'T is no matter Their Name is not so formidable Sophr. What think you then of the Caspian Sea in Asia which in truth is but a Lake but bears the name of Sea by reason of its vast Compass being no lest than 260 Leagues long and at least an 100 broad Phil. This is a fine Lake indeed Sophr. The Greatest we know of Next to which there is another according to Sansons Maps about half the bigness of that called by the name Carantia which he places almost in the heart of the Asian Tartary In Africk you will find the grat Lakes of Zaire and Zaflan In the Northern America the Karegnondi and other Lakes adjoyning to it the length of which is not yet fully discovered And. in the Southern America the great Lake of Parime through the South part of which runs the Equinoctial This is at least 120 Leagues in length and 50 where broadest Our Europe also is stocked with a great many fine Lakes As in Moscovy the Ladoga and the Onega and in Sweden the Wener And about the bigness of these are the Beruan in the Asian Tartary Chiamay in the East Indies the Lakes of Niger Borno and Guarda in Africk Ontorio Eric and the Lake of Nicaragua in the Northern America Lago de los Xarayes Cassipa and Titicaca in the Southern America I pass by the Lakes of Constance and Geneva of Ilmen in Moscovy the Dead Sea in Palestine and a great many other of good note in all Parts of the World Which though they be lookt upon as great Lakes if compared to those of the lesser sort yet are much inferiour to the foresaid in bigness And as Lakes differ in Bigness so they do in Figure For some are Round some Long and others Oval Phil. Is their Water sweet or not Sophr. It is sweet for the most part But there are some indeed whose Water is Salt as the Caspian Sea aforesaid and the Dead Sea in Palestine And this must be either by some secret Intercourse they have with the Sea or else by some Salt Springs thereby these Lakes are fed One Thing Philalethes is remarkable about the Lake Leman otherwise called the Lake of Geneva which is about 16 Leagues in length and 4 broad where it is broadest That whereas both Lakes and Rivers do generally decrease in Summer-time this Lake swells most in the heat of that Season And the chief reason they give for 't is the Thawing of the Snow which comes down into it from several parts of the Alps. Phil. But how came the Dead Sea in Palestine by that name Sophr. 'T is thought it came to be called Sea by reason of its Length and Saltness being about 70. miles long and 16. broad and furnishing with Salt the whole Country But it is called the Dead Sea in Latin Mare Mortuum either because it has no visible Efflux or because no living Creature is nourished in it by reason of the bituminous savour it sendeth forth from whence it has been called Asphaltis and Asphaltites Near this Lake it was that stood once the infamous City's of Sodom and Gomorrah before they were consumed with Fire and Brimstone Now you must know that many Rivers spring from Lakes and that Lakes are fed with Rivers So that there is a great and perpetual Intercourse betwixt Lakes and Rovers Phil. I am now pretty well acquainted with Lakes and I would gladly know what you have to say about the Rivers Sophr. The Principal Rivers of Europe are in Spain the Douro Tajo Guadiana Guadalquivir and Ebro in France la Loire la Seine le Rhone la Garonne in Italy the Po in Germany the Danube the Rhine the Elb the Oder and the Wesel in Poland the Nieper and the Duna in Moscovy Volga Tanais Duina In Asia there is the Euphrates in the Turks Dominions Indus Ganges and Menan in the East-Indies Kiang and Hoang in China Ghammas according to Sanson Oby and the Volga aforesaid in Tartary In Africk you will find Nilus Nubia Niger Zaire Zambeze Zambere and Rio de Spiritu Santo or the Holy-Ghost River In the Northern America the Canada or St. Laurences Rives Chucagua and Rio del Norto or the North River And in the Southern the Orenoque the Amazone Rio de la Plata Rio Parana and Rio Desaguadero Amongst which the Amazone is a most prodigious River and the greatest of the Known World Now there is this common amongst Rivers I mean their Windings and Turnings whereby the Land is most conveniently watred and irrigated And the great Rivers which are only to be found in Continents swell into their bigness by the continual Influx of lesser Rivers that empty themselves into them as they run down their Channels towards the Sea the general Rendezvous of all Rivers From whence it comes to pass most commonly that further a River runs from its Spring the larger it grows still Again as some Rivers are remarkable for their Length and Breadth so there are some of a notable Swiftness as the Rhone the Rhine and Danube in Europe the Euphrates and Tigris in Asia the Zaire in Africk the Saguenay a River of New France in the Northern America and the Amazone in the Southern Amongst which the Saguenay though but a mean River is reported to be of so strong a Current that it suffers not the Sea to flow up its Channel so deep that in many places it attains to a 100. fathoms And which is observable the same is narrower at the Influx of it into the great Canada than it is at the very head A Thing quite contrary
to the general Rule Some Rivers run under Ground more or less in the midst of their Course and at last come up again as new Rivers Such are the Guadiana and the Rhone in Europe Tigris in Asia Niger and Nubia in Africk Some spread themselves into the form of a Lake as the Tanais and Oby And others cross a Lake with so swift a course that they preserve themselves distinct from the Waters of it as the. Rhone aforesaid which coming down the Alpes falls into the Lake Leman and having run through the whole length of it from East to West comes out at Geneva Some Rivers have great Cataracts or Falls as the Rhine betwixt Bilefelt and Shaffausen the Rhone betwixt Geneva and Lyon and la Somme betwixt Amiens and Abbeville So 't is said of the River Nilus in Africk that in two several places it falls amongst Rocks with so terrible a noise that the Neighbouring People grow deaf with it Phil. Pray let us hear something of their Fall into the Sea Sophr. Many of the greatest Rivers fall in through several Mouths as the Danube and Nilus which have no less than seven each of them And Olearius in his Travels through Tartary to Persia tells us of 70. Mouths through which the River Volga that I have been upon several times disburdeneth it self after a winding Course of a thousand leagues into the Caspian Sea But there are some Rivers and commonly small ones that neither fall into other Rivers nor yet into the Sea but either lose themselves in the Ground or turn into a Lake Phil. Are all Rivers of the same Colour as ours are Sophr. They are generally so But yet there be some of a blackish colour some whitish and others reddish Of this last sort was the Adonis a River of Phaenicia in Syria which rises out of Mount Libanus and falls into the Sea 6. miles South of Barut This River in Summer-time used to contract a kind of Redness occasioned by the Winds which then blowing most vehemently did thereby carry down the Stream a great quantity of minium or red Earth from the sides of the Hills wherewith the Water was discoloured Phil. Is not this the River which was reported as Lucian has it to stream blood when the obsequies of Adonis the Darling of Venus were yearly celebrated Sophr. The very same Thus a natural Accident was made use of to give the better colour to the Superstition as if Adonis's Wounds did bleed every year Phil. Now as to the Tast of River-Water are all Rivers sweet as ours are Sophr. 'T is to be observed first that all Rivers subject to the Tide have a Tast of the sea-Sea-water especially near their Fall into the Sea and so far as the Tide go's they have a brackish kind of Tast But there are other Rivers that have a brackish and mineral Tast upon another Account that is from such Minerals as they meet in their Course Phil. You know that Rivers are apt to overflow after a great Rain or Thaw as it frequently happens either at the beginning or at the latter end of Winter But I have heard of a more general and constant Overflowing of some great Rivers beyond Sea which I much admire at Sophr. 'T is this overflowing upon which depends the Want or Plenty of those Countrys And the River Nilus amongst others is as famous for that as it is for its Crocodiles In May says Thevenot it begins to flow and so increases every day some Inches till die latter end of September or the beginning of October At which time it begins to fall and is as long ebbing as flowing In the Year 1658. it increased according to the same Author who was then in the great Caire to the height of almost 22 Pics each Pic at 24 Inches And then the River began to decrease the 23d of September Phil. What becomes in the mean time of the Inhabitants and their Cattle during this great Land-Flood For Egypt at that time must needs look like a Sea Sophr. They retire upon Hills and there abide till the decrease of the Waters holding still a Commerce by the Intercourse of Boats Now as it happens sometimes that we have some Years too wet and others too dry so if Nilus overflows too much or too little Aegypt do's suffer for 't Unless it rise to 16 Pics 't is a bad Year and when it do's rise to 24. 't is as bad But if it chance at any time not to overflow at all 't is worst of all For then it does not only presage a Famine in Egypt but as some will have it prognosticates a Change in the State And accordingly 't is said that in the tenth and eleventh Years of Cleopatra a little before her Fall with her Sweet-heart Antonius the River increased not at all Phil. This is indeed very Remarkable But when the Water of Nilus is withdrawn to its natural Channel I suppose the Ground is very Slimy having lain so long under Water Sophr. So very Slimy that whereas we are fain to dung our Grounds the Egyptians throw Sand upon theirs before they Sow or Plant any thing And of this Slime is ingendred many living Creatures and as some say such innumerable heaps of Frogs that if the Country were not furnished as it is with a proportionable number of Storks by whom they are greedily devoured the Plague of Frogs would come a second time upon the Inhabitants Phil. Is it true that it never rains in Egypt Sophr. T is a Vulgar Error strongly confuted by Monsieur Thevenot Who affirms that it rains much in Alexandria and Rosetta but not indeed so much in the City of Caire However he says that he has seen it rain there two days together very hard and with great Thunder-claps in the Month of December The Sixth Discourse Of the National Tarts of the Earth SOphr Besides the Natural Division of the World into Earth and Waters there is a National Division of it which is to be the Subject of our present Discourse And to make it clear to ye you must know first the World is divided into two Principal Parts the Known and the Unknown World The Unknown World or that Part of the World which is yet Unknown to us lies about the Poles but the greater Part towards the Southern Pole That Part which lies towards the North Pole is called in Latin Terra Borealis or Terra Polaris Arctica and the other Part that lies towards the South Pole Terra Australis or Terra Polaris Antarctica The Known World is usually divided into four Parts Europe Asia Africk and America But it is a most unequal Division and I think it more rational to divide it thus Viz. the Known World first into two Parts the Old and the New World then the Old World into three Europe Asia and Africa and the New into two the Northern and Southern America For as the Old World do's visibly consist of three distinct Peninsules so is