Serraglio has his Officers who have a great many under them Most part of these Officers are Eunuchs Officers and generally all Blacks heretofore it was thought enough to geld them but a Grand Signior having one day as he was walking The reason why the Eunuchs have all cut off Whence come the black Eunuchs Abyssia perceived a Gelding covering a Mare so soon as he was come home ordered all that the Eunuchs had remaining to be cut clear off and since that time it hath been the constant custom to cut all off clear to the Belly which is done when they are but about eight or ten years old It is true a great many dye of it but the Bashaws of the Governments that border upon Abyssia or Ethiopia and other Countries of the Negroes cause so many to be gelt that they have enough both for presents of the handsomest to the Grand Signior Eunuchs guard and look to the Women and for attending their own Women These Eunuchs have the sole government of the Serraglio such of them as have the care of the Women who are all lodged in a separate appartment together are so watchful and exact in looking after them that there is no Woman cunning enough to deceive those half men because they know that the Grand Signior is commonly so jealous that a single view of one of his Wives would cost him that saw her his life and when the Sultanas walk in the Gardens of the Serraglio Bostangis In what poscure are the Gardners when the Grand Signior walks with his Wives in the Gardens Great jealousie in the Grand Signior Eunuchs keepers of the Pages Ichnoglans Education of the Pages the Bostangis or Gardners stand round the Walls and holding Staves to which large and long pieces of Cloth are fastned behind them look towards the Sea making in that manner a kind of a Wall betwixt them and the Garden to hinder the Sultanas from being seen from abroad they themselves not daring to look upon them for fear least being perceived by some Eunuch he might make their heads flie off upon the spot this jealousie goes so far that they suffer no Boats to come nearer than four hundred paces of the Garden whilst the Sultanas are there though the Walls be high and there are Sentinels on purpose to fire at them if they do not stand off so that those who have business by Water must somtimes fetch a great compass about The Eunuchs also have the charge of the Ichnoglans or the Grand Signiors Pages who are all youths for the most part of Christian extraction made Mahometans and educated in the Serraglio with great care from eight to twenty years of age some are taught to shoot an Arrow dart the Zaguye sit a Horse well Wrestle Read Write and Sing and the rest any thing else that suits with their talents and inclination but they are all indispensably brought up in the Law of Mahomet if they have parts they rise to great Offices if not after some years they are turned out of the Serraglio and have pay proportionable to the employments they undertake but so long as they live in the Serraglio they are sure of blows with a Cudgel as often as they commit a fault They are divided into Chambers and many of them being thwackt together into one Room they are not a little straitned when they are in Bed Eunuchs watch over them walking up and down the Room least they should slip out of one Bed into another for the Itchoglans are not gelt The chief charge that they can rise to whilst they are Pages in the Serraglio is to be of the number of the forty that come nearest the person of the Grand Signior of whom the chief fourare the Selihhtar Forty Pages waiting on the Grand Signior who carries the Princes Sword The Tschoadar who carries his Yagmourluk or Cloak for rain the Ibrictar who carries always water in a vessel to pour upon his Hands if he have a mind to wash and the Kuptar who carries a Pot with Sorbet to give him to drink when he is dry Four Chief Pages The Selihhtar Tschoadar Ibrictar Cuptar The Old Serraglio The Wives of the last Prince These four always wait upon the Grand Signior when he goes abroad out of the Serraglio and from these Offices they are advanced to the highest places of the Empire Besides this great Serraglio there is another in Constantinople which is called the old Serraglio where heretofore the Prince lodged but which at present serves only for lodgings for the Wives of the Grand Signior that last died whither they are all sent unless it be some whom the Grand Signior now reigning taking a liking to retains in the Serraglio they are guarded very strictly by Eunuchs in this old Serraglio and that till death unless the Grand Signior think fit that they marry some great men of his Court. This Palace is well built it is enclosed within very high Walls which have no opening but the Gate so that it is not unlike to a Nunnery amongst us There is moreover a Serraglio of the Grand Signiors at Pera near to the House of the French Ambassador another Serraglio at Pera. where several Itchoglans are kept under the guard of an Aga who having spent some time there the duller are sent out with pay and the rest come to the Serraglio to be entertained in the Grand Signior's service Besides these Serraglio's the Grand Signior has others in the Country both in Europe and Asia which have all fine Gardens and many Bostangis to look after them who are under the command of the Bostangi Basha or chief of the Gardners Bostangi Basha This is one of the best places of the Empire for the Bostangi Basha has lodgings in the Serraglio and nevertheless he wears a Beard none but the Grand Signior and he doing so for all the rest are shaved as a mark of their servitude Besides he having the Princes Ear whom he often attends when he goes abroad to take the Air either in the Gardens or upon the Water where he sits at the Helm of the Boat or Galiot that carries the Grand Signior there is no doubt but he is in great Power and much considered not only at the Port but over the whole Empire When the Grand Signior puts any person of quality to death at Constantinople he commonly sends the Bostangi Basha to bring him his Head. CHAP. XIX Of the other Serraglios Hans Private Houses and Bezestins of Constantinople THere are also many Serraglios of private persons in Constantinople but they have no beauty on the outside on the contrary they are very ugly and it would seem that they affect to make them have but little show without for fear of giving jealousie to the Grand Signior Ornaments within the Palaces These Palaces are great and encompassed all round with high Walls like our Monasteries they have very lovely Appartments
of an Amphitheater being all built one at the back of the roof of another upon the side of the hill and in that manner making ten or twelve ranks so that there are no other streets but the roofs of houses which are flat and joyn to one another insomuch that at one view one may see all the houses of the Town There is a Castle there of a great height which though now it be ruinous was nevertheless so strong that as I was told some years ago Threescore Turks held it out a whole month with two Musquets only against the Venetian Army under the Command of General Thomas Morosini and yielded not till they came to want water This Island which in ancient times was called Ceos and Cea Ceos Cea and is said to have been heretofore part of the Isle of Negropont is shaped like a Horse-shoe and is fifty mile in circumferece the soil of it is pretty good producing Corn Wine Grass and a great many other good things its harbour is full of Fish which we often made tryal of with our Nets The Inhabitants pay yearly in Caradge or Tribute three thousand four hundred Piastres to the Turks and two thousand six hundred to the Venetians besides the extortions and robberies they meet with so that the Inhabitants being thereby ruined and oppressed many of them are forced to forsake their houses and country The Women are Apparelled in a fashion that seems to be rude and clownish but which becomes tall women very well They have coats that reach down to their knees and of them six or seven one over another which make them look very bigg their smock appearing half a foot lower they wear white cloth stockins and on their head a kind of veil that also covers their Breasts which they turn as they please After all the Inhabitants of this Island are good people and deserve to be pitied because of the miseries they suffer both from Christians and Turks CHAP. XIII Of the Isle of Andra and of our Ships running a ground TVesday the Sixtenth of November the wind being a little abated we put out about eight of the clock at night hoping to find the wind fair at Sea but Wednesday morning the seventeenth of November it blew so strong a North Wind that we were obliged to bear away to Isle of Andra Isle of Andra. where we came to an Anchor at two in the afternoon We found five Venetian ships there who so soon as they understood from us that there was some suspition of a Plague in Malta they discharged us from having any communication with them or those of the Island Though this prohibition hindred me from getting any knowledge of this Isle by my own means yet I shall here relate what I learnt of it from those who have been upon it as also from a manuscript Relation that hath come into my hands since The Isle of Andra in ancient time Andros is threescore miles from Zia it is fourscore miles in circuit and is reckoned the most fertile Island of all the Archipelago as indeed it is so in all things especially in Silk wherein the Inhabitants who are about six thousand souls Trade at Chio and other Places with Backs that are made in Andra and make forty thousand Piastres profit of it a year It hath a Town near the Sea which contains not above two hundred Houses the Port of it is pretty good and the South Wind blows a thwart it there is an uninhabited Castle still to be seen upon a little Rock in the Sea hard by it There are besides sixty Villages scattered here and there in several places of the Island of which the most considerable are Arni and Amolacos Arni Amolacos that are inhabited by the Arnantes or Albanians to the number of twelve hundred souls all of the Greek Church and differing in Language and Customs a rude sort of People any without discipline Near to these Villages there is a Monastry of an hundred Monks called Tagia built in form of a Fort with a Church very well adorned though small and served by these Monks who live in extreme ignorance They entertain Travellers all the while they stay there and when they depart they give them Provisions to carry them home to their own Countrey for they have great Revenues There are besides six other little Monasteries with a few Religious in them There is a great number of Greek Churches in the Island which are all under the government and discipline of a Greek Bishop The Latins have also a Bishop there who on Corpus Christi-day carries the Holy Sacrament in Procession all over the Town at which there is a great concourse of People both Greeks and Latins and when the Bishop passes along the streets all the people prostrate themselves spread Carpets Flowers Herbs and other odoriferous things and lye so thick upon the ground that the Bishop cannot pass without treading upon them The Cathedral of the Bishop of the Latin Church is dedicated to the Apostle St. Andrew it is pretty neat but hath no great Revenue There are six Churches besides in the Town of which there is one dedicated to St. Bernard and held by the Capucines who ease the Bishop very much by their Preaching hearing Confessions and by their School to which all the Greek Children come nay some are sent thither from Athens to learn. The Turks have the disposal of the Temporal Affairs and there are several Families of them upon the Island who are very uneasie Neighbours to the Greeks and Latins There is a very pleasant Valley in this Island called by the Inhabitants Menites with plenty of fresh Springs and Fruit-trees in it besides about forty Mills that grind Corn for the People of the Town and circumjacent Villages which is very commodious The Water which drives these Mills comes from a Spring in a Church called Madonna del cumulo and this Water runs in Brooks through the Valley and under Trees fallen of themselves so that they seem to have been bent so artificially and indeed a Painter cannot represent a more lovely and pleasant Valley in Landskip In the Plain at the end of this Valley the Jesuites have a Garden full of Fruit-trees of all sorts which render them a considerable Revenue yearly There they have their House and their Church called St. Veneranda This Island might be called very lovely if the Houses of it were better built and the Air good but it is very bad and so is the Water of the Town The Inhabitants of the Isle of Andra are civil and their Language is more literal than the Language of the other Greeks their Women are Chast and speak well but their Aparrel is very unbecoming The Inhabitants of the Town are not very laborious love good chear and diversions but the Peasants are more industrious they make very white wicker Baskets which are used all over the Archipelago As to their Food they eat sometimes Goats flesh
his Father in the Year of the Hegyra 726. which was the Year of our Lord 1325. it was afterwards taken from the Turks by Tamerlan having totally Routed their Emperour Bajazet whom he made Prisoner This Town stands towards Mount Olympus Mount Olympus which is but about Ten Miles distant It has a pleasant Scituation and so great plenty of fresh Water that the Inhabitants bring it into all the Houses and Hans where it is conveyed in Pipes bigger then ones Leg Plenty of fair Water at Bursa into the Houses of Office and so washes away all the filth and supplies them with clean Water without any necessity of carrying Pots of Water into these places for the Ablution for there they have Fountains on purpose Besides these there are other Waters that run through the Town which are so hot Hot waters at Bursa that they easily boyl Eggs. They have made several fair Bagnios in the place where this Water runs which serves for the Cure of many Distempers so that People come to Bath there above an Hundred Miles off I went thither out of Curiosity and entred into a very lovely Bagnio all adorned with Marble and in stead of the innermost Room where they Sweat there was a very large Bason above Nine Foot deep full of hot and cold Waters mingled together all that please may Bath therein and some take their pleasure in Swiming there There are Steps to go down into it on all sides where one may be as deep as he pleases They bring into it two thirds of cold Water and nevertheless it is still so hot that I was scalded when first I went into it though the hot Water run through the Fields in an open Rivulet There are many fair Buildings in this Town and they reckon above Two hundred lovely Mosques in it and among others they shew'd me the Mosque of the Dervishes and in a little Chappel at the back of it I saw a Tomb which they assured me was the Tomb of the Mufti whom the Grand Signior had caused lately to be Strangled in that Town There are a great many Hans in it also all very Magnificent and constantly Inhabited because this Town is a common passage for Caravans from several places But one must not forget to see the Sepulchres of the first Turkish Emperours and of their Sultanas in so many little Chappels built Dome wise among which is the Monument of a French Sultana as they say but seeing they call all the Europeans Franks A French Sultana they many times confound the French with the rest of Franks They believe she was a most beautiful French Princess that having been taken at Sea was presented to the Grand Signior who was so much in love with her that he allowed her the Exercise of her Religion and yet lay with her though she was a Christian for she never forsook her Faith but lived and died in the same Religion she had been bred up in After her death the Christians of the Country beg'd her Body that they might Bury her after their Way and even offered Money to have that liberty but it was refused them and she was Buried like the other Sultanas Her Tomb is in a little Chappel arched and enclosed with Walls and one may see into it through Windows with Grates I could earnestly have wished the Door had been open that I might have gone in and read a Paper I saw fastned to the end of her Tomb which without doubt was her Epitaph for I observed in the Tombs of the other Sultana's that their Epitaph was cut in the Stone which was not so on this but I had not that satisfaction The length of Bursa The Castle of Bursa This Town is above half a French League in length and not Walled in all places Upon a little Hill in the middle of it there is a Castle which is almost as big as the rest of the Town it is Walled round and no Christian permitted to live in it This Castle is very strong and hath a Bastion that commands the Town which seems to be Impregnable yet the Water that runs into it may be cut off as it passes through the Town The Christians heretofore lost it so for the Turks having Besieged it then held out by the Christians and perceiving that there was no way to take it by Force bethought themselves of cutting off the Water for want of which the Christians forced by Thirst surrendred the place In this Castle are many Ruines of a stately Building which was formerly the Serraglio of the first Sultans of the Ottoman Family but it is all Demolished The People of the Country tell a Story in relation to this Castle which I have thought sit to Relate here They say A Maid built the Castle of Bursa That heretofore there was a Daughter of an Emperour Leaprous all over and by Consequence very Ugly but to make a mends for that very Vertuous who reposing great Confidence in God and finding her Father much dissatisfied that he could not Marry her all Men refusing it because of her Leprosie The hot Waters of Bursa cure Leprosie To ease her Father of that Trouble she begged his leave that she might go wander over the World like a poor Wtetch hoping that God would help her which she having with much ado obtained of her Father who tenderly loved her She Travelled so long till at length she came to the place where the Rivulet of hot Water runs whereof we spake before and there having Prayed as she never failed to do several times a day She saw a Measly Hog come and Wash in the Water which it having continued to do for some days was Cured of its Leprosie The Maid observing this thought that God Almighty had guided her to that place for a Cure wherefore she went into the Water and for some days having Bathed there she was in the end perfectly Cured being as Sound and Clean as if she had never been Leprous She failed not to give God thanks and resolved to stay in that Country which she found had been so healthful to her She therefore acquainted her Father with her Cure praying him to send her Means and People to Build a Place of Retreat for her Having then obtained of her Father all that she desired she Built this Castle which at present is the Castle of Bursa And because the Saracens much incommoded her by their Inrodes she demanded Assistance from her Father who sent her Aid under the Conduct of Roland or Orland a very strong and Valiant Man Roland or Orland who made great Slaughter of the Saracens Close by the Town there is a Hill on the top whereof a Turkish Hermite lives in a Chappel that Chappel is enclosed with good Walls and Iron-Grates but for a small present of Aspres the Hermite let me in and shewed me the Sword of the aforesaid Roland Roland's Sword. which is above seven Inches
same day about Noon arrived at Smyrna CHAP. LX. Of the City of Smyrna SMyrna a noted Town of Jonia was anciently founded by Tantalus Smyrna Tantalus and since called Smyrna from the name of one of the Amazones that invaded Asia and took that Town long after that it was ruined by an Earthquake and Rebuilt by Marc Antony nearer to the Sea because of the commodiousness of the Harbour It braggs of being the native place of the Poet Homer Homers Country and the Turks at present call it Ismyr This is a large Town and well inhabited both by Turks and Christians but it is a kind of a melancholick place and not at all Strong it is commanded by a Castle of somewhat difficult access this Castle is very ruinous and but meanly guarded you have a large Cistern in it cut all out of a Rock having five Mouths and several Chanels Below the Castle as you go to Santa Veneranda which is a Church of the Greeks there is a great Amphitheatre The place where St. Polycarp suffered Martyrdom where St. Polycarp the Disciple of St. John and Bishop of Smyrna suffered Martyrdom It is very high and in the upper part thereof there are still five niches where the Seats of the Magistrates were not far from thence there are several Ruines of St. John's Cathedral Church which has been very large and full of Chappels In one of these Chappels there is a Tomb which the Greeks believe to be the Sepulchre of St. Polycarp But others with more Reason take it to be the Monument of some Turk There is also another Castle below by the Marine or Sea-side A Castle in Smyrna where are the Arms of the Church of Rome which is well Inhabited and over the Gate of it are the Arms of the Church of Rome perhaps it hath been built by the Genoese who were masters of Smyrna and of all that Coast This Castle shuts the Port which is but little and no Forreign Ships come into it but ride at Anchor abroad in the Road which is spacious and safe It is difficult to get out of Since I left Smyrna they have built a Castle at the mouth of that Road to hinder whom they please from coming in or going out because they were not secure from the Venetians after the Battel of the Dardanelles there being nothing that could hinder them from entering into the Road from whence they might with ease have battered the Town and taken it in a short time Upon the side of this Road towards the Town stands the Custome-house and then the Houses of the Consuls and Merchants Franks who have for the most part a back-door towards the Sea. In this town there is a Cady who administers Justice many Turks live there as also Christians of all Countries Greeks Armenians and Latins The Greeks have an Arch-Bishop and two Churches there in one of which called Santa Veneranda the Arch-Bishop Officiates and the other which is called St. George belongs to the Monks The Armenians have two Churches there also and the Latins have the Capucins who Officiate in their Church which is overagainst the French Consuls House The territory of Smyrna the Jesuits have also a lovely House with a Church in it The Country about Smyrna is a plain very fertile in many things especially in Olive-Trees and full of Gardens which render the Town very pleasant to live in all things are there in abundance and such excellent Wine that next to Canary I never drank better than Smyrna Wine when it is right The Franks make it in their Houses buying the Grapes by Basket-fulls in the Town Partridges there are not worth above three or four Aspres a Couple and when they cost five Aspres it is dear and yet they are very good In fine all things are good and cheap at Smyrna but it is a Town much subject to Earthquakes Smyrna much subject to Earthquakes and hath been several times ruined by them but still rebuilt because of the convenience of its Scituation no year passes without them and I was told that some Years they felt very great Earthquakes for the space of fourty Days together which began a fresh every half hour and were felt even by the Ships in the Road being tossed by the Waters which were moved by the shaking of the Ground in the bottom It would be very hot being in this Town in the Summer-time were it not for the Wind Low Wind. which they call the low Wind or North Breeze it is a certain Wind that blows from the North regularly every day and much qualifies the Air. There is a great trade of Commodities from all parts of Asia and Christendom in this Town While I was there I had a great desire to see Ephesus which was heretofore one of the seven Churches as well as Smyrna to which St. John directed his Revelations where he Died and wherein still remain to be seen the ruines of the Temple of Diana one of the seven Wonders of the World and to the Ornament and Embellishment whereof all the Kings of Asia contributed so long which was burn'd by Erostratus who thereby coveted to Immortalize his Memory There are many other things worth the seeing at Ephesus which made me willing to have undertaken a progress of three or four days for Ephesus is no more than fourty Miles from Smyrna But Monsieur Du puy the French Consul who shewed me in that Country all kinds of civility would needs take me off on 't because of Robbers that were upon the Roads who were a remnant of those that were routed at the Dardanelles and who gave no Quarter especially to Christians but finding at length that I was earnest upon it he took the pains of chusing two Janizaries to wait upon me of whom one who himself had been a Robber many years promised to bring me safe back again as pretending acquaintance of these Robbers I had already hired Horses and prepared to be gone next Morning but a Feaver that took me in the Evening quite broke off the Journey for being recovered seven or eight days after they made me look upon that slight Distemper as a warning and at length I yielded to the perswasions of those who had the goodness to divert me from that Journey as thinking it Dangerous CHAP. LXI Of the Town of Chio. THough I had resolved to continue my Travels through Asia yet I had heard so much of the Wonders of Chio that I could not but see it being then so near therefore I hired a Boat to carry me thither and embarked on Wednesday morning the Eleventh of October A little after we had very foul weather which made me blame my curiosity oftner than once and it behoved us to lye in the Boat near the shore not without danger of being taken by the Brigantines for there are always some in the Archipelago and when they take Franks they sell them at Rhodes to Barbary men
Orange-Water two Baskets full of Pomegranates two of Limons two of Water-Melons two of Mezingianes or Violet-Naveurs one of Grapes one of Grass half a dozen of Pidgeons a dozen of Pullets and three Sheep Next day his Kiaya or Lieutenant had likewise the usual Present brought to him which was but one half of the abovementioned Provisions They expected two Bashas more within a short time and these Bashas caused People to be often Bastonadoed as they went along the Streets when they were out of Humour but for all that no sooner were they Lodged but the whole Trouble was over CHAP. LXV Of the Isle of Patino HAving said enough of Chio Patino I shall here make a little digression from my Travels and relate what I have learned of some Islles of the Archipelago where I have not been as well by what has been told me as by a memoire that hath come to my hands And in the first place I shall speak of the Isle of Pathmos which though small is nevertheless Illustrious Pathmos as being the place to which St. John the Evangelist was Banished and where he wrote the Revelation This Isle called anciently Pathmos and at present Patino and Palmosa is eighteen miles in circuit Palmosa and has in it but one well Built little Town with a Castle in the middle of it called the Monastery of St. John where two hundred Greek Monks live who carefully keep in their Church a Body shut up in a case which they say is the Body of St. John what ever they think who doubt whether he be as yet Dead or not There are about three thousand Souls in this Isle who have much ado to live Three thousand Souls in Pathmos The Grott where the Apocalypse was written called Theoskeposti the Land being very dry and all Rockie In it is the Grotto where St. John wrote the Apocalypse which Grotto by the Greeks is called Theoskeposti that is to say in vulgar Greek covered by God. The Inhabitants of this place relate a pretty ridiculous story of St. John and that is that the Devil went to Tempt St. John in that Grotto which is but half a mile from the Sea and as far from the Town bidding him go and swim and that St. John made answer to the Devil do thou first throw thy self into the Sea and I 'll follow thee which the Devil did and was immediately changed into a Stone The figure of a Devil at Pathmos of the same Figure that he had when he threw himself into the Sea And that Stone is to be seen to this day being but one step from the Land. No Turk lives in this Island they are Christians that bear rule there yet they pay Tribute to the Grand Signior And the Corsars put into this Island to careen and take fresh Water CHAP. LXVI Of the Isle of Nixia THE Isle of Nixia heretofore called Naxus is sixscore miles in circuit Nixia In latter times before it was possessed by the Turks it carried the title of a Dutchy The Families of Sanudi and Somarigi Venetians in Nixia and at present it has among its Inhabitants several noble Families descended of the said Dukes who were the Sanudi Somarigi Venetians and others The Fields of this Isle are most fruitful in all things and chiefly a certain Valley called Darmilla wherein are eighteen Villages The Inhabitants of this Isle make plenty of Wine which they send to Alexandria Smyrna and Chio as likewise very good Cheese for they have many Cows Sheep and Goats Not far from the Town near the Sea are the Salt-pits and a Pond which the Town letts out to farme they Fish in it but two Months in the Year to wit August and September There are great quantities of Eels taken also in a Valley called Plichi that is full of Marshes which are always supplied with Water from greaâ— Springs that run into it There are very thick Woods also in it with Rocks and solitary Dens where there are a great many tall Stags Catching of Partridges with an Ass and there the Gentlemen go a Hunting with the Cady who governs the Island the Peasants catch Partridges with an Ass in this manner Late in the Evening the Peasant goes and joggs the Partridges to know where they Sleep then he pitches a Net where he thinks convenient and afterwards puts himself under the belly of his Ass which is trained to the sport and thus both stalking along together the Peasant with a switch drives the Partridges into the Net where they are caught and this sport is the better because Partridges are very Plentiful there There are besides other Valleys with Water-springs in them that turn Mills for the use of the People There are several Monasteries in this Island one of which ought to be very Ancient for it is built in form of a Tower upon a Hill. There is another called Fanaromeni Fanaromeni dedicated to the Virgin because a Picture of the Virgin was found in that Place which is held in great Veneration and called Faneromeni it is not long since that Monastery was built and contains threescore and ten Rooms or Chambers besides those that are under Ground the Church is small but well built and beautified It is served by ten Monks all Countrey Clowns who have no Learning and not only there but over all the Isles of the Archipelago they are so ignorant that it may be said of them Ignoto Deo and it is impossible but that Vice must reign where People are so ignorant of the commands of God and where there is so much Idleness and Drunkenness Threscore miles from the Town there is a Tower and another Church also dedicated to the Virgin named Tagia in that place there is a Spring of as good Water as can be desired and a Monk and some Shepherds live there the people of the Island often go thither out of Devotion and not without much Pain because of the troublesome Hills and Valleys that are in the way About six miles from thence near the Sea overagainst the Isle of Nicaria there is to be seen upon a very steep and rugged Mountain The Castle of Apollo some ruines of the Castle of Apollo and it is a wonder how they could carry up Stones to Build it The wall is eight hand breadth thick it is not carried on to the Sea on the East-side because there is no going up to it on that side but by a very dangerous place but on the South East and South-side it is built of Stone and Bitumen down to the Sea. In that Castle there are several Houses and Cisterns for Water In the neighbourhood of it are four little Towns very well Inhabited In these Quarters there are also many Goat-heards that keep Goats and the Hills are full of an Herb which Mathiolus calls Ledum The Ledum of Mathiolus Kissaros an Herb. Laudanum a Gum. Darmilla Strongyle Palace of Bacchus and
Year The cutting of the Khalis by the Sous-basha 1657. Thursday the ninth of August the Sousbasha attended by his Guards and two Men mounted on Camels and beating upon Timbrels went to the end of the Khalis towards the Nile where being come he alighted from his Horse and gave the first blow to the breaking of the Bank with a Hammer then he took Horse again and whilst several Moors that were there broke down all the Bank he went along the Khalis almost an Hour before the Water came he stopt before the Houses of the Consuls of the Franks who have back Doors and Windows that look into the Khalis and received a due of some Piastres which that day is payed him by these Consuls and then went on his way Then came a crowd of the Rabble some Singing and others pelting one another with Cudgels Some time after came the Water which was signified to us by a great Noise of roguish Moors both Men and little Boys that came along in it keeping pace with the Water some Swam and others threw one another into it playing a thousand foolish Tricks This Khalis filled up fifteen Foot high and all the time it was running there came Boats full of Merry Sparks who diverted themselves Singing and Playing on Instruments as they passed along As the Nile ceases to rise in the beginning of October so the Khalis leaves off to run about the end of the same Month and therefore in the said Month of October Proclamation is made in all the Streets Sakas The Sakas prohibited to take Water out of che Khalis when it runs no more Great scench and infection of the Khalis when it runs not forbidding all Sakas or Water-carriers to take any more Water out of the Khalis even before it hath wholly ceased to run because when it runs gently the filth of the City mingles too easie with it But when it has done running there is a most noisome smell not only because of the corruption of that standing Water but also because of all the filth and nasty stuff that they who have Windows upon the Khalis throw into it besides all the Carrion In short the Infection is so great that not only the Money and Plate in the Houses that are near to the Khalis is tarnished but also the Pictures and Painting are spoil'd as I have seen in several Houses which nevertheless recovered their former beauty when the Khalis was dry When I arrived at Caire the Khalis was in this manner full of standing Water and being told that it was the Khalis of which I had heard so much talk I had the curiosity to look into it out of a Window it was then Morning and the Water was so thick that the surface of it seemed to be all porphyrie appearing Green Blew Red and of all Colours But when the Sun had shone a little upon it and dissolved that scum I was soon undeceived for the scent which is smelt at a great distance made me well know what it was and I have often wondred that the horrible infection of it does not occasion a Plague every Year If the Sousbasha pleased The Sousbasha lets the water of the Khalis stand and corrupt for his own profit How the Khalis is dried that inconvenience might be remedied for the Water might be drained out but he lets it stand and corrupt so that he may afterwards sell it to the Gardeners who make use of it for watering their Gardens When then they have a mind to dry the Khalis they cast up Dams in several places of it and throw the Water from one into another and afterward take it out and sell it When a good deal of the Water hath been taken out the Ground drys very soon and when it is very dry which happens in the Month of May at least in the Year 1657. it was compleatly dry by the middle of May they set Men to work with Pick-axes to level the Ground in those places where heaps of Earth are cast up so that the Street being full of ups and downs The Nile brings much earth into the Khalis they make it even and smooth from end to end carrying away the Earth they take out upon Asses-backs into the Fields If they did not do so in three or four Years time the Khalis would be so choaked up by the abundance of new Earth that is brought into it by the Water of the Nile that all the Houses would be laid under Water CHAP. XXIII Of the Arrival of the Basha and his entry into Caire THursday the twenty seventh of September the Basha whom the Grand Signior sent to Caire in place of the Mansoul arrived before the City having been three Months on the way betwixt Constantinople and Caire but he had stopt some days at Damascus and other good Towns for from Constantinople to Caire it is reckoned but Five hundred Leagues by Land. A day before he approaches the City the Caymacam with several other Persons of Quality goes out and Encamps under Tents some Miles from the Town on the Basha's Road next day he waits for the Basha at his Tent-door and when he passes by the Tent the Caymacam salutes him then the Basha comes near the City The Tent prepared for the Basha to the place where his Tents are pitched There he finds one that the Inhabitants of Caire have prepared for him which is very stately for it hath long walls of Wax-cloth five or six Foot high Green and Red and within there are about twelve Pavillions all for the Basha's use one for giving Audience another for Sleeping in and another for a Kitchin and so of the rest In the midst of all is the Pavillion that serves for the Hall it is large and of Green Red and other Colours of Cloth over which there are a great many gilt Balls all these Pavillions are of Wax-cloth of several Colours and lined within with sets of lovely Tapistry Before the gate of the walls are two great Trees on which hang above Two hundred Lamps that are lighted in the Night-time there is the same also before the Tents of the Principal Officers Preparations for a Feast to the Basha of Caire which a Bey takes care of How much it costs At his arrival they kill a Bullock and a Sheep The Feast at the entry of the Basha of Caire how ordered Of what it consists Kiaya as in the Caravan of Mecha Now the Feast is prepared in the Hall of the Basha's Tent a Bey takes the care of it for the Beys chuse one of their number to whom they give five Purses for this Feast and he takes all upon him When the Basha comes to the Tent that is prepared for him the Bey who takes care of the Feast meets him at the Wall-gate of the Tent and there they kill a Bullock and a Sheep for a Sacrifice then the Basha enters into the Hall where he finds Dinner served in
Prayers of the Hermites who at that time lived by it and chiefly of St. Macharius because the Pirats of that Sea much infested them Bahr el Malame it is called Bahr el Malame that is to say Mare Convicii There you may find a great many petrifications of Wood and some Bones converted into Stone which are pretty curious On the side of that Sea to the West The Mountain of Eagles Stones Dgebel el Masque is the Mountain of Eagles Stones called Dgebel el Masque where digging in the Earth and especially in time of heat and drought they find several Eagles Stones of different bigness so called because the Eagles carry them to their Nests to preserve their young ones from Serpents they have many Vertues and the Monks say that there are commonly many Eagles to be seen there You must make as short a stay there as you can for fear of the Arabs From the Mountain of Eagles Stones you go making a Triangle to the fourth Monastery and all the Journey from Ambabichoye to this Monastery Dir el Saydet is performed in one day This Monastery is called Dir el Saydet that is to say the Monastery of our Lady it is very spacious but a little ruinous It hath a fair Church and Garden but the Water is brackish and nevertheless there are more Monks in this Monastery than in the other three because the Revenue of it is greater and they have some Relicks also From this Monastery you go to the Lake of Natron Birquet el Natroun called Birquet el Natroun only two Leagues distant from it this Lake is worth ones Curiosity to see and it looks like a large Pond frozen over upon the Ice whereof a little Snow had fallen It is divided into two the more Northern is made by a Spring that rises out of the Ground though the place of it cannot be observed and the Southern proceeds from a great bubbling Spring the Water being at least a Knee deep which immediately as it springs out of the Earth congeals and makes as it were great pieces of Ice and generally the Natron is made and perfected in a Year by that Water which is reddish There is a red Salt upon it six or seven Fingers thick Natron then a black Natron which is made use of in Aegypt for Lye and last is the Natron much like the first Salt but more solid Higher up there is a little Well of Fresh-water which is called Aain el Goz and a great many Camels come dayly to the Lake to be loaded with that Natron From this Lake you go to another where there is Salt at Whitsontide made in form of a Pyramide Pyramidal Salt. Melhel Mactaoum and therefore is called Pyramidal Salt and in Arabick Melh el Mactaoum From the said Lake you return and Lodge in one of the Monasteries and next day come back to the Nile where you must stay for a passage to Caire or Rossetto if you have not retained the Boat that brought you CHAP. LXXII Of Aegypt the Nile Crocodiles and Sea-Horses AEGypt called by the Hebrews Mis Raim Aegypt Masr and by the Arabs at present Masr and in Turkish Misr is bounded on the East by the Red Sea and the Desarts of Arabia on the South by the Kingdoms of Bugia and Nubia The borders of Aegypt on the West by the Desarts of Lybia and on the North by the Mediterranean Sea. This Country lies so low that the Land cannot be seen till one be just upon it and therefore those that sail to it ought to be upon their Guard. Aegypt has no Ports on the Mediteranean fit for Ships except Alexandria and the Bouquer which is rather a Road than a Port The course of the Nile in Aegypt The River of Nile runs through the length of it and having its Course from South to North discharges it self into the Mediterranean by two mouths upon the sides of which stand two fair Towns to wit Rossetto to the West and Damiette to the East two miles below which it mingles its Waters with the Sea and by that division makes a Triangular Isle in Aegypt This Triangular Island was by the ancient Greeks called Delta because in Figure it resembles the Character Δ. The Delta of Aegypt One side of that Triangle is beat by the Mediterranean Sea on the North and the other two are bounded by the two branches of the Nile which divide at the point of this Triangle so that the three points or angles of this Triangle are the first at the place where the Nile divides it self into two the second at Rossetto and the third at Damiette The first Angle is at an equal distance from the other two to wit from Rossetto and Damiette and from that Angle it is five or six Leagues to Caire so that the Nile has only those two mouths which are Navigable for great Vessels for though there be some others yet they are no more but Rivulets The breadth of the Nile This River is broader than the broadest part of the Seine but it is not very Rapid unless it be at its Cataracts where it falls from so great a height that as they say the noise of it is heard at a very great distance When it overflows it seems to be a little Sea. The water of it is very thick and muddy but they have an Invention to clarifie it For in that Country An invention for clarifying the water of the Nile they make use of great Vessels of white Earth holding about four Buckets full of Water when they are full of Water they rub the inside of the Vessels with three or four Almonds at most until they be dissolved and in the space of a quarter of an Hour the Water becomes very clear and for that end most of those who bring Water to Houses have a Paste of Almonds wherewith they rub the Vessels as I have said After all this Water is so wholesome that it never does any harm though one drink never so much of it because it comes a great way over Land to wit from Ethiopia So that in so long a course and through so hot a Country the Sun has time to Correct it and cleanse it from all Crudities and indeed it is sweated out as fast as one drinks it In short The number of Villages upon the Banks of the Nile they have no other Water to drink in Aegypt and therefore most of the Cities Towns and Villages are upon the sides of the River and there are so many Villages that you no sooner leave one but you find another and all the Houses in them are built of Earth This River abounds not much in Fish and we had but one good Fish of the Nile at Caire which they call Variole and that is rare too Variole Crocodiles but there are a vast number of Crocodiles in it which perhaps is the cause of the scarcity of the
Fish Crocodiles are Amphibious Animals for they live both in the Water and upon Land They have a Head flat above and below the Eyes indifferently big and very darkish which has made many say that they always weep after once they are taken but it is a fable They have a long sharp Snout full of long and sharp Teeth but no Tongue The Body is large and all of a bigness the Back covered with high Scales like the heads of the Nails in a Court-Gate of a greenish Colour and so hard that they are proof against a Halbard they have a long Tail covered over with Scales like the Body their Belly below is white and pretty tender They have four short thick Legs there being five Claws in each of the Fore-feet and only four in the Hind-feet In a word a Crocodile resembles very much a Lizard and grows as long as it lives some of them are above twenty Foot in length but I have seen little ones half a Foot long This and the Hippopotamus are the only Animals who in eating move the upper Jaw and move not at all the under The Crocodile is very strong and one day as I caused one of them which was eight Foot long to be skinned four Men stood upon it whilst they were slitting up his Belly but it stirred and strugled with so much force that it threw them all four off it is also very strong liv'd for when they skin it after they have cut the Throat and opened the Belly of it if it catch hold of any thing in its mouth it will never part from it As it happened once to a Moor whom I knew who having skinned one for a French-man who had a mind to keep the Skin and cutting the Throat had separated the Head from the Body so that there remained no more but the Head sticking to the Skin all the flesh being taken out he untied the Snout but immediately thereupon the Jaws opening caught hold of one of his Fingers which with its Teeth it cut clear off The flesh of a Crocodile is not bad but it is somewhat insipid and not at all poysonous as many believe for I have tasted of it and found it to be good the Barbarians eat heartily and make a great Feast of it These Creatures are great lovers of Mens flesh and therefore they are very terrible all along the Nile not only to little Boys whom they frequently devour when they come to the River-side to do their Needs for these cunning creatures hide themselves but also to Men whom they surprise sometimes in their Boats. For in the Night-time they rise upright and thrusting their Snout into the Boat endeavour to catch hold of a Man and if they can but pull him into the Water they quickly master him and that is the reason that no Body will willingly venture to Swim in the Nile It is another most erroneous fable also that a Crocodile will weep like a young Child to draw People about it whom it may devour How Crocodiles are taken it is a thing altogether unknown in that Country To catch these Creatures they make a great many Pits by the River-side which they cover over with Sticks and such other things and so when they come to pass over these Ditches especially when the Water encreases which is the time when most of them are taken because then they venture farthest out they fall into them and cannot get out again They let them fast there for several days then let down some Gins with running Nooses wherewith they muzzle their Snout and so pull them up and carry them to the Quarters of the Franks The Moors say That at old Caire there is a Talisman against the Crocodiles which makes that they never pass beyond old Caire but that is false for there are of them at Rossetto and Damiette and they are to be seen upon the way to Caire not indeed in any great number because commonly they keep off from the Sea but there some at least to be found there They never come into the Khalis because as I think it is narrow but if they did they might do a great deal of mischief for when the Water runs in it it is full of Swimmers Hippopotamus There are Hippopotamuses or Sea-Horses also in this River and there was one taken at Girge in the Year 1658. which was immediately brought to Caire where I saw it in the Month of February the same Year This Creature was of a kind of Tawny Colour the hinder part of it was much like to a Buffler however its Legs were shorter and bigger it was about the bigness of a Camel and had a Muzzle like an Ox. The Head of it is like to a Horses and very great but its Eyes small It had a very thick Neck a little Ear wide and open Nostrils thick large Feet and almost round with four Toes in each like a Crocodile a little Tail like an Elephant and little or no Hair upon the Skin no more than an Elephant In the lower Jaw it had four great Teeth half a Foot long two whereof were crooked and as big as the Horns of an Ox and one on each side of the Jaw the other two were streight and of the same bigness as the crooked but standing out in length Many said at first that it was a Sea-Buffler but some others and I knew it to be a Sea-Horse because of the description that is given of it by Writers It was brought Dead to Caire by some Janizaries who shot it on Land where it was come to feed they fired several shot at it before it fell for the Bullets hardly pierced through its Skin as I observed but they fired one shot which hit it on the Jaw and made it fall For many years before such an Animal had not been seen at Caire But to return to the Nile this River causes all the fruitfulness of Aegypt and if it failed to overflow one year there would be a Famine in the Land nay if it did not rise sixteen foot there would be great Scarcity as also if it grew four and twenty foot it would likewise occasion a Dear 〈◊〉 because the water covering all the Land too long Seed-time would be lost when it ebbs off it leaves a fat nitrous slime upon the ground which so fattens the Land that it would produce nothing through too much Fatness if they did not sow Sand upon it before they plant or sow any thing therein so that they are at the same pains to put Sand on their Land to unfatten it as we are to Dung ours Not that it never rains there as many Dreamers would have us believe in Christendom squeezing their Brains to give a reason for that which is not in Nature for it rains much at Alexandria and Rossetto also but at Caire which stands higher it rains less and yet I have seen it rain very hard every year for two days together in the
poor Pilgrims of all Religions and when I was there there were a great many Persons who were already come to perform the Pilgrimage of Mecha I went out of that Hospital by the opposite side to that which I entered it and on the left hand I saw the Stables where the Pilgrims Horses are put if they have any Pursuing my way I found to the right hand another Cloyster of the same Architecture as the former and which belongs to the same Hospital it is for poor Scholars and hath also its Mosque Being come out of the Morestan and going streight forwards I went along a street where on each side are little Chambers for poor Pilgrims also and over head Rooms for the Women Pilgrims Then I came to a great House which hath a square Court where they make the Bisket for Mecha and there I saw several hundred Sacks full though it was as yet three Weeks to the time of their setting out upon the Journey They made this Provision because it is the custome that at Damascus two hundred Camels are loaded with Biskets and as many with Water at the Grand Seigniors expences to be distributed in Charity amongst the poor Pilgrims on the way Keeping on my way I crossed the Horse-Market where stands a great stone between four and five foot high about three foot broad and half a foot thick wherein some lines in Arabick are cut but so worn out that they cannot be read but with great difficulty the meaning of them is that when this stone shall be covered with water then Damascus will be taken Nevertheless Monsieur de Bermond who conducted me to these places told me that some years before he had seen so great an inundation that he believed the stone was covered with water at least as far as he could perceive from a high place pretty near from whence he discovered all that Market-place and could not see the stone near to which many Franciscan Friers were here tofore put to death for the faith We came in the next place to the bazar of Horse-saddles it is so called because that is the onely Commodity sold there having advanced a little into it we saw on the left hand the great Bagnio which I shall describe then we entered into the City again by the Gate of Paboutches on both sides of that Gate there is a great Flower-de-luce cut in the Stone A Flower-de-luce We passed by the Gate called Bab-Fardis which was to our left on our way to Bab-Salem with out which but close by it is the conjunction of three Rivers this is an extraordinary pleasant place Keeping still along the side of the Wall we entered the City again by the Gate called Bab-Thoma and returned to our Lodging All the Coffee-houses of Damascus are fair and have much water Coffee-houses of Damascus but the fairest of all are in the Suburbs Amongst the rest that which is in the Sinanie and is called the great Coffee-house because of its vast extent is very delightfull by reason of the many Water-works that are in Basons full of Water there That which is near the Serraglio Gate and is called the Bridge Coffee-house because it is near a Bridge upon the River is so much the more delicious that the River borders it on one side and that there are Trees all along before it under the shade of which they who are upon the Mastabez of the Coffee-house have a pleasant fresh Air and the view of the River running below them The Coffee-house of the two Rivers which is near the Gate of the Paboutches and where the length of the Castle ends is also fair and large two Rivers pass by it which at the end of a great covered Hall makes a little Island full of Rose-bushes and other Plants whereof the verdure and various Colours with the smell of the Flowers delight at the same time several senses and give a great deal of agreeableness to a scituation otherwise so advantageous For you must know that these Rivers which I call little are at least four fathom broad and commonly five or six All know what a Coffee-berry is from which these places take their denomination I have spoken of it in my former Travels and shall onely add in this place what I learned of the qualities of that drink to wit that being drank very hot it clears the head of vapours moderately hot it binds up the body The Effects of Coffee and cold it is laxative At Damascus there are Capucins and Monks of the holy Land whose houses are near to one another in the quarter of the Maronites and just over against their Church where also they say Mass because each of these orders have their Chappel there There are Jesuits also in that City but they live a pretty way from thence in the quarter of the Greeks and celebrate in their own house I stayed four and twenty days in Damascus but could have been willing not to have stayed so long because of the troubles I was threatned with A false report being spread about the Town by the malice of some and perhaps of a Servant whom I had turned away that I had thirty thousand Chequins with me all ways were used to snap some of these pretended Chequins and for that end as I had information the Capicoules or Janissaries lay several times in wait to Arrest me upon some false pretext nay the same Chorbagi whom I met upon the Rode as I came from Saide having sent for Monsieur Bermond a French Merchant who was his friend told him perhaps to pump him that I had told him I was his Kinsman but that in short he knew I was a great and rich Lord and that I should look to my self because several threatened me and that he would serve me for his sake if I stood in need of it This report daily encreasing and I being very well known by face the onely remedy I had was to leave Damascus but seeing there was no opportunity of a Caravan I could not be delivered by that means so soon as I could have wished and I was forced to resolve to keep within Doors or at least not to stir abroad but as little as I could whilst I stayed for the occasion of some Caravan I could not doubt of the danger I was in especially when I knew that they watched the Reverend Father George a Jesuit who amongst other kindnesses he shewed me took the pains to come and teach me the use of the Astrolabe which obliged us for the future to correspond onely by Letters Notwithstanding all these cautions my Quality and Purse augmented daily in the mouths of the people In the mean time as luck would have it the night before my departure I had an express from Monsieur Bertet one of the chief Merchants of Aleppo upon occasion of my writing to him to give me notice when there was a Caravan ready to part for Bagdad In a trice
hair come for it falls off every year Having then passed by a great many sorry Ruines of houses and crossed a little Brook about half an hour after nine we were got by a large round Pond full of yellowish rain-Rain-water where the Curds were watering a great number of Cattel of which the chief and most common are black Goats of whose hair they make their Tents The Village of Teldgizre Mount Taurus Half an hour after ten we passed by a great Village called Teldgizre which was to our left and then we were got so near Mount Taurus that was also to our left that it was not above an hours march to the foot of it following the current of a little Brook which was on the same side half an hour after eleven we came and encamped near a great Village called Kizilken by which that rivulet runs I observed on the way that day that they were but then cutting down their Corn whereas at Aleppo they begin to cut about the end of May or beginning of June After we were encamped we felt notwithstanding our Pavillions so hot a Wind A hot Wind. that it seemed to have mustered together and brought with it all the heat of the Air and I think that a man standing near a great flame which the Wind blew upon his face could not feel a hotter Air. Kizilken is a great Village all inhabited by Syrians we found some Carpous Kizilken or water-Mellons there which were ripe and good and these did us a great deal of kindness In the night-time there came Robbers several times but they that watched making as if they would fire upon them they made some silly excuses and marched away From Kizilken we parted next day being Friday the eighteenth of July half an hour after one of the Clock in the Morning and continued our way East-South East about four a Clock we saw on our right hand two very solid well built houses but abandoned as well as the old Ruines that were to our left Half an hour after seven we arrived at a great Village called Kodgiasar where the Customer came to take his dues Kodgiasar but not knowing that I was a Franck asked me nothing In former times it was a very great Town and some very high and substantial Buildings still remain and amongst others a spacious Church rarely well built First you enter into a large Court along which stands the Church that hath seven doors all stopt up except the middlemost which hath a great Nich on each side over these doors there has been Mosaick work the place whereof is still to be observed and at the four Corners of the Court there has been four very high square Steeples covered with little Domes of which at present there are onely three remaining and of these too but one entire The other two want onely the Dome they are built of pretty little Free-stones with Ornaments of Architecture and so is the Church also the middle wherof is covered with a Dome rough cast over and the Walls supported by good large stone-Butteresses The Turks having converted it into a Mosque have made a Keble in it and a little Pulpit to preach in Near to this Town runs a Water that passes under a Bridge of five Arches to say the truth it is not very good but there are good Wells and each house has one There is one in the middle of the Court of that Church and hard by it a kind of Dome supported by several Pillars but for what use I know not unless it be to wash in as the Turks do when they go to their Mosque Kodgiasar is over against Merdin that stands upon a hill to the North-East of it the Castle is on the very top of the hill and is seen at a great distance Merdin being four hours Journey from Kodgiasar The Customer of Merdin came to our Camp for his dues and demanded of me as a Franck five Piastres and therefore made my man Prisoner but my Moucre brought him out he was informed that I was a Franck by a Turk of the Caravan who was the onely man of them all that shewed any aversion to me The Castle of Merdin is so strong that the Turks say no Army is able to take it seeing they have both Spring-water and Cistern-water They will have it that Tamarlan lay seven years before this Castle who to shew them that he would continue there untill it were taken caused the Trees below it to be cut down and new ones planted of the fruit of which when they began to bear he sent to the Garrison and that the besieged to make the best shew they could sent him Cheese made of Bitches milk as if it had been of the Milk of Ewes which wrought a good effect for he was perswaded by that that they had not as yet spent their sheep and despairing to force them he raised the Siege though he had prevailed in all the other Sieges that he attempted There is a Basha at Merdin and almost all the Inhabitants of Kodgiasar are Robbers We stayed there all Saturday because the Customer had not as yet agreed with our People what he was to have of every load having asked too much at Kodgiasar there still remain many fair Steeples and other antiquities standing in several places The same Saturday the nineteenth of July there arrived a little Caravan near to our Camp which came from Aleppo and was going to Van. On Sunday the twentieth of July we parted from Kodgiasar about three a clock in the morning half an hour after five we past by a great Village called Toubijasa Toubijasa which was on our left hand and is onely inhabited by Syrians So soon as we passed it we came into a great plain sowed with Cucumbers and Melons A Field of Melons and Cucumbers of which those of our Caravan took as many as they could eat and carry with them notwithstanding the Cries of the poor People Men Women and Children who had no better payment than ill words as if they had been much in the wrong for complaining that their Goods were forcibly taken from them About nine a Clock we passed a little Water and after that found the Tents of some Curds three quarters after nine we encamped near a Village called Futlidge Futlidge near to which there is a Well of good Water in Winter they encamp at a Village near the Mountains Caradere called Caradere a little on this side because there are Grotto's in them to lodge in We parted about two of the Clock in the Morning directing our way East-South-East such hot Vapours steemed out of the Earth that for breath and that I might not be stiffled I was forced to fan my self which made me think of the Sausiel which I had already heard so much of Half an hour after five we saw on the side of the way to the left the Ruines of a great Castle
as well as those of Keuschkzer by Schah Abbas who took their Country and gave them good Lands to Cultivate in this place they make Wine but their Grapes come from Maain We parted from thence Wednesday the fourth of March half an hour after five in the morning and at our setting out saw on our right hand two good Fields watered with several Brooks that come from Springs which are plentiful in that Country where the people live in Villages We marched on through a Plain in good way until Noon when having passed over a Bridge of seven Arches under which a River runs Oudgioun we came to a Village called Oudgioun four Agatsch from Asoupas we found a Kervanserai there but it stank so by reason of the great quantity of Carrion and filth that was in it that we could not Lodge therein so that we were fain to encamp hard by under Carpets which we pitched instead of Tents A River fix or seven Fathom over runs through this Village the water of it is very muddy and has a Bridge of seven small Arches over there is Wine also in this place and the Grapes are brought from Maain Within a Mosque there lyes Enterred the Son of a King Schah-Zadeh-Imam-Dgiafer called Scbah Zadeh-Imam-Dgiafer whom they reckon a Saint the Dome is rough cast over before the Mosque there is a Court well Planted with many high Plane-Trees on which we saw a great many Storks that haunt thereabout all the year round We parted from Oudgioun Thursday the fifth of March half an hour after two in the Morning and having advanced a quarter of an hour through Grounds full of water we had the way good till half an hour after Four that we went up an extraordinary high and uneasie Hill because of the stones that lay in the way it is called Chotal-Imam-Zadeh-Ismael Chotal-Imam-Zadeh-Ismael that is to say the Hill of Ismael the Son of an Imam and we were above an hour in mounting it We found on the top a great many Camels coming from Schiras loaded with Tabacco which is brought from Beban after that for above two hours we went down Hill in pretty good way save that here and there we met with some stones one would have thought that we had changed the Climate when we came to the top of the Hill for the side by which we came up was all covered with Snow and on this side there was none at all on the contrary it was full of wild Almond-Trees that bear a bitter Fruit and other Trees which with their Verdure delighted the sight When we were a good way down we came to a Mosque where that Ismael the Son of Imam who gives the name to the Hill is Enterred The outside of that place looks like a Castle with a round Tower at each corner within there is a Court at one end of which is the Mosque whose Frontispiece is a Portico six Arches in length and in the middle of the Mosque there is a Dome rough cast close by it is a Village with a great many Gardens watered by a lovely Brook that runs hard by We then continued our Journy in stony way till Eleven a Clock that we found a River about a Fathom and a half over which divides it self into many Rivulets that water all the Grounds thereabout being very good Land and all sowed The water of that River is very clear and has many Trees growing on the sides of it which render it a very pleasant place The River of Main or Bendemir or Kur it is called the River of Main because it runs by Main but it is the Bendemir and I was told that its right name was Kur from which the Son of Cyrus who there was exposed took his name Bendemir signifies the Princes Dyke and it is so called because of a Dyke or Bank that a Prince made there consult as to that the Geography of Diagiaib Makhlouear This River is the second Araxes of Quintus Curtius Diodorus Siculus and Strabo We kept along the side of it and crossed many of its Canals until about one of the Clock we arrived at a large Village called Main fix Agatsch from Oudgioun Main We Lodged in a good Kervanserai where we found some men who accompanied to Mecha the body of a Lady who had desired to be buried there There are many Gardens all round this Village full of Vines that bear good Grapes and abounding also in Pear-Trees Peach-Trees Walnuts and other Fruit-Trees with water-Melons and other Melons We parted from Main Friday the sixth of March half an hour after two in the Morning and presently left the High-way striking to the left over Sowed Ground till we got near to the River we were obliged to do so because the High-way would have led us to a place where the River was not Foardable and they take not that way but when it may be Foarded over the other way leads to a Bridge we followed the current of the River which is the same that runs by Main until half an hour after Three that we crossed over the Bridge consisting of three Arches but the middlemost a very large one under which the water is very rapid a quarter of an hour after we found a great Brook that falling from the Hill discharges it self in the River a little farther on we saw upon the River a Bridge broken down and a quarter of an hour after the ruins of another Bridge in this place there are a great many small Brooks that lose themselves in the River we then went forwards in good Way till day that we began to ascend a little In these Quarters is the Hill which Alexander the Great made himself Master of by stratagem sending Soldiers by a compass about to surprise the Enemies on their back whilst he Attacked them on the Front as Quintus Curtius relates it a Franck shewed me one separated from the rest which he said was the very same but there was little probability in that because there are a great many such thereabouts and it is very difficult to pitch upon the right besides I did not see how it could command the Passage which is too wide in that place to be Locked in by Mountains About Eight of the Clock we came to a Bridge built over the River of Main or Bendemir which at that place is at least nine or ten Fathom broad This is a rapid River and seems to be deep the water of it is thick and swells high in Winter for they assured me that then it swelled up as high as the Bridge which consists of five Arches but somewhat ruinous nevertheless it is called Pouli-Now Pouli-Now New-Bridge that is to say the New Bridge having passed it and left a way on our Right Hand we took to the Left and having Travelled on an hour and a half more in a Plain till about half an hour after nine we Encamped near to a Kervanserai
with his Trunck That instrument which many call a hand hangs between their great Teeth and is made of Cartilages or Gristles He 'll make them play several tricks with that Trunck salute his friends threaten those that displease him beat whom he thinks fit and could make them tear a Man into pieces in a trice if he had a mind to it The governour sits on the Elephants Neck when he makes him do any thing and with a prick of Iron in the end of a Stick he commonly makes him Obey him In a word an Elephant is a very tractable Creature provided he be not angry nor in lust but when he is so the Governour himself is in much danger and stands in need of a great deal of art to avoid ruin for then the Elephant turns all things topsy-turvy Elephants furious and would make strange havock if they did not stop him as they commonly do with fire-works that they throw at him Elephant-hunting is variously performed Elephant-hunting In some places they make Pit-falls for them by means whereof they fall into some hole or pit from whence they are easily got out when they have once entangled them well In other places they make use of a tame Female that is in season for the Male whom they lead into a narrow place and tie her there by her cries she calls the Male to her and when he is there they shut him in by means of some Rails made on purpose which they raise to hinder him from getting out he having the Female in the mean time on his back with whom he Copulates in that manner contrary to the custom of all other Beasts When he hath done he attempts to be gone but as he comes and goes to find a passage out the Huntsmen who are either upon a Wall Elephant hunters or in some other high place throw a great many small and great Ropes with some Chains by means whereof they so pester and entangle his Trunck and the rest of his Body that afterwards they draw near him without danger and so having taken some necessary cautions they lead him to the company of two other tame Elephants whom they have purposely brought with them to shew him an example or to threaten him if he be unruly She Elephants go a year with their young Elephants live 100 years There are other Snares besides for catching of Elephants and every Country hath its way The Females go a Year with their young and commonly they live about an hundred Years Though these Beasts be of so great bulk and weight yet they swim perfectly well and delight to be in the Water So that they commonly force them into it by Fire-works when they are in rage or when they would take them off from Fighting wherein they have been engaged This course is taken with the Elephants of the Great Mogul who loves to see those vast moving bulks rush upon one another with their Trunck Head and Teeth All over the Indies they who have the management of Elephants never fail to lead them in the Morning to the River or some other Water The Beasts go in as deep as they can and then stoop till the Water be over their Backs that so their guides may wash them and make them clean all over whilst by little and little they raise their bodies up again CHAP. XXV Of other Curiosities at Dehly Painters of Dehly THe Painters of Dehly are modester than those of Agra and spend not their pains about lascivious Pictures as they do They apply themselves to the representing of Histories and in many places one may meet with the Battels and Victories of their Princes indifferently well Painted Order is observed in them the Personages have the suitableness that is necessary to them and the colours are very lovely but they make Faces ill They do things in miniature pretty well and there are some at Dehly who Engrave indifferently well also but seeing they are not much encouraged they do not apply themselves to their work with all the exactness they might and all their care is to do as much work as they can for present Money to subsist on People Rich in Jewels There are People in Dehly vastly rich in Jewels especially the Rajas who preserve their Pretious Stones from Father to Son. When they are to make Presents they chuse rather to buy than to give away those which they had from their Ancestors They daily encrease them and must be reduced to an extream pinch before they part with them There is in this Town a certain Metal called Tutunac that looks like Tin but is much more lovely and fine and is often taken for Silver that Metal is brought from China Theban Stone or Garnet They much esteem a greyish Stone there wherewith many Sepulchres are adorned and they value it the more that it is like Theban Stone or Garnet I have seen in the Countries of some Rajas and elsewhere Mosques and Pagods wholly built of them Screws at Dehly The Indians of Dehly cannot make a Screw as our Lock-smiths do all they do is to fasten to each of the two pieces that are to enter into one another some Iron Copper or Silver wire turned Screw-wise without any other art than of souldering the Wire to the pieces and in opening them they turn the Screws from the left hand to the right contrariwise to ours which are turned from the right to the left Citrul Flowers drive away the Flies They have a very easie remedy in that Country to keep the Flies from molesting their Horses when the Grooms are so diligent as to make use of it For all they have to do is to make provision of Citrul Flowers and rub them therewith But many slight that remedy because it must be often renewed seeing the Curry-comb and Water takes it off I cannot tell if these Flowers have the same vertue in our Country The Women of Dehly are handsome and the Gentiles very chast The Women of Dehly insomuch that if the Mahometan Women did not by their wantonness dishonour the rest the Chastity of the Indians might be proposed as an example to all the Women of the East These Indian Women are easily delivered of their Children and sometimes they 'll walk about the Streets next day after they have been brought to Bed. CHAP. XXVI Of the Festival of the Kings Birth-day THere is a great Festival kept yearly at Dehly on the Birth-day of the King regnant It is Celebrated amongst the People The Festival of the Kings Birth-day The pomp of the Festival much after the same manner as the Zinez of Turkey which I described in my first Book and lasts five days It is Solemnized at Court with great Pomp. The Courts of the Palace are covered all over with Pavillions of Rich Stuffs all that is magnificent in Pretious Stones Gold and Silver is exposed to view in the Halls particularly the great
to those that enter the Port but they have not been continued At the end of the Mole which shuts in this Port there is a Tower to secure the Entry much about the middle of the said Mole stands another Tower on the top of which there is a great Light kindled every night to let Ships out at Sea know where they are This is but a kind of a melancholy Town though the Streets be fair and large in viewing of it I saw written over the Door of the Cathedral Church in pretty large ancient Characters Gran-Mercy a Messine when the French became Masters of Sicily Messina was the first place that surrendred unto them and that the memory of it might be preserved they caused that Inscription to be made Before this stately and large Church there is a great Square or Piazza with a Theatre in the middle of it where the Victory of Lepanto is represented on Brass and a Brazen Statue of Don John of Austria stands The Novitiate of the Jesuites stands upon a Hill higher than any place of the Town and seeing the whole Town and Harbor may be seen from the Gardens of it I readily embraced the offer that a Jesuite made me of carrying me to them Having pass'd through some spacious walks he led me to a very high Garden Scylla Charibdis from whence he shewed me Scylla and Charibdis which heretofore rendred that Streight so dangerous that all that pass'd it thought themselves certainly lost Scylla is a Rock pretty near a Castle on the Italian Shoar over against the Phare of Messina this Castle is called Scyllio from whence that Rock hath had the Name of Scylla As for Charibdis it is near and opposite to the Port of Messina but is not dangerous but when two contrary Eddies meet which making Vessels turn round for some time suck them down to the bottom without remedy To avoid them one must keep as near or as far off of the Port as possibly can be for the danger is in the middle betwixt the Port and the Land of Italy on the other side Though the greatest danger be in that place yet the Port is not free from it for the Jesuite told me that it hath sometimes happened that a Ship being got into the Harbour and having saluted the Town hath been carried out again by the currents and cast away in sight of the place The old Proverb Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charibdim was not said without reason for when Men have avoided the danger of one of these Rocks they may very easily fall upon the other if they have not a care The Fable which said that Charibdis and Scylla were two Sea Monsters surrounded with Dogs that barked has its original from the great noise these Waters make by beating and clashing one against another so that especially when they beat against Scylla one would think it were the barking of great Dogs Now to prevent the casting away of Ships in those Passages the Messineses have always a great many Pilots purposely in readiness Pilots hired by the Messineses and payed by the City of whom there is always one standing Sentinel upon a high Tower and when Ships or other Vessels finding themselves in imminent danger fire a Gun these Pilots fail not to put off in their Boats and assist them The Jesuite led me into another Garden higher than the rest hard by which there is a Bastion that Commands the Town and all that House of the Jesuites he told me that there were eighteen strong Castles in Messina Eighteen Castles in Messina The Messinese jealous of the Spaniards of which the Spaniards held but four the rest being in the hands of the Messineses who are so jealous of the Spaniards that these having built a Fort at the end of the Port they made another on the opposite side of the Water a Musket shot only distant from that of the Spaniards This is a very rich Town by reason of the great Trade in Silk that is driven there They have no Inns for Strangers which is a great inconvenience to them being obliged to lodge in a wretched Tavern upon the Harbour which they call the Barraque where the Entertainment is very bad All things are cheap there the Wine is strong but very bad and this City is an Archi-episcopal See. CHAP. III. Of Sicily Island of Sicily Capo Difaro Capo Passaro Capo Boco Pelorus Pachinis Lilibaerus SICILY is an Island of a Triangular Figure the point of each Angle making a Cape one of these Capes is called Capo Difaro the other Capo Passaro and the third Capo Boco which in ancient times were called Pelorus Pachinis and Lilibaerus Many think that heretofore it was joined to Italy from which it is but three miles distant but that it was separated from it by the force of the Sea which made to itself a passage betwixt them and others say it was done by an Earthquake The phare of Messina dangerous This Streight which is now betwixt the Island and Calabria is called the Phare of Messina and is most dangerous to be passed not only because of Charibdis and Scylla but also because the two points of Land of the Continent and Island are in a manner locked one within another This is the most considerable Island of the Mediterranean Sea as well for bigness which is near seven hundred miles in circuit as for its fruitfulness for it produces all things in abundance and because of its plenty of Corn excellent Wines Olives and many other such things it was heretofore called one of the Granaries of Rome It contains a great many very fair and rich Towns Mount Gibello Aetna but it is much infested by Mount Gibello anciently called Aetna which continually casts forth abundance of flames it is also much subject to Earthquakes which make strange havock in it It hath been under the Dominion of many Nations and hath belonged to the Greeks Carthaginians Saracens French and last of all to the King of Spain who has a Vice-Roy there The Vice-Roy of Sicily and where he resides The Manners of the Sicilians that holds his Residence six Months of the Year at Palermo and the other six at Messina This mixture of so many different Nations of whom all Sicily hath retained some vice has made the Sicilians so ill natured as they are at present they are very haughty and jealous and there is no vice that comes amiss to them Revenge continues in Families there for hundreds of Years and as their temper is extremely vindicative they are so mistrustful of the French because of the cruelty of the Sicilian Vespers that judging the nature of the French by their own they think that the other can never forget an affront that cost so much blood and was never heretofore parallel'd They wear always by their side a Dagger two hands long and three fingers broad and you shall not find a Tradesman
health they attribute this Virtue also to the Benediction of St. Paul and several Barks are yearly loaded with it to be transported into other places of Christendom Amongst the Rocks of this Island they find those Stones that look like a Serpents Eye The Stone of the Serpent's Eye which some carry upon their fingers set in Rings because of the virtue that they are thought to have against poyson This Island is very populous and when in the Year 1590 a Calculation was made of the number of the Inhabitants by Command of the Count of Alvadelista Vice-Roy of Naples that he might know what quantity of Corn was necessary for them they found in the Bourg the Old Town the Town of Valetta the Isle of St. Michael and in seven Parishes which contain above thirty six Villages seven and twenty Thousand Men not reckoning the Knights of the Order and their Servants The Maltese are of a brown complexion and are much of the nature of the Sicilians at least in point of Revenge The Women are beautiful and pretty familiar in the streets they cover their heads with a Mantle that reaches down to the ground but though they hide their own face yet they see every body without being known The Native Language of the Isle of Malta is Arabick but the Italian is very common there especially in the Town The Isle of Malta hath several Ports and Creeks well defended by Forts built upon them Marsamouchet a great Sea-Port in Malta but amongst others there are two great Havens open to the East North East one of which is called Marsamouchet and the other is the great Port these two Ports are separated by a tongue of pretty high Land on the point whereof the Castle of St. Erme was built and since adjoyning to it the City Valetta The Port of Marsamouchet is for Ships to perform their quarantine in before they have access to the Town and for such as by reason of foul weather cannot get into the great Port as also for Casairs who coming only for a short stay put not in into the great Port because it is not easie to get out again There is a little Island in this Port and in it the Lazaretto where they who are to perform their quarantine lodge The great Port contains several Havens within it and is secured by two Rocks Many Ports in Malta one on each side of the Entry on that which is on the right-hand the Castle of St. Erme is built in foul weather it is very dangerous to come near it and special care must be had both in coming and going out of it having pass'd these Rocks you see to the left-hand a Haven where the Vessels that come from the Levant and are not to stay at Malta put into that they may be separated from the rest advancing a little further you pass betwixt the Town of Valetta which is to the right-hand and the Castle of St. Angelo to the left Castle of St. Angelo in Malta standing upon the point of a tongue of Land along which lies the Bourg at the back of the said Castle after that you find another Haven to the left-hand which is very good and safe and is betwixt the Bourg and the Isle of Sangle Isle of Sangle which is a tongue of Land inhabited almost like to that of the Bourg to which it is parallel these two tongues reaching from East to West like two fingers of a hand The Galleys of the Order are laid up in this Haven and all the Vessels that are to make any stay at Malta either to load careen or refit put in there it being shut with an Iron Chain There is a little Haven at the bottom of this Port staked in where in the Evening all the small Barks are shut up lest Slaves might make their Escape in the Night-time Beyond the Island there is Water further up but it is of no depth from the entry of the great Port to the extremity or rather bottom of it it is at least two miles CHAP. VI. Of the Castles St. Angelo and St. Erme AS soon as the King of Spain had given the Island of Malta to the Knights of St. John Philip de Villiers l' Isle-Adam Castles St. Angelo St. Erme The Great Master Villiers who at that time was Great Master of the Order came and took possession of it and lodged in the Castle of St. Angelo as the rest of the Order did in the Bourg But Sultan Soliman not satisfied with the Isle of Rhodes out of which he had driven that illustrious Order having a design utterly to extirpate those men who though but few in number had put him to so much trouble and from whom he was still apprehensive of more mischief sent in the year 1565 a powerful Army to take the Isle of Malta Soliman sent and Besieged Malta La Vallet Great Master Mount Pelegrino The Siege of Malta It arrived there in the month of July Friar John of Valetta being then great Master and landed towards Mount Pelegrino The Turks presently attacked the Castle St. Erme which wholly defends the Entries into the great Port and Marsamouchet they raised their Batteries in the place where the Town of Valetta stands which was not then begun to be built and battered that Castle so furiously that having killed all that defended it they made themselves Masters of the same Then they turned against the Bourg and the Isle De la Sangle The Country is defended by the Castle St. Angelo which stands at the end of it on the side of the Port upon a very high Rock and difficult to climb up so that it is almost inaccessible The Isle De la Sangle is defended by a Bastion on the point of it They gave several Assaults to both these places where they landed many thousand Men but all in vain for they were still repulsed with great loss In the mean time though the Castle St. Angelo did so continually annoy them that they durst not shew themselvs yet they battered the Isle so furiously that they ruined the Works and resolved to make a general assault because being Master of that Isle they could break the Chain that secured the Port The Port of Malta secured by a Chain which was stretched from the Castle St. Angelo to the Spur of the said Isle The Great Master having notice of their resolution caused Port-holes to be made in the Castle St. Angelo level with the water without opening them on the outside yet so contrived and made that a knock of a Hammer might give them an opening wide enough for his design He there caused Guns to be planted with all expedition When it was day the Turks sent off a great many Boats manned with Soldiers to give the assault to the Spur of the Isle and at the same time the Canon of the Castle St. Angelo appearing level with the water fired with so good success that
the Boats being sunk all the Men were drowned They made afterwards many vain attempts but finding succours come from Christendom and despairing of the Enterprise they drew off They parted from the Island about the end of September 1565. having for the space of three Months in vain employed a vast Army against a handful of men The Knights of Malta terrible to the Turks but very valiant as those at present are who so molest the Turks with seven Galleys only that they look upon no Enemy to be so formidable and commonly how many soever these Infidels be when they percieve any of the Galleys of Malta they fail not to run for it and asmuch as they can avoid any Engagement Since that time the breaches of the Castle St. Angelo have never been repaired Nature of it self making it strong enough CHAP. VII Of the City Valetta Valetta AFter the Turks were gone the Religion resolved to build a new Town where the Great Master with all the Religion might commodiously dwell and for that end they pitched upon the tongue of Land on the end whereof the Castle St. Erme stands from whence the Turks had so furiously driven them The great Master La Valette layed the first Stone of it on the Twenty eighth of March 1566. and from his own Name called it the City Valetta whereupon this Punn was made Plus valet valor Valettae quam fortitudo Valettae The valour of the Great Master Valetta playing upon the Names of the Great Master and Town It hath been ever since so fortified that I am very apt to believe few Fortifications in the world can match it The Entry into the Port of it is defended by the Castle St. Erme which at present is impregnable there being no way to batter it but from the New Town which encompasses it by Land and on the other side towards the Sea it is inaccessible as being built upon a very high Rock Baraque Next to this Castle is the Baraque where nine Pieces of Cannon are Planted under cover which hinder any approaching to the Port The entry of the Port is besides defended by the Baston of Italy The Bastion of Italy in Malta A fair Canon-Royal of the Turks at Malta which is very high and Planted with six Pieces of Cannon that lye open Upon this Bastion there is a fair Basilick or Canon-Royal which with another of the same size the Turks left on Malta when they raised the Siege for being in haste to be gone and unable to put on board these pieces because of their prodigious weight they threw one of them into the Sea near the Land where still it is and cannot be weighed and the other remained on shoar On the other side of the Port is the Castle St. Angelo which still defends it and on the same side without the Port but near the entry of it upon a point of Land there is a Tower with two or three Pieces of Canon which serves also for security of the Port. The Governour of the Bourg takes care to send Men thither to guard it This Town is no less strong by Land than towards the Sea being begirt with good Walls built upon very high Rocks with several Bastions and other Pieces of Fortification It is besides always well stored with Provisions from Sicily which supplies it with all it needs so that considering the excellent Fortifications that cover it and the danger of the Channel that makes that the best appointed Fleet cannot lye above two months before Malta I may be bold to say it is impregnable Malta impregnable The Fortifications of it are no less goodly than good and yield a most pleasant Prospect Those that arrive at Malta take great delight to see the Baraque covered with lovely Trees planted in rows There is a very pretty and high Garden which looks into the Port below the Bastion of Italy it is full of Orange an Lemon-Trees planted in rows and a great many Fountains where the Water-works playing very high render the place altogether delighful and this Garden was made by the Great Master Lascaris The Great Master Lascaris A lovely and commodious Fountain in Malta There is a Fountain upon the Port which is very ornamental it is just by the Sea-side and there a Dolphin under the feet of a Neptune throws water up to a great height This Fountain is so commodiously placed that Vessels may Water there without carrying their Casks a shore Near to this there is a very thick Rock through which the Great Master Lascaris caused a Passage to be cut so that one can very easily walk from one end of the Port to the other which before could not be done because that Rock reaches to the Sea. You must mount up hill from the Port to the Town which is small for one may go round it in half an hours time but it is very pretty it hath two Gates one that leads to the Port and the other to the Countrey There are several Churches in it of which that of St. John is the chief it hath no Piazza indeed The Church of St. John in Malta before the Porch but a very lovely one before one of the Gates at the side of it and at each angle there is a Fountain on the out-side This is a great and wide Church pretty high and well built it is all paved with lovely Marble and adorned on high with a great many Colours taken from the Infidels There are eight Chapels for the Inns and the several Knights place themselves in the distinct Chapels of their Inns. Near to the great Portal there is another Chapel where all the Great Masters are buried In that Church many fine Reliques are kept amongst others the Right-hand of St. John Baptist The Right-hand of St. John Baptist Zizim the Brother of Bajazet at Rhodes The Great Master D' Aubusson which only wants the two last and least Fingers This Hand was given to the Knights by Bajazet Second Emperour of the Turks who fearing that his Brother Zizim who fled to Rhodes in the Year 1482 to avoid the cruelty of his Brother who would have put him to death might rise against him stipulated the same year with the Great Master D' Aubusson to pay him yearly 40000. Duckets to the end he should not suffer him to make his Escape to wit 30000. for the Entertainment of Zizim and 10000. for the repairing the Damages that Mahomet his Father had done at the Siege of Rhodes that summ was punctually payed so long as Zizim lived The same Bajazet knowing that the Knights of Rhodes had a great veneration for the Reliques of St. John their Patron made them a present of this Hand which he found in the Treasury of Mahomet his Father having been brought from Antioch to Constantinople as it is marked in Gothick Characters upon the foot of the Reliquary of Massive Gold where that Relique is kept
There is there also a Hand of St. Anna which only wants the Finger they presented to the Queen-Mother of Louis XIV the present King of France when she was brought to bed of that Monarch They have besides many other Reliques and store of very rich Ornaments There are several lovely Buildings in that Town and amongst others the stately Palace of the Great Master A fair Magazine of Arms. In it there is a considerable Magazine of Arms not only for the quantity which is so great that I was assured it was enough to arm thirty five or forty Thousand Men but also for the good order the Arms are kept in all the several Pieces being by themselves in distinct places and kept clean by Slaves who are continually at work there The Arms of the Great Masters who have been wounded in Action are to be seen there with marks upon them Near to the Gate there is a Canon made of bars of Iron fastened together by Wire with a very thin case of Wood over it and the whole covered with thick and hard Leather A Canon covered with Leather well sewed That sort of Canon was invented for the convenience of Transportation because they may easily be carried over Mountains and other rough and difficult places but after they have been twice or thrice fired they are no more fit for service This Palace of the Great Master looks into a large Square that is before it in the middle whereof there is a lovely Fountain that throws up water in great quantity and to a great height The Great Master Lascaris was at the charge of above fourscore thousand Crowns in making of it the Water being brought to it above six Leagues off upon high Arches made in the Rock and indeed it is of great use for it supplies all the Town with running Water which before had no other but Rain-water to use The Water runs into all the streets by little Conduits made purposely to convey it into Cisterns so that when any one has a mind to fill his Cistern with Water he speaks to the Fountain-keeper who sends him as much as he pleases by stopping the Conduits which cross that which leads to his House and that also which is under the Gate to the end the Water may stop there and by a hole or pipe run into his Cistern At one end of that Square A Pillar erected by the Great Master Verdela Palaces of the Conservatory and Treasury Inns of Malta Hospital of Malta Poor Travellers lodged and entertained at Malta there is a Pillar about fifteen foot high erected by the Great Master Verdela with his Arms upon it The Palaces of the Conservatory and Treasury are fair Buildings also and so are the Inns. The Hospital is very well built and the Hall for the sick Knights hung with rich Tapestry where they are attended by Knights and served in Plate All the Sick are received and very well treated in this Hospital Nor are poor Travellers refused for there they have bed and board till they find a Passage for the place whither they are bound and then they are furnished with Provision put on board and all their Charges born during their Voyage The Jesuites have also a very well built House and keep Colledge there All the Houses even to the meanest make a very good shew being built of square Stones cut out of the Rock which does not cost them much for the Rock is very soft and when a Man is about to build the first thing he does is to make his Cistern because out of it he gets Stones that serve in the Building and the rest he has about the Town for they have them for their labour This is a kind of Stone that long retains its whiteness so that the Town seems still to be new All the Houses of it are built with a terrass or flat Roof and one may go from one street to another upon the terrasses of the houses There are in it many lovely Piazza's or Places as that which is before the Palace of his Eminence another betwixt the Houses of the Conservatory and Treasury and the Market-place which is pretty and square A lovely Fountain artfully made in Malta 1655. In this last is the Fountain made by the Great Master Lascaris in form of a large Basket of Stone very well cut and pierced through all round it stands upon a Pedestal about three foot from the ground In this Basket there is a Spire or Obelisk about four foot high with Festons of Flowers hanging from the top to the bottom of the four angles of it and on the top of that Obelisk there is another little pretty Basket The Water rises so just at the four angles of the Obelisk in the first Basket that it all falls into the little one which being pierced through sends the Water back to the Basket underneath from whence it falls down into a great Stone Trough where the Horses water and from that Trough into another little one a foot high where Dogs and other little Beasts drink The Streets of this Town are incommodious in that one is always going either up hill or down hill but they are wide and streight and for the most part begin and end at the Town Walls the fairest of all is the Street that reaches from the Castle St. Erme to the Royal Gate it is almost a mile in length and here it is that they make Horses and Asses run the Pallio on days of Publick Rejoycing Coming along that Street from the Castle St. Erme you mount a little and pass betwixt the Palace of his Eminence on the left-hand and the Square before it which is on the right then you go betwixt the Palace of the Treasury which is on the right-hand and a Piazza less than the former at the end whereof is the Palace of the Conservatory A little more forward on the right-hand is the Inn of Auvergne which is very pleasant by reason of a great many Orange-Trees at the entry Next is the Inn of Provence that has a very lovely Frontispiece and betwixt these two Inns but to the left there is a pretty handsom Piazza at the end whereof there is a Gate to enter into the Church of St. John as I said before so that in this Street one sees the beauty of the Town CHAP. VIII Of the Grove and other Walks in the Countrey-Fields and of the Isle of Gozo THE Countrey is full of Gardens and very agreeable Places of Pleasure Walks of Malta The Grove which is but twelve miles from the New Town is a delightful place whither the Great Masters commonly go to divert themselves This place was embellished by the Great Master Verdala who was made a Cardinal there he built a Palace in form of a Castle with so much uniformity and contrivance that there is not so much as a foot of ground lost all the Halls are adorned with excellent Painting which
within adorned with Gold and Azure and the Floor they walk upon covered with fine Carpets which is the reason that men commonly put off their Shoes when they enter them for fear of spoiling the Carpets The Walls are faced with pure Tiles like China In all the Halls and Chambers they have a rising half a foot or a foot high from the Floor Divans which they call Divans and these are covered with richer Carpets than the rest of the Room with embroidered Cushions set against the Wall upon these Divans they rest receive visits and spend the best part of the day In all Palaces the Womens appartment is separated from the rest of the Lodgings and no Man enters it unless the Master of the House or some Eunuch Hans There are also many great buildings in the City in form of the Cloysters of Monks which they call Hans they consist for the most part of a large square Court in the middle whereof there is a Fountain with a great Bason and Arches all round the Court under which all along the Walls are the Doors of the Chambers which are all alike and have each of them a Chimney These Arches support a Gallery that ranges all round the Court as that below The Lodgeings of Merchants and this Gallery has also Chambers on the side like to those that are underneath these Hans are for lodging of Merchants If you would have a lodging room there you must speak to the Porter of the Han who keeps all the Keys and for opening it as they call it you give him a Piastre or half Piastre and for every day you stay there one two or three Aspres according to the rate that is set you may hire a Ware-house for goods in the same manner These Hans are very well built and the chief Walls are of Free-stone The fairest in Constantinople is that which called Valida Hhane the Han of the Sultana Mother because the Mother of the present Grand Signior built it It is a very convenient place for strangers who always find a House ready to hire and at an easie rate so that having a Quilt some Coverings Carpets and Cushions you have a furnished House to lodge in and these Hans yield a very considerable revenue to those to whom they belong The Houses of Constantinople mean. As to the Houses of Constantinople they are very ordinary and almost all of Wood which is the cause that when Fires happen as they do very often they make great havock amongst them especially if a wind blow there were three Fires in Constantinople in the space of eight months that I so journed there Constantinople much Subject to fire the first hapned on the day of my arrival and burnt down eight thousand Houses the other two were not so great In the time of Sultan Amurat such a fire raged there for three days and three nights as ruined one half of the Town it is true the Houses being but little and built more of Timber than any thing else they are soon rebuilt again and for a small matter Baltadgis For putting a stop to these fires there are men called Baltadgis that 's to say Hatchet-men who have a constant pay from the Grand Signior When a fire breaks out in any place they beat down the neighbouring Houses with Hatchets beginning sometimes twenty or thirty Houses from the fire for the fire runs so fast that it is soon up with them these fires most commonly are occasioned by Tobaco for the Turks easily fall asleep with a lighted Pipe in their mouths Causes of fire and seeing they smoak when they are in Bed it is very easie for the Fire that falls out of their Pipes to take on materials that are so prepared to receive it These accidents of fire are sometimes also occasioned by the Souldiers who raise a fire with design to rob Houses whilst the people are labouring to quench it The streets of Constantinople are very ugly being for the most part narrow crooked up-hill and down-hill There are several Market-places in the City but one must see the great Bezestain Great Bezestain which is a very large round Hall built all of Free-stone and enclosed with very thick Walls the Shops are within round the Hall as in Westminster-Hall and in these Shops the most costly Goods are to be sold There are four Gates into this Hall which are very strong and shut every night no body lies there and all the care they take is to shut their Shops well at night The litle Bezestain There is another Bezestain in the City but less where Goods of smaller value are to be sold CHAP. XX. Of Cassumpasha Galata Pera and Tophana HAving said enough of Constantinople we must now pass over to Galata which is as it were the Suburbs of it Galata is separated from Constantinople by the Port that is betwixt them there are on both sides a great many Caiques and Permes which will carry you over for a very small matter Caiques-Permes and land you where you have a mind to be Caiques are small Boats and the Permes are little slight Boats or Wherries and so tick'lish that by leaning more to one side than another it is an easie matter to overset them You may go to Galata by land if you 'll fetch a compass round the Port which is very spacious having crossed a little River of fresh water that discharges it self into the Harbour you go towards Galata and by the way you first find the Ocmeidan or field of Arrows it is a large place where the Turks practise Archery Ocmeidan and come in procession to make their Prayers to God for the prosperity of their Armies and for whatsoever they stand in need of Then you come to Cassumpasha which seems to be a great Village there by the water side is the Arsenal where Gallies Maones and Ships are built it contains sixscore arched Docks or Houses where Gallies may be put under cover or new ones built The Capoudan Basha Capoudan Basha or Admiral has his lodgings in the Arsenal where he commands and all who belong to the Sea depend on him In the same Arsenal is the Bagnio for the Grand Signiors slaves which is very spacious From thence you come to Galata separated from Cassumpasha only by the burying places that are betwixt them Galata is a pretty large Town over against Constantinople from which it is separated by the Port or Harbour it belonged hererofore to the Genoese and then was pretty considerable there is still a large Tower to be seen in it which they long held out against the Turks after they were Masters of Constantinople the Houses are good and well built many Greeks live there and it is the usual residence of the Francks In Galata there are five Monasteries of religious Francks to wit of the Cordeliers and their Church is called St. Marie of the Observantines or
Conventual Cordeliers and their Church is called St. Francis of the Jacobins who have St. Peters Church of the Jesuits who have St. Benet's Church and of the Capucius who have the Church of St. George By the Sea-side there is the finest Fish-market in the World it is a Street with Fish-mongers shops on both sides who have so great quantity of Fish upon their Stalls that it would surprise a man to see it There one may find all sorts of fresh Fish and at a very cheap rate The Greeks keep many Taverns or Publick Houses in Galata which draw thither many of the Rabble from Constantinople who are very insolent in their drink and very dangerous to be met with Going up from Galata you come to Pera which is likewise separated from Galata by Burying-places it is a kind of a Town where Christian Ambassadors dwell only the Ambassadors of the Emperor King of Poland and Republick of Ragousa having their residence in Constantinople The French Ambassador is very commodiously lodged in Pera having a fair large Palace which is called the Kings House and has on all hands a good Prospect looking one way towards the Serraglio of the Grand Signior over against which it stands upon a higher ground than the Serraglio Pera lying very high The Houses of Pera are handsome and hardly any body lives there but Greeks of Quality From Pera to Tophana there is a great descent and Tophana lies upon the Rivers side over against the Serraglio It is called Tophana that is to say the House of Cannon because it is the place where Guns and other Pieces of Artillery are cast and that gives the name to all that Quarter which is a kind of little Town The Houses of Galata Pera and Tophana are built in so good order that as these places stand some higher and some lower they represent a kind of Amphitheater from whence with ease and pleasure the Port and Sea may be seen CHAP. XXI Of Leander's Tower Scudaret the Princes Isle and the Black Sea. THough the Countrey about Constantinople be not so delightful nor so well peopled Iscodar as in France yet it is not without pleasant Walks you must take a Caique and go to Scudaret called in Turkish Iscodar and it is a good mile over to it You pass by the Tower of Leander which stands betwixt the Serraglio and Scudaret and you may go into it if you please This Tower is built upon a Rock in the Sea and is pretty strong there are several great Guns mounted in it which may batter the Port of Constantinople and the two mouths of the Bosphorus of Thrace and of the Propontis or as they say of the Black and White Seas there is a Well of excellent good fresh Water in this Tower but I cannot tell why they call it Leander's Tower. From thence you go to Scudaret which is a Village in Asia upon the Sea-side over against the Serraglio of Constantinople where the Grand Signior hath a sttately Serraglio and very lovely Gardens A little lower on the same side over against the seven Towers stands Chalcedon a Town anciently Famous and celebrated by the Fourth general Council that was held there but at present it is no more but a pitiful Village The Princes Isle which is four hours going from Constantinople is another Walk where the Air is excellently good though this Isle be not great yet it is very pleasant and contains two little Towns of Greeks The Chanel of the Black Sea is a rare place to take the Air upon this is the Bosphorus of Thrace which coming from the Black Sea to Constantinople enters into the Propontis and mingles its Waters with the White Sea at the broadest place it is about a mile over and is twelve miles in length Going from Tophana towards this Chanel you see to the left-hand on the side of Europe a great many lovely Houses and Gardens when you have entered into the Chanel you have on both sides the most charming and delightful Prospect in the World nothing offering to your view but stately Houses and Gardens full of all sorts of excellent Fruits Upon the side in Asia I saw a very pretty Castle where Sultan Ibrahim the Father of Sultan Mahomet who Reigns at present was hid for the space of twenty years to avoid the Death which Sultan Amurath put his other Brothers to This Castle is covered with many very high Trees that hinder it from being seen which is the reason as those who live there told us that few come to see it Along both the shores there are also a great many good Villages where one may have whatsoever is needful They take in this Chanel great quantities of good Fish of several sorts especially Sword-fish Sword-fish which are great and so called because on their Snout they have a long broad bone like a Sword or rather a Saw there are many Dolphins to be seen there which follow Boats playing and leaping out of the Water Six miles from Constantinople there are two Forts on this Sea the one in Europe and the other in Asia which serve for Prisons for Persons of quality and were built to put a stop to the Cosacks who were it not for that would often come and make Booty even in Constantinople seeing notwithstanding these Forts they sometimes give the alarm to that City In three or four hours time one comes to the end of the Chanel or Bosphorus of Thrace where the Black Sea begins In the middle of this mouth which is very narrow there is a little Isle or rather Rock distant on each hand from the main Land about fifty paces where being come you may go up to the top of it and there see a Pillar of white Marble which is called the Pillar of Pompey because they say it was raised by Pompey in memory of his Victory after that he had overcome Mithridates Close by this Rock and round it there are several others scattered here and there in the Water which many take to be the Cyanean Isles or Symplegades On the main Land of Europe side over against the Rock of Pompey's Pillar there is a Village on the Water-side with a Tower on the top whereof there is a Light for the convenience of Vessels that by mistake they may not run foul of the Rocks and be cast away for that 's a very dangerous Sea and many shipwrecks are made in it every year so that the Greeks call it Maurothalassa that is to say the Black Sea Maurothalassa not because the Waters of it are black but because Storms and Tempests rise on it so suddenly that they cause many losses and though the Weather be never so fair yet Vessels are often surprised there in a moment for besides that this Sea is not very broad there are several Currents in it caused by the Danube Boristhenes Tanais and many other smaller Rivers that discharge their Waters into it which occasion so many Eddies
the more honourable with the Turks The more honourable side because it is the Sword-side so that he who is on the right-hand has the Sword under the hand of him whom he would honour When a Turk walks with a Christian he will not willingly give him the left hand and it is very easie to make them agree as to that point for seeing with us the right hand is the more honourable both of them are in the place of honour CHAP. XXIII Of Baths or Bagnios THE Turks make great use of Bathing both for keeping their bodies neat and clean and for their healths sake For that purpose they have many fair Bagnios in their Towns and the sorriest Village that is Bagnios has at least a Bagnio they are all made after the same fashion and there is no difference but that some are bigger and more adorned with marble than others I 'll describe that which is at Tophana near to a fair Mosque as being one of the loveliest that I have seen You enter into a large square Hall A Description of Bagnios about twenty paces in length and of a very high roof all round this Hall there are Mastabez or benches of stone against the wall above a fathom broad Mastabez and half as high which are all covered with mats so soon as you come they spread you out a large napkin which they call Fouta upon the said benches Fouta where you sit down and lay your cloaths after you have stript In the middle of this Hall there is a great Fountain with a large Bason of marble for washing the Linnen that hath been used and when they are washed they are hung up to dry upon poles which are on high all round the Hall When you have sate down upon the napkin which they have spread for you they bring you another to put before you which you tie over your shirt before you pull it off lest you should show what ought not to be seen which would be a great crime that covers you behind and before from the girdle down to the knees Having pull'd off your shirt you put it with your cloaths in the napkin you sate upon leaving them there without fear that any body will touch them for the Bagnios are places of liberty and security as though they were sacred and there is no cheat ever committed in them for if any were the Master of the Bagnio would be obliged to make good what was lost or embeziled After you are stript you enter by a little door into a small room somewhat hot and from thence by another door into the great Hall which is very hot All these Halls are made with Domes having little glass windows to let in the light This great hot Hall is of a Pentagone figure each side being supported by two Pillars of white marble on each side there is a marble edging or rising about half a foot high and in the middle of that in the floor about two foot from the wall there is a little Bason of white marble two foot broad and over it a cock of warm water and a hands breadth above this cock another cock for cold water so that you mingle them as you please then you take large copper Cups which are alwaies ready for that use and with them throw upon yourself as much water as you have a mind In this Hall also there is a large stone-Fat full of hot water whereinto you may go if you please but that is not safe because a great many Rogues who have several diseases go into it though the water be often changed but if you be sure that no body has as yet been in it you may wash yourself there So soon as you enter into that great Hall you sit down upon the flat floor which is all of marble heated by Furnaces underneath then comes a Servant stark naked except those parts which modesty requires to be covered the Servants of the Bagnio are always so that they may be in readiness to wait upon those that come and making you lye out at length upon your back he puts his knees upon your belly and breast and embracing you very streight makes all the bones of your body arms and legs crack again to stretch and soften the sinews then laying you upon your belly he does the like on your back treading upon it so that he often makes you kiss the ground after that having shaved your chin and under the arm-pits he gives you a rasor to shave yourself every where else and you go into one of the little chambers that are made in the intervals betwixt the sides and being there you take off your napkin and hang it upon the door that so every one that sees it may know there is some body within which will hinder them from coming in and there you may shave yourself at your leisure If you be afraid that you may hurt yourself with a Razor they give you a bit of Paste The way of using Rusma made of a certain mineral called Rusma beat into a powder and with lime and water made up into a Paste which they apply to the parts where they would have the hair fetcht off and in less than half a quarter of an hour all the hair falls off with the Paste by throwing hot water upon it They know when it is time to throw on water by trying if the hair comes off with the Paste for if it be left too long sticking on the place after it had eaten off the hair it would corrode the flesh Rusma is a mineral like to the rust or dross of Iron What Rusma is it is much in use in Turky and sold in so great quantities that the Custom of it yields the Grand Signior a considerable Revenue In Malta they use instead of Rusma Orpiment which they mingle with lime for the same use Having taken off the hair and put your napkin about you again you return into the great Hall where you sweat as long as you please then comes a Servant with a Purse of black Camlet into which he puts his hand and rubs your body so hard all over that he clears all the filth from your skin yet without hurting you then he takes a lock of Silk with a bit of Soap in it and therewith rubs and soaps you all over after which he throws a great deal of water upon your body and washes your head also if you please with Soap Having done so he goes and brings you a dry napkin which you put about you in the place of the wet one then you return into the Hall where you left your cloaths where sitting down he pours water upon your feet to wash off the filth that you may have got in coming and after that he brings you hot and dry napkins wherewith you rub and dry your skin and when you cloaths are on again and you have seen yourself in a
Looking-glass that another holds to you you have no more to do but to pay and be gone The common price of the Bagnio is two Aspres to the Master and they who would be well served give as much to the Man. These Bagnios are very commodious and I believe the frequent use they make of them preserves them from many diseases The poorest person that is Man or Woman goes at least once a week to the Bagnio There are Bagnios whither the Men go one day and the Women another others whither the Men go in the morning and the Women afternoon and others again solely for Women When the Women are there they are served by Women and it is a capital crime for any Man of whatsoever religion or quality he be to enter into the Bagnio where the Women are The modesty of the Turks It is also a great crime but punishable only by shame or some Bastonadoes at most to show ones privy Parts or to look upon another Person 's These Bagnios are heated underneath and Lords of high quality have them in their houses for their own and Wives uses CHAP. XXIV Of the Turks way of Eating Drinking and Lying THe Turks make no sumptuous Feasts and it is never heard in Turkie that a man hath undone himself by House-keeping a small matter contents them and a good Cook in that Country would have but a very bad Trade of it The Turkish food What Pilau is for indeed they are all Cooks there and they have no Sauces but what one may learn to make at first sight Their most usual food is that which they call Pilau This Pilau is Rice put into a Pot with a Pullet a piece of Mutton and Beef or only one of these and for want of Meat with Butter and when the Rice has boyl'd a little they take it off putting it into a large dish with a great deal of Pepper upon it and sometimes Saffron to make it look yellow When it is eating time Soffra the Turks Table they spread upon the ground a Carpet of Turky Leather which they call Soffra upon which they set the Pilau and Meat and breaking the Bread into pieces they distribute it all round then they squat down upon their heels like Taylors about the Soffra and all make use of one blew Napkin that is long enough to go round the Soffra then having said Bismillah that is to say In the name of God Bismillah which to them is instead of Benedicite they eat their Pilau with wooden Spoons a foot long making a scruple to eat in Gold or Silver and nevertheless the Grand Signior has Dishes of Gold Plate as we shall shew hereafter When they have no Spoons they make an easie shift without them putting the Pilau with one hand into the other and so carrying it to their mouth When they come to the Meat one of the company with his Hands tears it to pieces using no Knife for that and then every one takes what they have a mind to They are at no trouble for the Beef and Mutton for before it be drest they cut it into small pieces whether for roasting or boyling They drink not commonly in time of meal but when they have eaten they rise and fill their bellies full of Water then they give God Thanks by a Handillah that is to say God be praised Having thus made an end of their meal they wash their hands for they wash not before they sit down to eat but only when they rise from it Their usual Drink is Water many of them also drink Wine The Turks Drink The Turks are not forbid to drink Wine and though Wine seems to be Prohibited by the Alcoran yet the good-fellows say that it is no more but an advice or council and not a precept However they drink it not publickly unless it be the Janizaries and other Desperadoes that stand in awe of no Man when they fall to drinking they drink a great deal and if they can have it for nothing they 'll drink till they fall a sleep again if they be let alone saying that it is no greater sin to drink ten quarts than one cup full they never mingle Water with it and laugh at Christians for doing so as a thing that seems altogether ridiculous to them In the Countrey about Constantinople and all over the Archipelago they have plenty of good Wine They have besides another Liquor which they call Boza Boza made of Barley or Millet and tasts somewhat like our Beer but not so pleasantly I tasted of it once but found it to be very bad and none but the meaner sort of people drink it because it is very cheap This Drink makes them drunk but they have another which they use very commonly they call it Coffee Coffee and drink of it all hours in the day This Liquor is made of a Berry that we shall mention hereafter They roast or parch it in a Fire-shovel or such like iron instrument then they peel it and beat it into powder and when they have a mind to drink of it they take a copper Pot made purposely which they call Ibrick Ibrick and having filled it with Water make it boyl when it boyls they put in this Powder to the proportion of a good spoonful for three Dishes or Cups full of Water and having let all boyl together they snatch it quickly off of the fire or stir it else it would run all over for it rises very fast Having thus boyl'd ten or twelve wambles they pour it out into China Dishes which they set upon a Trencher of painted Wood and so bring it to you scalding hot and so you must drink it but at several sips else it is not good This Liquor is bitter and black and has a kind of a burnt taste They all drink it sipping for fear of scalding themselves Coffee-bane so that being in a Coffee-hane so they call the place where they sell it ready made one hears a pretty pleasant kind of sippling musick The virtues of Coffee This Liquor is good to hinder vapours from rising up from the stomach to the head and by consequence to cure the Head-ach and for the same reason it keeps one from sleeping When Merchants have many Letters to write and intend to do it in the night-time in the Evening they take a dish or two of Coffee It is good also to comfort the Stomach and helps Digestion In short in the Turks opinion it is good against all Maladies and certainly it hath at least as much virtue as is attributed to Tea As to its taste by that time a man hath drank twice he is accustomed to it and finds it no longer unpleasant Some put Cloves to it some Cardamom-seed called in Latine Cardamomum minus which they call Cacoule and others Sugar but that mixture which renders it more agreeable to the palate makes it less wholsom and useful There
Hebrew Breath or Spirit They say then that he was conceived by the Breath of God in the Womb of the Virgin Mary a Virgin both in his Birth and after his Birth which goes a great way but they deny that he is the Son of God thinking it an unworthy thing to attribute a Son to God The opinion of the Turks concerning Jesus Christ who is One and hath no companion They believe that Jesus Christ is a great Prophet who wrought great Miracles among the Jews to whom he foretold the coming of Mahomet under the name of the Comforter that therefore they endeavoured to kill him but that having disappeared from among them and ascended up into Heaven they crucified Judas whom they took to be Jesus In the first Chapter of the Gospel of St. John at the tweny seventh verse it is said He it is who coming after me is preferred before me whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose where St. John means our Lord whose shoes latchet he was unworthy to unloose they say that is false and invented by the Christians and that it was not St. John who said that of Jesus but Jesus who said it of Mahomet They believe that Jesus will come and Judge the World that he shall reign forty years in Damascus Marry and have Children at which time Antichrist shall arise whom they call Dedgial who shall lead away many Dedgial especially of the Jews and put a mark on the foreheads of all those whom he shall deceive but that Jesus shall destroy Antichrist and all that have his mark When that time is expired that he shall again ascend up into Paradise then the Day of Judgment shall come after which that God shall create a sort of very little People such as are described by the Name of Pygmies who shall be great Drinkers for they shall drink the Sea dry and these they call Meijutch In short Meijutch they give great honour to Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary The Turks honour Jesus and the Virgin and if they heard any Man speak ill of them they would chastise him no less than if he spake amiss of Mahomet They believe that the Gospel was sent to Jesus as the Law was to Moses and the Psalms to David They believe all the Prophets They believe a Paradise that shall be filled with the Just and a Hell that shall be filled with the Wicked but they believe not Purgatory Aaraf and nevertheless they will have a place called Aaraf which is betwixt Paradise and Hell wherein they shall be who have done neither Good nor Evil. Mahomet promises the Blessed in Paradise wonderful Gardens where many Rivulets shall run The Turks opinion concerning Paradise and delicious Fruits abound 〈◊〉 all Seasons He says also that in that Paradise there shall be Rivers of Water Rivers of Milk Rivers of Wine and Rivers of Honey He promises them also that they shall be clothed in Green and Scarlet and that they shall have lovely Virgins whom they call Dgennet Kzlar that is to say Virgins of Paradise Dgennet Kzlar who shall be exceedingly beautiful as white as new-lay'd Eggs with great black Eyes and the complexion of the Body extremely white that they shall be alwaies young and never passing the Age of fifteen years have every day a new Maidenhead and never cast an eye upon any but them that they shall never exceed thirty years of Age and shall be served by young Boys that God shall appear to them once a week to wit on Friday They tell a thousand other Fopperies of this voluptuous Paradise which I shall not relate as having been mentioned by many Authours Mahomet promised them in this Paradise all things that he thought could work upon their senses and he feasts them with Gardens Fruits Brooks and Rivers because he was of a Countrey where it is excessively hot where there is but little Fruit and where Water is so scarce that a good Well is a great treasure He promises them Cloahts of Green and Scarlet because he delighted much in these colours as the Turks and Moors do at present especially in Green which is held in great veneration among them Seeing they are very lascivious he would have his Paradise provided with beautiful Maids and young Boys and because they reckon Women with big black Eyes and red Cheeks to be the greatest Beauties so they fancy to themselves those Coelestial Virgins who shall look upon none but their own Husbands which will be very grateful to them The opinion of the Turks concerning Hell. for they are jealous to extremity Those that are in Hell shall drink scalding hot Water and eat of the Fruit of the Tree Zacon this Tree grows out of the bottom of Hell and rises to a great height the Branches of it being like the Heads of Devils If those that are in Hell have a little Faith that is to say if they be not Atheists after that all their sins are consumed Zacon a Tree Selzaboul and they washed in a water which they call Selzaboul they shall be admitted into Paradise where they shall receive and enjoy as much happiness as those who entered at first And on the contrary they who have no Faith that is to say Atheists shall burn everlastingly in Hell-fire and their Bodies being reduced into Ashes by continual torments God shall create them a-new and so they shall suffer Eternally They pray for the Dead aswel as Christians and they likewise invocate their Saints as being able to recommend them to God. CHAP. XXX Of Tutelary Angels and of the Examination of the Black Angels THE Turks also acknowledge Guardian-Angels but in far greater number than we do for they say that God hath appointed threescore and ten Angels though they be invisible for the guard of every Musulman and nothing befalls any body but what they attribute to them They have all their several offices one to guard one member and another another one to serve him in such an affair and another in another There are among all these Angels Two chief Guardian-Angels of every Man. Kerim Kiatib two are the Dictators over the rest they sit one on the right side and the other on the left these they call Kerim Kiatib that is to say the Merciful Scribes He on the right side writes down the good actions of the man whom he has in tuition and the other on the left hand the bad They are so merciful that they spare him if he commits a sin before he goes to sleep hoping he 'll repent and if he does not repent they mark it down if he does repent they write down Estig fourillah Estig fourillah that is to say God pardons They wait upon him in all places except when he does his needs where they let him go alone staying for him at the door till he come out and then they take him into possession again wherefore when the
they wash they should say these words Bis millah el azem ve ellem doullillah allahdin islam Things unlawful when they wash That 's to say In the Name of the great God and praise to God the God of the Musulman Faith. When they wash there are some things unlawful which they call Meschreh as to wipe the Nose with the right Hand to wash any part oftner than thrice to wash with water heated in the Sun and to throw the water strong upon the Face There are many things also that render the Abdest unprofitable so that when any of these things happen they must begin it again Things that render them unclean And though they were not to pray yet after one of these they must wash their Hands or else they are unclean they are these If they happen to break Wind upwards or downwards if any blood or nastiness come out of their Body if they happen to Vomit fall into Passion faint away be Drunk laugh in time of Prayer embrace a Woman and touch any naked part of her to sleep during Prayer And indeed if any one fall asleep in time of Prayer the rest who are washed and prepared to pray will have a care not to awaken him for by doing so they would be unclean as well as he to be touched by a Dog or any other unclean Beast all these accidents evacuate the Abdest it must be renewed again before they begin their Prayers CHAP. XXXVII Of the form of their Mosques and their Prayers The form of the Mosques HAving spoken of their Ablutions some thing must be said of the form of their Mosques before I treat of their Prayers Their Mosques are called Mesdgid from whence the word Mosque hath been corrupted they are also called Dgemii that is to say place of Assembly These Mosques on the outside are like our Churches they have close by the side of them a Tower or Minaret and sometimes two four or six according to the stateliness of their Fabricks and these Minarets have a Balcony all round on the top Minarets The use they make of these Minarets is that at the hour of Prayer a Muezim goes up to the top of the Minaret and calls to Prayers The inside of the Mosques is very plain nothing to be seen but the four bare Walls on which the Name of God is written and in one of the Walls their is as it were a Niche which they call Keble that is to say the place to which they turn when they Pray This Niche in all the Mosques of Turkie is on the South Wall because when they pray they ought to turn towards Mecha Of the Keble which is to the South in respect of Turkie heretofore their Keble was towards the Temple of Salomon in Jerusalem to which they were to turn when they Prayed but Mahomet changed it in the second year of the Hegyra and put it on the side of Mecha which they have ever since observed They have also in their Mosque a piece of Stuff that has served at Mecha and a Pulpit where an Imam sometimes Preaches The floor of the Mosque is covered with Mats The hours of the Turks Prayers that the People may not be incommoded at Prayers They have Prayers five times a day the first is at break of day which they call Sabahnamaz the second at Noon which they call Oilehnamaz the third betwixt three and four of the Clock in the Afternoon which they call Quindinamaz the fourth at Sun setting which they call Akschamnamaz the fifth an hour after Night is in which they call Yatbinamaz On Friday which is their Sunday they have Prayers also at Nine a Clock in the Morning which they call Couschloucnamazi to which all goe and after that they may Work and open their Shops but most part Rest and make Merry that day which they call Dgiuma en hiun that is to say the day of Congregation When the hour of any of these Prayers is come for they whose business it is to mind that have for that end Hour-glasses and besides are regulated by the Sun when it shines a Muezim who is he that calls to Prayers goes up to a Minaret at every Mosque and stopping his Ears with his Fingers he sings and crys these words with all his force Allah ekber The words which the Muezims sing on the top of the Minarets allah ekber allah ekber eschadou in la illah illallah eschadou in Mahomet resoul allah hi alle sallatt hi alle fellat allah ekber allah ekber allah ekber allah ekber la illah illallah which is to say God is great God is great God is great God is great shew that there is but one God shew that Mahomet is his Prophet come and present your selves to the mercy of God and ask forgiveness of your Sins God is great God is great God is great God is great there is no other God but God he crys the same words towards the four Corners of the World beginning at the South and ending at the West Whilst he is crying every one does the Abdest and then all go to the Mosque They who cannot go to the Mosque say their Prayers at Home Being come to the Mosque Entring into the Mosques they leave their Shoes all leave their Paboutches or Shoes at the door and such as are afraid that they may be changed take them off their Feet and carry them with them in their Hand When they are entred they make a bow to the Keble then take their place and wait till the Imam which signifies Prelate begins their Prayer by these words Allah ekber that is to say God is great then they that are present say softly or aloud if they please I will imitate that Imam in what he doeth and they do all that he does And first The manner of the Turks Praying they put their hands upon their Shoulders and say Allah ekber then laying their Hands one over another upon the Navil they say some Prayers softly to themselves and at the end of every one prostrate themselves upon the Ground and say Allah ekber They are no longer prostrate than they can say a short Prayer then they rise and so prostrate themselves again several times If they pray in private they say to themselves I am going to say the Prayers appointed for the time which they name and pray as if they were in the Mosque They say the same Prayers every day only they repeat them more or less according to the Days When they lay their Hands upon their Shoulders the meaning of it is That they have quitted all Worldly Things and that they are in the presence of God. When they prostrate themselves that signifies that they adore God. At the Sabahnamaz when they pray How many Prostrations the Turks make they prostrate themselves eight times at Noon twenty times at the Quindy sixteen times at the Akschamnamaz ten times and at the Yatsinamaz twenty
four times When they pray they may be all Naked except their privy parts and so may their Slaves both Men and Women but Free-women are not permitted to do so for they are to be covered all over when they pray unless it be one half of the Cheek and Chin. This is the difference betwixt the Ceremonies of the Men and of the Women when they pray the Men lift up their Hands to their Shoulders say Allah ekber and then lay them on their Navil the Women lift them up but half way to their Shoulders and then lay them upon their Breasts saying their Prayers as the Men do and performing their Ablutions in the same manner Great Devotion of the Turks When Prayers are ended all both Men and Women bow first to the right side and then to the left as saluting the two Angels Kerim Kiatib In short none can be more Devout than they are for when they are in the Mosque they pray so affectionately that they turn neither this way nor that way what ever may happen And in my time a Fire breaking out one Night of the Ramadan in Constantinople at the hour of Prayer a Renegado told me next day that those who were at that time in the same Mosque where he was which was not far from the place where the Fire was consulted which was best not to break off their Prayers or go and put out the Fire and at length they resolved upon the latter The Reverence of the Turks in their Mosques They are never seen to Prattle and Talk in their Mosques where they carry themselves always with great Reverence and certainly they give us a Lesson for Devotion There are but few who go not every day to Prayers at least to those of Noon Quindy and Ackscham for many perform the other two at Home nor does Travelling excuse them for when they know that it is about the hour of Prayer they stop in the Fields near to some Water and having drawn Water in a tinned Copper-Pot which they carry always purposely about with them they do the Abdest then spread a little Carpet upon the ground without which they never Travel and say their Prayers upon it They have Chaplets also which they often say for most part have them always in their Hand whether it be at Home or abroad in the Streets talking with their Friends Buying or Selling or drinking Coffee and at every Bead they turn they say Allah which is the Name of God. CHAP. XXXVIII Of the Charity of the Turks and the Pilgramage to Mecha Charity of the Turks THE Turks Fourth Command is Charity by that Command they are obliged to give yearly to the Poor the fortieth part of their Goods if they have poor Kindred they ought to prefer them before others if they have none they should give their Charity to their poor Neighbours and if they have no poor Neighbours they give it to the first they meet This Command is not ill observed among the Turks for they are very charitable and very willingly help the wretched without minding Religion whether they be Turks The reason why there are few Beggars among the Turks Christians or Jews I will not say that the Charity alone of the Rich hinders the beggary of the Turks there are in my opinion other causes for most part of the Turks have pay from the Grand Signior they live at a cheap rate and make good chear of a small matter so that a little Pilau a bit of Meat and a small portion of water will make to them a considerable Feast Charitable Donations of the Turks But after all they perform great acts of charity some in their life-time relieve the Poor with their Goods and others at their death leave great Estates for the founding of Hospitals building of Bridges Kervanserrais or Inns for the Caravans bringing Water to the High-ways and such other publick Works nay many of them see them done in their own life-time others again at their death give their Slaves their liberty They who can't be charitable with their Purses do good with their Hands employing themselves in mending the High-ways filling the Cisterns that are there standing by the Waters when they are out that they may shew Travellers the Foard and all this for Gods sake refusing money when it is offered them for they do it as they say for the sake of God and not for the sake of Money Their Charity extends also even to Beasts and Birds The charity of the Turks toward Beasts and all Market-days there are a great many who go and buy Birds which they presently set at liberty saying that the Souls of these Birds will come at the Day of Judgment and declare in the presence of God the kindness that they have received from them and indeed they cannot endure to see a Beast kept in pain for when they kill their Pullets they cut of their head at one blow and if they saw a man kill any after the French way they would not forbear to cudgel him nay they reckon it cruelty to kill a Louse or Flea with the nail they do no more but give them one or two turns betwixt the finger and thumb and then throw them away dead or alive There are others who at their death leave considerable Means for the feeding so many Dogs or Cats so many times a week and give the money to Bakers or Butchers for performing that charity which is faithfully and punctually enough put in execution and it is very pleasant to see every day Men loaded with meat go and call the Dogs and Cats of the Foundation and being surrounded with them distribute it among them by commons I could here give an hundred Instances of the charity of the Turks towards Beasts An instance of the charity of the Turks toward Beasts I have seen them often practice such as to us would seem very ridiculous I have seen several Men in good garb stop in a street stand round a Bitch that had newly puppied and all go and gather stones to make a little wall about her lest some heedless person might tread upon her and many such like Examples but it is not my design to trouble the Reader with such trifles In fine Sultan Amurath who in all appearance had no Religion and who made so slight a matter of the life of a man that if a day past wherein he had not put some body to death he was out of humour this cruel Prince I say was affected with that superstitious and bestial compassion for seeing a man one day stop at the corner of a street in Constantinople to dine on a piece of Bread and a bit of roast Meat which he had bought hard by and hold his Horse that was loaded with Goods he had to sell by the bridle he ordered the Horse to be unloaded and the load put upon the Master's back obliging him to continue so all the while that
animate them the more after the Quindy he ordered the Bostangi Basha to go and Strangle such as he found The Bostangi Basha immediately went about the execution of his orders and half an hour after the Kzlar Agasi strangled was thrown out at a window a little beyond the Kieusk a little after the like was done to the Capi Agasi But after that the Seditious finding that the work was not continued according to their desire called to the Grand Signior Great King order the rest to be thrown out also Then the Grand Signior rising from his Throne swore by his Faith by the Law and by Mahomet that they could find no more but those two but that upon the word of a King those that were found should be delivered up unto them so bowing down his head he dismissed them and they having wished a thousand blessings to the Emperour departed draging the two dead Bodies with them by the feet to the Atmeidan where they hang'd them up by the feet upon the Elme before the New Mosque The Bostangi Basha was in search of the rest all the night long And then again on Monday morning the Seventh of March being returned to the Etmeidan as formerly a Greek who thrust in among them to Plunder if they came to that thinking he might easily pass for a Turk being known to be a Christian was immediately killed From thence they went to the Atmeidan whither were brought them three more strangled who were hang'd up with the rest The Kiaya Bey strangled himself to wit Hisouf Aga Giadgiou Ibrahim Aga and the Asoda Basha and the Kiaya Bey who gave occasion to all this strangled himself the same day Tuesday the Eighth of March Mahimut Chiaoux Basha was brought Wednesday they brought Mulklu Khadun the Wife of Chaban Kalfa who after she had been strangled was put all but the Head in a sack and hang'd up as the rest The Treasurer strangled It was said that she had got great Riches from the Queen-Mother The same day Habidgi Oglu High Treasurer was put to death in the Seven Towers whither he had been carried the Sunday before Chiaoux made Visier The Customer strangled Thursday the Tenth of March Chiaoux Basha was made Visier who immediately caused Assan Aga Master of the Custome-house to be brought to the Serraglio and strangled there he had hid himself in a house near to his own confiding in a Slave of his a Renegadoe who betrayed him and if the Grand Signior could he would have saved him for a recompence of the Slave's Treachery The Customer much regretted he took from him the Pay which he had The Body of the Master of the Custome-house was not carried with the rest to the Atmeidan and he was much regretted by all the Poor both Turks and Christians to whom he was very charitable He had done a great many publick Works at vast Charges as bringing of Water paving of High-ways and the like and was a Renegadoe Armenian Friday Bilal Aga and Chaban Kalfa strangled Friday the Eleventh of March Bilal Aga and Chaban Kalfa were strangled Saturday in the Afternoon the Twelfth of March all these dead Bodies were interred Saturday the Five and Twentieth of March Zornesan Mustapha Basha Captain Basha who had been made Caymacam before the Visirate of Chiaoux Basha was declared Mansoul and made Beglerbey of Erzeram Cara Mustapha Basha was made Captain Basha in his place Deli Bulhazer strangled Tuesday morning the Eight and Twentieth of March Deli Bulhazer was strangled Saturday the First of April Saale Efendi Tershane Emin Top Capelu Mustapha Aga and Mehmar Mustapha were strangled The Grand Visier dies Wednesday the Six and Twentieth of April the Grand Visier Chiaoux Basha died of a Fever I was told when he was in health that some had foretold he should not enjoy his Prosperity Fifty Daies and indeed he died on the Eight and Fortieth day of his Visirate but I believe he was poysoned for I heard that his Body was all black and blew after his death He had been Visier once already five years before and had put to death the Grand Signior's Grandmother and several other Persons of Quality in the space of about two months that he was in Place and then was made Mansoul Two hours after More changes in Court. him the Defterdar died A few days after the Captain Basha was made Mansoul and declared Basha of Aegypt Kienen Basha was made Captain Basha in his place and the Seal was sent to the Basha of Aegypt because Egriboyun Basha of Damascus who had been sent for to be Visier was sick and in the mean time Hisouf Basha was made Caymacam who three weeks after was declared Mansoul and Kaidar Zade named in his place Monday the Eighth of May they desired the Grand Signior to put out the Toug against Sedi Ahmet Basha a Rebel in Asia Abmet Basha a Rebel in Asia Toug who made Inrodes even to Scudaret The Toug is a Horses Tail fastened to the head of a Pike It is never put out but in extreme necessity and then all the Militia must take the Field A great many Sheep were then sacrificed and on Tuesday the Ninth of May it was put out and planted in the first Court of the Serraglio near the Dgebe Hane But the Grand Signior having held Council it was alledged by some that they could not march against Ahmet Basha without being at a vast Charge in putting all the Forces in good condition and it being the time when the Venetians were coming to the Dardanelles they would have none to send against them if all were sent that way whereupon the Grand Signior in a rage having asked Who was the Author of putting out the Toug And some saying Gelep Assan Aga with other Lords put to death that it was Gelep Assan Aga he was immediately put to death with Chamlu Mahomet Aga Pouscht Osman Aga and Cara Casch Mahomet Aga Commissary of the Fish-Markets and the Toug was ignominiously put up again a thing never done before The Night following Janizaries straugled fifty or sixty Janizaries were strangled and cast into the Sea and we heard the Guns go off as fast as they threw them into the water Wednesday the Tenth of May Resvan Beglerbey of Asia was Beheaded before the Grand Signior's Chamber This Gelep Assan Aga of whom we have been speaking had fairly raised his Fortune having in a very few days made above four hundred Thousand Crowns of the Presents which were sent him from all hands and especially from the Grand Signior's Mother who daily presented him After that Sedition he was environed with Bashas who with great submission made their court to him but he knew not how to carry fair in so great prosperity I thought fit to relate this Story at length according as I received it from a French Renegadoe who was present at all and daily gave me an account of what passed
to shew how insignificant a thing the Grand Signior is when the Soldiery is in an Insurrection CHAP. LV. Of the Christians and Jews that are Subjects to the Grand Signior THE Subjects of the Grand Signior who are not Musulmans The Grand Signior's Subjects are either Christians or Jews of the Christians the chief are the Greeks who use the same Habit that the Turks do only there are some colours which they dare not wear neither on their Head nor in their Body-Apparel for not only they but generally all who are not Turks whether Christians or Jews Subjects to the Grand Signior or not dare not wear Green on their Head or any other part of their Body and if a Christian or Jew be found with the least bit of Green about him he 'll be soundly Bastonado'd and pay Money to boot in so great veneration is the Green colour with them Nor dare Christians wear a Turban all white A white Turban for if he be taken with such an one whether he be a Subject of the Grand Signior's or not he must turn Turk or die for it Colours for those who are not Mahometans but they may wear of all other colours or of mixt colours provided there be no Green among them though still it be dangerous to wear all Red or all Yellow because the Soldiers affect those colours Neither dare the Christians who are Subjects to the Grand Signior wear yellow Paboutches upon pain of several Bastonadoes but only Red Strangers however may wear Yellow Papas The Papas or Greek Priests are always clad in Black and wear a black Cap with a list of white Cloth about it having a piece of black Cloth fastened to it within which hangs down upon their back They wear long Hair and so do their Monks also As for their Religion the chief point wherein they differ from the Church of Rome is that they maintain that the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father and not from the Father and Son together They acknowledge not the Pope for Head of the Church but have four Patriarchs who are Chief and have equal Authority in their several Patriarchates The first is the Patriarch of Constantinople the second of Antioch the third of Alexandria and the fourth of Jerusalem All the four are confirmed in that Dignity by the Grand Signior or by his Officers at least to wit he of Constantinople by the Grand Visier and the rest by the Bashas of the Countrey He that receives them gives them a Caftan or Vest the day of their Confirmation They admit not of Purgatory but yet allow a Third Place where they will have the Blessed to be in expectation of the Day of Judgment And nevertheless though they believe not that the Saints are in Paradise into which they say they are not admitted before the Day of Judgment yet they pray to them that they would intercede for them with God. At Mass they Consecrate with Leavened Bread such as we commonly eat they Communicate under both kinds aswel Laicks as Priests and aswel Women and Children as Men. They have four Lents The Greeks Lents and begin the First six weeks before Easter which they continue till Easter Day The Second fifteen daies before the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul until the Day of that Feast The Third the First of August until the Assumption which is the Fifteenth day The Fourth from the first Sunday of Advent until Christmas day and all this according to their Calendar which is the ancient During these three last Lents they may eat Fish and Oyl The Great Lent of the Greeks but in the first Lent they eat neither Oyl nor Fish nor any thing that hath blood but only Herbs and Shell-fish and that which they call Ceppia and we Cuttle-fish whose blood is as black as Ink and certainly what Busbequins says That the Greeks never eat Oysters is not true for they hardly eat any thing else during Lent and at all times they are great Eaters of Fish The Lent of the Armenians is stricter than that of the Greeks The Lent of the Armenians for during their Lent they eat no kind of Fish not so much as Shell-fish nor Oyl nor do they drink Wine but live only on Bread Water Herbs and Roots But to return to the Greeks their Churches are like ours save that the High Altar is divided from the rest of the Church by a wooden partition with three doors in it and that makes a kind of Sanctum Sanctorum They have no Images but in flat Picture The Greeks kneel not and not in Relief The Greeks kneel not in their Churches no not at the Elevation of the Sacrament but all lean upon Crutches and for that purpose the Greek Churches are always well provided with them The age of Greek Priests Priests married A Man with them cannot be a Priest if he be not full thirty years old Their Priests may have been Married once in their life to a Virgin and keep their Wives after they are Priests but being dead they cannot take other Wives The Caloyers or Religious Greeks can never Marry Caloyers These Monks eat no Flesh I shall not here spend time in describing their way of celebrating Mass which is in substance the same with that of the Latins nor shall I speak of their Sacerdotal Vestments which have their Mysteries aswel as the Candlestick with three Candles that signifies the Holy Trinity and the other with two which signifies the two Natures in Jesus Christ to wit the Divine and Humane Natures Every one knows also that in giving the Blessing they make the sign of the Cross from the right to the left whereas the Latins make it from the left to the right But let us say somewhat of their Marriage The Marriage of the Greeks Maids shew not themselves before they be married nor yet a long while after avoiding the sight even of their Relations and go not to Church for fear of being seen I saw a Maid married at Rhodes who had two other Maiden Sisters who were neither present at the Ceremony nor Rejoycings of the Wedding for fear of being seen The Greeks are married by a Priest as the Latins are and give a Ring in the same manner But over and above that they have something that the Latins have not Father and Mother of the Marriage for they take a Godfather and Godmother to whom they present some wrought Handkerchief at least I had one presented to me when once I was chosen for a Godfather The Godfather and Godmother present themselves before a Papas with the Bridegroom and Bride and while the Papas says some Prayers the Godfather and Godmother hold a Garland of Flowers interlaced with Orpine over the Heads of the couple that are to be married and a Pall over that When Prayers are said the Bridegroom and Bride holding one another by the hand turn several times while
broad it is four Foot long I mean the Blade of it alone for the Handle is almost a Foot long and they say that this is but one half of the Blade the other half being in the Grand Signior's Treasury it is so heavy that it is as much as one can do to hold it out with one Hand Near to that Sword is the Mace of Arms of the same Roland which is an Iron-Battoon twice as thick as ones Thumb and about two Foot long the Handle of it is covered with Copper which makes it very big and the end of it is armed with a great Lion of Copper Roland's Mace. In the same Chappel there are two Coffins each covered with a Pall of black Velvet and at the end of each of them there is a Turban They say that in these Coffins are the Bodies of Roland and his Son who as they believe Died both Musulmans The Sword and Mace of Arms lie upon a Table just before the Tombs The top of this Hill is but narrow but very pleasant there being a little Wood upon it And the Turks go often there to Feast and make Merry CHAP. LIX Of the Journey from Bursa to Smyrna The Caravane of Bursa BEing at Bursa I made ready to go to Smyrna with the Caravane that every Thursday goes from Bursa to Smyrna but because it was late before I came on Thursday it behoved me to stay Eight days in the mean time I made my provisions and that care is of no small consequence for you must make account to find nothing but water upon the Road and therefore one must carry a field-Bed to lye on Bisket for Bread will be spoyled a good Pastie Wine if you have a mind to drink any in a Borachio or other Vessel Vinager Oyle Salt Candle and all sorts of Utensiles not forgeting a Candlestick in short one must carry a kind of House-hold-stuff along with him if he would Travel conveniently The Turks are very dextrous at that for without any clutter they carry along with them all that is necessary and trust not to the places upon the Road for supply nay they will as easily Boyl the Kettle in a Desert as at home in their own Houses This was the first time that ever I went in a Caravane and therefore these preparations seemed a little uncouth unto me Caravanes are assemblies of Travellers who join themselves and Baggage together that they may go in company to any Place Caravane and so be better able to defend themselves against Robbers it any be abroad in the High-ways These Caravanes never lodge in Houses nor Villages but abroad in the Fields or in their Kervanserais if any be to be found Kervanserai a Kervanserai signifies the house of the Caravane and they are vast Buildings longer than broad made like a Market or Town-Hall There is a great place in the middle of them where the Horses Mules Camels and other Beasts of the Caravane stand and this place is surrounded with a low Wall three foot high joining to the great Wall these low Walls are six Foot broad above Mastabez and are called Mastabez and there the Turks take up their Lodging making it their Hall Parlour Kitching and all some of these Kervanserais are also made like a great Stable having Mangers on the one side to which the Horses are tied and on the other Mastabez where the Men repose eat and sleep There are others which have several little Mastabies to wit one betwixt every two Horses and there are others but very rare upon this Rode where there is a Stable for the Beasts and another place much like to it but distant for the Men. On Wednesday I hired two Horses for myself and Servant of the Master of the Caravane and a Mule for my Baggage and next day Thursday the seventh of September I parted with the Caravane from Bursa about two a Clock in the Afternoon Tahhtalie We came to lye that night at a Village called Tahhtalie about ten or twelve miles from Bursa and there we lodged in a Kervanserai Friday the eighth of September we parted from Tahhtali about two a Clock in the Morning and at Noon came to Loubat thirty Miles from Tahhtali where we lay Saturday we parted from Loubat at two of the Clock in the Morning and about eleven a Clock came to Sousurluk Loubat Sousurluk five and twenty Miles from Loubat There is a River there which we cross over upon a very sorry Bridge where I was many times in fear of being drowned or breaking my Neck for we were fain to step over upon ugly Planks pretty distant from one another Sunday about three a Clock in the Morning we parted from that Place and Travelled about twenty Miles there the way began to be very bad which continued so till Wednesday Monday we set out about four a Clock in the Morning and Travelled twenty Miles Tuesday we parted about five a Clock in the Morning and about eleven came to a Village called Dgelembe Dgelembe from that Village till we came to Smyrna the way was very good Wednesday we parted from Dgelembe about five a a Clock in the Morning and about eleven came to a Village called Palamout Palamout and though there be a Kervanserai in it which is the usual Lodging-place yet we stop'd not there but went on that we might baulk the Robbers whom we were afraid we might meet and stop'd two Miles beyond it in a Plain that we might rest a little and refresh our Beasts There were a great many Robbers at that time upon the Road and they were those who had escaped from the Battel of the Dardanelles most of them Barbary Men who gave no Quarter for not thinking it enough to Rob they Killed Travellers and that made us keep a good Watch and often look to our Arms having with us besides Troopers whom the Master of the Caravane had hired to Guard the Caravane who had indeed some Allarms upon the Road but they proved always to be false We took Horse again about two in the Afternoon and about five a Clock came to a pitiful Village or Hamlet near to which we lay abroad in the Fields for till then we had always lain in Kervanserais under cover There we found a great many water Melons water Melons which were a great regale for the Turks who are great lovers of Fruits and especially of that sort and indeed every one of them eat one at least for his share We left that wretched Lodging on Thursday about five a clock in the Morning and about eight came to a great Town called Manassa Manassa and lodged in a fair Kervanserai where we found every thing necessary nay Wine too for there are several Greeks there We stayed all that day and the next in that Town and parted on Saturday the Sixteenth of September about five a Clock in the Morning and the
and lyes just before it yet there are always a great many Saiques there going or coming from Constantinople Metelin and other places of the Archipelago and Aegypt The Galleys of the Beys commonly Winter there A little without the Harbour and about a Pistol-shot from the Mole there is a small Church in the Sea called St. Nicholas which serves for a Light-house and Signal aswel by day as by night for Vessels that would put into the Harbour because the entry into it is pretty narrow there being great Rocks on the side of it almost to the height of the water CHAP. LXII Of the Mastick-Trees The Monastery of Niamoni and the School of Homer BEing curious to see the Trees that yield Mastick Mastick-Tree which is gathered no where but in this Island I got a Janizary from the Master of the Custome-house and went with the Vice-Consul to Calimacha Calimacha which is one of the chief Villages of the Island There are two Gates to enter it of which one that was built four hundred years ago is still in good repair it is of no use at present and is always open There are six Greek Churches in this Village and about thirty round it with a Convent of Nuns This place is very well peopled and when I went there there were in it as I was told three hundred and forty eight Men who paid the Karadge all married for those who are unmarried pay no Karadge in that place Near to this Town there are threescore Mastick-Trees which I went to see they are Lentisks crooked like Vines and creeping upon the ground Dioscorides affirms that they yield Mastick in several other places but still acknowledges that the Mastick that grows elsewhere is rarer and not so good as that of Chio for having it they prick these Trees in the Months of August and September and the Mastick Mastick which is their Gumm sweating out by the holes they have made in the Bark runs down the Tree and falls upon the ground where it congeals into flat pieces which some time after they gather then dry them in the Sun and afterwards range and shake them in a Ranging-sive to separate the dust from them which so sticks to the faces of those that handle the Sive that they cannot get it off but by rubbing their faces with Oyl There are two and twenty Villages that have Mastick-Trees and among them all they have an hundred thousand of them for which they yearly pay to the Grand Signior three hundred Chests of Mastick which make seven and twenty thousand Oques at fourscore and ten Oques the Chest and every Oque contains four hundred Drachms In raising all this Mastick every one of the Villages where it grows is assessed at so many Oques according as they have more or fewer Trees for they know within a little how much every Tree can yield and seeing all years are not alike good or bad for all the quarters where they grow they who gather more than they are to pay sell to those who have not gathered so much as their Tax comes to at the rate of threescore Aspres the Oque for they assist one another as much as they can else they would be obliged to buy of the Master of the Custome-house at the rate of two Piastres the Oque Afterwards they sell what they have over to the Customer at the price of threescore Aspres the Oque A great monopoly of Mastick which turns to good acount to him for they are not suffered to sell to any but the Master of the Customs who sells it afterwards for an hundred and fourscore Aspres or two Piastres the Oque there being none but he in Chio that can sell any because it is a Commodity that belongs to the Grand Signior as the Terra Sigillata Terra Sigillata Terra Lemnia or Terra Lemnia is and for that reason they have Waiters upon all the Avenues of the places where the Trees grow who live in little houses purposely built for them and search all that come or go that way to see if they have any Mastick about them and that so strctly that my Janizary told me that once they had found a good piece about a Woman which she had hid in her most privy parts Whosoeever are taken stealing of Mastick are without remission sent to the Galleys This Mastick is a whitish Gumm of a very good scent The use of Mastick made use of in the composition of many Oyntments but the Greeks spend a great deal of in chewing and the Women and Girls more who use it so frequently that they are never without a piece of Mastick in their mouth That makes them spit much and they say it whitens their teeth and renders their breath sweet They put it also into their bread to make it more delicate and when upon my departure from Chio I made provision of Bisket I had little ones with Mastick made for me which were recommended to me as an excellent thing to drink a mornings draught with Niamoni Having seen the Masticks I took my way to Niamoni which is a Convent of Greek Calloyers some miles distant from Callimacha but the Way is very bad for there is nothing but up hill and down hill all over the island and this Convent stands among Woods and Rocks Being come there we went first to the Church that is fair and spacious and dedicated to Niamoni which in the vulgar Greek signifiies the Only Virgin This Church was built upon occasion of the miraculous finding of an Image and they relate the matter in this manner All the Countrey thereabouts was covered over with very thick Woods where lived many Hermites or Religious who observed one and the same rule these good Fathers saw a Light every night in the middle of the Woods and when they went towards the place to see what it was and were come pretty near they saw no more of it which strangely surprised them In fine this having continued a long while and they having several times discoursed together about it they resolved to set the Wood on fire in all parts and having done accordingly all the Trees were burnt but one on which they found an Image of the Virgin Constantine Monomachus Immediately they deputed some of their number to go to Constantine Monomachus Emperour of Constantinople who having related the Miracle to him he promised to build a Church there but being expelled the Empire shortly after he renewed to them his promise of building a Church in that place if God would be so gracious as to restore him to his Throne And indeed he was as good as his word The Church of Niamoni for recovering again the Empire he built it about the the Year of our Lord 1050. This Church is adorned with a great many pieces of Marble and Porphyry sent thither by that Emperour from Constantinople and among others there are two and
hundred distant from Chio on the top of this Mount there is a Church dedicated to that Saint This is so high a place that it is always covered with Mists and Snow In the middle of the Mountain there is so large and copious a Spring that it Waters all the Fields about which are fertile and abound in all sorts of Fruits Spartonda In a Wood hard by there is a Village called Spartonda where about fifty Persons only all Shepherds live but it is a delightful place affording good Water Calandre Coronia and excellent Fruits Betwixt the Village of Calandre that stands upon a Hill and Coronia consisting of about an Hundred and fifty scattering Houses there is a Bath of Sulphur by the Sea-side under extraordinary big Oaks this Bath is called Hayasma which signifies Holy or Blessed Water because the Water of it being drank Cures many Diseases but it Kills a great many People too by the violence of its Operation Three Miles from the Sea St. Helenas Town at the farther end of the Island is the Town St. Helena built upon a Rock and containing Two hundred Inhabitants it hath two Churches and a Chappel built just about the middle of the Hill where being hollow there hangs in the middle of it a point of a Rock from which Water contially drops and this Water they also call Hayasma Holy or Blessed Water This Water comes from the Mountain impregnated with Rain-Water or the vapours that rise from a deep Valley underneath where runs a Water that drives some Mills The Inhabitants of this place firmly believe that if a dead Body do not in forty days time corrupt Zorzolacas Hobgoblins it turns to a Hobgoblin which they call Zorzolacas or Nomolacas A dead body whose Ghost wandred about the Village in the Night-time And the Author of the Manuscript from whence I had this says That Travelling that way in the Month of April 1637. he found a Priest reading over a dead Body which he had caused to be raised after it had been fifty days in the Grave and was nevertheless still sound there being no sign of Corruption about it but a Worm that crawled out of the Eye The Priest told the Man who reports this that that Body or rather its Ghost went all Night about the Village knocking at the Doors and calling the People by their Names and that such as made answer died within two or three days after and that the Worm that came out of his Eye was but a Trick of the Devils to make it believed he was rotten This place is about thirty Miles from the City and they are all poor Shepherds that live there The Chappel in the aforesaid Rock is highly esteemed by all the Villages about From thence one goes to Volisso Volisso which is a great Village seated on a Hill with a Castle built by Belisarius General to the Emperour of Constantinople who going somewhere else by Sea was by a Storm forced to put on Shoar in that place in that Castle there is a Church with several Houses and Cisterns the Village contains about Three hundred Houses and about Fifteen hundred Inhabitants with several Churches The Country about it is very Pleasant Spacious and Fruitful and the Inhabitants make Five thousand Weight of Silk yearly with the Money whereof they pay their Tribute They are very vicious and it is thought they lie under a Curse of being almost always destitute of Bread. There is a place Varvariso The transformation of St. Marcella called Varvariso where there is a Church dedicated to St Marcella who as the Inhabitants of that place say was converted into Stone in a Grotto by the Sea-side whither she fled to escape from her Father who would have Defloured her and they say that on the day when the Church celebrates the Festival of that Saint Milk is seen to drop from the Breasts that are on the Rock Panagirio This with them is a solemn Feast which they call Panagirio the Priests singing praises to her all Night long Three Miles from that Village there is a Monastery dedicated to St. John and near to that Monastery is a Village called Fitta Fitta below which there is a great Valley corresponding to the Country about Volisso wherein there is a running Water that drives eight Mills which serves all the Villages about though every Peasant has a Hand-mill in his House wherewith the Women grind the Corn. From thence one goes to Sieronda Sieronda which is a very ancient spacious Tower inhabited by fifty Souls Lecilimiona all Shepherds who have a Church there a little further is the Village of Lecilimiona containing an Hundred and fifty Inhabitants with a Church There begin the Mastick-Trees About two Miles from thence there is a Village called Elata Elata whereof all the Inhabitants are addicted to the taming of Partridges Further on is the Village of Armolia Armolia where all the Earthen Ware that is used in the Island is made it contains about Five hundred Inhabitants and several Churches and lies in a Plain full of Mastick-Trees Over against this Village there is a Castle standing upon a very high Hill and is called Apolieno built by one Nicholas Justiniani in the Year 1440. Apolieno as may be seen upon the Gate of it It is of an Oval Figure with a double Wall and contains Threescore and two Rooms with two Cisterns one of which is Threescore Foot long and Forty Foot broad This Castle is very strong to resist the Corsares and has a Church in the middle of it The Village of Mesta exceeds all the rest in Strength and good Building Mesia it is of a Triangular figure lying in a Plain and containing Three hundred Inhabitants with several Churches About two Miles from thence there is a Harbour called Ayadinamy and another named San Nichita Ayadinamy San Nichita Pirgi this last is nearer the Village of Pirgi than Mesta Pirgi is a great Village with a Tower containing Two thousand Inhabitants and thirty Churches And this being all I had to say of the Villages that are among the Hills I shall now speak of others and first of Calamoty which hath several Churches Calamoty and about Seven hundred Inhabitants but no considerable House Chiny Vessa St. George Flacia Vono Nevita no more than Chiny inhabited by Three hundred People Vessa by Two hundred St. George and Flacia Vono is a great Village with a square Castle it hath about Five hundred Inhabitants and several Churches Over against this Village there is another called Nevita which is very great and hath a very high Tower an hundred Hands broad this place contains Two thousand five hundred Inhabitants and thirty Churches with two Monasteries one of Monks and the other of Nuns Without the Village there is also a Church dedicated to St. Michael the Arch-angel which is mightily crowded with People on that
herself being present and throw themselves into the water where he that stays longest under obtains the Maid in Marriage These are a sort of People that seem to be Fish rather than Men. They pay the Grand Signior their Tribute in Sponges and from them all Turkie is furnished This Isle hath no Haven for great Vessels but only for small Barks wherein they go to Chio and sell Honey Wax White-wine as clear as water which comes away by Urine as soon at it is drank and such like Commodities Their Vineyards are here and there among the Rocks But the World is turned topsie-turvie in this Island for the Women are the Mistresses there So soon as the Husband is arrived from any place the Wife goes to the Sea-side and takes the Oars and other implements and carries them home after which the Husband disposes of nothing without her leave In the time of the Emperours of Constantinople Persons of Quality that deserved Banishment were sent to this Island the Inhabitants whereof are well-shaped and strong But to return to Sea again we did what lay in our power to pass that Island and take Harbour at Stanchio but a South-east wind blowing soon after hindred us from that and though we beat and tack'd to and agen till the evening we gained no ground so that we resolved to turn back again and did so an hour before night finding that the South-east wind began to blow fresher and fresher In the Night-time we had much Lightning However while I was attentively considering Samos I saw a light on shore A Light which no body kindles which seem'd to me to be a Candle and having ask'd an honest Roman Catholick of Chio with whom I had made friendship what it was He made me answer That that Light was seen every night in the same place that having past that way ten or twelve times in the night-time he had always seen it that nevertheless there was neither House nor Tree there that many had gone oftentimes in search of it but could never find it seeing it very well at a distance but losing sight of it assoon as they came near and that about the place where the Light is seen there is an ancient Christian Church all ruinous which makes people think that there is some Mystery in it I thought the man had jeer'd me when he told me all these things and therefore I went to the Captain 's Cabin where having asked him the same question though he was a Turk he told me the same things the honest Chiot did who was Patron of the Saique and a Greek which made me more attentively consider that Light I ey'd it for the space of an hour and it seemed to me to be about two hundred paces from the Sea-side on that part of the Island which looks Westward opposite to the Isle of Nacaria or Nicaria I saw it rise and fall like a Candle and I remember that the Monks of Niamoni of the Isle of Chio told me just such another thing concerning the Foundation of their Church Having well considered that Light I went to sleep about eleven of the clock and the wind blew fresher about midnight with so thick a darkness that one could not see six steps on head and in the mean time we were in a dangerous place betwixt Samos and Nicaria so that we had cause to fear the Saique might run foul of one of these two places There fell afterward a great deal of rain but such strong gusts of wind with it as gave the Sea-men enough to do and besides that we had great claps of Thunder which doubling horribly betwixt these Islands made with the beating of the waves a fearful noise In the mean time the Ship made much water which created no small trouble to the Sea-men who had already their hands full on 't Another danger threatned us besides for they had left the Caique in the Sea towed at the Saiques stern which being forced by the violence of the wind knock'd its head so hard against the Saique that it might have started a plank and sunk her down to rights many Vessels being lost so even in the Port nevertheless their was no hoisting of it up though it had strucken so often against the Saique that all the Head of it was broken and the Saique was so slippery that there was no holding on her so that at several times three Men fell into the Sea but Ropes being quickly thrown out to them they were drawn up again At length came day but with it so thick a Fog that it was more than three Hours after before we could see Land. We afterward discovered Chio about ten a Clock in the Morning and put into Harbour the same day being Friday the seventeenth of November a little after Noon Our Captain perceiving the Weather to be contrary to us Scala Nuova or Couschadasi proposed to go and Anchor in the Port of Scala Nuova which the Turks call Couschadasi and I earnestly desired it because then I might have gone to Ephesus which is but half a days Journey from it but some Chiots told him that it was dangerous entring into the Port of Scala Nuova at that time But indeed I think it was that they had rather wait for fair Weather at home in their own Town than in another place So soon as I was come to Chio I failed not to speak to our Vice-Consul of the Light I had seen in the Isle of Samos and he told me all the same that the rest did and that he himself with some others had gone in search thereof but that as they drew nigh they always lost sight of it CHAP. LXXI Of Stanchio and Bodrou WE waited with great Impatience for fair Weather at Chio nevertheless the South-East Wind continued blowing till Tuesday the Twenty eighth of November when with day a North-Wind arose we let not slip the occasion for being got on Board we put out the same day about Four a Clock in the Afternoon and Wednesday the Twenty ninth of November past by Samos about Midnight In the Morning the Wind abated a little and nevertheless about One of the Clock we arrived at Stanchio Stanchio or Isola Longa. otherwise called Isola Longa Fourscore and ten Miles from Samos and came to an Anchor to take in Fresh-Water We who were Christians went not a Shoar because there were Eight hundred Spahis lately arrived to defend that Island against the Venetians and seeing these Blades play'd the Devil and all putting their Horses into the Churches of the Greeks they would certainly have abused us being then extreamly Exasperated against all Franks This Island called heretofore Coos Coos Lango and named at present by the Turks Stanchio and by the Franks Lango or Isola Longa is Seventy Miles in Circuit and is very Fruitful especially in good Wine the Country seems to be pleasant enough and upon the Port by the Sea-side there is a Castle that
short of the Town We stay'd still there all Sunday the one and twentieth of December and then in the night-time the wind turning North blew so hard that our Vessel was very much tossed Monday the first day of the Year 1657. the wind abating a little about eleven a clock we weighed standing in towards the Harbour of the Galleys where half an hour after we came to an anchor There we were informed that a great Gallion was cast away in the Port of Alexandria which belonged to two Turkish Merchants and had a great deal of Goods on board to wit Flax Coffee and Sugar to the value of a hundred and fifty Thousand Piastres Not but that the Port is good enough but they said that there was negligence in the case and that the Cables were old and not look'd to for eleven months that the Gallion was in the Port so that they were rotten in the water This Gallion rode with four Anchors abroad yet one night a little before day all the Cables broke much at the same time which the company that were on board perceiving fired two Guns for assistance but no help being given them about break of day she split upon a Rock all the men that were on board were saved except a Turkish Merchant who would not be saved saying that he would not leave his Goods that were in the Gallion and indeed he perished with the Ship which was so broken to pieces that in an hours time there was no more to be seen of her Nevertheless help might have been given them seeing notwithstanding the storm Caiques went and came and all that was to be done was but to carry them a Cable or two All the Goods that were saved of a Cargoe worth an hundred and fifty Thousand Piastres was no more but a little Flax which they took up floating upon the water and which I afterwards saw spread abroad to dry She was the fairest Gallion that ever the Turks built exceeding even the Sultana taken some years since by the Knights of Malta which was so high that the Main-masts heads of the Galleys of Malta did not reach up to her side I was told that this was another-guess Gallion and that her stern was higher than the Main-top-mast head of our Saique which nevertheless was one of the largest of the kind She was built at Constantinople and cost eight and thirty Thousand Piastres her burthen was fifteen hundred Tun but she was now grown old she had on board forty Guns and would carry three thousand Men nay the first Voyage she made from Constantinople she had two thousand and one hundred Persons on board Nevertheless the Sea at this time was so enraged that not satisfied with this great booty it carried its fury farther and cast away a Saique in the mouth of the Nile in which two and forty Men were drowned but thanks be to God we were at Rhodes during that Tempest The End of the First Book TRAVELS INTO THE LEVANT PART I. BOOK II. CHAP. I. Of Alexandria IN the former Book I gave an Account of our arrival at Alexandria after a tedious Voyage which is commonly performed from Chio in seven or eight days time And now being in Alexandria I stay'd some days for fair weather that I might go with the Saique to Rossetto but perceiving that the wind changed not and that probably it might be a months time before the Saique could get to Rossetto I brought my things a-shore and resolved to go thither by Land. Before my departure I saw all that is worth the seeing in Alexandria This Town called by the Turks Skenderia Alexandria or Skenderia heretofore so lovely rich and famous a place is at present so ruined that it is no more the same there is nothing to be seen in it but ruined Houses cast one upon another and the heaps of Rubbish and Stones which are on all hands are higher than the Houses The French are lodged there in a Fondick which is a great House like a Han. There are other Fondicks also for the English Dutch Venetians and others and they pay no House-rent on the contrary the Consuls receive Money from the Grand Signior yearly to keep them in necessary repair These Fondicks are every evening shut up and the Keys of them carried to the Aga of the Castle who takes care to send them back every next morning They are also shut and so is the Water-gate every Friday during the Noon-Prayer as the Castle-gate is at Caire and also in all places of the Turkish Empire where there are Franks because they say they have a Prophesie which threatens that the Franks are to become Masters of them on a Friday during the Noon-Prayer Hardly any thing of the ancient Alexandria remains standing but the Walls and some Buildings toward the Fondick of the French which are almost ruined for the Buildings that are now towards the shore are not ancient but have been built by the Turks as may be easily seen by the Fabrick being all low ill-contriv'd Houses This Town hath three Ports the first of which called the Old Harbour is pretty large but few Vessels put into it because the entry is difficult there are two Castles to defend it one on each side and both well kept The other two Ports are higher up and separated one from another by a little Island heretofore farther off from the main Land than it is at present and anciently called the Pharos It is at present joyned to the main Land by a Stone-bridge of some Arches under which the water passes This Isle runs out a great way in Meo in the middle of it there is a large square Tower Farillon where the Grand Signior's Powder is kept At the end of the same Isle there is a good Castle called Farillon that stands in the same place where the heretofore so renowned Pharos stood which was reckoned One of the Seven Wonders of the World this which is now in the place of it is neat enough and well provided with Artillery and a Garison of three hundred Soldiers commanded by a Muteferaca but it hath no other water than that of the Nile which is brought into it from without upon Camels The first of the two Ports divided by the Pharos is the Harbour of the Galleys and the other is the Great Port or New Harbour the mouth whereof is on the one side defended by the Farillon and on the other side by another little Castle at its entry which is not so good as the Farillon however it is kept by several Soldiers and these two Castles easily succour one another Both these Ports are very dangerous because of the Stones and Rocks that are in them and there is need of a good Pilot to bring Vessels in The Great Port lyes much open to the North-east and North winds The Harbour of the Galleys is the safer of the two but it hath no great depth of water and indeed as
made now a days as I have seen and have by me so that the Engravers of those times must have been excellent Artists nay it seems to me a doubt whether they might not have had the art of casting or at least softning the Stones for some of them are so little that one has much adoe to finger them and nevertheless they are Engraved to perfection When it rains the Moors search for them among the Ruines and never fail to find some then they come and sell them for a small matter to the Franks Good Asses in Aegypt Christians in Aegypt cannot ride on Horse back through Towns. Asses stand ready in the streets of the Towns of Aegypt but of late they hold them a little dearer because of the emulation of the Franks who come and out bid one another When Strangers go to see these Antiquities they take little Asses which goe very fast and stumble not nay will Gallop too if they be put to it for Christians whether Franks or not cannot ride on Horses through the Towns but in the Country they may if they please The Asses stand ready in the Streets and one has no more to do but to get up they pay no more for a whole Afternoons use of them but seven or eight Pence a piece to wit one half for the Ass and as much for a Moor who follows on Foot and beats and pricks on the Ass now and then to make him go A farther Description of Alexandria the Reader will find in the Second Part. CHAP. III. Of Rossetto AFter I had seen what I thought fit in Alexandria I resolved to go to Rossetto and parted from Alexandria on Saturday Morning the sixth of January with a Janizary whom the French Vice-Consul had given me to accompany me thither Bouquier we passed by Bouquier twenty short miles from Alexandria which is a Castle that defends a Road that is near to it and lodged that night at the Maadie of Alexandria Till you come to the Maadie there is no place to rest in being all a Desart of Sand. This place is called Maadie that is to say Passage because there is a Lake there to be crossed over in a Ferry-Boat with a Rope fastened to both sides of the Water The Maadie is thirty long miles from Alexandria This water is very full of Fish which renders a great Revenue to the Grand Signior There is a little Kervanserai on the other side of this Water where Travellers have a House over head for nothing and may eat and drink if they have brought Provisions along with them There we ate and drank and lay upon the Field-beds that we carried with us Next day being Sunday we set out in the Morning and about noon came to Rossetto Rossetto threescore miles from Alexandria but the miles indeed are short and all along the Sea-side On our way we saw the place where the River of Nile discharges it self into the Sea which is a very dangerous passage for Barks and Saiques Tht mouth of the Nile at Rossetto and close by shoar we saw the wrack of that Saique which stranded the same day that the great Gallion was cast away in the Port of Alexandria as I hinted at before The danger is when the Sea is rough for then it occasions an Eddy with the waters of the River that turns the Vessel round and casts it on shoar where it is sure to be split and none can save themselves by Swimming because of the force of the Waves but the wise make the best shift they can in their Caiques Rossetto Rossetto anciently called Canopus lyes upon a branch of the Nile which falls into the Sea five miles below the Town next to Caire it is reckoned the neatest Town of Aegypt not only because of the lovely Piazza's but also the many fair Hans it contains and yet they daily build new ones there for indeed it is a Town of great Trafick and very pleasant as being all encompassed with lovely Gardens The Houses of Rossetto are all high and well Built it is good living there as in all other places of Aegypt where Victuals are very cheap and wild-fowl especially Water-fowl very plentiful which they catch several ways but the Town hath this Inconvenience that in the Months of July and August they drink no other water but what they have gathered before into fair Cisterns Leaded and made for that purpose because during that time the Sea flows so high that it mingles with the water of the Nile and renders it Brackish The branch of the Nile that runs by this Town makes a Port for Saiques but great Ships cannot come up to it this port is always full of Saiques which come from the Archipelago to Trade in Aegypt The Town is very carefully kept by the Sous-Basha from all Disorders that might happen but besides that Guard there are threescore Men that in the Night-time march up and down to catch Robbers The cunning of the Arabs who rob in Rossetto who are Arabs of the Desarts These Villains strip themselves stark-naked then rub their Bodies over with Oyle that one may not take fast hold of them and in that manner come to the Town where they Steal what they can find and when they are pursued cast themselves into the River and swim over to the other side I made no long stay at Rossetto but knowing that every Tuesday and Friday Barks go off from Rossetto to Caire I waited for the first opportunity that I might go in company with several Barks which is the way to be safe from the Pirates of the Nile and having hired a little Boat only for myself and my Servant that I might be at more ease I parted from Rossetto Friday the nineteenth of January about Noon These Barks are Caiques or ordinary Boats and I had a Tilt or Covering made of Matts in the Stern to keep me from the Sun and the Dew which on the Nile is very cold and piercing It was very bad weather that day however we went on and Wednesday the twenty fourth of January passed the place where the Chanel divides it self into two Branches of which one goes to Rossetto and the other to Damiette The same day in the Evening we came to Boulac which is the Port of Caire though it be half a League from it Boulac Boulac is a pretty big long and narrow Town built upon the side of the Nile and has many Gardens and country Houses about it At Boulac we paid a Piastre a piece to some Jews it being the custome that every Frank the first time he comes to Caire pays a Piastre at Boulac In my Voyage from Rossetto to Caire I observed that all the land upon the Nile sides is excellently good and really Aegypt may be said to be an Earthly Paradise but Inhabited by Devils not only because the Inhabitants are Tawny but also very Vicious great Robbers especially and such as
will kill a Man for a penny and indeed they are very Poor therefore when one goes by Water upon the Nile he had need keep a good Guard against the Corsairs During our Voyage in the night-time we lighted several Matches which we fastened round about our Bark on the out-side and the Arabs seeing these Matches easily take them for so many Musquets which they are deadly afraid of as not knowing the use of them besides that we had Fire-Arms which we now and then Discharged as well by night as by day that they might hear them but notwithstanding all that a Bark of Robbers came one night up with our Caiques which one having discovered he allarmed the rest then all cried to them to keep off thereupon they made answer in Turkish that we need not be afraid for they were Friends and would go in company with us but when we called to them again that if they did not stand off we would Fire at them they went their way At Boulac we took Asses to carry us to Caire half a League distant from thence My Lord Honorie de Bermond the French Consul did me the favour to lodge me at his House The French Consul as those of other Nations resides at Caire because the Basha lives there so the Affairs of the Nation are the more conveniently managed he hath two Vice-Consuls under him whom he appoints as he thinks good one at Rossetto another at Alexandria and sometimes one at Damiette who depend upon none but him CHAP. IV. Of Caire THere are so many things to be seen at Caire that a very large Book might be fill'd with the Relation of them and seeing I made a considerable stay there and saw a good many of them I shall here describe them in order according to the several times I saw them in Caire the Capital and Metropolitan City of Aegypt Caire before it fell under the Turkish Dominion was in the later times Governed by Sultans or Kings who were taken from among the Mamalukes Mamalukes These Mamalukes were all Circassian Slaves bought of Merchants who came and sold them to the Sultan of Aegypt who presently made them renounce the Christian Religion then committed them to the care of Masters of Exercise by whom they were taught to bend the Bow shoot exact give a true thrust with a Launce make use of Sword and Buckler sit a Horse well for they were all Horse-men and skilfully manage him After that they were advanced according to their merit and the Cowards and Unhandy were left behind so that all who were brave might rise to be Sultans for by them the Sultan was chosen and none who were not Mamalukes could be Sultans nor was any received to be a Mamaluke that was not of Christian Extraction those being excluded who had either Mahometans or Jews to their Fathers These Men were exterminated in the Year 1517. that Sultan Selim the First Conquered all Aegypt and at the taking of Caire Thomambey their Sultan called Tbomambey who was the last Sultan of Aegypt falling into his hands he put him to an ignominious death the Thirteenth of April 1517. causing him to be Hang'd at one of the Gates of Caire called Babzuaila Babzuaila and for ever rooting out the Mamalukes who were cut off to the last man. Since that time the Turks have always been Masters of it This City stands ill Caire stands ill for it is at the foot of a Hill on which the Castle is built so that the Hill covers it and intercepts all the Wind and Air which causes such a stifling heat there as engenders many Diseases whereas if it stood in the place where Old Caire is in the first place they would have the benefit of the River which is of great importance were it only for water to drink for the water must be brought into all parts of Caire in Borachios upon Camels backs which feth it from Boulac above half a league from the City and yet that is the nearest place Hence it is that so much bad water is drank at Caire because those who go to bring it on their Camels that they make the more returns take it out of the Birques or stinking Pooles Birques that are nearer than the River and for all that sell it very dear They would besides have the advantage of the Wind which blows on all hands along the River so that the heat would not be so prejudicial nay more it would be a great help to Trade in that it would ease them of the labour and charges of loading their Goods on Camels to carry them from the City to the Port or from the Port to the City And indeed Memphis the Antients chose a very good Situation for Memphis on the other side of the River and Old Caire hath since been built opposite to Memphis also upon the River But the Later who ought to correct the faults of the more Ancient if they were guilty of any have committed the greatest errours for I can see no reason why they have pitched upon that incommodious Situation unless it was perhaps to joyn the City to the Castle that so it might be under the protection thereof Caire is a very great City full of Rabble it lies in form of a Crescent but is narrow and they are in the wrong who perswade themselves that Caire is bigger than Paris I once went round the City and Castle with two or three other French-men we were mounted on Asses not daring to go on foot for fear of some bad usage The circumference of Caire how many leagues but we went at a foot pace and as near as we could no faster than a man might walk and we were two hours and a quarter in making that round which is somewhat more than three but not four French Leagues I walked once on foot also the whole length of the Khalis from end to end which is exactly the length of the City of Caire for it is a Street that goes through the middle of it from one end to another I set out early in the morning with a Janizary that I might not be by any hindred in my design or abused and being come to the end about St. Michael's I alighted and having set two Watches which I had in my pocket at the same hour I began to walk pretty fast when I came to the other end of Khalis I found that we had been almost three quarters of an hour in going the length of it and I could undertake to perform it very well in half an hour if I had not on Turkish Shoes as I had at that time which was a great hindrance to me for at every turn my Paboutches slipt off my feet and besides I was in my Vest that likewise retarded my going I reckoned also all the steps I made putting at each hundred paces a bean in my pocket and at the end I found one and fifty beans in
for a supply against the Famine which was shortly after to happen They are very spacious Halls and at present Corn is kept in them Over against these Granaries are the Ruines of an ancient Palace which upon mistake they say was heretofore the Residence of the Kings of Aegypt The Fustade but more probably is the Fustade it seems to have been very stately Then you pass under an Aqueduct that carries Water from the Nile to the Castle this Aqueduct is supported by Three hundred and fifty high Arches but narrow An Aqueduct at old Caire and they appear to be the narrower that the Aqueduct is very high because of the Situation of the Castle I went once up to that Aqueduct and therefore I 'll give an account of what I saw You must ascend thirty or forty broad Steps which are very easie to mount before you come to the top where you see eight Sakis turned all by Oxen that discharge their Water into a great Bason from whence it runs through a little Conduit-pipe into the Aqueduct at six Paces distance and therein is conveyed to the Castle CHAP. VIII Of the Matharee THE Matharee is two short Leagues from New Caire Matharee it is a lovely and pleasant place and deserves to be seen were it for nothing else but that it hath been Honoured with the presence of our Saviour for they say that our Lady lived some time there with her Son Jesus You see in it a little Hall almost square which heretofore was a bare Grott but at present is enclosed by a Garden that is carefully lookt after As you enter into that Hall there is on the Left hand a Bason even with the Floor somewhat longer than broad a Water runs into it where it is said the Blessed Virgin washed her Linnen and in the mean time set our Saviour upon a little Window hollowed in the Wall where the Monks sometimes say Mass The Water that comes into the Bason of that Hall and all over the Garden is drawn by two Oxen that turn a Saki in the Court by means whereof they raise the Water Many have said that this Water comes from the Nile being not far distant especially when it overflows and a few others affirm it to be a Spring of which opinion I am For if it were the Water of the Nile they that live there must needs know it but they say it is a Spring Besides when the Water of the Nile is thickest this is very clear as it is at all times And in short the Etymologie of the word Matharee seems to insinuate that it is a Spring The Etymologie of Matharee for the word Matharee comes from Matariih which signifies Fresh-water And why would they give it that name more than to all other Gardens where there are Sakis if the meaning were not that there was a good spring of Fresh-water there Saki signifies a Watering-place Saki and is the same that in Province they call a Pouserague Having seen that Hall you go into a Garden walled in also where there are many Trees but among others a very old Sycamore or Fig-Tree of Pharaoh which yearly bears Fruit. They say that our Lady passing by it with her Son Jesus and being pursued by Men the Fig-Tree opened and the Blessed Virgin going into it it shut again till the Men were past and then it opened again and continued always so until the Year 1656. that the piece which was separated from the Trunk was broken off This is a pretty pleasant Garden to rest in and commonly they Dine there in a Walk shaded with Orange and Limon-Trees that are in so great number and cast such a shade that the Sun passes not at all through them and you must stoop very low when you go in some of the Walks which have in the middle Channels made to convey the water all over the Garden and they can bring the water into any Walk you are in where you may cool your Wine but if you have a mind to eat any thing there you must bring it with you for you 'l find nothing in the place but plenty of fair Oranges An Obelisk near the Garden of Matharee and small Limons There is a very lovely great Obelisk pretty near to this Garden like to that which stands at Alexandria and those others that are in Rome and other places Many think that there has been some Town heretofore in this place seeing there are Ruines still to be seen about it and that it is not likely such a piece would have been erected in the open Fields This Obelisk stands in a very low ground where there is always water and especially during the Inundation of Nile that the whole place looks like a Pond In this place it was that Selim encamped his Army when he took Caire The Camp of Selim when he besieged Caire and there are very high works of Earth still to be seen where his Trenches were Betwixt the City and the Matharee there is a Building which they say is the Arsenal of the Red-Sea CHAP. IX Of the Castle The Castle of Caire THE Castle of Caire is one of the finest things in Aegypt it stands upon a Hill not in the middle of the City as many have written but without the Town almost at one of the points of the Crescent which the City makes and in a manner over against Old Caire It is founded on a Rock and encompassed with very high and thick Walls The ascent to this Castle is by a pair of stairs cut out in the Rock so easie to mount that Horses and Camels go up it with their Loads There is a very large Place or Square before the Castle called the Romesle and near that place the Mosque called Sultan Hasan because it was built by Sultan Hasan in the time of the Mamalukes This Mosque is all of Free-stone The Mosque of Sultan Hasan at Caire extraordinarily well built and prodigiously high Thomambey the last King of the Mamalukes fled to this Mosque leaving the Castle to Sultan Selim who fired several Guns at the Mosque where the holes of the Bullets are still to be seen especially in the Dome that is pierced all through by them In this Castle are many stately Ruines and several fair Vaults hid under ground We find indeed that the ancientest things fall into greatest ruine and are not exempted from the power of time It is certain that the greatest and best part of this Castle is ruined and yet several fair Buildings remain still But the finest and most curious thing that is to be seen in the Castle is Joseph's Well which is certainly a Wonder one must have leave from the Basha Chiaoux to see it and the French Consuls Interpreter having asked it for us he gave him a man to conduct us thither but however it cost us five or six Piastres This Pit or Well is divided into two stories or to say better
into two Pits the first is almost square and is eleven foot long and ten foot broad there is a pair of stairs to go down to it about seven or eight foot broad cut in the Rock all round and separating the Pit from the Rock so that when you go down you have one of the sides of the Well on the right hand which serves for a rail to keep one from falling or indeed seeing into the Well unless it be by windows that are at convenient distances On the left hand you have the wall which is the Rock it self This Stair-case hath been made very easie to go down and up for the convenience of the Oxen that go down to labour so that the descent is hardly sensible You go down then 220 steps finding on each side of the Pit two windows each about three foot square there are three windows in some places A hole in Joseph's Well that goes to the Pyramides but the Pit being very deep they are not sufficient to give light enough and therefore some Torches must be carried down At the bottom of these two hundred and twenty steps in the Rock on the left hand there is a great hole like a door but stopt up and they say that that hole goes as far as the Pyramides Another hole in Josephs Well which the Aegyptians say reaches as far as Suez There is another hole like the former on the right hand of the Pit and stopt up in the same manner and that they say goes as far as Suez upon the Red-Sea but I believe neither of the two Turning then to the right hand towards that hole you come to a place which is the bottome of the first Pit or story this place answers perpendicularly to the mouth of the Pit being equal to it in length and breadth so much of it as is uncovered for afterwards it strikes off to the right hand under the Rock to the place of the second story or second Pit which is narrow but deeper than the former At the top of this last Pit in the afore-mentioned place that goes under the Rock the Oxen are which by means of wheels draw a great quantity of water out of this narrow Pit or Well which falling into a Channel runs into a reservatory at one end of this place and at the bottom of the first Pit from whence at the same time it is conveyed up on high by little buckets fastened to a rope which Oxen on the top continually keep going by the means of other wheels that they turn and then it is distributed through the Castle in several pipes One may go to the bottome of this narrow Well there being several steps in it by which some have descended but there is too much mud and slime in it Now what is most wonderful all this Pit or Well is made out of the hard Rock to a prodigious breadth and depth and the water of it is from a Spring there being no Spring to the knowledge of man in all Aegypt but this Onely two Springs of Water in Aegypt and that of the Matharee which we mentioned before Many and almost all the Franks think that the water of Joseph's Well is the same that is brought from the Nile in that fair Aqueduct which comes by Old Caire to the Castle But we informed ourselves as to that of many in the Castle who all assured us that the water that is brought by that Aqueduct served only for the Bashas Horses as indeed it comes streight to the Stables in the Bashas Appartment and that it enters not at all into Joseph's Well which is in the Quarter of the Janizaries besides the water of Joseph's Well is sweetish as the water of most Wells is and differs in taste from that of the Nile Joseph's Hall. Thirty Pillars of Thebaick stone in Joseph's Hall. The Hall of Joseph's Steward Joseph's Hall is also to be seen in the Castle but much ruined it hath thirty lovely great Pillars of Thebaick-stone and a good deal of Gold and Azure still to be seen on the seeling Pretty near to that is the Hall also of Joseph's Steward which is more curious than the other but there remains still ten or twelve Pillars such as those of Joseph's Hall. It is to be observed that all the fine things of the Antients that still remain in Aegypt are attributed to Joseph and all that is ugly or infamous to Pharaoh There is to be seen also in the Castle a large old Hall well built the seeling whereof is in many places gilt and painted in Mosaick In this Hall the Vest which is yearly sent to Mecha is embroidered Then you have many high Terrasses from whence you may see all the City of New Caire the Old Boulac and a great way farther into the Desarts Joseph's Dungeon The Dungeon or Arcane is still remaining in the Castle which they say is the Prison whereinto Joseph was cast and where he interpreted the Dreams of the King's Butler and Baker but nothing makes it considerable but the Name of Joseph for it is a Prison composed of some dark nasty and stinking passages like Dungeons by what I could discover on the out-side and some who have been Prisoners there told me that it is far worse within and Prisoners are so cruelly used there that it deserves not to be look'd upon nay woe be to them who are shut up there for so soon as a Man is clapt up in it his feet are put into the Stocks and his body chained to the wall by a heavy Chain where he must sit on his breech then the Gaolers demand of him ten or twenty Piastres more or less The bad usage of Prisoners by the Gaolers of the Arcane according as they judge him able and if he give it not they throw pales of water under his breech and when he has feed the first that he may not be abused next day others come into office who use him in the same manner if he see them not also as he did the former and in a word this Prison is a Hell upon Earth People are put in there for small matters as for Debt or Batteries especially the Christians and Jews The Aga of the Janizaries lives in the Castle and Commands there Being come out of the Castle you must go see the Basha's Appartment separated from the Castle only by a Wall and I think all together made but one Castle before but the Turks make a distinction betwixt them calling the Basha's Appartment the Serraglio of the Basha and the rest the Castle you must see then the Appartment or Serraglio of the Basha which is very neat as that of the Kiayas is also Both these places have a very pleasant Prospect for from them one has a full view of Caire Old Caire Boulac the Desarts and all places about The Hall of the great Divan is in the Basha's Appartment it is long but the seeling a
it there are some who pay so much a year to the Grand Signior for liberty to catch Wild-duck and Fish in it Friday all day long the rest of the Caravan was a coming and Saturday Morning a Man cried aloud that all should make ready to depart at Noon for it is the custome in Caravans that are any thing big to give notice of parting some hours before but towards Noon there fell so great a Tempest A Tempest in the Desart for in Sandy Desarts there are Tempests aswel as at Sea that we could not set out that day It blew so furiously that I thought all the Tents would have been carried away by the Wind which drove before it such clouds of Sand that we were almost buried under it for seeing no body could stay abroad without having mouth and eyes immediately filled with Sand we lay under the Tent where the Wind drove in the Sand above a foot deep round about us We had two Pasties not as yet opened and they were wrapt up in napkins at the bottom of a Maund well covered with a napkin sewed over it When the Storm was over which lasted not above three or four hours we opened our Pasties but found them so full of sand that no body could eat of them so subtile and penetrating the sand is so that we were forced to throw them away and these are the occasions when one finds the advantage of a good Tent. Next day the twentieth of January we parted at eleven a clock in the Morning and at three in the Afternoon rested that we might drink Coffee then half an hour after the Timbrels sounding we marched on till one a clock next morning The march of the Caravans for in the Caravans there is commonly a Man mounted on a Camel who now and then beats two Timbrels or Kettle-drums that are on each side of the Camel before him the Cases of these Timbrels are of brass and they serve not only to chear up the Camels who delight much in such a noise and in singing but also to give warning to those that stay behind Monday afternoon we parted and having rested a little about five a clock half an hour we set forward again and marched on till four of the clock in Tuesday morning travelling always a good league an hour About half an hours march beyond the place where we had rested we saw a very handsome Turkish Sepulchre where the Kiaya of a Caravan lies buried who coming from Suez was set upon by many Arabs The Kiaya having for a long time fought with the Arabs in defence of the Caravan as his office obliged him for the Kiaya of the Caravan is the Lieutenant of the Governour of Suez and is obliged to guard all the Caravans that come or go from Caire to Suez this Kiaya I say after a long fight received a thrust with a Pike in the Belly of which he presently died and was interred in the same place Since that time the Vessels on the Red-Sea pay five thousand Piastres at Suez to maintain an hundred Soldiers whereof fifty are to abide in a Castle near to Suez to guard the Countrey and the other fifty with the Kiaya wait upon the Caravans An hours journey beyond that Sepulchre we found a great long Cistern built of fair Free-stone which is filled by rain-Rain-water A little farther and a good hour before one arrives at Suez there is a fair Well but the water of it is not good Arrival at Suez Tuesday the two and twentieth of January we arrived at Suez in the Night-time CHAP. XXV Of the Journey from Suez to Tor. BEing come to Suez I had a great mind to go see Mount Sinai Mount Sinai Dgebel Mousa the Mountain of Moses called in Arabick Dgebel Mousa which is in Arabia the Stony and for that purpose we spoke to an Arab Scheick who commanded above ten thousand Arabs we had him before Haley Bey the Bey of Suez who recommended us to him saying that it was his pleasure we should be treated as his own head Orders given to the Scheiek to answer for the Traveller this Scheik said he would answer for us and gave us two Arab Scheiks for Guides besides that the Bey ordered a Letter to be written in our presence to the Governour of Tor wherein he kindly recommended us to him and gave us the Letter These Arab Scheiks furnished us with Camels and we paid them twelve Aslanies for each Camel to carry us thither and back again they made us take six to wit one for every one of us even for our Moor Servant and two for themselves and for carrying our Provisions We gave them beside sixteen Piastres for some Caffaires which must be paid to the Arabs upon the Road Caffaire signifies Money given for the Redemption of any thing Caffarie as what is paid to the Arabs in nature of Caffaire is that one may not be robb'd More than that we were obliged to give them their Diet so that all they had to do was to guide us and feed the Camels We provided for their Diet three Septiers measures of Flower Butter Honey Provision for two Scheicks and twelve pound weight of Coffee and ordinary Tobacco and for ourselves we took what we could get for there is nothing to be found to eat in all that Journey We caused Bread then and Bisket to be made for us of part of our Flower and finding no Wine at Suez because the Jew who us'd to sell it was gone to Damiette to buy some we took Brandy made of Dates Meat ready drest and in short all that we could get to serve us till we came to Tor where the Slaves of Suez assured us we should find all things but above all we were sure not to forget six Borrachios which we filled with water we carried no Tents with us because the Slaves told us that if we travell'd in so much state the Arabs might set upon us thinking they should find great Booty but we did very ill in omitting them for we were in no danger considering how we were recommended and having with us Arab Scheicks who bore rule among them All our Provisions being then in a readiness The Journey to Tor. every one mounted his Camel as if we had been takeing Horse and parted from Suez on Friday the five and twentieth of January about four of the Clock after noon keeping along the side of the Red-sea till we came to the end of it where we crossed over dry to the other side there we saw a Bear about an hundred paces from us but so soon as it perceived us it took the Water and swam over to the other side so that we soon lost sight of it we found many more of them afterwards on our Journey We travelled till eight a Clock at night and then rested in a place where there was some Broom for they never brought us to rest any where but in
when we rested in a place where there were a great many fair Trees Near to that is a place where the rain-Rain-water that falls from the Mountains is kept and that water is very good Here it was that the People of Israel came out of the Red-Sea having passed it over dry to the ruine and confusion of Pharaoh and all his men who pursued them as may be seen in the Book of Exodus where this place is called Shur Chap. 15. Exod. Chap. 15. Corondel Haman of Pharaon It is at present called Corondel Not far from thence there are hot waters in a Grott which the Arabs call Haman el Pharaon that is to say Pharaon's Bath They tell a thousand stories of it amongst others that if you put four Eggs into it you can take out but three and so many as one puts in there is always one fewer taken out again and that the Devil keeps for himself we did not see that place for our Arabs would not take us to it because it was a little out of the way They say also that over against Corondel the Sea is always Tempestuous about the place where Pharaoh and the Aegyptians were Drowned We parted from thence at one of the clock and continued travelling till seven then we rested in a place where there are Trees also Next day being Monday the twenty eighth of January we set out at four a Clock in the Morning and having passed over several Hills we came into good way again near to the Sea but there is one place to be passed over just by the side of it being white and smooth Rocks where the Camels had much ado to keep from sliding chiefly because they are wet with the Sea-water but that lasts not long we rested at Noon and half an hour after set forwards again and towards the evening entred among Hills where we travelled till six a Clock that we rested in the hollow of a Rock where we spent the Night at that Stage and we could find no wood not to boyl so much as our Coffee Tuesday the twenty ninth of January we parted at five a clock in the Morning and entred into a plain where we travelled till Noon and then having rested a little after one a Clock we marched on over the same Plain until six a Clock at Night and then rested Next day Wednesday the thirtieth of January we parted at four a clock in the Morning and four hours after arrived at Tor about an hour before we came to Tor we found a great many Palm-trees and a well of very bad Water CHAP. XXVI Of Tor and of our arrival at Mount Sinai Tor. TOR is no considerable place nevertheless it has a good harbour for Ships and Galleys This Port is guarded by a little square Castle on the Sea-side with a Tower at each corner and two small Guns on the out-side before the Gate an Aga is Governour of this Castle where none but Turks lodge Near to it there is a Convent of Greeks dedicated to St. Catherine and to the Apparition of God to Moses in the Burning-Bush We delivered the Aga the Letter from the Bey of Suez but because we had no present for him he made no great account of us We lodged in the Convent which is very fair and spacious there we were very well received entertained with the Best and ate Fish of the Red-Sea at that time there were thirty Monks in it We searched for Provisions there but could not find any only the Monks commiserating our condition gave us Olives Dates Onions and a Jar of Brandy which we husbanded as well as we could we stayed a day there because the Monks told us that we needed two Septiers more of Flower so that having bought the Corn and got it ground they baked Bread of one half of it to give our Arabs by the way and upon the Mount and all this they did in a very obliging manner While we were there we bought of these poor Greeks several stone-Mushromes which in that place are got out of the Red-Sea as also small Stone-shrubs or branches of Rock which they call white Coral and many great shells all taken out of the Sea and very pleasant for artificial works But they could not furnish me with any thing of a certain Fish A Sea-man which they call a Sea-man however I got the hand of one since This Fish is taken in the Red-Sea about little Isles that are close by Tor. It is a great strong Fish and hath nothing extraordinary but two hands which are indeed like the hands of a man saving that the Fingers are joined together with a skin like the foot of a Goose but the skin of the Fish is like the skin of a wild Goat or Shamois When they spie that Fish they strike him on the back with Harping-Irons as they do Whales and so kill him They use the skin of it for making Bucklers which are Musquet proof Having payed all and made a Present of some Piastres to the Monks for their kind reception we prepared to be gone but were obliged first to pay a due of twenty eight Maidins a head to wit four for Tor and twenty four for the Mount and all to the use of the Arabs We parted from Tor on Thursday the last of January about eleven a clock in the Fore-noon with a Monk whom they sent with us to shew us the chief Places of the Mount and we payed for a Camel to carry him thither and back again He spoke to us Turkish and Arabick for he understood not a word of Lingua Franca we saw on our way the Garden of the Monks of Tor which is not far from it this Garden is the place which in Holy Scripture is called Elim Elim where when the Israelites went that way there were only seventy Palm-Trees and twelve wells of bitter water which Moses made sweet by casting a piece of Wood into them these Wells are still in being being near one another and most of them within the precincts of the Garden the rest are pretty near they are all hot and are returned again to their first bitterness for I tasted of one of them where People Bath themselves Hamam Mousa which by the Arabs is called Hamam Mousa that is to say the Bath of Moses it is in a little dark Cave there is nothing in that Garden but abundance of Palm-Trees which yield some rent to the Monks but the seventy old Palm-Trees are not there now After we had seen these things we filled our Borrachios with the water of a Well near to that place which belongs to the Monks I told them that it stunk a little and they made answer that they had not Scowered it that year as they used every year to do but withall that it was the best water thereabouts Heretofore they had a Church near to that Well which the Turks Demolished and with the stones of it built the aforesaid
Castle called Tor. We travelled in the Plain till six a clock at night and then rested This Plain is in Holy Scripture called the Desart of Sin Desart of Sin. Acacia where the Israelites longing after the Onions of Aegypt God sent them Manna In this Plain we saw many Acacia-Trees from which they have the Gum that the Arabs call also Akakia It is to be observed that the Acacia-Trees which are now so common in France came at first from America and do not yield that Gum and that which in the Shops is called Acacia is the inspissated Juice of wild Plumb-Trees and comes from Germany these Trees are neither bigger nor higher than our ordinary Willows but the leaves of them are very thin and prickley The Arabs gather the Gum in Autumn without pricking the Trees for it runs of it self and then they sell it in the Town Next day Friday the first of February we set out about five a Clock in the Morning and entred among high Mountains where we rested near a Brook and putting on again about eleven a clock we travelled till about half an hour after four that we came into a little Plain where finding some Cottages of Arabs our Guides would go no farther that day Cottages of Arabs but feasted merrily on the Milk that we bought for them in these Cottages There we saw a great many Women and little Children most of them Sucking We parted from thence Saturday the second of February about two a clock in the Morning and travelled a Foot over other Hills where the way was very bad about eight a Clock in the morning we found little Houses pretty well built where Arabs live at present Raphidim This place is called Raphidim in holy Scripture A little further we saw several Gardens belonging to the Monks very well walled round and full of all sorts of fruit-Trees and Vines too kept in good order The Rock which Moses smote with his Rod. Then we found the Rock out of which Moses brought Water when he had smitten it twice with his Rod it is only a Stone of a prodigious height and thickness rising out of the Ground on the two sides of that stone we saw several holes by which the water hath run as may be easily known by the prints of the Water that hath much hollowed it but at present no water issues out of them This Stone in Holy Scripture is called the Stone of Strife About ten in the Morning we came to a Monastery of Greeks dedicated to the honour of the forty Martyrs from this to the great Monastery where the Body of St. Catherine lyes it is two hours travelling This Monastery of the forty Martyrs is pretty neat it hath a fair Church and a lovely large Garden wherein are Apple-Trees Pear-Trees Walnut-Tree Orange-Trees Limon-Trees Olive-Trees and all other Fruit-Trees that grow in this Country and indeed that little of good Fruit which is eat at Caire comes from Mount Sinai besides that there are fine Vineyards and very good water there A Greek Monk lives always in this Monastery and he whom we found there told us that he had been twenty years in it he takes care to see the Gardens dress'd and kept in order by some Arabs who willingly serve him We rested in this Monastery at the foot of the Mountain of St. Catherine CHAP. XXVII Of the Mountain of St. Catharine The Mountain of St. Catharine HAving reposed our selves in the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs we went out at One of the Clock and ascended the Mountain of St. Catharine that is before it taking with us a little Arab Boy who carryed a small Leather Bucket full of Water that we might drink when we were dry We were near three Hours in getting up that Mountain we stopt indeed several times by the way to drink Water but besides the Hill is full of sharp cutting Stones and many steep and slippery places to be climb'd up that hinder People from going fast There are many Stones to be found in ascending this Hill on which Trees are naturally represented that being broken retain the same Figure within of which Stones some are prodigiously big About the middle of the Mountain there is a lovely Spring of clear Water with a great Bason in the Rock This Spring was discovered by a Quail when the Monks having brought down the Body of St. Catharine so far were ready to die for Heat and Thirst and that Spring began at that time to run This water was so hard frozen in the Bason that we could not break the Ice with good blows of a Stick In many places of the Mountain we saw also a great deal of Snow and at length got up to the top of it where there is a Dome under which is the place whither the Body of St. Catharine was brought by Angels immediately after she was Beheaded in Alexandria that holy Body remained Three hundred Years there until a good Monk having had in the Night-time a Revelation that the Body was in the top of the Hill went next Morning with all the Religious who in Procession brought it down to the Monastery where it was put in a lovely Silver Shrine that is still there Under the Dome where this Body lay there is a great piece of Rock rising a little out of the Ground whereon they say the Angels placed it and it bears still the marks as if a Body had been laid on the Back upon it for the form of the Reins appear there The Greeks hold that this Cave was made by Miracle but there is some likelihood that it hath been done by the Hands of Men They made this little Dome about the Rock in form of a square Chappel Having in this place paid our Devotions we came down again with a great deal of trouble and were two long hours by the way so that we were tired enough when we arrived at the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs at six a clock at night CHAP. XXVIII Of the Mountain of Moses The Mountain of Moses WEE set out of our Lodging on Sunday the third of February about seven a clock in the morning that we might go see the Mountain of Moses which is not so high nor so hard to ascend as the former But there is much Snow upon it aswel as upon the other and many good Cisterns in several places especially near the top there is a fair and good Cistern After several rests we got to the top about nine a clock On it there are two Churches one for the Greeks and another for the Latins from the Greek Church you enter into that of the Latins which is dedicated to the Ascension of our Lord there we heard Mass said by the Capucin who was with us Near to that there is a little Mosque and by the side of it a Hole or little Cave where Moses fasted Forty Days There is a small Grott also at the side of the
condition that they should give Victuals to all the Arabs of the neighbourhood And for that reason when there are any Monks in the Monastery they are obliged to give Half a Peck of Corn to every Arab that comes and these Arabs grind it in a little Mill that they carry always about with them who come sometimes to the number of an hundred and fifty two hundred nay four hundred in a day and must all be served so that it amounts sometimes to many Quarters of Corn and to some they give three or four Piastres a year more or less according as they deserve it Now about two years before I was there Provisions coming to the Monastery the Arabs robb'd them which made the Greeks forsake the Convent the Gate whereof is walled up and the Walls so high that they cannot be scaled and without Cannon that place cannot be taken if there were any within to defend it But now for two years there has no body lived in it because they would punish the Arabs by depriving them of the sustenance which they daily had of them till they can bring them to reason and therefore it was that we found so many Monks in that Monastery of Tor whither they were almost all retired for there are not so many there when the Convent of Mount Sinai is open These Monks had many Rents in Candy which they lost by the Invasion of the Turks They have a Bishop who is called the Bishop of Mount Sinai on whom depend all these Convents and Chappels even the Convent of Tor too and this Bishop depends not on the Patriarch he was at that time at Caire We were fain to rest satisfied then with what we saw of that Monastery from the top of the Mount. CHAP. XXX Of Mount Horeb and of the Place where the Golden Calf was molten c. AFter we had walked round that Monastery we returned Mount Horeb. and saw at some small distance Mount Horeb on which Moses fed his Flocks when he saw the Burning Bush And near to that are the Mountains upon which Aaron prayed for the People all little ones There is a fair Garden adjoyning to the Monastery and within the Walls of it a lovely Chappel dedicated to the Holy Virgin. Upon our return from the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs about half a quarter of a league from the said Garden we saw the Stone or rather Place where the Golden Calf was molten it is in the very Rock The place where the Golden Calf was molten where one may see a great Head of a Calf cut to the life and within that place it was as the Greeks say that the Riches and Ornaments of the Israelites were cast of which they made the Head of the Golden Calf that they worshipped while Moses was with God upon the Mountain But it is more probable that the Greeks have in that place cut the Head of the Calf in the Rock to shew the place where it was Cast or where it was placed upon a Pillar Something near to that there is a high and great Stone with some Inscription upon it but so defaced that none of it can be read The Greeks say that this Stone was to mark the place where Jeremiah hid the Vessels of Gold and Silver and other costly Furniture of the Temple of Salomon when the Israelites were carried away Captives to Babylon and that it is not known how it hath been brought thither but that there is a very ancient Authour that speaks of it as being on Mount Sinai Father Kercher explains it in his Prodromus Copticus Father Kercher where he forges an Explanation of these Characters which are unknown to all Men besides himself as if they were Hieroglyphicks whereof without doubt he hath had the meaning by Revelation I relate all these things according to the Tradition of the People of the Countrey which not being authorized by Texts of Scripture nor ancient History I leave it to the Reader to believe or not believe as he thinks fit Having seen what was to be seen we returned to the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs very weary after so much mounting and descending Our luck was good that no Wind blew when we went up these Mountains for whether hot or cold it would have kill'd us CHAP. XXXI Of our Return to Suez WEE had so bad entertainment on Mount Sinai Return from Mount Sinai to Suez that we thought of nothing but of returning as soon as we could to Suez where we hoped to refresh ourselves and therefore Monday the Fourth of February having made a Present of some Money to the Monk who lives in the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs we set out at eight of the clock in the morning to go see what still remained to be seen being unwilling notwithstanding all our fatigue to leave any thing unseen we went first to the Church of the Twelve Apostles and then having travelled about an hour and one half of it up hill we went down into a very low place where there is a little Habitation with several Gardens full of Fruit-trees and a large Spring of excellent Water There there is a little Church dedicated to St. Cosme and St. Damian Having ascended a little we went down by the very place where the Earth opened and swallowed up Corah Corah Dathan and Abiram Dathan and Abiram because they had mutinied against Moses About eleven of the clock we came to a place where our Camels stay'd for us and having dined and given some Piastres to the Monk who had shew'd us every thing for his pains we set out about noon and followed the same way we came till four of the clock in the afternoon that we left it and struck off to the right leaving the Red-Sea at a pretty good distance from us on our left hand We travelled in good way being the streightest pleasantest and shortest Road from Mount Sinai to Suez But as we went we took the way by Tor partly to see it and partly to take a Monk to guide us in our visitations About half an hour after five we rested in a great Plain Next morning Tuesday the Fifth of February we set out at four of the clock keeping still in good way and rested about ten of the clock in a place where there was Water We went from thence about eleven and came to rest again about half an hour after five in the evening Next day Wednesday the sixth of February we parted at five a clock in the morning and about eight some two or three hundred paces wide of the Road we found a Well of good water where we provided ourselves About half an hour after one of the clock we rested and at two went forwards again till six at night when we took up our rest Next day Thursday the seventh of February we parted about five of the clock in the morning about six we entered again into the way by which we
came and found a Caravan of about two hundred Camels belonging to Arabs loaded with Coal and going to Caire When they have gathered their Gums they carry them in this manner in Caravans to the City We rested at Corondel about ten a clock in the morning and setting out again at eleven travelled till seven at night where we rested in a little Wood. From whence we departed next day Friday the eighth of February about four of the clock in the morning and rested at eleven From thence we set forward at noon and came to rest at six of the clock at night at the place which we had made our first Stage when we came from Suez The same evening at seven of the clock we parted and arrived at Suez on Friday the eighth of February at eleven of the clock at night but lay without near the Gate until day that it was opened suffering a great deal of cold for we had no wood to make fire All the way back from Mount Sinai to Suez was very good and even and we were very merry upon the Road for I took great pleasure to hear the Arabs tell the several passages of their Life putting them now and then in the humour by questions I put to them Here I shall relate what I learn'd from them CHAP. XXXII Of the Arabs THE Arabs are of the Race of Ishmael and of his Twelve Sons who were the Patriarchs of the Tribes of the Arabs as the Twelve Sons of Jacob were Heads of the twelve Tribes of Israel These Arabs are divided into those who live in Towns and those who inhabit the Desarts these last are the Arabs whom the Ancients called Scenitae and are now adays called Bedouins of whom particularly I intend to Treat One good quality they have that they willingly rob Caravans when they can and do no other hurt but strip Travellers stark naked unless they make resistance but when they catch any Turks they give them not so good quarter especially if any of their Countrymen have been lately used severely in the Towns. These People who are very numerous live in the Desarts where though they lead a most wretched life yet they think themselves most happy Their Cloathing is a long blew Shirt sewed up on both sides from top to bottom and then with a great piece of white Searge they wrap themselves about the Body under the Arm-pits and over the Shoulders giving it several turns about them some of them also have Drawers and a kind of Furred Vest or else a great many Sheeps Skins sewed together putting the rough side towards their Shirt to keep them warm and turning it the contrary way again when they would be cooler Several wear also a kind of Pabouches which are almost like our Shoes Their Wives are also miserably ill Cloathed all cover their Faces with a Linnen-cloath with holes in it for their Eyes and wear great Rings of Lattin in their Ears Most of these People have flocks of Camels Sheep and Goats which they feed here and there according as they find Grass and where they find Pasture they pitch their ugly Tents made of Goats-hair in which their Wives and Children live but when that is eaten up they pack up Bag and Baggage and loading their Camels with all they have House Goods Wives and Children they go in search of Pasture somewhere else They live on Camels or Goats Milk and on the flesh of Camels with water for their Drink they also eat Cakes or Buns among others they have the Mafrouca Mafrouca which is a great regale to them and indeed they eat but seldom of that I have seen them many times make it on our Journey to Mount Sinai where they had it daily Morning and Evening at my cost for I grudged them nothing They mingle Flower with Water in a Wooden-Bowl which they carry always about with them and knead it well into a Paste then they spread it upon the Sand making it round very thin and a Foot and a half in Diametre after that they lay it upon the Sand where the Fire was made covering it up with hot Embers and live Coals over them and when it is baked on one side they turn it upon the other When it is well baked they break it into small pieces and with a little Water knead it again of new adding thereto Butter and sometimes also Honey they make it into a thick Paste and then break it into great pieces which they work and press betwixt their Fingers and so feed on them with delight and they look like those Gobbets of Paste that are given to Geese to fatten them Their Desarts are divided into Tribes and the Tribes into Families which possess different Quarters Each Tribe hath a Scheik el Kebir or great Scheik and every Family hath its Scheik Scheik el Kebir or Captain The Scheik el Kebir commands all the other Scheiks The Scheiks of the Arabs and these Scheiks administer Justice to the Arabs having power over them of Life and Death and are punctually obeyed in what they Command for they can Fine those in Money who are refractory the Offices of Scheiks are Hereditary descending from Father to Son and when the Scheik of Family dies without Children all the Family assemble together and having set forth the praises of those whom they think worthy of the Charge they chuse the most vertuous and entreat the Scheik el Kebir to approve of their Election It is the same thing in the Election of the Scheik el Kebir only it is made in an Assembly of the whole Tribe The Bashas commonly give some pay to the Scheik el Kebir of the Tribes that are scattered in their Governments being very unwilling to have any quarrel with them and the Caravans also allow him a sum of Money yearly that they may safely pass without Molestation to the other Scheiks they give Provisions Money Vests and Cloth for Shirts in certain proportions and these Blades think themselves in their Tents happier than Kings Sultan Amurat heretofore would have confined them to live in Towns exempted from all Payments but they would not hear of it They keep constantly Spies abroad on all hands to know if there be any Plots in hand against them and to be always ready to defend themselves or flie farther off and certainly there is no great hurt to be done unto them in those Desarts for seeing there are no High-ways in them an Enemy would soon lose themselves Besides that they must carry with them Provisions for all the time they must be there for nothing is to be found in those places nay they would soon die of thirst too for though there be several Wells on all hands yet none but the Arabs know where they are The Arms of the Arabs are Lances or Half-pikes Swords or Shables and long Daggers Fire-arms they have none but are much afraid of them and it is prohibited to sell them any though
small as those of England and many other good Shell-fish besides several extraordinary Fish and among others that which they call the Sea-man mentioned before and the Chagrin Chagrin a fish which is a Fish shaped like a Sea-dog and about seven or eight Foot long at least that which was sent me from Caire is so Upon the side and at the beginning of this Sea famous for the passage of the Israelites stands Suez Suez Arsinoe Ptolomy Philadelphus which some will have to be the Ancient Arsinoe so called from Arsinoe the Sister of Ptolomy Philadelphus who built that Town and called it by the name of his Sister it is a little Town containing about Two hundred Houses It hath a pretty Harbour but so shallow Water that Ships cannot put into it and the Galleys themselves must be half unloaded before they enter into it nevertheless Ships and all ride safe enough in the Road. These Galleys are very little they carry no great Guns but only a Petrera to salute the Ports where they arrive Close by the Harbour there is a Baraque railed in with great wooden Palissadoes where are nine Culverines every one longer than another of which the biggest is of a prodigious length and I take it to be much longer and of a far wider bore than the two which are at Malta upon the Baraque and in the Castle St. Erme they are of the Turkish make and nothing of Workmanship about them There are also thirteen pieces of very great Cannon there and upon one of them a Flower-de-Luce however it is easily discernable that it hath been made in Turkie perhaps by some Renegado French man for it is altogether Turkish without any Workmanship as all the rest are These Guns are not mounted and were sent thither from Constantinople by Sultan Amurat on a design he had of attempting an Expedition into the Indies with a Fleet fitted out on that Sea. Close by the Gate of Suez there is an Eminence where heretofore stood a Castle built by the Franks and upon the same Eminence there is still a great Gun. The Slaves told us that the People of the Country believe there is some Treasure near that place guarded by Hobgoblins for my part that Night we arrived from Mount Sinai I lay at the foot of that Eminence and the Sprights did not at all disturb my rest There is in this Town still a Greek Church but in bad order There are some pretty well built Houses in Suez and an indifferent good Market-place To conclude this Town is very Populous when any Ship arrives or when the Galleys are in the Harbour but at other times it is very Desolate and indeed there is not so much as any good Fresh Water within two Leagues round it CHAP. XXXIV My Return from Suez to Caire Return from Suez to Caire AFter I had seen Suez at leisure enough I prepared to be gone with a Caravan of Two hundred Camels which the Emir-Adge had provided to carry from Suez to Caire the Coffee that was brought in the Galleys and twelve Ships which were in the Road there was in all Thirty thousand Load each Load weighing three or four hundred weight and every Camel carried two of these Loads I hired a Camel for my self there being no Mules to be got and we parted from Suez Thursday the fourteenth of February about eight a Clock in the Morning the Caravan was attended by a guard of Arabs from sundry places We left several thousands of Camels in Suez and met abroad several great Troops belonging to Arabs and others who came to let their Camels for Transporting of the Coffee I soon found the difference betwixt the Camels of the Arabs and those of the Town for being accustomed to Ride upon the Camels of the Arabs I could not make use of this which I had hired to carry me to Caire one half days Journey so that I hired a little Ass from a man of the Caravan and rode upon it to Caire The truth is the Camels of the Arabs go a great deal more easily than the others do At Noon we past by a Castle called Adgeroud which we saw not as we came because we past it in the Night-time only three persons live there who drink salt-Salt-water We rested at Two a Clock and put on again at Six travelling till three a clock in the morning of Friday the fifteenth of February when we rested we parted again at noon and travelling till three a clock after we rested then we set forwards again at seven a clock at night and kept travelling till next day Saturday the sixteenth of February that about eight a Clock we arrived at Caire This Caravan from Caire to Suez and from Suez to Caire travels commonly very fast because it cannot spend much time by the way for otherwise they would fall short of provisions having none but what they carry with them both for Men and Camels and therefore they never stay above two or three days at Suez and if they stayed longer they would starve that Town where there is nothing but what is brought in from the Countrey about when the Galleys or some Ships arrive and indeed these Camel drivers are always so weary and spent that they can hardly stir they have not so much as time to sleep and now and then they run before the Caravan and tumbling down uPon the ground fall presently a sleep taking there a short nap till the Caravan be past when some take care to awaken them In this Journey from Suez to Caire for a days time and more we had so hot a Wind that we were forced to turn our backs to it A dangerous hot Wind. to take a little breath and so soon as we opened our mouths they were full of Sand our Water was so extreamly heated with it that it seemed to be just taken off of the Fire and many poor People of the Caravan came and begged of us a cup of water for Gods sake for our parts we could not drink it it was so hot The Camels were so infested with this Wind that they could not so much as feed but it lasted not above six hours in its force and if it had continued longer one half of the Caravan would have perished It was such a kind of wind that the year before so infested the Caravan of Mecha that two thousand men died of it in one night A great Mortality by that Wind. In this Journey I observed that when the feet of the Camels were cut and galled the Camel drivers took the Bones of dead Camels of which all the way from Caire to Suez is so full that following only the tract where these Bones ly one may go the streight way to Suez they took these Bones I say and with the marrow they fonnd in them anointed the sore place of the Camel. Such as would travel to Mount Sinai ought to make provision at Caire of all that
full of very white Salt Salt of Rain-water and they assured us that that Salt was made only by the Rain-water the sand of that place having such vertue as being without doubt very Salt and the like is to be seen in Alexandria Birlab We came to Birlab about ten a Clock at night which is a Desart without any Hibitation but hath three wells of Salt-water We set out from thence next day Tuesday the second of April about ten a Clock in the morning and about noon came to a well of good fresh water lately made by a Sangiac of Aegypt for all Travellers Bi r Acat About six a clock at night we arrived at a place called Bi r Acat which is also in the Desart having neither habitation nor water to water Beasts and all these ways are full of Quick-Sands We lay there and parted on Wednesday the third of April about six a clock in the Morning and about one of the clock at noon we found a Well called Sibil el bar Acat newly made by an Aga who passed that way a little before on his Journey to Constantinople Sibil signifies a place where all may have water for God's sake This Well is covered with a Dome supported by four walls of free-stone built square the entry into it is by two Doors over against one another but one must first ascend four or five steps The Cistern is covered all over with free-stone except in two round places big enough to let a Bucket down by which the water is drawn that rises pretty high half a fathom of Rope being sufficient to reach it This Aga left a fond to maintain some Arabs who daily bring thither so many Camels laded with fresh Water which they take at a place near the Sea. Having there made a provision of Water we entered again into the Quick-Sands Riche which lasted as far as Riche where we arrived about four in the Afternoon A quarter of an hour before we got there we were overtaken by a Storm which lasted above thirty hours Riche is a Village not far distant from the Sea it hath a Castle well built of little Rock-Stones as all the Houses are and the Cachef of it as well as he of Zaka depends on the Cachef of Catie Zaka They have so many lovely ancient Marble-Pillars at Riche that their Coffee-Houses and wells are made of them and so are their Burying-places full We parted from Riche Thursday the fourth of April about one a clock at noon having eight Turks with us who guarded us to Cauniones Cauniones for fear of the Arabs An hour after we parted from Riche we found a Sibil of Salt Water We still travelled on through Quick-Sands though it blew very hard Rained Thundered and Lightened and about midnight came to Zaka which is in the Desart without any Habitation but has only three Wells of bad Water and yet the Corsairs come often there to take in fresh Water Friday the fifth of April the Wind after a great deal of Rain calming we parted from Zaka about nine a Clock in the Morning and travelled in good way a little after twelve of the Clock we found three fair Marble-Pillars two standing and one lying along upon the ground and a little after a large Well of good Water where there are Sakis there we began to see a very pleasant Countrey and some Corn-Land sometime after we found a Sibil of bitter Water which is close by Cauniones where we arrived about three in the Afternoon they have so many Marble-Pillars there also that their Coffe-Houses stand all upon such There we began to see abundance of Trees and a great deal of good Meadow ground and indeed both the Cattel and Inhabitants of that Place from the biggest to the least are extreamly Fat. There is a very fair Castle there with a large open place in it The Turks lodge in the Castle where there is a Saki of very good Water and the Moors and Felas live in the Houses without This Castle is commanded by a Muteferaca who has but a small number of Soldiers with him in it he depends immediately on Caire from whence he has his pay and his Soldiers are payed by the Cachef of Catie Cauniones is in Aegypt which here ends We parted from Cauniones on Saturday the sixth of April before five in the Morning guarded by seven or eight Turks of the Place who went with us to Gaza for fear of the Arabs About six a clock we found a Sibil of bitter Water and about seven another better a little after we discovered the Town of Gaza half an hour after eight we found a Bridge under which runs the water of the Meadows which are very spacious and at the end of that Bridge there is a well of good Water the Countrey abounds in fair Cattle and all sorts of Fruit-Trees about an hour after we found two Sibils not far distant from one another and about half an hour after ten we arrived at Gaza where we Encamped near the Castle in a little Burying-place walled about CHAP. XXXVI Of the Cities of Gaza and Rama and our arrival at Jerusalem Gaza THE City of Gaza is about two miles from the Sea and was anciently very Illustrious as may be seen by its Ruines for you have Marble-Pillars every where and I have seen Burying-places there where the Tombs were wholly made of Marble among others there is one enclosed with a wall which belongs to some particular Turkish Family and is full of lovely Sepulchres made of large pieces of excellent Marble which are the remains and evidences of the ancient splendour of that Town It was one of the five Lordships of the Philistins Lordships of the Philistins to which Samson did so much hurt nay and one day carried away upon his Shoulders the Gates of this City and left them upon a little hill at a miles distance The Castle is near the Town and is round with a Tower at each corner four in all it is kept in good order and has but a small circumference but two Iron-Gates Hard by this Castle is the Serraglio of the Basha's Wives and joining to it above some pieces of old wall of a matter so compact that it cannot be broken with a Hammer it is the ruines of the Castle of the Romans The Town is but very little it hath a Bezestein in very good order and a pretty large Greek Church whereof the arched Roof in the middle is supported by two great Pillars of Marble with their Corinshes of the Corinthian order they say that our Lady was three days there when she fled into Aegypt The Armenians have a Church there also Near to the Castle of Gaza behind the Burying-place where we Encamped is the place where the Palace of the Philistins stood which Samson pulled down Smothering himself and all that were within it it is now no more but a heap of
faced with lovely Marble in the middle whereof there is a Glory of Silver like the Sun with this Inscription about it Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est About half a Foot from this Glory there is naturally upon a Marble Stone The figure of the Virgin and of her Son naturally imprinted on Marble The place of the Manger of our Lord. a figure in red Colour of a Virgin on her Knees and a little Child lying before her which is taken for the Blessed Virgin and her Son Jesus on whose Heads they have put two little Crowns of Silver-Plate Nine and twenty Lamps are kept burning before that Chappel Then you go down by three Marble-steps into a little Chappel where was the Wooden Manger into which the Virgin laid our Lord so soon as She had brought Him into the World this Manger is now at Rome in Santa Maria Majora And in the same place St. Helen caused another of white Marble Tables to be put on one of which set against the Wall is the natural Figure of an Old Man with a Monks Hood and long Beard lying on his Back and they 'll have this to be the Figure of St. Jerome which God was pleased should be marked upon that Stone because of the great love he had for that place Ten Lamps are kept burning before that Chappel two steps from which and just over against it is the Altar of Adoration of the Three Kings where there is a little Stone for a mark of the place The place of the Kings Adoration on which sat the holy Virgin with Her dear Son in Her Arms when She saw the three Wise Men come in who having laid down their Presents upon a little Bench of Stone at the foot of the Altar on the side of the Epistle adored Jesus and then offered him their Presents The Vault in this place is very low and supported by three Pillars of Porphyrian Marble before this Altar three Lamps burn At the other end of this place there was heretofore a Door by which one came down from St. Catharine's Chappel into this Grott before the Latin Monks lost it but at present it is Walled up and close by that Door there is a hole into which the Oriental Christians say the Star sunk after it had guided the Magi into this holy place This Grott is all faced with Marble both the Walls and Floor and the Seeling or Vault is adorned with Mosaick Work blackened by the smoak of the Lamps It receives no light but by the two Doors that are upon the Stairs which affords but very little Now this place is held in very great Veneration even by the Turks who come often and say their prayers there The Church of Bethlehem serves for a lodging to the Turks that pass that way But it is a very incommodious and unseemly thing that all the Turks who pass through Bethlehem should Lodge in the great Church with their whole Families there being no convenient Lodging in Bethlehem which is a great Eye-sore to the Christians who see their Church made an Inn for the Infidels But it is above all troublesome to our Latin Monks whom they oblige to furnish them with all things necessary both for Diet and Lodging CHAP. XLVI Of the Way of making what Marks Men please upon their Arms. WE spent all Tuesday the Nine and twentieth of April The Pilgrims of Jerusalem marked in the Arm. in getting Marks put upon our Arms as commonly all Pilgrims do the Christians of Bethlehem who are of the Latin Church do that They have several Wooden Moulds of which you may chuse that which pleases you best then they fill it with Coal-dust and apply it to your Arm so that they leave upon the same the Mark of what is cut in the Mould after that with the left hand they take hold of your Arm and stretch the skin of it and in the right hand they have a little Cane with two Needles fastened in it which from time to time they dip into Ink mingled with Oxes Gall and prick your Arm all along the lines that are marked by the Wooden Mould This without doubt is painful and commonly causes a slight Fever which is soon over the Arm in the mean time for two or three days continues swelled three times as big as it ordinarily is After they have pricked all along the said lines they wash the Arm and observe if there be any thing wanting then they begin again and sometimes do it three times over When they have done they wrap up your Arm very streight and there grows a Crust upon it which falling off three or four days after the Marks remain Blew and never wear out because the Blood mingling with that Tincture of Ink and Oxes Gall retains the mark under the Skin CHAP. XLVII Of what is to be seen about Bethlehem and of the Grott of the Virgin in Bethlehem WEdnesday the Four and twentieth of April we parted from Bethlehem at five a Clock in the Morning and went to see the holy places that are about it In the first place we saw on a little Hill on our right hand Boticella Boticella which is a Town wherein none but Greeks live and the Turks cannot live there for they say that if a Turk offer to live in it he dies within eight days Then a League from Bethlehem we saw the Church of St. George where there is a great Iron-ring fastened to a Chain through which the People of the Country A Ring that eures the Sick. both Moors and Christians pass when they are troubled with any Infirmity and as they say are immediately cured of it We went not thither because the day before the Greeks having been there met with some Turks who made every one of them pay some Maidins though it was not the custom to pay any thing and our Trucheman would by no means have us go thither that we might not accustome them to a new Imposition We left St. George's on the right hand and went to see a Fountain called in holy Scripture Fons Signatus Fons Signatus the Sealed Well which is in a hole under Ground where being got down with some trouble and a lighted Candle we saw on the right hand three Springs one by another the Water whereof is by an Aqueduct that begins close by the Fountain Heads conveyed to Jerusalem Near to that place there is a pretty Castle built some fifty or sixty Years since for taking the Caffares of the Caravans of Hebron a little farther are the three Fish-Ponds of Salomon The three Fish-ponds of Salomon they are three great Reser-servatories cut in the Rock the one at the end of the other the second being a little lower than the first and the third than the second and so communicate the Water from one to another when they are full near to this place his Concubines lived Continuing our Journey we saw in
It is a Town at present almost desolate We lodged in the Convent which is commodious and neat enough being new built for it is but about forty Years since that place came into the hands of the Monks of the Holy Land being given them by the Emir Farir Eddin Thursday the ninth of May we went into the Church where we heard Mass and said our Prayers The place of the Annunciation this Church is on the same place where the Angel Gabriel Annunciated the Mystery of the Incarnation to the Virgin Mary when she was at Prayers so that that Grott was her Oratory you go down to it by seven or eight steps in the Court and by more in the Convent There are two lovely Pillars of greyish Stone in it which were put there by St. Helen one at the very place as they say where the Virgin was when she received that Heavenly Message and the other at the place where the Angel appeared from the lower part of that where the Virgin was there is about two Foot broken off by the Turks so that the rest hangs as it were in the Air sticking to the Vault to which the Capital of it is fastned The Chamber of the Virgin. Even with this Grott is the place of the Virgins Chamber which was by Angels Transported to Loretto so that there are two Nefs one of the Grott and another of the Chamber in the space whereof there is another Rebuilt exactly like that of Loretto It is thirteen paces long and four broad the Chamber and Grott together being also thirteen paces in length We went out of Nazareth the same day May the ninth about three in the Afternoon to go visit the holy places about it And in the first place about three quarters of a League South from Nazareth we saw a great Hill called the Precipice The Precipice which is the place where the Jews would have thrown our Saviour down headlong but He rendering himself invisible to them retreated as they say into a little Cell that looks like a large and deep Nich this Nich is about the middle of the Precipice and heretofore the prints of his Body were to be seen in it In this Nich there is an Altar on which sometimes they say Mass and the ruines of a Chappel still to be seen by it From the top of that Precipice you may see the Town of Naim where our Lord raised the Widows Son from the Dead it lies at the foot of the Hill called Hermon Hermon mentioned in the Psalms Betwixt the Precipice and Nazareth there are some ruines of a Nunnery Our Lady of fear where there was a Church dedicated to our Lady of Fear because they say the holy Virgin following our Lord whom the Jews led to precipitate him and being afraid they might put him to death as she was going fell down in this place and her Knee is very well marked in the Rock The Monks say that they caused a piece of the Rock to be cut off that they might have carried away that Impression but that after they had gone a few steps they could not carry it away Then upon a little Mount about six hundred paces from the Convent they shewed us a great Stone Our Saviour's Table St. Peter's Well called our Lord's Table because they have it by Tradition that our Saviour eat many times upon it with his Apostles Close by it is the Fountain called St. Peter's Well because our Lord returning back to the Town with his Apostles and St. Peter being dry our Saviour made that Well to spring out and the Water is very good After that we entered into the Town which is close by and about five a Clock at Night came to the Convent CHAP. LV. Of the House of the Cananean the Mount of Beatitudes the Mount of the two Fishes and five Loaves the Sea of Tiberias of Mount Tabor and other holy Places NEXT day being Friday the Tenth of May we parted from Nazareth about five a Clock in the Morning and a little after found the Fountain where the Blessed Virgin used to draw Water The Tomb of Jonas and there are some steps to go down to it Then on the left hand we saw the Tomb of Jonas to whom the Turks bear great respect as they do to all the Prophets We saw a print of his Foot on the Rock the same Foot being marked on four places of the Rock at some paces distance from one another We came next to the Well where the Water was drawn which our Lord turned into Wine at the Marriage of Cana. In the Sacristie of the Church of the Eleven Thousand Virgins at Cologne I saw one of the Pots wherein our Saviour wrought that Miracle changing the Water that was in it into so good Wine that the Guests who had not seen the Miracle wrought complained to the Master of the Feast that he brought forth the good Wine last seeing it was the custom to give the good Wine first and the bad last then we went into the House where our Lord wrought this Miracle St. Helen built there a Church with a little Convent where some Monks lived it is still standing but the Moors have changed it into a Mosque however we entred into it Having seen that place we Travelled a pretty while in the Plain where the Apostles pluck'd the Ears of Corn and rubbed them in their hands on the Sabbath-Day The Sea of Galilee Bethulia then from a little height we discovered the Sea of Galilee from whence we also saw Bethulia where Judith killed Holofernes We saw also from that place pretty near the said Sea the top of Mount Libanus all white with Snow and about Ten in the morning we came to the Mount of Beatitudes so called The Mount of Beatitudes because it is the place where our Saviour made to his Apostles the Sermon of Beatitudes we went up to it and after we had heard the Gospel on that subject read by one of our Monks we came down again and continued our Journey The place and stone upon which our Lord blessed the two fishes and five loaves Tiberias and half an Hour after we came to the place where our Lord fed Five thousand men with two Fishes and five Loaves and twelve Baskets full of Fragments remained Having the Gospel read to us we eat in that place upon a Stone upon which they say he blessed the said Fishes and Loaves from thence we went to the Town of Tiberias which is upon the side of the Sea of Tiberias having been restored by Herod and named Tiberias from the name of the Emperour Tiberius We got there about Noon its Ruines and old Demolished Walls demonstrate it to have been a very large place The Walls of it having been ruined a Jewish Widow afterwards built new ones in form of a Fort with its Courtines and Jews lived there until about fifteen Years ago that the
the Countrey being so stony that it cannot be Cultivated Raimbe About mid way you find a Han built of black stones and called Raimbe over the Gate whereof there is a square Tower with four Windows after the manner of our Steeples Saxa is a pretty Han having a Mosque in the middle and a Fountain by the side of it Without it you see a little Castle near to which runs a River that divides itself into four and thirty Branches and there you find three Bridges where there is a Caffare to be paid The day following you come to Damascus seven hours traveling from Saxa but first about an hour and a halfs journey from Saxa you cross over a Bridge upon the River that comes from Saxa For the four first hours the way is stony after that betwixt two little Hills and on the right hand of a ruined Village called Caucab that is to say Star Caucab the place of St. Pauls Conversion is the place where our Lord said to St. Paul Saul Saul why Persecutest thou me The rest of the way is over most fertile Plains CHAP. LVIII Of the City of Damascus and the places that are to be seen about it THE first thing that may be seen at Damascus is the Bezestein Damascus which is Beautiful enough and hath three Gates from whence you go to the Castle which is all built of Stones cut in Diamond cut but it is not easie for Franks to enter it At first you come to a Court of Guard with several Arms hanging upon the Wall and two pieces of Ordnance each sixteen spans long About fifteen steps further is the Mint where the Jews Work. A little beyond that there is a Dome of no great Workmanship but supported by four so great Pillars that three men can hardly fathom one of them round Fifty paces from thence you enter through a large Arched Hall into the Divan where the Council is held painted with Gold and Azure after the Mosaick way and in it there are three Basons full of excellent water When you come out of the Castle you see the Ditches half a Pikes depth and twenty paces over wherein on the side of the Town a little Canal of water runs which waters the Gardens about that are full of Orange Limon Pomgranet and several other Trees Through the middle of the Castle runs a branch of the River with which they can fill the Ditches when there is occasion On the outside of the Walls of the same Castle hang two Chains of Stone one of which contains sixteen Links and the other fourteen cut one within another by matchless Art each Link being about two fathom long and one and a half wide and the two Chains are of one entire Stone a piece From thence you come to a fair Mosque about twenty Paces Square painted all over with Mosaick work in Gold and Azure and paved with Marble Melec Daer in the middle of it is the Sepulchre of Melec Daer Sultan of Aegypt After that you must see the House of the Tefterdar wherein there is a little Marble Mosque of most lovely Architecture and painted with Gold and Azure There are several lovely Rooms in it of the same fashion at each Window whereof you have a little Fountain of most clear Water which is artificially brought thither in Pipes In this House there is a door and several great Windows with copper-Lettices which look into the great Mosque and thence one may see without molestation but Christians are forbidden to enter it upon pain of Death or turning Turk From that door and the Windows one may perceive a great part of the Mosque which may be about three hundred paces long and threescore wide The Court is paved with lovely Stones most part of Marble shining like Lookin-glasses Round about this Court there are several Pillars of Marble porphyrie and Jasper incomparably well wrought which support an Arch that ranges all round painted with several pieces in Mosaick work The Porch of the Mosque faces this Court and the entry into it is by twelve large Copper-Doors embossed with Figures with several Pillars most part of Porphyrie whose Capitals are gilt The walls are painted with lovely figures in Gold and Azure The Turks themselves have so great a veneration for this place that they dare not pass through the Court without taking off their Pabouches and certainly 't is one of the loveliest Mosques in all the Turkish Empire It was heretofore a Christian Church built by the Emperour Heraclius in Honour of St. Zacharias the Father of St. John Baptist and they say there is a Sepulchre in it where the Bones of that holy Prophet rest You must also see the Fountain where St. Paul recovered his sight and was Baptized by Ananias which is in the Streight-street so called in the Acts of the Apostles under a Vault in the Bazar near to a thick Pillar called the Ancient Pillar then you go up to the House of that same Judas with whom St. Paul Sojourned to be instructed in the Christian Religion and Baptized there you see a great door armed with Iron and huge Nails within which is the Chamber where the said Saint Fasted three Days and three Nights After that you go out of the Town by a Gate called Bab cherki Bab Cherki That is to say East Gate near to which in former times there was a great Church built in honour of St. Paul but at present the Turks have made a Han of it the Steeple remains still and is very ancient Work. Continuing your way along the Town-Ditches and about fifty paces Southward from the said gate you see a great square Tower joining to the walls in the middle of which there are two Flowers de luce cut in Relief and well shaped and at the side of each of them a Lyon cut in the same manner Betwixt these Flowers de Luce there is a great Stone with an Inscription upon it in Turkish Characters About three hundred paces further you come to the Gate called Bab Kssa Bab Kssa that is walled up under which is the place where St. Paul was let down in a Basket to avoid the persecution of the Jews Sixty paces from thence over against the Gate The Porter St. George is the Sepulchre of St. George the Porter who had his Head struck off upon pretence that he was a Christian and had made St. Pauls escape The Christians of the Countrey reckon him a Saint and have commonly a Lamp burning upon his Tomb. Returning the same way back to the Town The House of Ananias you pass by the House of Ananias which is betwixt the East Gate and St. Thomas Gate and there you find fourteen steps down to a Grott which is the place where Ananias instructed St. Paul and taught him the Christian Doctrine And on the left hand is the hole but now stopp'd up by which Ananias went under ground to St. Paul
wrought in it and a great many Magazines which served formerly to hold Provisions and Amunition Assi or Orontes The River Assi or Orontes runs by the side of this Castle and fills the Ditches about it that are cut in the Rock and very deep It runs also through the whole Town where it turns eightteen great Wheels which raise the Water two Pikes height into Channels that lye upon great Arches and convey it not only to the Fountains of the Town but also without into the Gardens You must also see a Mosque that stands near the River and over against the Castle before the door of which there is a Pillar of most lovely Marble erected with the figures of Men Birds and other Animals very well cut in Demy Relief upon it In this Mosque there is a very pleasant Garden Marra full of Orange-Trees by the River-side From Ama you go and lodge at Marra which is a sorry Town commanded by a Sangiac and there is nothing in it worth the observing but the Han you lodge in which is covered all over with Lead and is very spacious being capable of Lodging eight hundred Men and their Horses with ease In the middle of this Han there is a Mosque with a lovely Fountain and a Well two and forty Fathom deep from the top to the Water is still to be seen there About sixscore Years ago that Han was Built by Mourab Chelebi great Tefterdar when he made the Pilgrimage of Mecha About fifty paces from thence there is another old Han half ruined having a door of Black Stone of one entire piece seven span long four and a half broad and a span thick on which two Crosses like those of Malta with Roses and other Figures are cut in Demy Relief From Marra you go and lye at Aleppo CHAP. LXI The Road fram Tripoly to Aleppo by Damascus THose who have never seen Damascus may go to it from Tripoly in three good days Journey and from thence to Aleppo by the way following From Damascus the first nights Lodging is at Cotaipha one half of the way thither is over most pleasant and fruitful Plains abounding with Fruit-Trees Olive-Trees and Vines and watered by seven little Rivers and several Brooks where you see by the way a great many Villages in the Countrey about to the number as the People of the Countrey say of above three hundred and fifty The rest of the way is very Barren and Mountainous Cotaipha A fair great Han. There is at Cotaipha the lovelyest Han that is to be seen in the whole Countrey In the middle of this Han there is a Fountain that discharges its water into a great Pond There is plenty of all things necessary therein and a thousand Men and Horse may be commodiously lodged in it About fourscore years since Sinan Basha the Grand Visier passing through that Countrey upon his way to Mecha and Hyemen caused it to be Built as you go into it you must pass through a great Square Court walled in like a Castle It hath two Gates one to the South and the other to the North upon each of which there are three Culverines mounted to defend the Place There is a Caffare to be paid there From Cotaipha the next Nights Lodging is at Nebk and upon the Road five hours travelling from Cotaipha you see an old Castle called Castel or Han el Arous that is to say the Brides Han standing in a very Barren place and environed by Mountains Nebk is Situated upon a little Hill at the foot of which are Gardens full of Fruit-Trees and watered by a small River over which there is a handsom Bridge of four Arches Next day when you have Travelled two Hours you pass by a Village called Cara which contains two Hans and a Greek Church Dedicated to the Honour of St. George For half a League round this Village there is nothing but Gardens full of Fruit-Trees watered by little Brooks Two Leagues from thence you find a Castle called Cosseitel and without the walls of it is a Fountain that runs into a Pond twenty paces long then you come to Lodge at Assia which is a Han for lodging of Travellers As you go to it you pass through a large Court walled in like a Fort having a very lovely Fountain in the middle which discharges its Water by four Pipes and at the Back of the Han there is a Spring of Water that fills a Pond From Assia you go next day to Hems About mid way you find a sorry Han Hems. called Chempsi Hems is a pretty Town indifferently big the Walls whereof are of black and white Stones and half a Pikes height almost all round fortified with little round Towers to the number of six and twenty formerly they were begirt with Ditches which at present are for the most part filled up with ruines This Town hath six Gates and there are five Churches in it The first is very great and is supported with four and thirty Marble-pillars most part Jaspirs it is threescore and ten paces long and eighteen broad Within on the South-side there is a little Chappel where you may see a Stone-Chest or Case set in the Wall five spans in length and three in breadth wherein the people of the Country not only Christians The Case wherein is the Head of St. John Baptist but Moors believe the head of St. John Baptist to be and therefore the Moors make great account of it and have commonly a Lamp burning before it They say that on certain days of the year some drops of Blood distill from that Case There are also many other long and round pieces of Marble built in the Wall inscribed with Greek Characters and very artfully engraven with Roses and other Figures St. Helen built that Church which was long possessed by the Christians of the Countrey but at length about an hundred and sixty years ago was usurped by the Turks and serves them at present for their chief Mosque the Roof that is supported by these Pillars has been lately renewed and is only of Wood ill put together Christians are suffered to enter into it By the side of it without there is a great Pond where the Turks make their Ablutions before they go into it At the door of this Mosque there are two Marble-Pillars twenty span long lying along upon the Ground From thence you go to another Church held by the Moors called St. George's the Christians of the Country may perform their Devotions there paying for half the Oyl that is consumed in it The third is dedicated to the Honour of our Lady and is possessed by the Christians of the Countrey Arbain Chouade The fourth is held by the Greeks and is called Arbaine Chouade which is to say forty Martyrs it is very neat supported by five Pillars whereof four are Marble and the fifth Porphyrie wrought and cut in the form of a Screw
The Sepulchre of St. Julian The fifth Church is called St. Merlian alias St. Julian the People of the Countrey say that his Body is there in a Sepulchre of most excellent Marble standing behind the Altar made like a Beer or Coffin with a high ridged cover At the four Corners there are four Balls of the same Marble and twelve Crosses round it in Demy Relief This Sepulchre is ten Spans long five broad and as much in height seeming to be all of one entire piece The Sepulchre of Caius Caesar the Nephew of Augustus Six hundred paces West-ward from the Gate called Bab Jeoundy that is to say the Jews Gate there is a Pretty big Pyramid wherein the People of the Countrey believe that Caius Caesar the Nephew of Augustus is buried Upon a Hill to the South of the Town there is a Castle built like that of Ama which I mentioned in the foregoing Chapter but it is not so ruinous though it be uninhabited as well as the other They say that heretofore both of them were held by the Christians who endured long and hard Sieges before they surrendred them to the Turks and that 's the reason that the Grand Signior has commanded that they should not be Repaired nor Inhabited The Han where Travellers lodge is fifteen paces without the Walls of the Town on the North-side from Hemps The next Lodging is at Ama. About half way there is a little Oratory which they say was built by the Franks it is at present Inhabited by a Moorish Scheik A little further there is a ruined Village upon a Hill. Near to that is the Han where Travellers that have a mind to stop there may Lodge After that you pass over a Bridge of ten Arches called Dgeser Rustan that is to say Rustans Bridge which is very neat and has the River Assi running underneath it I have said enough of Ama in the Chapter before The Country of Job Betwixt Hemps and Ama is the Countrey which the People that live there say was inhabited by Job and his Family but half of it is not Cultivated The day following you Lodge at Scheicon Han that is to say the Han Scheick it is a very old Han having on the Gate a Marble-Stone six spans long and four spans broad upon which are engraven six lines in Arabick Characters and on the two sides there are also two round stones of Marble Scheicon Hani upon each whereof there is a Chalice with its Paten very well Engraven From Scheicon Hani you go to Marra of which I have spoken in the preceeding Chapter Next day you go to Han Serakib Upon the Road you see some ruinous Villages whereof that which is most entire is called Han Mercy built in form of a Castle having four Towers in the four Corners three square and one round this Han is four Hours going from Marra and about twenty paces short of it on the left hand you see five great Sepulchres in one whereof a Basha is Interred having his Turban cut in Marble at one end of his Tomb. In an old Building fifteen paces distant from the Gate of that Han Serakib there is a Well almost square which is two and forty Fathom deep before you come at the Water as well as that of Marra about fourscore paces from thence there is a pitiful Village little Inhabited though there be good Land about it Han Touman Sermin From Han Serakib you have a days Journey to Han Touman Upon the Road to the left hand you see a pretty handsome Town called Sermin and three or four ruinous Villages having been forsaken because of the Robberies of the Arabs About forty Years since Han Touman was rebuilt by a Basha of Aleppo called Hisouf Basha who put into it an Aga with fifty Soldiers and ten little Culverines Singa to keep it against the Arabs who formerly committed frequent Robberies thereabouts The River of Aleppo called Singa runs hard by it and turns two Mills not far from thence From Han Touman you go to Aleppo in three or four Hours time CHAP. LXII Our setting out from Acre to Damiette and our meeting with Italian Corsairs From Acre to Damiette WE staid at Acre four days expecting a passage for Damiette but at length finding two Sanbiquers of Cyprus which were both bound for Damiette we resolved to go along with them and having sent for the Reys of that Sanbiquer that was a Greek Monsieur de Bricard the Consul took the pains to make a Bargain for us Sanbiquer and recommended us to him Sanbiquers are Vessels made like Galliotts but longer the Stern and Stem of them are made much alike only in the Poop there is a broad Room under Deck there are several Banks for Rowers according to the length of the Sanbiquer and each Oar is managed by two Men. Ours had twelve Oars on each side but besides it had a great Mast with a very large Sail so that being light Loaded no Galley could be too hard for one of them if their Oars were long enough but they have them very short The Wind offering fair for us we took our Provisions and went on board our Sanbiquer Sunday the nineteenth of May about three a Clock in the Afternoon the other Sanbiquer being in company with us We were much afraid of Corsairs still and especially of him who had taken us before not only because his Men had said That if they had killed us they would not have been obliged to make Restitution of any thing but also least they might have accused us of being the cause that the Turks had come out against them and so used us the worse for that However we met with nothing considerable till next day being Monday the twentieth of May that about Sun-setting we passed by a Tower about twelve Miles from Jaffa when we were come near to that Tower they fired some great and Small shot at us which much surprised us but more when we saw that they made great Fires all along the Coast and especially upon the Towers We knew not the cause of this which I shall tell hereafter only we concluded that they took us for Pirats When we came near to Jaffa we perceived a great Fire upon the Tower and then about nine a Clock at Night offering to put into the Harbour to take in Wood and Water they fired at us both great and small Shot Then our Reys went upon the Poop and called out as loud as he could that he was such a Man Reys of a Sanbiquer calling by Name those whom he knew at Jaffa but we had no other answer from within but Alarga that is to say that we should stand off and with that another Volley of great and small Shot When this Musick had lasted about an Hour they continually Firing and our Reys calling to them and making a heavy Noise the other Sanbiquer stood in nearer than we and
very welcome by these Captains who divided us betwixt them Our Monks went on board of Captain Santi and we who were Seculars were taken into the Ship of Captain Nicolo These two Ships were Consorts and had on board each an hundred and forty Men with fourteen Oars aside which they could use in case of necessity setting two Men to each Oar. The Ship we were in had four and twenty Petreras and two great Guns all of Brass besides a great number of Muskets and Blunderbusses and the other was as well armed They had besides a Galliot which they had made of a Sanbiquer they had taken near to Scandaroon and armed with six brazen Petreras and a fair brass chase-Gun having manned her with eighty of their Men forty a piece and that was the same Galliot which had given us the chase the day before One of these Corsairs had been six and thirty and the other forty Months out at Sea. I wondred to see on board the Ship where we were several Slaves Men Women and Children and they told me that they had taken most of them at Castel Peregrino some days before having surprised the Castle in this manner When they had took this Sanbiquer which as I said they turned into a Galliot a Turk about Scandaroon who was taken in her made a Proposal to them that if they would give him his liberty he would put them in a way of taking many Slaves They presently made him a Promise but he not trusting to their Word for all he was a Turk made them Swear it before an Image of our Blessed Lady and another of St. Francis. When they had given their Oath he made them steer their course toward Castel Peregrino which is a pitiful little open Castle betwixt Acre and Jaffa ten miles below Mount Carmel on the way to Jaffa They took their measures so well that they were not at all perceived and having immediately landed they went without any noise to the Habitation where being come they began to appear in their Colours The Surprisal of an Habitation by Italian Corsairs carrying away all living Creatures Men Women and Children and killing all without regard to Age or Sex that would not willingly go along with them insomuch that some Soldiers told me that they had killed young Maids who notwithstanding they had seen others that would not follow killed before their faces chose rather to be put to Death than to be made Slaves They shewed me one of their Officers to whom a Soldier brought a Child four months old telling him Here is a Slave for you who in a barbarous manner taking the innocent Infant by one foot and saying What would you have me to do with this threw it from him as if it had been a stone as far as he could on the ground They made on this occasion above fifty Slaves Men Women and Children The Turk who was their Guide having brought them on board they took off his Chain and he went to look for more never thinking of making his escape either because he trusted to their Oath or else perhaps because he was afraid to have met in that Countrey with the reward of his Treachery They killed more than they took and left not so much as a living Soul in the place and that was the cause of the great allarm they were put into on that Coast when we sailed along it from Acre to Jaffa It was a sad spectacle to see on board this Ship so many poor Women with their Children at their breasts having no greater allowance than a little mouldy Bisket and two glasses of stinking Water a day which was all the Men had also but among others there was one Woman Slave on board with her Husband Brother seven Children and one in her Womb All this together caused a great clutter and nastiness in the Ship nay there was one little Child ill of the Small-pox which made me afraid of catching the same Disease We were no better treated than the Slaves Entertainment on board the Corsairs for they were in great want of Provisions and had so little Water that they were obliged to distribute it by measure giving every one two glasses a day Our Diet then consisted of two meals a day both alike one at noon and the other at night and these were a little mouldy Bisket of all colours which to season and soften it was steep'd in Water that stunck so horridly that it smelt all over the Cabin and getting into our throat as we broke the Bisket with our teeth was like to have turned our stomacks A little Cheese we had also that might have kept along time for it needed a Hatchet to cut it Our Drink was the same stinking Water with a very little coat of Wine upon it and in the night-time we lay upon the deck amidst the Vermine and filth of the poor Wretches our Monks were better accommodated as they told us afterwards However I was not altogether disheartned by this adversity on the contrary was fain to encourage the rest who thought themselves half dead already and apply'd my self to consider what way we might be delivered out of this misery With their two Ships they had a great Saique which they had taken a few days before and some Greeks coming to redeem her had offered a thousand Piastres for her but these Gentlemen demanding fifteen hundred the Greeks went away promising however to come back again which I having understood from the Captain who was as willing to be rid of us as we were to be gone because we lessened his stinking Provisions we prepared to go to Damiette with them The Corsairs would willingly have set us ashoar if we had pleased but we would by no means accept of that offer for fear of having been taken for Corsairs and so immediately burnt alive and it was too fresh in my memory what I had been told of other Franks who having escaped from Shipwreck and coming a-shore thought they came very well off when they were only made Slaves In the mean time the Galliot came up with the Ships Tuesday morning the eight and twentieth of May she had taken a Saycot which was the sail we had seen with her but she let it go as not worth their while to stay for it On Wednesday the nine and twentieth of May about an hour before day a Polaque fell in among us and running foul of our Sanbiquer that was towed at the stern of one of the Ships made a hole in her side The Corsairs were immiediately allarmed and firing some small Shot into the Polaque manned their Boats to take her On the other hand those on board the Polaque who were either drunk or asleep awaking at the knock which their Polaque gave in striking against the Sanbiquer and being sensible of their fault betook themselves in all haste to their Caique and endeavoured to make their escape by rowing but being closely pursued they were soon
Cachef and inform him that their Company have a desire to go to the Desarts of St. Macharius Immediately the Cachef gives orders to two of his Men and to Arab Scheiks to make ready to attend the Travellers and provides Beasts to carry them For the price you must endeavour to agree as cheap as you can and it must be made in presence of the Cachef before you set out for if you delay till you come back they 'll exact the more The hire commonly for going and coming is two Piastres for each Horse or Camel and one Piastre for each Ass besides three or four Piastres for every Horse-man that accompanies you which pays both for Man and Horse Such as would spare Charges should at Caire strike in with one of the Monks of some of the Monasteries of the said Desart who will oblige himself to Conduct them thither and back again to Caire Dris and they are to go down the River with him to a Village called Dris where these Monks have a House There the Monk will do well to take with him an Arab that is known in the Mountain and every one being mounted on an Ass they may begin their Journey First They go to the Manastery of St. Macharius Monastery of St. Macharius a days Journey from Terrana and lies right West This is a very ancient Monastery the Walls are very high but it is much decaied There are many holy bodies in it but only one of these approved of by the Church of Rome to wit that of St. Macharius as also five or six Altar-Tables of lovely Marble Within the Precinct of this Monastery there is a kind of a big square Tower into which you enter by a Draw-bridge and wherein there is a Church a Well and all that is necessary for the Service of the Church and the sorry sustenance of the Religious who sometimes retreat into it For when they find themselve abused and pursued by stranger Arabs they betake themselves to this kind of strong Hold and pull up the Draw-bridge after them keeping there whatever they have of Value in the Monastery especially all their Books which they so esteem that no Monk dares to Sell or put out of the way any of them under the pain of Anathema In this manner all the three other Monasteries of which we shall speak hereafter have Towers in them This Monastery is the greatest but also the most ruinous and especially the Church that seems to have been very fair in times past There is no Garden belonging to it and the Water which the Monks drink is somewhat brackish From St. Macharius you go to another called Ambabichoye Ambabichoye lying Northward of the former three or four Hours journey only Upon the way thither you see a great many little Eminences or Risings about a step over which cut the way and reach far into the Western Desart The Religious say and find it Recorded in their Books which are very ancient that this Rising was made by Angels to serve for a path to the Hermites who many times lost their way when on Sundays they were coming to Mass in the Monastery and therefore they call it Tarik el Melaike that is to say the Angels Way Tarik el Malaike By the way also you see many old Walls which are the ruines of several Monasteries that heretofore have been there and as the Monks say to the number of three hundred round that Mountain but the Ruines which remain at present make it not appear that the number has been so great It is true one must not think that they have been perfect Monasteries but only little Houses built by Seculars who had a mind to retire into the Desart and lead a Religious Life there being obliged on Sundays and all Holy Days to come to Mass in the next Monastery there to assist at Divine Service And in that Monastery there was an Abbot with a certain number of residing Monks who when they had a mind to lead a more austere Life and were found to be sufficiently qualified for that by their Superiour were suffered by him to leave the Convent and go live more solitary further off in the Mountain where they built little Hermitages and there spent their lives in great Austerity Silence and continual Meditation and this is the account the Religious give It is not good to follow that Angels way nor to be too curious in asking questions of the Arabs about it for then they would presently conclude that you were come to the Mountain to search for some Treasure hid in it which they fancy the Franks know of Among these old buildings you see the ruines of a Monastery built in honour of St. John the Little and is called Juhhanna el Kasir where there is still a Dome and the dry Rod which being watered by that good Hermite at the command of his Superiour was changed into a fair Tree which is to be seen at this day as a monument of the merit of Obedience The Monks call this Tree Chadgeret el Taa that is to say Chadgeret el Taa the Tree of Obedience The Monastery of Ambabichoye is the pleasantest of all the four for it has a fair Church a lovely Garden and good Water with a big Tower in it as in that of St. Macharius There were a great many holy bodies therein which on Palm-Sunday in the Year 1656. were burnt by a spark that fell from a Taper that had been left burning there whereupon the Monks being vexed that they had lost their Saints gave it out that they had been carried away by a French Merchant who came into those Quarters to buy Natron But finding that the device would not take though it cost the Merchant Money for the Turks would not let slip that occasion they raised some dead bodies and brought them into their Church publishing that they were the bodies of their Saints which had escaped out of the French Ships and were come back to their Church From Ambabichoye you go to another Monastery The Monastery of the Syrians in the Desart of Macharius The Staff of St. Ephrem called the Monastery of the Syrians a quarter of a League distant from Ambabichoye it is but small but very pleasant has good Water and is the best in order of all There you see two fair Churches one for the Syrians and another for the Cophtes in which are many Relicks In this last is the Staff of St. Ephrem who being come to visit another Hermite and having left his Staff at the Door whilst he was in discourse with the other whom he came to see his Staff took root and blossomed and is now a lovely great Tree and the only in Aegypt of its kind From the Monastery of the Syrians you go to the Mountain of the Eagles Stones and by the way you see the dry Sea which was dried up as the Monks say at the
have a Patriarch there who aswel as the Primate of the Cophtes carries the Title of Patriarch of Alexandria but he resides commonly at Caire I saw him Celebrate Mass at Caire on a Holy-Thursday and shall here relate in few words what I observed of that Ceremony This Patriarch when he Celebrates is cloathed in the same Vestments as the other Patriarchs are Ceremonies at the Greeks Mass on Holy-Thursday except that he has a Stole over these Vestments which the others have not and which was given to a Patriarch of Alexandria by a Pope Over that Stole he wears the Pallium which is bigger and longer than that of the Latin Arch-Bishops then he puts upon his head a lovely Tiara or Cap of Silver gilt set thick with fine Pearls some of which are pretty big with many large Rubies Emeralds and other such Precious stones but it hath not three Crowns as the Tiara of the Popes has This Cap was presented to him by the Duke of Muscovy who is never omitted in all the Prayers of the Greeks It is certainly a very rich Cap though it come far short of the riches of the Crown of the Popes which is kept in the Castle of St. Angelo The Patriarch Celebrates Mass as all other Greek Priests do only after the Epistle hath been read in Greek it is also read in Arabick it is the same with the Gospel and some other Prayers which the Patriarch says aloud in Greek and then repeats in Arabick As to the Communion when the Patriarch hath consecrated some pieces of Bread then the Wine in a very great Chalice because of the great number of Communicants he crumbs some pieces of that Consecrated Bread into the Chalice then having publickly asked Forgiveness of all that are present he Communicates of the Lord's Body afterwards taking the Cup and having said some Prayers he says In Name of the Father and takes a little of the hallowed Cup then having said and of the Son he takes a little more and lastly and of the Holy Ghost he takes a third sip When that is done he Communicates the Priests giving each of them the Bread which they receeive in one hand and holding the other under to receive any thing that might fall they go to the side of the Altar where after some Prayers they ask Forgiveness of the rest and then Communicate after that they go to the Altar where the Patriarch gives them the Cup at three times as he took it himself saying In Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost The People Communicate without the Chancel from the hand of a Priest who taking the Chalice goes to one of the side Doors of the Chancel where in a gilt Silver-Spoon he gives of the Consecrated Bread crumbled into the Wine as I said before to all who come to receive but the truth is they go to the Communion with far less reverence than the Latins do Mass being over the Patriarch went in the body of the Church to a place Rail'd in raised about three foot from the ground at the end whereof there was a Chair for him and on each side six Chairs for twelve Priests that followed him and there being all in Copes they sate down These twelve Priests represented the twelve Apostles then a Priest went to the Chancel-door and turning his back to the Altar read the Gospel for Holy-Thursday in Greek In the mean time the Patriarch put off his Patriarchal Ornaments without the assistance of any and putting on again his Tiara he tied one Napkin about him and put another by his side then setting a great Bason and Ewer upon the ground he poured a little Water into the Bason making the sign of the Cross giving the Ewer to a Clerk who poured water upon the foot of the first of the twelve Apostles whilst the Patriarch washed and rubbed it well with his hands then wiped it with his napkin and offered to kiss it which the Priest would not suffer He did so to the rest pouring always out water for every one of them with the sign of the Cross but when he came to the twelfth that Priest who represented St. Peter rose and made as if he would not suffer the Patriarch to wash his Feet in imitation of St. Peter who was unwilling that his Master should render him that service but at length after he had spoken a little and that the Patriarch had made answer he sate down as St. Peter did who being told by Jesus Christ That he could have no part in the Kingdom of Heaven if he suffered him not to wash his Feet said Not my Feet only but my also Head and Hands During this Ceremony nothing was to be heard in the Church but the groans and lamentations of Men and Women which were so loud that they moved even the most obdurate almost to shed tears also and yet the subject of all this weeping was only to see the Patriarch wash the Feet of these Priests After this the Patriarch put on his Patriarchal Habits again and the Ewer and Bason were carried away then came such a Croud about him that carried them away that I thought they would have stifled him every one strove to dip a Handkerchief into that Foot-laver and came on so fast that before the Clerk had made six steps the Bason was as dry as ever it was Then the Gospel was read the Heads whereof the Patriarch explained in a Greek Sermon and so the Ceremony ended CHAP. LXXVIII Of the Jews and Turks that are in Aegypt IT remains now that I speak of the Jews and Turks who are in Aegypt Jews in Caire As for the Jews I have spoken of them before and shall only add here that there a great many Jews at Caire who have a Quarter where they all live by themselves this is a large Quarter and contains a great many Streets but all short narrow nasty and stinking The Jews manage all the Customs in Aegypt and all the Serafs are Jews Aegypt is Governed by a Basha Aegypt the second Bashaship of the Turkish Empire and Buda the first The Profits of the Governour sent thither by the Grand Signior and it is the second Bashaship of all the Turkish Empire that of Buda is the chief but it is only in Honour for it yields no Profit on the contrary the Grand Signior is obliged to send Money thither for maintaining the Garison But this is a profitable Government for the first day the Basha of Aegypt arrives at Caire he hath an Hundred thousand Piastres and every Month after seven Purses not reckoning the many casual Profits which he has on all occasions And indeed he buys this Government paying for it sometimes two or three hundred thousand Piastres and besides that he must furnish vast Sums from the Revenue of Aegypt before he put a Penny into his own Coffers paying yearly five Hazna Now a Hazna or Treasure Hazna in
Breast or at his Head or Shoulders they lift him up and plant this Stake very streight in the Ground upon which they leave him so exposed for a day One day I saw a Man upon the Pale who was Sentenced to continue so for three Hours alive and that he might not die too soon the Stake was not thrust up far enough to come out at any part of his Body and they also put a stay or rest upon the Pale to hinder the weight of his body from making him sink down upon it or the point of it from piercing him through which would have presently killed him In this manner he was left for some Hours during which time he spoke and turning from one side to another prayed those that passed by to kill him making a thousand wry Mouths and Faces because of the pain he suffered when he stirred himself but after Dinner the Basha sent one to dispatch him which was easily done by making the point of the Stake come out at his Breast and then he was left till next Morning when he was taken down because he stunk horridly Some have lived upon the Pale until the third day and have in the mean while smoaked Tobacco when it was given them This poor wretch carried the Scales and Weights of those who go about to visit the Weights to see if they be just and he had so combined with such as had false Weights that he brought false ones also with him so that the Searchers not perceiving the change of their own Weights thought the other to be just When Arabs or such other Robbers are carried to be Empaled they put them on a Camel their Hands tied behind their Backs and with a Knife make great gashes in their naked Arms thrusting into them Candles of Pitch and Rosin which they light to make the stuff run into their Flesh and yet some of these Rogues go chearfully to Death glorying as it were that they could deserve it and saying That if they had not been brave Men they would not have been so put to death This is a very common and ordinary Punishment in Aegypt but in Turkie it is but very rarely put into practice The Natives of the Country are punished in this manner but the Turks are strangled in Prison CHAP. LXXX Of the Inconveniencies and Ordinary Distempers at Caire Ordinary Inconveniencies that happen at Caire Heat in Egypt Drink in Egypt THE first Inconvenience to be felt at Caire is the excessive Heat which is so intolerable that one can scarcely do any thing and what is worse there is no sleeping hardly there in Summer For when you go to Bed you 'll find the Sheets full of Sand and so hot that I think they could not be more after long warming with a Warming-pan What you drink there is commonly as hot as your Blood for you must not think of Ice Snow or a Well there all that can be done is to put the Water into certain Pots of a white Earth that Transpires much and leave them abroad in the Night-time having done so the Water is indeed pretty cold in the Morning but in the Day-time they put those Pots in Windows which receive any little breeze and there the Water cools a little or at least loses somewhat of its heat and it is a great happiness in that Country to have a Window that lies well for a breeze and a Bardaque or Pot that is Transpirable Besides these Inconveniencies there is that of little Flies or Musketto's which I reckon the greatest of all No Man can believe but he who hath felt it by Experience how uneasie and troublesome these Insects are in Aegypt there are always swarms of them buzzing about People and continually pricking of them so that they make themselves fat and plump with Man's Blood. There is no other remedy against these Gnats but to have a very fine Cloth all round your Bed which shuts very close and for all that some always get in when you go to lie down A pain in the Stomach is very common in that Country and all New-comers are subject unto it who finding themselves in a hot Countrey leave their Breast and Stomach open and will not take Counsel Nevertheless the Air which is subtile and penetrating chills their Bowels and causes dangerous Fevers and Bloody-Fluxes especially in Autumn when the Nile overflows and therefore one must always keep the Stomach warm and well covered There is another Distemper that reigns there also and that is a swelling of the Scrotum and to some I may speak without Exaggerating their Cods swell bigger than their Head which is occasioned by the Water of the Nile and I my self was troubled a little with it for the space of eight days but then it went away of it self To cure this Distemper they make Incision with a Lancet in the swelled Scrotum and let out the Water that is got into it Sore Eyes are very common there and very dangerous in the Summer-time that is caused by the burning heat of the Sun which reflects from the Ground upon the Eyes and scorches them as also from the Dust which is very subtile and salt and is blown into the Eyes by the Wind which is the reason that there are many blind in that Country Whilst I was in Aegypt a French Merchant lost an Eye so and I have known other French troubled with that Distemper who for a fortnight or three Weeks could not sleep because of the sharp pain they felt which made them cry out and roar both Night and Day In the Summer-time you hardly see any abroad in the Streets but who are afflicted with that evil and carry pieces of blew Stuff before their Eyes and certainly you shall find nine of ten whom you meet with such defensives before their Eyes Every one threatned me with that Distemper and yet thanks be to God I never had the least touch of it perhaps I took care to prevent it because in that bad Season every Morning and Evening I washed my Eyes with fair Water and when I returned from Abroad I did the like to wash out any Sand that might have got into them Pains in the Legs are very bad at Caire and a great many have their Legs swollen to a prodigious bigness There is also another Distemper or rather inconvenience for it is more uneasie than dangerous which happens when the Water of the Nile begins to rise there is a kind of Inflammation or Wild-fire that runs over the whole Body which exceedingly torments People by its pricking and stinging and when you drink to ease and refresh your self whilst you are drinking and after you feel such sharp prickings that you would think there were an hundred Needles stuck into you all at once the Provencials call that Des Arelles and it is an Inconvenience that lasts almost three Months Arelles In March 1658. after some days of high Winds a certain Distemper broke out
consisted not in Hair and that therefore he should suffer it to be cut off Then he sent for his Wife to Tunis she being with Child but he had much ado to preserve his Servants liberty for the Dey and Aga of the Divan would have had them made Slaves nevertheless they retained both their Liberty and Religion Two years after he would have sent his Wife back again into Christendom but they would not suffer him however after many difficulties she went away attended by a Servant of the Princes leaving a Son behind her and came to Genoa where she put her self into a Nunnery and hath since continued Now Don Philippo having been Disinherited by his Father had nothing to Live on but what he had from his Mother who is very fond of him Nor is he put into any Place because they still believe him to be a Christian there being none great nor small in Tunis but knew him by the name of Don Philippo for my part the first time I went to his House when I was at Tunis having asked for the House of Don Philippo every body told me the way to it Now to dispossess them of the belief they have that he is still a Christian at Heart he resolved some years after his return to undertake the Pilgrimage of Mecha and so wheadled a Brother of his own that he engaged him in the Journey who bore Don Philippo's Charges and his Sons whom he took with him So soon as he came to Caire he made acquaintance with the Franks and then hired a House in the quarter of the French where he came two or three times a week to drink Wine and make merry with the Franks and the time being come that the Caravan parts for Mecha he travelled thither in company of the Megrebins and upon his return the occasion of this English Ship presenting he resolved to return by Sea to Tunis This Prince is a tall and handsome well shaped Man and was not then above thirty years of Age he has a great deal of wit and speaks Italian and Spanish naturally well He is a lover of Musick and therefore has several Slaves who played some on the Harp others on the Flute and Lute His Son was then a little Boy about seven years old handsome and witty like his Father This same Don Philippo for all he is so poor makes his Brothers so stand in fear of him that there is none of them dares to look him in the Face CHAP. LXXXIV Our Voyage from Caire to Alexandria What the Hhouames are FRiday the third of January 1659. I parted from Caire and embarking at the Gissiere which is a pleasant place upon the side of the Nile where many go to divert themselves and where our Boat stayed for us with a fair wind we sailed as far as Tono which is half way from Caire to Rossetto Some hours after we parted from Caire we met the Boat of Don Philippo which we Saluted with some Volleys of our Fowling-pieces We arrived at Tono Saturday the fourth of January after Midnight Tono but there the Wind turned contrary which put us to a great deal of trouble and a main Rope of our Tackle breaking we had almost been cast away Boat and all but having quickly recovered it out of the Water and re-fitted it with all haste we continued our course making still a little way though the wind was full against us at length perceiving that the Wind was like to continue so we put a-shoar at Derout Tuesday morning the seventh of January and went by Land to Rossetto six hours Journey distant from Derout Derout we arrived the same day Tuesday the seventh of January at Rossetto Upon the way from Caire to Rossetto there are some pretty Towns which I had not observed as I went from Rossetto to Caire as Foa Sewdion Derout Foa Sewdion and some others We stayed for our Boat wherein our luggage was at Rossetto where it arrived on Wednesday morning the eighth of January and Thursday the ninth we parted from Rossetto about two a Clock in the Morning Betwixt Rossetto and the Sea-side there are eleven Pillars fixed in the Ground and a Palm-Tree at some hundreds of Paces distant one from another they are put there to mark the way because it is a Desart and besides the ways most commonly are covered with Rain-water and if a Man should miss his way in that Desart it would take him above a day to find it again We followed then these marks by Moon-light and being got to the Sea-side came to Casa Rossa Casa Rossa Media which is half way betwixt Rossetto and Media where we arrived about three hours after day Media is above half way from Rossetto to Alexandria Having rested there about an hour we crossed over in the Ferry-boat paying a Maidin for our House-room and passage and after we had travelled a good way about two a clock in the Afternoon we came to Alexandria twelve hours Journey distant from Rossetto betwixt which two Towns there is no other Inn but Media where you have nothing but Water and House-room so that what you eat and drink you must carry with you From Caire to Alexandria it is about an hundred and fifty miles by Land which is commonly travelled in three days because they travel day and night resting a little in the Morning and Afternoon I saw nothing in Alexandria but what I had seen the time before when I was there only they shewed me a Hhouame Hhouames and told me that these Hhouames are a sort of Vagabond People among the Arabs who lodge as they do under Tents but have a certain particular Law to themselves for every night they perform their Prayers and Ceremonies under a Tent without any Light and then lye with the first they meet whether it be Father Mother Sister or Brother and this is far worse than the Religion of the Adamites These People though sculk and keep private in the City for if they be known to be Hhouames they are Burned Alive CHAP. LXXXV Our arrival at Bouquer a Ship cast away in the Port of Alexandria A description of Bouquer I Stayed at Alexandria till the Ship was ready whereof the Purser having given us notice we sent away our Goods and Provisions which we had prepared before hand for one must not delay those preparations till the Ship be just ready to sail When a man is alone it is no bad way to agree with the Captain for Diet especially with the English who treat well but besides that one must still have some small provision for himself in private For our parts being five in company to wit three Marseillese my self and my man we provided all things for ourselves We took Boat then on Thursday the thirtieth of January to go on board the Ship which was at Bouquer but not before we and our Goods had been searched at the Custome-house where we were encompassed
with an Army of Rogues that begged something of us and to say the truth it is no easie matter for a Stranger to Embark there for there are so many of these Rascals to whom some Maidins must be given that one is quite Stunned with them At length being in the Boat we went to the Block-house to give in our Cockets to shew that all our Goods had been searched at the Custome-house and there it behoved us also to pay three Maidins a piece but those that are at Bouquer cannot be searched for they are without the reach of Cannon shot From the Farillon or Block-house we went streight to Bouquer where we arrived about six a Clock at Night but it blew so hard that we durst not go a board the Ship so that we put a-shoar and lodged in a Coffee-House keeping our Boat with us for there was none to be found there and that was the reason we came by Sea and not over Land knowing very well that we should find no Boats there besides it is more convenient and cheaper to go by Sea than over Land when one has any quantity of Goods We staid then some days a-shoar waiting for a fair wind to carry us on Board during which time I observed that place as well as I could though it signified no great matter Bouquer is a Castle built upon a point of land Bouquer that runs out a little into the Sea. It is square having on each corner a little Tower mounted with some small Guns a Dungeon or great Tower in the middle with a light House on the top of it and a Mosque The Castle is like an Island there being a gut of sea-Sea-water two steps over betwixt it and the main Land to which it is joined by a wooden Bridge that joins to one of Stone it is beside encompassed all round with Rocks but they have no other water but what they fetch from a Well at a pretty distance from the Castle Heretofore there was an Aqueduct that brought water from a Fountain at the old port of Alexandria to this Castle and this Aqueduct is still to be seen The Castle has in it a great many Soldiers commanded by a Muteferaca but it does not seem to be well provided of Cannon for while I was at Caire Papachin a famous Corsair came with Spanish Colours and took both an English and a French Ship that had put themselves under the protection of its shot the Castle firing only two Guns but the Aga was made Mansoul for it It has some Guns however and two among the rest whereof the one has the Arms of France and the other of Marseilles the Turks who are very bad Historians say that they are as old as St. Louis who left them at Monsour near to Damiette There is about a score of Houses near to this Castle and a little farther off as many more but the French are not suffered to water at Bouquer Friday Saturday and Sunday there blew so violent a North wind that on Friday night or Saturday Morning a Dutch Ship called the Soldatero was cast away in the port of Alexandria The evening before that disaster happened the Aga of the Block-house sent word to the Captain of that Ship that he should have a care of himself that he thought his Ship made too much travel and that he had best put out another Anchor but he slighting the advice and his Cables firing in the night-time the ship struck against the Rocks with so much Violence that she broke into small bits no bigger than ones hand as Don Philippo who saw it told me and eight Men Perished The same night a Ship of Messina which arrived at Bouquer two days before broke her Cables and having quickly got under Sail to save her self was forced in by the Storm near to Madia not without danger of being wracked there for it is almost at the Mouth of the Nile where there is no Water for a Vessel of any Burthen Our ship had also some share in the danger occasioned by that Storm for she lost two Cables and saved only one that held out The chief Mate also going in the Evening to the head to see if it was not like to Fire was thrown over Board but five and twenty or thirty Ropes being immediately thrown out to him he caught hold of some of them and so was pulled in The Captain would have reckoned his Ship as good as lost if that Mate had been cast away for he confided much in him and indeed he was a skilful Sea-man In short if that Cable had given as the other two did the Ship must unavoidably have been lost for they had not one good Cable more having lain three or four Months at an Anchor CHAP. LXXXVI Our departure from Bouquer and our getting on Board the Ship. MOnday the third of February the Wind flackening a little though it blew still a strong gale from West we went into our boat and put out from Bouquer about eight a Clock in the Morning In a good hours time we came to the Ship and immediately after Don Philippo came This ship carryed thirty Guns of which the greatest eighteen pound Ball the smaller twelve Pounders except two little Brass pieces in the Cuddie which carried but five pounders a piece There were two of these Guns in the steerage which were charged with Bunches of Grapes that is to say clusters of little leaden Bullets split in the middle that yet stick all together but when they are shot scatter into so many pieces In this place there were two port-holes to run out the Guns if the ship were attacked and came to a close Fight so that there being two also in the Fore-castle and two more in the Cuddie charged in the fame manner they would so scower the Deck fore and aft that I believe if two hundred men should have come on Board they would all have had their share Scopa Coperta These Guns in the Streights are called Scopa Coperta that is to say a covered Broom and when they fire them they ring a little Bell that those of the ships company who are at the other end of the ship may fall flat on their Bellies and receive no hurt Our ship had sixty four men a board she was very great had fair large Cabins and two Decks In the lower Deck they had a very convenient Pump it is an Iron-Chain in form of a Chaplet that reaches down to the Sink having little pieces of Leather about half as long as ones hand and somewhat hollow and fastened to it at every half foots distance this is turned by two Handles one on each side and it is incredible how much water it will raise insomuch that if a ship were full she might be emptied by such a Pump in two hours time So soon as we were come on Board we hired every one of us a Cabin to lye in for my part I hired one for six
about it all the while with West-north-west and North-winds Our Mates told us that they were always a long time in doubling that Cape and sometimes spent three Weeks about it About five a Clock in the Evening we Sailed betwixt the Isle of Zimbre and an Isle or Rock that is almost mid-way betwixt the Main-land and Zimbre Zimbre Zimbre is Inhabited has convenient Anchorage by it and good Water in it From Zimbre it is but forty Miles to Goletta Having passed Zimbre we stood off from Land intending not to enter Goletta till next day because of the many Flats that are on that Coast Friday night and Saturday morning the eighth of March we had greater gusts of Wind and Rain than before and if we had not doubled the Cape we must have been a long time still before we could have done it considering the Weather that happened afterward During these storms a Moor on board of us died who had been ill of a Bloody Flux almost ever since the beginning of our Voyage and next morning he was thrown over-board At length on Saturday the eighth of March about seven a Clock in the Morning we came into the Port or rather the Road of Goletta for it is not a Harbour but a Road that lies open to the South east Wind and in all Barbary there are but two good Ports to wit Porto Farina Porto Farina Porto Stera Biserta Vtica and Porto Stera The Harbour for the Galleys of Tunis is Biserta a little Town threescore Miles from Tunis Biserta was formerly called Vtica and here it was that Cato killed himself wherefore he was called Cato Vticensis We came to an Anchor near a Point of Land where the Sepulchre of Dido is The Sepulchre of Dido Marabout and a Marabout or Sheick is Interred there So soon as we had dropt Anchor Don Philippo sent ashoar one of his Men who having informed a poor Moor whom he met that Don Philippo was arrived the poor Man ran with all the speed he could to the Town to carry the news to Don Philippo's Mother who was overjoyed thereat and gave him twenty Crowns for a Reward he was no more expected at Tunis and it was thought he was gone back again into Christendom having been absent almost two Years Sunday the ninth of March we went ashoar and when Don Philippo left the Ship they fired fifteen Guns He found several Men on Horse-back and amongst them all his Brothers who were come out to receive him CHAP. LXXXIX Of Goletta and our Arrival at Tunis Goletta GOletta is no more but two Castles whereof the one was built by the Emperour Charles the fifth and the other by Ahmet Dey the Father of Don Philippo who perceiving that the Galleys of Malta came and took ships in the Road without any damage from the Guns of the Castle built this last which is very low and has seven or eight great Gun-holes two foot above the Water by which the Guns play level with the surface of it This Castle is round on the side next the Sea and that of Charles the fifth is almost square Between these two Castles there are three Houses one belonging to the Family of Don Philippo the other to the Bey and the other to Schelebi the Son of Hisouf Dey who is called barely Schelebi because he was Born during the time his Father Reigned When we had refreshed our selves a little in the House of Don Philippo we took Boat and went to Tunis by the Canal or rather Lake which in the beginning is very narrow there being many Canes fixed all round in the bottom of the Water for catching of Fish afterwards it grows very wide It is not commonly above five span deep in Water then it was very shallow and had many dry places in it which with the least Wind are quickly covered and that very high with Water Don Philippo went by Land with his company mounted on a stately Horse that was brought him The first thing we saw upon that Water was a Hill to the left hand very near the Sea-side where there are natural Baths of Water almost boyling hot There is a Bagnio built there and it is called Hamarmulf Hamarmulf Zagouam then a little further on upon the same side they shewed us a high Hill called Zagouam which is a great way from this Lake and a days Journey distant from Tunis there there is a little Town of Tagarins or Andalaous called also Zagouam When the Christians possessed that Countrey there were Aqueducts that brought Water from thence to the City of Carthage at present they are broken but some Arches with the Fountains and Cisterns still remain to be seen As we came near to Tunis we saw a great many Olive-Trees and abundance of other Trees which denote a good Countrey In four hours time we arrived at Tunis though with a little wind they go it many times in two hours but we were many times imbayed By Land it is eighteen miles from Goletta to Tunis If they pleased they might make a good Port at Tunis but then the Town would not be so strong or at least not so secure From the place where you Land it is a mile still to the Town where being arrived we went to lodge at the House of Monsieur Le Vacher a Perisian Priest and Father of the Mission who was then Consul for the French and he received us very Affectionately CHAP. XC Of the Countrey-Houses and other places that are to be seen about Tunis TWO days after our arrival Don Philippo sent for us to shew us a Countrey-House he had half a League from the Town The Countrey about Tunis is full of these Countrey Houses which are built like the Bastides about Marseilles Don Philippo's is very pretty it is built in form of a square Tower and higher than any about it from the Hall to the top of the Tower there are an hundred and eleven steps up and from thence there is an excellent Prospect which discovers on all hands a lovely Plain reaching out of sight full of Olive-Trees In it there is a great Hall open above with covered Galleries round it which have the Roof supported by several Pillars In the middle of this open place there is a great reservatory of Water which serves for several Water-works All this place is adorned with Marble as also all the Halls and Chambers which are beautified with Gold and Azure and very pleasant Plaister-work there being Fountains every where that play when one pleases One should also see the Bardes which are three Houses built by the Bey for his three Sons a League from Tunis This Bey is as it were the Basha's Farmer to whom he gives so much of the Revenue due to the Grand Signior in the Countrey which he gathers and the rest he keeps to himself He was not at that time Bey but Basha and his eldest Son was Bey In these Houses
there are a great many Fountains with lovely Basons of one entire piece of Marble brought from Genoa and as in the House of Don Philippo an open Hall with a great reservatory in the middle and walks all round it roofed over and supported by several Pillars this as also all the Rooms are paved with black and white Marble adorned with Gold and Azure and that kind of Clay or Plaister-work There are several fair appartments in all these Houses which have lovely Gardens full of Orange and several other Fruit-Trees planted in as good order as in Christendom with many neat Beds and borders of Flowers at the ends of Walks all made by Christian slaves These Houses are called Bardes from the Moresco word Berd that signifies Cold because there is a fresh Air about them Near that place there is an Aqueduct built by a Dey which brings Water four or five miles off to Tunis A few steps from that there is another Aqueduct somewhat older yet still modern which is parallel to the former and carries Water also to Tunis Another day I went to see the Cantre which belongs to Schelebi whom I mentioned Cantre the Son of Hisouf Dey and is four leagues from Tunis As you go thither you pass by the old Aqueducts of Carthage which are about half way they are at that place very entire still raised high and built of very great stones From Tunis to the Cantre most of the way is over large Fields planted with Olive-Trees some steps distant from one another but in so streight a line that they look like Walks which would be very pleasant were it not that these ways are always full of rain-Rain-water and mire as all the Countrey about Tunis is because it lyes upon a level We came then to the Cantre so called from a Bridge which Hisouf Dey the Father of Schelebi built over a River called Magerda Magerda for Cantre in Moresco signifies Bridge This River Magerda is neither very broad nor rapid but enough to deserve the name of a fair River it runs near to the House of Schelebi and his Father built a stone Bridge to cross over it the spaces betwixt the Pillars of the seven Arches being built up from the bottom to the surface of the Water with huge pieces of Free-stone so that the water passing through the Arches and finding it lower on the other side makes at every arch a very pleasant Cascade two foot high where the Water falls with a great noise Upon that River there are several Iron-Mills as also for grinding Corn and fulling the Caps called Fez-Caps which are made at Zagouaro by Tagarins All that work in these Mills are the slaves of Schelebi At the end of the Bridge is the House of Schelebi built in form of a Castle it hath one very large Court and other smaller ones the Rooms as in other Houses are beautified with Gold Azure and Plaistering with Fountains every where and all paved with Marble so that they are more magnificent than those I had seen before There are lovely Pictures in those Rooms for formerly this Schelebi was very rich his Father having left him a vast Estate and among other things eighteen hundred Slaves but he hath run out a great deal in his Debaucheries he is a man of a generous Heart and if he were once in Christendom he would never leave it again He keeps open table for all Franks that come to see his House and is so courteous that he never refuses any thing and if he have not what is asked from him he uses means to procure it at any rate that he may freely give it When I went to his House he was not there for he was then at Tabarque a little Island in the Kingdom of Tunis within a Musquet shot of the main Land but three days Journey from Tunis That Island belongs to the Genoese who have a very good Fort and drive a great trade there and among other things in Horses which are called Barbes The Schelebi was gone thither to buy Timber for building of a Galley About three Leagues from the Cantre there is a place called Tabourbe where there are some ancient ruines and chiefly an ancient Temple but I went not to see it because then I must have lain there or at the Cantre and I had not time to spare for our Captain put us in hopes daily that he would sail next day That was the reason also that I went not to Suze neither which is a long days journey from Tunis it is the place where there are more Antiquities than any where else in the Kingdom of Tunis and I believe that thereabouts there are ruines of Churches and other things relating to St Augustin to be seen CHAP. LXXXXI Of Tunis and of the Slaves that are there TVNIS the Capital City of the Kingdom of the same name lyes in a Plain it is pretty big and the Houses are indifferently well built though they make no shew but they are all Marble Gold and Azure within The Suburbs of this City are as big as the City itself which is all paved but dirty as heretofore Paris was so that after rain there is hardly any going in the Streets There is a Castle upon an Eminence within the Town which commands it and it makes a very pretty shew There are some Guns before the Gate and the front of it looks well which is all that I could see of it nor indeed durst I eye it attentively for I had warning given me that it was dangerous for Christians to be curious in viewing that Castle I past by it then but very fast and hard by over against it there is a Burying-place Not far frem the Castle there is Bazar for Drapers it is a long broad street with shops on both sides all which have the fore part supported by four Pillars two on each side none but Drapers keep shop there but there are several other Bazars also for other Commodities Baths for Slaves at Tunis There are thirteen Baths in Tunis where all the Slaveslodge except those that are kept in their Masters Houses and as several Slaves told me there may be there in all ten or twelve thousand Christian Slaves who carry every one a great ring of Iron at their foot Knights of Malta at Tunis but the Knights of Malta have besides that a huge Iron-Chain above five and twenty pound weight which is fastened to the Ring that Chain is very troublesome to them for they must either turn it quite round their Leg and make it fast there which is very heavy when they walk or hang it by a hook that they have by their side which commonly gives them a pain in the side or else must carry it on their Shoulders In these Baths there is a great Hall where they are shut up in the Night-time there they lodge as well as they can some having little Rooms made of wood to which they
seventh of April which was Monday in the Holy Week about four a Clock in the morning we made two Ships and a Bark or Sloop that bore up towards us there being so little Wind that it was almost a Calm About eight a Clock having perceived the Spanish Colours abroad upon the Ships and Bark we put out the English Colours and furled all our Sails but the Maintop-sail This put them to a stand when they saw with what Resolution we waited for them So that being within Cannon shot of us they all three came to Counsel together and we prepared to make a vigorous Defence for it was too late for us now to flatter our selves with the hopes that they might be Friends the storm had hovered so long that it must needs break at last I could not then but reflect upon my Luck that I should be Shipwrack'd in the Harbour for having been now almost seven Years absent out of France my Native Country when I thought my self as it were sound and safe at Home again I saw my self upon the point of losing at least my Liberty I made no doubt but that we should be worsted in the Engagement where the Match was so unequal However we were all in good heart and I look'd upon the Isles of Caprara and Gorgona as two Theatres wherein the Inhabitants were to behold at ease and out of all danger the engagement we were about to enter in like Gladiators destined for their Diversion for we were at an equal distance from both these Isles In the mean time we made all things ready that were necessary for our Defence all the Chests Hamocks and other Goods and Clothes that were in the Cabins and upon the Gun-Deck were carried aloft upon the Poop that they might be no hindrance to the Traversing of our Guns and that produced a good effect For the Enemies being busied in plundering them were in the mean time killed and besides it hindered them from breaking in with their Hatchets to the Cabin where we were which they must have done to master us A hole was made in the Floor of the Masters Cabin to go down to the Gun-Room and so all through the Ship where there was occasion and in case the Enemies should have rendered themselves Masters of the great Cabin we would quickly have got down into the Gun-Room and having made fast the Passage blown up the Poop and all that were upon it The Main-yard was Chained to the Mast with a great iron-Chain which no Hatchet could easily cut for if the Enemies could have brought the Main-yard upon the Deck they would have made a great clutter in the Ship and we should have been half overcome All the Guns were Loaded and the six Scopa Coperta Pieces were charged with bunches of Grapes the small shot I mentioned before Water was put in all places of the Ship to put out Fire if it should happen any where All things being thus prepared our Captain gave the necessary Orders then made a short Speech to his Men and gave them all a drachm of the Bottle and then all cried God save the Captain So bidding one another farewel every one went to his several Post some to the great Cabin others to the Gun-Room some to the Gun-Deck and others to the Fore-Castle there being a Man to command in every Post For my part I stayed with the Captain in the great Cabin An Engagement with three Corsairs The Chirurgion went down into the Hold where he prepared his Medicines and stayed to take care of the Wounded Men that should be brought down to him After these Gentlemen had been in Counsel almost two hours their Boats carrying Men often from one to another they came up with us The English Mate who spoke French told me that we should have the Honour to fire the first and last Gun and immediately we let flie three or four great shot at them the first of which would certainly have sunk the biggest Ship if the Bullet had been but half a foot higher but it fell in the Water close by the Ships side which seemed to put Courage into them for they thereupon made loud shouts And the biggest Ship making a great Noise and Bravado with a Trumpet he had having fired some great shot among our Rigging which only grazed upon our Masts about ten a Clock laid us on board and grappled with us on the Starboard side lying along our Quarter from the Stern to the middle of our Waste Immediately we shut our selves into the great Cabin and then the Guns went off Pell Mell on all hands the Patache and Bark came up and fired their Broad-sides endeavouring chiefly to shoot our Masts by the board which would have been a great advantage to them They fired also several Petreras charged with Musquet shot which would have done great Execution if we had been Aloft but our Walls were Musquet-prooff and we could hear showers of Bullets batter against the Ships sides Presently several of their men came on board of us who ran up the Shrouds to endeavour to let fall the Yards and we brought them down with small shot which we fired through holes purposely made When they found themselves so well plied with Musquet shot and that all who were above Decks both in their own Ship and on board of us were fallen for we fired out of the Port-holes and Skuttles upon all that appeared on board of them and cleared the Deck fore and aft of all that came on board of us many of them got up to the top of our Masts thinking that the securest place they could find and no man was more to be seen upon the Deck or any other part of the Ship they who were aloft hiding themselves the best way they could The Bell rung twice or thrice from the Fore-Castle and presently we fell upon our Bellies but they who were upon the Poop hearing the Bell got immediately upon the Shrouds so that there was no hitting of them but some being perceived one time upon the Poop without ringing the Bell they fired a Scopa Coperta from the Fore-Castle which killed three or four of them In the mean time we kept firing with great and small shot and if any of the Enemy attempted to get upon our Poop over the Skuttles of the Cabins we easily prickt them or run them through with our Swords At length about three a Clock in the Afternoon finding that the Enemies fired no more we came out with our Swords and Pistols and saw the Patache and Bark towing off with their Boats and the great Ship grappled with ours but no body appearing upon the Deck We sent some great shot after those that fled and had we fired but as many more perhaps they would have struck Sail and yielded themselves So we had the Honour to fire the first and last Gun. Then we offered Quarter to those who were aloft upon our Masts and as fast as they came
down we disarmed them and clapt them down into the Hold. The Captain was for sending Men on board their Ship but it seeming to me strange that they should so lose their biggest Ship I told the Captain That perhaps they only pretended to flie to tempt our Men on board of that Ship where lying in Ambush they might Blow them all up that so coming back again they might have less trouble to take us He had some regard to my advice and sent no body For my part I would not suffer my Man to go though he had a great mind to it not only because I was afraid he might come to some harm but also that it might not be said the French had Plundered any thing At length perceiving that the Enemies Boat carried several out of that Ship on board the Vessels that fled and was coming back for more And being told by a Man who had leapt into the Sea to save himself by Swimming but was taken up that there was no danger though we assured him that he should die for it if he told a Lye Our Men boarded the Enemies Ship and presently took down the Spanish Colours They easily afterwards made themselves Masters of the Men that remained whom they brought on board of us most part all Bloody and more than half dead for fear for they expected no Quarter Among the rest the Captain was taken who was a young Dutch-man in the Spaniards Service he had two Musquet shots in his right Side and right Arm His Ship was called the Great Alexander and was the very same which Papachin had taken by Surprise and Treachery from the Chevalier de Bious and this Fleman had bought her from Papachin She carried eight and twenty Guns and sixteen Petreras and the Captain told us that the Patache which was gone with the Bark carried sixteen Guns and six and twenty Petreras and the Bark four Guns and twenty four Petreras and that among them they had in all betwixt three and four hundred Men. He then gave us an account how the day before they put to Sea out of Porto Ferraro that having made us they had born up towards us and that next morning which was the same day of this Engagement being come up with us they had held Counsel and resolved that the Great Alexander should lay us aboard and the Patache and Bark shear along our side and fire their Broad-sides into us that afterward the Bark should fall a Stern and rake us from Stern to Stem to beat our Men from the Guns whilst the Patache lay by our side and kept continually firing and therefore they had put Two hundred and twenty men on board the Great Alexander an Hundred and fifty into the Patache leaving thirty remaining in the Sloop or Bark Their resolution was in part executed for the great Ship laid us aboard and grappled with us but when the others as they sheared by us saw no Man above Deck but only six Guns to scower the Deck and many of their men fell they fired their Broad-sides according to their promise and then made the best of their way leaving the great Ship engaged who finding themselves worsted by us would have been gone also and therefore sent several Men to cast loose the Grapplings but their design being unknown to us we knocked them down as fast as they shewed themselves so that no more of them durst appear He also told us That about the end of the Engagement his Boat went three times to the Patache or smaller Ship and carried away from him every time as many Men as she could hold it being out of his power to hinder them and that several attempting to save themselves by Swimming were Drowned He seemed to be enraged against the Captain of the Patache who had so abandoned him and said That he would willingly give Three thousand pieces of Eight that he might kill him We killed on board the Great Alexander threescore and five Men and wounded above fifty We were since informed at Legorn that by their own confession they lost and had disabled in the Engagement an Hundred and fourscore Men partly killed on board their Ships partly dead of their Wounds ashoar among whom was the Lieutenant of the Great Alexander and partly Maimed The Great Alexander had four or five shot betwixt Wind and Water which would have sunk her to the bottom if our Men had not speedily stopt the Leaks and the Patache that ran for it had also three or four shot betwixt Wind and Water which would likewise have sunk her to our view if there had been any rough Sea. We took Ninety three Prisoners among whom were some French who having taken on some with Captain Lantier a Fortnight and some with Captain Fugane eight days before this Engagement had left the Ships of these two Captains at Porto Ferraro We lost but two Men both killed by one Cannon Bullet that going through and through the Gun-Room where they were carried off one half of their Head and dashed their Blood and Brains against the Tillar We had also two Men wounded in the Leg with small shot The Prisoners being searched and riffled they untied their Hands and clapt them down into the Hold where they had Victuals and Drink given them and the Wounded were carefully drest so that our Chirurgeon had none but Enemies to dress And the Chirurgeon of the Great Alexander told us That he had never had so much Practice as that day for they brought him down Wounded Men faster than he could well turn to In short all the Prisoners were so civilly used that they wondered at it and said that they lived not so well on board their own Ship But there was a good Guard placed at the Hatches both to hinder them from attempting any thing and to hand down what they wanted as for the Captain he was lodged in the great Cabin with our Captain where he was well look'd after and wanted for nothing I prayed our Captain to give the French their Liberty which he presently did very generously saying That the French might command any thing on board of his Ship. The chief Mate and some Sea-men were sent to sail the Prize The two other sail with much ado rowed off to the Isle of Elba and went back to Porto Ferraro When all things were put in order in our Ship I went along with the Captain to see the Prize we found that poor Ship sadly shattered our Cross-bar-shot had made great Havock in her one of them had split a Petrera in two and another so mangled a Gunner that we found an Arm a Belly and two Legs and no body could tell what was become of the rest of him These Cross-bar-shot are round Bars of Iron three Fingers thick and a Foot long having at each end a round knob of Iron all of one piece they are put long-ways into the Gun but when they come out they flie cross-ways every way doing
day time had been very rough and high Tuesday morning the twelfth of February we perceived the Sea very white about us and he that looked out cryed Land some thought it to be Damiette and others Bouquer In the mean time that we might not fall to the Lee ward we continued our course South-West About eight of the Clock we tacked and stood North East and a quarter of an hour after the Wind turning North-West we bore away West-South-West after an hours sailing we found the Water to be so little brackish that it was almost fresh and he that looked out thought he made Rossetto Wherefore thinking that we knew where we were we tacked about and stood away North-North-East About Noon the Wind freshened and at Night turned Northerly but was very gentle about ten of the Clock at Night we tacked and bore away West Wednesday about four in the morning we tacked and steered our course East-North-East and two hours after the Wind blowing fresher we tacked again and stood West-South-West About seven a Clock in the Morning we saw to the Lar-board land very near us which we all took to be the Land betwixt Bouquer and Rossetto so that we continued our course hoping quickly to see the Bouquer and that till eleven in the Forenoon when having discovered the Masts of several Saicks we thought our selves to be off and on with Rossetto and so we found our selves far out in our account wherefore having tacked about we bore away East-North-East about ten of the Clock at Night we tacked again and stood West-South-West and after midnight we had several Flurries Thursday morning the fourteenth of February the Wind slackened a little but we had several gusts till Noon about eleven in the Morning he that looked out made the Bouquer Bouquer and an hour after we easily saw it upon the Deck a little after we made the Farillon or Light-house of Alexandria where we arrived about three in the Afternoon when we entered the Haven by the South CHAP. II. Of some Curiosities observed during the Voyage and in Alexandria IN this Voyage I was convinced of one thing which I had read in the Travels of Monsieur de Breves but could hardly believe it because I had never heard it mentioned by any but him and that is that when sounding upon the Coast of Egypt one has onely forty fathom water it is certain he is just forty miles from land Marks for knowing how near one is to Land upon the Coast of Egypt the depth of the water from forty fathom downwards to one marking exactly the number of miles from the place where one sounds to the Land But under the name of the Coast of Egypt we are onely to understand the Land from Damiette to Rossetto betwixt the two Branches of the Nile for this rule is onely for that extent of Land. Besides the Murenes I mentioned before we took two other fish in our Voyage Porpess to wit a Porpess which was taken with a Fish-gig above Malta over against Cape Passaro Cape Passaro it was about five foot long and almost as big as a man without scales blackish in the back and white in the belly the head of it was about a foot and a half long and a large foot over its eyes as large as a mans and betwixt the two eyes it hath a hole like the mould in the head of a man by which it sucks in and spouts out the Water making it look like a Crown it hath two Cheeks which are onely of fat two Inches thick they begin at the eyes of it and end almost round at the snout which from the Cheeks to the point is about five Inches long and is shaped much like the beak of a Goose the Tongue of it is white a finger thick and two fingers broad it had an hundred threescore and sixteen Teeth all very small Its tail stands another way than the Tails of other fish which are forked upwards and downwards answering to their back and belly for the Tail of this is forked cross ways parallel to its two sides it hath the Yard and Testicles as big and long as those of a Boar and its Entrals wholly resembling those of Swine its skin is all fat a finger thick of which Lamp-oyl is made the flesh of it is like to that of an Oxe and very good I have tasted it and by the sight and taste one would always take it for Beef it hath onely great Bones and no small ones abounds with bloud which is as hot as that of a Beast it moans and sighs like a man and dies not presently when it is out of the Water but beats furiously with the Tail wherein its greatest strength lies A Fish called Fanfre The other Fish which was also taken with a Fish-gig is by the Provincials called Fanfre and is probably the same which the English call the Pilot-Fish there was two of them then together but one escaped the stroak This Fish is shaped like a Mackerel and is of the same length and bigness I found nothing singular in it all the back of it is begirt with streaks two fingers broad the one of a dark purple almost black and the other blew which interchangeably reach from the head to the Tail and the belly of it is white The Seamen say that this Fish coming once up with a Ship never leaves following till the ship come to harbour another being taken two days after they all assured me that it was the companion of the first which had not left off following the Vessel After all to my taste it is an excellent Fish and so it seemed to all those who had eaten of them formerly and also tasted these Seeing there are but few things in Alexandria which I did not observe in my former Travels I gave my self no great trouble to charge my Memoires with them at this time This Town lies exactly in the one and thirtieth degree of latitude and Rossetto is one and thirty and a half at least a Dutch Captain who had taken the height of them assured me of it The most considerable piece of antiquity that still remains there The Pillar of Pompey is that famous Pillar of Pompey whereof as I remember I have already written Nevertheless as I took pleasure to view it over and over again so possibly the Curious will not take it ill that I impart to them my observations I measured the shadow of it at the time when shadows are equal to the bodies which cause them and I found the body of it to be threescore and fifteen foot high without reckoning the Pedestal and Cornish but the shadow was upon a very declining ground Another day when the shadows were the double of the Bodies I found near an hundred and threescore foot onely of the body of it and eight foot of diameter or breadth and I observed that the Pedestal is near twelve foot high All
who had long followed that course and had a Ship of his own in Alexandria That man who had seen a great many French men nay and had had several of them in his power would not believe that I was one but assured me that one would always take me for a Levantine rather than a French man I was not at all troubled to find that I was so well disguised for in travelling through Turky it is good to have so much of the Air of the Countrey that we may not be taken for strangers unless we please Next day about five of the clock in the morning we set out and about ten of the clock entred the Channel of Nile where we found a man in a Boat who put us in our way The Channel of Nile though there be Canes fixed at several distances to shew where the Shelves are yet there is need of such a man for a guide because the River bringing a great deal of sand with it the passages are daily choaked up which were navigable two hours before and on the contrary washing away Islands which it had made and which appeared to be out of reach of the Water it makes ways for Vessels in places where before one might have walked dry shod and this mans business is to sound every hour of the day that so he may be able to shew the right Channel and the Masters of the Germes pay him for his pains At noon we came to Rossetto where I saw manner the of making Sorbet Rossetto The way of making Sorbet whilst I staid there They made use of an hundred and fifty Rottes of Sugar broken into small pieces which they put into a great Kettle over a Fire with a little water to dissolve it when it was ready to boil they skimmed it and poured in five or six quarts more of water to make the skum rise better they put it in by spoonfulls and wet the sides of the Kettle to cool them Half an hour after they mingled a dozen whites of Eggs with four or five quarts of water and having beat them a little with the water all was poured into the Kettle at four or five times and then they began to skim again till a little after they strained it through a Cloath and that they call clarifying of the Sugar Afterwards they divided that Liquor into three parts of which they put a third into a great Kettle or Caldron over the fire and seeing that Sugar from time to time was like to boil over they made it settle by throwing in two or three Egg-shels full of Milk. When they knew it to be boiled enough after it had been an hour upon the fire they took it off it looked then very yellow and two men set a stirring of it with wooden peels so that the more they stirred it as it grew cold it became the thicker and whiter When it was a little thickened they put into it about two glass-fulls of the juice of Limon boiled as I shall tell you hereafter Then they stirred it again to mingle all well together and a little after they put into it about two spoonfulls of Rose-water in which some Musk had been dissolved several adding thereto Ambergreass Then again they stirred it till it became like a Paste and afterwards put it into Pots the same they did with the other two parts With an hundred and fifty of these Rottes they filled twenty nine Pots therein they spent a little Bottle of Rose-water with Musk which cost a Crown When they have a mind to make it of a violet-Colour after the juice of Limon they put of the Syrrup of Violets into it which is made by pounding Violets with Sugar which they clear from the dreggs To make the juice of Limons a great many Limons are pressed and the juice expressed boiled in a Kettle but the Kettle must be full and boil along while untill the juice be reduced to the quantity of six or seven quarts In the mean time they burn above an hundred weight of Wood and cannot boil above two Kettle-fulls a day that is above ten or twelve quarts it is of a blackish red colour sharp and bitter In the Desta over against Rossetto and as far as Damiette Desta there is plenty of fine Fowl which the people of the Countrey call Garden-Cocks Dic elgait Garden-Cocks that is in Arabick Dic elgait they are as big as ordinary Pullets having the Belly and Wings of a violet-colour above and black below the Head and Neck of a violet-colour the Back greenish brown a Tale like a Wood-Cock which is white underneath a long Beak like a Parrot and a little crooked but of a lovely red colour it reaches from the Crown of the Head where there is a kind of a flat Plate of the same stuff and all looks like Horn their feet are as big as Pullets feet but longer and are red but of a paler red than the Beak they keep in the Marshes At Rossetto I found a bark bound for Baruth but because there were Soldiers ready to go to Candia they suffered no Sail to put out least the Christians might have advice of it At length the Soldiers being gone for Alexandria our bark wherein the Aga of the Castle of Rossetto had a share Departure from Rossetto was suffered privately to depart So that Munday the nineteenth of March about nine of the Clock in the Morning we put out When we were almost at the mouth of the River we were forced to send out the Boat on head to drop an Anchor several times that so we might tow our selves till about Noon being got out of the River with a West-South-West Wind we made all the sail we could and bore away North-East Three hours after we steered an East and be South course the Wind having shifted about to South-West though it was so small that we were almost becalmed In the Night-time we saw a great deal of Lightning at a distance from us and then the Wind blowing fresher from South we stood away East-North-East It is uneasie to me to give a relation of this Voyage An Idle ship's Crew so much it vexed me our Crew consisted of fifteen men who did nothing but sleep till Noon and after they had quarrelled together at Dinner fell a singing and playing and would not vouchsafe to stir too look out aloft pump the ship or to do any other service All that I could get of them during the whole Voyage was once to pump the Vessel They had nothing to throw out the Water with but the Neck of a Bottle and if the Vessel made but the least Travel they thought themselves lost One Night wheh we had bad Weather the Vessel rowling to and again three or four times they were upon the point of launching the Boat and forsaking the Vessel which stood in need of nothing but a little Vigilance They had no Sea-Cart to set
we travelled all day long mounting through very good Corn-fields and the rest of the ground by the road that was not sowed was covered over with Daffadils and Furzes in the blossom Daffadils and Furzes with other like shrubs that yielded a very pleasant prospect So soon as we were arrived a Tchorbadgi of Damascus encamping hard by under a Tent being informed of the Moucre that there was a Franck there sent for me and having treated me with Coffee asked me if I had any relation to Monsieur Bermond a Chirurgeon of Marseilles who negotiated some Affairs at Damascus for the Merchants of Saide I told him I was without mentioning in what degree for our Kindred is onely derived from the Patriarch Noah He told me that he was his friend and made me to understand several times that if I had a mind to buy ashes he would be my merchant but all my answer was that I was too poor to be a Merchant and that my business was to go to my Kinsman Labatia is a miserable little Village where we could not find lodging Labatia and the best accommodation we had to lie in was a little place at the end whereof there was a pane of a Wall our Mules were made fast hard by and we posted our selves near the Wall in the open Air. Next day being Wednesday the twenty sixth of March we parted about five in the Morning the ground being frozen with a sharp cold Wind. Our way was bad and still upwards and we soon came in sight of a Castle upon a high hill before us The Castle of Skheip Sefet a Town which is called Skheip and is pretty large and square it depends on Sefet which is but two days Journey from it That Castle is strong by scituation for it is inaccessible but yet was inhabited VVe left it to the right and went a great way to find out a descent into a place from whence we saw a very deep Valley where a River runs which they call Leitani Leitani a River that makes many turnings and windings it is at least five fathom broad and very rapid During a quarter of an hour we descended by a very dangerous way for the least false step was enough to make one tumble down into the River and that from a great height too Being come down we kept along that VVater following the current and a little from thence crossed it upon a stone-Bridge of two Arches about three fathom high which is called Hardala A Caffare at Hardala There Passengers pay a Piastre and a half a head I mean the Christians for Turks do not pay so much Having passed the Bridge we stood off a little from the VVater still ascending and had in view the Hill that we had left on the other side which appeared pleasanter unto us than when we were upon it for it was very high and streight and all covered over with Trees After we had travelled about half an hour in ways where it would have been very dangerous to fall we came just over against the Castle of Skheip which is upon a very high and steep Hill Some time after we came into a Plain and an hour after to another far larger but uncultivated and full of stones as the former was though both looked very green In this Plain we met a Caravan of Camels loaded each with a Mill-stone I was told that these stones came from Oran Oran which is five days Journey from thence and that they carried them to Saide to be transported into Egypt Having past that Plain we came over bad way to a stone Bridge of three Arches lying over a Brook four or five fathom broad when we had crossed it we mounted by a worse way full of stones bad enough to make Mules that were not loaded to break their Necks and that lasted till we came to our Lodging at Banias where we arrived two hours after during all that way besides stones we had a great many torrents and such dirty deep ground that the Mules often stuck Banias This Village of Banias is very inconsiderable nevertheless when heretofore the Christians were Masters of it it was a good Town it lies at the foot of a Hill on the top whereof there is a great Castle uninhabited this place depends on the Basha of Damascus VVe found no better Lodging here than the Night before for having crossed a square Court we entered under a Vault two foot deep of Horse-dung and dust mingled together our Lodging was appointed us in that place and seeing the Court was vaulted all round under which they had put the Mules and a Caravan of Asses we were so incommoded there that so soon as the Beasts began to stir they raised a dust that spoilt all the Victuals we had prepared to eat all the pleasure we had came from a little door that opened towards the side of a River that runs by it and which is at least three fathom broad but very shallow though it be rapid it is called the River of Banias Next morning about five a Clock we left that nasty Lodging and after about an hours mounting upwards turning by very bad ways though the Land about was sowed we found ourselves just opposite to our Lodging having betwixt us and it a very deep Valley agreeable by its verdure and the many Trees it is filled with which are watered by a River that runs through it A little after we saw the Castle of Banias in its full extent which is large and strong VVe still mounted during the space of an hour by ways that were better than the former but we had the lovely Valley always in sight and on the road there were a great many Trees which by their verdure and shade lessened somewhat of the fatigue The truth is there was no false step to be made there because the way being very smooth and slopeing to the very bottom of the Valley one could not stop before he came to the bottom By the way we found many wild Chestnut-trees withered and without leaves and yet bearing their fruit Having descended a little we entered into a large Plain and having passed it and mounted a little amongst Trees we found stony Plains where it behoved us to march on untill about three of the Clock after Noon in the worst way imaginable for they were all great stones amongst which there was no place for a Mule to set his foot After Noon it was a little better but we saw no sowed Land all the ground about being still full of a prodigious number of stones Nevertheless our Monkires would needs have me believe that heretofore Vines had grown there Indeed in several places there are still to be seen some Hovels like to Hen-houses made of stones piled one upon another where it might be thought that they who dressed the Vines retired but since that time some Medusa's head must needs have past over these grounds or
several Works and before these Gates within the Court there is a Portico divided into two Alleys by eight great Pillars of which four are in length and four in breadth and these Pillars support Arches over which there are two other little Arches made in form of Windows separated by a little Pillar That Portico leads into the Court which is very spacious and large and all paved with great shining Marble-stones as the Mosque and Portico's are Towards the end of the Court there is a kind of a little Chappel with a Dome covered with lead which is supported by several Marble-Pillars and they say it was the Font. From that Entry on the West one may see the East Gate at the farther End of the Court and on the right hand the Body of the Mosque On the South-side Pick a measure at the Bazar of the Pick so called because Cloath is sold there by the Pick which is a measure much about two thirds of a French Aune there is an Entry into the Mosque and two lovely Gates overlaid with Brass with Chalices cut in the middle of each of them On the East-side there are three Brass-Gates and a Portico like to that I have been speaking of and then a Court towards the end of which near the West-Gate there is another kind of Chappel much higher than that on the East-side which is supported and covered in the same manner and from that Gate one sees the West-Gate and then the Mosque is on the left hand On the North-side there is also a Brazen gate by which they enter into the Court and then have the side of the Mosque opposite unto them In the Wall of this side there are several Windows after the fashion of the Windows of our Churches but they begin three or four foot from the ground and they are glazed and letticed with wire on the outside There is in that Court also a reservatory of water under a Cupulo supported by several Pillars and besides that a Lanthorn supported onely by two This is all that I could observe of this Mosque Bab-Thoma One day I went out of the Town by the gate called Bab-Thoma and close by it I saw the Church dedicated to St. Thomas The door of it was shut because it is all ruinous in the inside and looks more like a Garden than a Church being uncovered and full of Herbs Nevertheless there still remains a kind of a portall which is a Ceinture supported by two Pillars but besides that these Pillars shew not above a Foot beneath the Capital they are sunk into the Wall Underneath there are three other Ceintures supported by three Pillars on each side and the lintel of the door is also supported by a Pillar on each side all these Pillars are of Marble and Chamfered Over-against that Gate there is a little round Tower made like a Chess-board for it is built of small Stones about half a foot square but placed in such a manner that next to each stone there is a square hole of the same bigness and so alternately all over That Tower is called the Tower of heads because a few years ago several Druses Robbers on the High-way who were briskly pursued being taken were put to death and their heads placed in these holes The Temple of Serapis a Mosque The Sepulchre of St. Simeon Stilites so that they were all filled with them From thence we turned to the left and keeping a long the Walls we came to a Mosque which they say was a Temple of Serapis Nevertheless it is pretended that the Body of St. Simeon Stilites rests there having been brought thither from Antioch However it be the Turks say that the Muesem cannot call to prayers there as at other Mosques and that when he offers to cry his Voice fails him they have a great Veneration fot it and I was told that one day a Venetian having corrupted the Servants of the Scheik who has the charge of that place with money would have taken away the Body of St. Simeon to carry it to Venice but that the Scheik having had some suspicion of it made that Venetian pay a great mulct of several thousand Crowns and since that time they have caused a Grate to be made over the Sepulchre of that Body besides there are always Scherifs there reading the Alcoran Spittle for Lepers From that Temple we went to a place where three Rivers that run through Damascus meet at the end of the Town and turn Water-mills We went next to the Spittle of Lepers which is betwixt the Gates Bab-Thoma and Bab-Charki but nearer and almost close by this last it is but a few paces distant from the City-Walls The People of the Countrey say that it is the same Hospital which Naaman Lieutenant of the King of Damascus built for Gehazi the Servant of the Prophet Elisha Naaman's Hospiral whose History is recorded in the fifth Chapter of the second Book of Kings This Hospital hath great Revenues Being come back again into the Town in the Taylers street I saw through an Iron-grate a Room where there are two Bodies which the Mahometans say are the Bodies of two Saints of their Law. A little farther there is another where there is also a Body to which they render the same honours I could not learn the Names of these false Saints There are a great many lovely Fountains in Damascus and among others that which is opposite to the gate of the great Mosque that looks to the East and covered with a Dome almost flat It is a round Bason of about two fathom in Diametre in the middle whereof there is a Pipe that throws up a great deal of Water at a time and with so much force that it spouts up almost as high as the Dome and if they pleased they might easily make it play higher because the source lies far above it in level CHAP. V. A Continuation of Observations at Damascus HAving taken a resolution whilst I was at Damascus to see what was most curious and worth the seeing in the Countrey about it I made an appointment with some Friends to go to the place which is called the Forty Martyrs We went out of the City by the Serraglio gate The forty Martyrs and crossing the horse-Market kept our way along a fair broad and long paved Street which does not a little resemble the Avenue of the Porta di Popolo at Rome It led us almost to the Village called Salain Crache Having passed this we went up a very rough and barren Hill being nothing but a natural Rock It behoved us to alight from our Asses and march on foot ascending by ways so steep that they were almost perpendicular With much trouble at length we came to the place of the forty Martyrs distant from the City a good half-League I never in my life-time mounted a steeper Hill. There is a little house on it where a Scheik liveth who led
of which when they have a mind to have Yogourt they take a morcel and steep it in water which they drink with great pleasure they use much of it to refresh themselves especially in the Caravans where they have always good store This Yogourt is very sharp but especially that which remains after they have made the Butter I conclude my observations of Damascus with this advertisement that the Wines there are treacherous and strong Strong Wines Smirnium Creticum and that the Smirnium Creticum grows in this Town upon all the Terrasses of the Houses CHAP. VI. Of the Journey from Damascus to Aleppo MOnday Morning the one and twentieth of April Departure from Damascus I parted from Damascus with the two Horse-men of the Topgi in the manner I mentioned before We went out at the Gate called Bab-Thoma and keeping streight Eâst in three hours time came to Essair a small Village Essair by which runs a little River that divides into two above the Village There is a Han there that has two Courts and there we found all the Caravan which was to convey the powder with whom my Moucre and I encamped Next Morning about half an hour after five they decamped and we marched Eastward in a spacious plain though near us to the left we had Mountains of white Rocks About eight a Clock we began to have hills on both hands with barren plains betwixt them and three hours after that 's to say about eleven a Clock we arrived at Cteifa above which we encamped over against the Han. Cteifa The Han of Cteifa Cteifa is a large Village near to which there is a great Han with high Walls of Free-stone well built with Battlements it hath a great Gate to the South another to the North and two little ones on the sides The South Gate begins a long Entry arched over on the sides whereof there are shops furnished with all things that can be necessary for a Caravan and a Coffee-house and Bagnio Afterwards you enter into a large square Court which hath all round it Mastabez or stone half paces for lodging the Caravan This Court hath great Gates in the inside one at each front of which the East and South are faced with Iron When you are entered the Court the door which you find leads you to the Mosque which hath a fair Dome rough cast over and a goodly Minaret Coming out of the Mosque through the Court by the East-gate you enter first into a vaulted walk which hath Mastabez on each side from thence into another Court somewhat longer than broad which is well paved in the middle whereof there is a great square reservatory for Water built of Free-stone that serves for watering the Beasts That water runs from a little Conduit which keeps always the Bason full and I believe it comes from a Brook that runs behind the Han on the East-side almost by the root of the Walls In this Court there are Lodging-rooms under a vaulted Gallery that runs all round it and is supported on each side in length by eleven Arches and by nine in breadth Behind that Gallery there is a kind of vaulted Stable which ranges likewise round the Court and that Court has its Mastabez to separate the Men from the Beasts these Mastabez are divided into several appartments every one having its Chimney and the Entry to it is by a gate in the middle of each side This whole Fabrick is of Free-stone and well endowed being founded by a Vizier The Castle which Pietro Della Valle says is in this Town with a good Garrison is not there and in all probability never was unless he meant a large round Tower in the Village which is easily seen from the Han and upon the road too because it is much higher than the Walls of the Village into which I entered not as not thinking it convenient besides that there is a pretty deal of way from the Han to that Village A Countrey-man told me that heretofore that Town was held by the Francks and that then there was a lovely Church where at present the Han stands We parted from thence on Wednesday the twenty third of April about three long hours before the break of day and our departure was so sudden that so soon as they awakened me we made haste and loaded and followed the Caravan that was upon the march before we began to load I thought that the Moon not rising till a little before day we should have put off till day but we went by Candle-light I having borrowed a Lanthorn All that I could observe in the darkness was that our way was North-East and that we were entering in amongst Mountains but with a very easie ascent they being onely near us on both sides and were all of pieces of sharp pointed Rocks We went also along the side of a precipice but that lasted not long A little after we past by a kind of a Han that stood alone by it self I suffered much cold that Night though I had on my Capot for the Wind that blew pierced through every thing When it began to be day I perceived the more we advanced the more distant were the Hills from us on both sides and still lessening in height By day we were got into a great Plain covered with heath and Abrotonum foemina Abrotonum faemina of which there is a great deal on the way from Damascus to Aleppo but it is very low We continued our march in that plain as far as Nebk where commonly they pay ten Piastres a Mule we past by a Village before where there is a Han. Nebk About Noon we arrived at Nebk which is a pretty good Village built upon a Height and watered by a River that runs underneath it upon which there is a little Bridge of three Arches and by it we encamped There is a Han made there since which at that time they were finishing It is all of Free-stone taken out of adjoyning Quarries which are common in that place and furnish as much Stone as one can desire There are Greeks in that Village and on the sides of the River many Gardens planted for the most part with Vines We parted from Nebk on Thursday the four and twentieth of April three hours before day our way lay Northward and at break of day we passed through Cara Cara. which is a good Town having a Rivulet running by it There are a great many ruines to be seen there which are a sign that heretofore it hath been somewhat more considerable and indeed the People of the Countrey say that when that place belonged to the Christians it was a noted Town There are several Greeks there still who have a Church beautifully painted A little after we found a great Caravan consisting of some hundreds of Camels and Mules carrying Men Women and Children with their Baggage who were going to Damascus on their way to Mecha About
nine of the Clock we passed by a little square Castle El-Bouraidgee called El-Bouraidgee of which the Gates are faced with Iron Upon the Walls I saw two small Falcons or Petreras appearing out at the Battlements Then for above an hour we struck off to the North-West amongst little hills and half an hour after ten entered into a great Plain where nothing grew but Heath and Abrotonum faemina Assoon as we entered that Plain we discover'd Assia Assia where we arrived about one of the Clock We encamped close by Assia which is a little very weak Castle The Han of Assia but it joins to a goodly Han of Free-stone under the Gate whereof there is a Market kept as at Cteifa Along one of the sides therof to wit the West-side there reaches a half pace vaulted and arched over for the Lodging of Travellers it is so likewise in one half of the two sides that lie to the North and East The other two half sides are employed for Doors Shops and Cellars In the middle of the fourth and East-side there is a Gate by which one enters into a Court where there are several appartments more two or three Foot raised from the ground that so the Men may be separated from the Beasts and each of them has its Chimney you have the like behind the Arches of the first Court in a word it is almost like to that of Cteifa but not so handsome In the middle of the Court there is a square Mosque covered with a Dome rough cast and close by a little watering place which three little Channels continually fill with fair water that runs pretty near that Han. from the second Court we enter into a place which they say is the Castle built of rough Stone but it hath no figure of a Castle and is a bare enclosure ef low Walls Nevertheless several Families for most part Greeks have their aboad there About fifty paces from that pretended Castle there is a little Village not to be seen but by chance as it happened to me when I was walking for there are about twenty Earthen houses a fathom high built in a large square Ditch so deep that the Roofs or Terrasses of the houses are two or three fathom lower than the level of the Fields about so that when one is upon the brink of that Ditch the houses seem so low that at first I took it for a Quarry Friday Morning the five and twentieth of April we parted from Assia three hours before day at the break of day we met a Caravan of Mules carrying Pilgrims to Damascus who were going thither on their way to Mecha A little after we passed by a small Castle called Chemsin Chemsin We then continued our Journey North-wards through a great Plain full of Daffadils Crow-foots Wind-flowers Willow-herbs Hyssop folio luteo Daffadils Crowfoots Wind-flowers Willow-herbs Hyssop Dragon-wort Harmolans Hams The Countrey of Job Dragon-wort and several other Flowers which by their variety and multitude yielded a very lovely prospect In that Countrey there are also a great many Harmolans and I saw plenty of them in all the places of Asia through which I past Before Noon we arrived at Hams and encamped in a place by the side of the Town near the Burying-place The Inhabitants believe that that Town was the Countrey of Job In passing I viewed the Castle which is situated on a little hill of an oval figure that tapers from the bottom to the top it is all covered over with herbs but so steep that I think there is but one way to get up to it and that made on purpose too upon it stands the Castle which in some places has great breaches In those quarters all the Castles are built on hills I perceived very well that the Village was long but that is all I could observe because my Moucre made me get under the Tent of one of his Friends to avoid the Caffare which was of twenty Piastres and would needs also have me put on a white Turban before I came to the Town that so I might pass for a Turk but I would not do it In that Plain where we encamped there are a great many ancient Sepulchres in form of a Pyramide and amongst others I saw one which I judged to be that on which Belo and Pietro della Valle observed an inscription but seeing the Sun was set before I went thither I can say nothing as to that In that place there is a Cachef who is placed there by the Basha of Damascus We parted from Hams on Saturday the twenty sixth of April a little while after mid-night and marched still Northwards and through the same Plain we had the day before About Eight in the Morning we passed near a little Village called Restan Restan in the middle whereof there is a Mosque covered with a Dome rough cast Some hundreds of paces from thence we found a fair stone-Bridge paved with large Stones In going thither we past by the Gate of a Han which reaches along the River's side at each Corner it is flanked with a round Tower and in the middle of it there is a Mosque covered with a Dome rough cast over Then we crossed the Bridge which they call Dgeser Restan Dgeser Restan that is to say the Bridge of Restan I thought that Bridge had taken its Name from the Village but I was told that the River also was called Restan Asi though its common Name be Asi that 's to say rebell because said one of the Caravan to me it is a very rapid River and especially at that place This Bridge hath ten Arches somewhat more than a fathom broad Orontes and a little higher and it is the Orontes of the Ancients that runs under it Before it reach the Bridge it makes two little Isles like to very pleasant Gardens Over against the middle of the Bridge towards a Han there is a great square pile of building in the Water through which the Water passing makes on the other side lovely cascades or falls so that there seems to be some mill within but I heard no noise of any At that place the River is as broad as the Bridge is long but then its Channel is streightened to six or seven fathom over as before and in some places to less making many turnings amongst the hills where it runs but the Water of it is thick and muddy Having crossed that Bridge we left the River taking our way Northward and saw many good Corn-fields Two hours after we discovered Hama Hama where we arrived after Noon Apamea Hama is the Ancient Apamea of Syria a great Town seated on the side of a hill having a Basha and a Castle To please my Moucre I put my self as I did the day before under the Tent of a Friend on the other side of the Burying-place where the Caravan encamped and he went and encamped elsewhere that
so he might save the Caffare After Sun-set he sent for me and I crossed the Bridge where the wheels are mentioned by Belon and Pietro della Valle which draw the Water that supplies the whole Town It is the Orontes still that runs there but I cannot tell how many Arches the Bridge has for I crossed it in the Night-time My Moucre was encamped so near that all Night long we had the musick of these wheels which mingling with the Bells of our Mules as they were feeding represented very well the chiming of the Bells of a little Countrey-Church of which the wheels made the base We parted from Hama on Sunday the twenty seventh of April at break of day leaving the Caravan of Powder at Hama where the way to Constantinople strikes off from that of Aleppo we continued our way still Northwards going to the right amongst the hills where hardly had we advanced half an hour before we entered a Plain which on all sides reaches out of sight and abounds in Pasture About Eight of the Clock we passed close by a Village Taibit El-Hama Lachmi called Taibit-El-Hama and about ten we found another called Lachmi but it is forsaken because of the Robberies of the Arabs At eleven we discovered some Trees and from Damascus to that place I had not seen one unless it were in the Gardens of the Towns and Villages and indeed wood is very dear on that road Salisbury-plain not being barer of Trees than that Countrey is Han Scheikhoun A little after towards Noon we arrived at Han Scheikhoun before which we encamped finding our selves better abroad under Tents than within though that Han which stands alone be pretty enough The first entry into it is by a Gate that looks to the West which leads into a large square Court and on the right hand as you enter there is a little door by which you enter into a Stable divided in length by a range of Arches that reach from one end to the other but it is not covered At the other end of the Court almost opposite to this door there is a little house inhabited and on the left hand in the middle of the Wall there is a great Gate which leads into another Court as large as the first where there are half paces covered for Lodging of Travellers Over the Gate of that second Court there is a great square Building of pretty good work in form of a Tower with a Dungeon before it and the Dome of the Mosque is in the middle There the Aga lodges for this is a Castle depending on the Basha of Aleppo Some hundreds of paces Northwards from thence behind a Hillock there is a Village of the same Name with the Han. We parted from that place the same day about ten a Clock at Night and in our way all Night long we found a great many shallow Cisterns dug on little Hillocks for receiving the rain-Rain-water and at the foot of the Hillock there is another opening by which they goe down three or four steps to take the Water we found already the day before some of these which are made for the Arabs and Shepherds Next day being Monday the 28th of April about two in the morning we passed by a ruinated Han called Han Hherte Han Hherte and at break of day arrived at the Town of Marra encamping just before the Han. Marra That Town is at most but a good Village we could hardly find bread in it and there is nothing to be seen on all hands but Cellars and ruined Vaults the best thing is the Han which is well built of Free-stone it is a large square Court round which there is a Portico wherein are Mastabez seeing I often make use of that Term which is the proper word of the Countrey though I have already I think made known what it means nevertheless for the satisfaction of the Reader I tell him once more that a Mastabe is a kind of a half pace that 's to say that the Floor is raised two or three foot from the ground and there the Travellers lodge In the middle of the Court of this Han there is a little Mosque with a Dome covered with Lead at the end of it there is a little Court round which runs a Portico the Roof whereof is supported on each side by two Arches separated by a Pillar between the two close by there is a Bagnio with a large Dome covered with Lead but it is shut and useless for want of Water Next you 'l find a covered street where there is a Coffee-house and five or six Shops on each side and at the farther end are four Arches the remains of an Aqueduct which butted almost in a right Angle upon these four Arches it was carried thither from a Mosque some hundreds of paces distant in the fields where there was a Wheel to draw Water out of a Brook that ran by it which came from the Countrey towards Antioch This Aqueduct brought the Water behind the upper part of the covered street into the Bagnio that is joyned on the one side to the Street and on the other side to the Han it was built of rough Stone as the Arches that still remain are which at the other end are joyned to the great Mosque This great Mosque hath six little Domes the Roofs rough cast and at the end of it there is a pretty fair Minaret The rest of the Town is altogether beggarly It had also another Han of which nothing now remains but the Gate and some Arches which daily run into decay The houses are scattered here and there and no better than Owls-nests the Walls are of Stones two or three foot high piled one upon another without any Art on all hands there are great large Free-stones and pieces of Pillars to be seen some of which still retain some fragments of inscriptions Amongst these Ruines I saw a door about four foot high and half a foot thick with crosses and roses cut upon it it is all of one piece with its hooks which enter into holes purposely made above and below That door is of a greyish Stone very hard as the sides to which it shuts are and it requires no less than two men to open and shut it it is still in case and daily made use of Marra heretofore was a good Town but the Turkish Tyranny is the cause of its desolation they say that the Ruines of a Church built by the Christians when they were Masters of that Town are still to be seen there but because it is at some distance in the Countrey I did not go thither The Francks in this place pay four Piastres for Caffare and we stopt there all that day because the Turks celebrated the Bairam the Moon having appeared the Evening before We parted not then till Tuesday the nine and twentyeth of April at two of the Clock in the Morning about break of
day we passed by a Han called Han Merai near to which there is a good Village Han Merai About an hour after we found another called Han Herbe with a Village close by it Han Herbe and not far from thence a third About Eight in the Morning we came and encamped near to another called Han Serahheb The other three as well as this are all called Han Serahheb that 's to say the Hans of Wells because in the Fields near to these Hans there are several Wells whose Mouths are even with the ground but this last has more particularly the Name of Serahheb Han Serahheb It is in bad order most of the Vaults being ruined but has a Village close by it On that road we saw a great many Olive-trees and that was the second time that we found Trees since we came from Damascus We parted from thence the same day immediately after Sun-set and about Eleven a Clock at Night Zarbel passed by a Village called Zarbel where there is a Han. We had an allarm in that place because he that marched before with a Lanthorn cried out that he saw Horse-men which made us prepare to receive them but none came Han Toman Wednesday the thirtieth of April about break of day we passed by Han Toman and three hours after arrived at the City Aleppo where so soon as I alighted I went to the great Han to lodge with Mousieur Bertet as civil a Man as lives and as zealous to serve his Friends as his Brothers are who were then at Marseilles who have all shew'd me particular Kindnesses Monsieur Bertet who resides at Aleppo had obliged me by his advice and care when I was at Damascus and therefore I thanked Monsieur Baron who had the goodness to offer me his Lodging and accepted of the former Monsieur Baron was at that time Consul for France and discharged that Office with honour and universal Approbation CHAP. VII Of Observations of Aleppo Aleppo SEeing Aleppo which I take to be the Ancient Baerea is one of the most considerable Cities of the Ottoman Empire in Asia by reason of Trade I will describe what I observed in it as exactly as possibly I can This town is distant from Alexandretta or Scanderoon Alexandretta that lies Westward from it about two and twenty Leagues and from Euphrates which it hath to the East betwixt eight and twenty and thirty This Alexandretta which serves it for a Sea-port on the Mediterranean Sea is the Ancient Hierapolis Degrees of heat at Aleppo It is very hot in Aleppo and the first day of June at Noon I found by my Thermometre that the heat was at the thirtieth Degree The Air. The Air is thin and wholsom so that about the end of May they begin to lie in the Night-time upon Terrasses untill the middle of September and that without any fear of danger or hurt for during all that time there is no Dew and they say that in the Months of May June and July there is no Cloud to be seen nevertheless whilst I was there we had Clouds often and Rain too which all wondered at The circumference of Aleppo I went the Circuit of Aleppo twice once on horse-back and another time on foot the first time I thought that in a large hour one might walk round it on foot and indeed having undertaken to do it my self with a friend keeping close by the Walls on the outside it took us up but an hour and a quarter and if we had not stopped to look about us we had certainly performed it in an hour or little more We left the Suburbs and went through the middle of Dgedid Dgedid a Suburbs which is a kind of a Burrough or Suburbs lately built as its Name implies for in Arabick it signifies new The Christians of the Countrey lodge in that quarter but there are several Turks also among them and the houses are well built The Maronites Armenians Greeks and Syrians have each of them a Church there This Suburbs lies betwixt the Gates Bab-El-Feradge and Bab-El-Nasre and is pretty near the Burying-place of the Christians The Walls of Aleppo The Walls of this City are not strong though they stand upon a Rock and there are houses built close by them The Gates of Aleppo The City of Aleppo hath ten Gates to wit Bab-Antakie the Gate of Antakia by which they go to Antakia or Antioch it looks to the West and North-West Bab-El-Dgenain the Gate that leads to a Village called Genain it looks also West-North-West Bab-El-Feradge the Gate of fair prospect because passing out at it one has a sight of several Gardens it looks likewise West-North-West Bab-El-Nasre the Gate of Victory because by that Gate the Turks entered the Town when they made themselves Masters of it the Christians call it St. George's Gate it looks North-East Bab-El-Barcousa otherwise Bab-El-Hadid or Iron-gate it looks East-South-East Bab-El-Ahmar the red Gate it looks to the South-East Bab-El-Atame the dark Gate it looks to the South-East but it has been stopt up not long since because much mischief was done there Bab-El-Nairem the Gate that leads to Nairem it looks to the South-East Bab-El-Macam so called from a Santo of that Name buried hard by it is also called Damascus Gate and looks to the South Bab-Kennesrim from the Name of a Captain that kept it in time of the Christians it is also called the Prison-Gate because the Prisons are near to it it looks to the South-West My meaning is that the City in those places where these Gates are looks to these Quarters of the World for some of the Gates look along the Walls Without the Prison's Gate there are a great many fair large Caves cut in the Rock which are wide and have a very high Roof reaching above an Hundred paces into the Rock They make ropes in the mouths of them and lay Grapes there also a drying to make Brandy of This Rock is white and pretty soft Seeing my curiosity led me to see all that could be seen they took me one day to a place called Scheik Bakir from the Name of the Founder Scheik Bakir it is a very pleasant convent of Dervishes You enter into a Court where there is a Fountain with a lovely Bason on the right hand at the end of the Court there is a fair large Hall covered with a great Dome paved with lovely greyish Marble and on the left hand stands the Mosque covered with a Dome The Water they have in that house is forced by Pousseragues From thence we past by the Garden of Sultan Amurat which signifies but little and then went to refresh our selves at the Fish-well The Fish-well which is a Court surrounded with Walls where there are a great many plane-Trees and a Canal wharfed with Marble that is filled with Water from a very good Spring hard by and that Water
Damascus Kfr. and is by others called Malhomar Some of it was sent in my time Malhomar from Aleppo to Venice for the same purpose it was sent for by a Merchant residing in Venice who had formerly lived at Aleppo I remember that I have read upon that Subject in the History of Stones written by Anselmus Boetius de Boot in the Chapter of the Lythanthrax or Pit-coal that the Boors of the Countrey of Liege make an Oyntment of Pit-coal wherewith they anoint the Eyes of the Stocks of their Vines least the insects should gnaw them Mixto oleo hic carbo emolliter eoque unguento Agricolae vites oblinunt ne earum oculi ab insectis erodantur I was told that in Cyprus and many other places of Turkey they use a little drug for the same ends At Aleppo when the Grapes are ripe they bring them to the Town Grapes in Sacks of Goats hair without breaking though sometimes they be brought eight French Leagues from that City These Grapes have a very thick Skin are all white and make a very strong Wine the best time to gather them is in the Month of May. All buy as many as they stand in need of for making of Wine for it is the Custom of the Inhabitants of Aleppo that every one makes his own Wine in his own house after this manner The way of making Wine at Aleppo They put the Grapes into a great square fat of wood where they press them with mens feet and then the Wine runs into a Pale or a shallow Tub through a hole and strainer at the bottom of the fat When it is all run out they put it with the Lees into very large Earthen Jarrs where it works for thirty or forty Days these Jarrs are covered onely with a Board and a Cloath over it without any fear of its taking vent In this manner they leave it as long as they please nay sometimes a whole Year carefully stirring it every day And when they have a mind to drink it they draw it off provided the time at least wherein it was to work be over and they put it with the lees again into the fat where they strain it a second time When it runs no more they put the lees into a bag and press them in the same press with mens Feet till no more come out and what comes out runs into the rest Then they spread the Stalks of the Grapes that have been so prest in the fat and pour upon them all the Wine again and so let it run through a third time This being done it is clear fit for drinking and hath no lees They then barrel it up and in that manner make Wine at Aleppo all the months of the year but as I have already said it is onely White-wine for there are no red nor black Grapes in all those Quarters The Christians in that City make very good Brandy but they who sell it are obliged to put about six Drachms of Alum into a Bucket full of Brandy to make it stronger for otherwise the Turks would not like it They drink very good Water at Aleppo observing a great deal of circumspection in the use of it It is indeed River-water but it is diverted from the River about three Leagues above Aleppo near a place called Ailan from whence it is brought into the City in open Aqueducts which coming near the Town are conveyed under ground to Fountains whence they take the Water These Aqueducts have been made for purifying the Water which is very muddy and also for supplying the City for the River being low in the Summer-time the Gardens drain all the Water almost with their Pousseragues The Francks have Cisterns also which they fill with the Water of these Aqueducts by opening a hole in the Cistern through which the Water comes and then stopping it again aswell as the mouth of the Cistern which they open not but in Summer and these Cisterns are made not onely to keep the Water very cool but also to make it pure and clear They have besides another excellent way of clarifying it that is they put the Water into great Jarrs of unburnt Clay through which it distills and falls into Vessels put underneath to receive it This River of Aleppo comes from Antab two days Journey from thence and loses it self under ground about half a league beyond Aleppo many think that it comes from Euphrates near to which it hides it self under ground and appears again at Antab Though commonly they eat but little Fish at Aleppo nevertheless they have sometimes great plenty but onely when they are brought from Euphrates The little River furnishes several Trouts which are not above a Fingers length and very small but exceeding good They take good Eeles in it which though they be but small are most delicious There are also a great many Crabs in that River which are broad and flat Crabs and pretty good They are at no pains to fish for them when the Mulberries are knit because these Crabs delighting in that Fruit fail not to ramble about and crawl up the Mulberry-trees to feed on the fruit and then it is no hard matter to catch them Cucumbers The Cucumbers are so good in Aleppo that not onely the Countrey-People but the Francks also eat them green skin and all and they do no hurt though they be eaten in great quantity it is the same all over Mesopotamia There is no salt used in this City but what is brought from a place a day and a halfs Journey of Caravan distant towards the North-East it is made of rain-Rain-water which in the Winter falls into a spacious low place that makes a kind of a Pond and that Water having extracted the Salt out of the ground it covers congeals and is formed into Cubes of Salt like to Sea-Salt it is brought to Aleppo on Mules but is nothing near so good as Sea-Salt There is very good Turkey Leather made at Aleppo There also aswell as at Damascus they prepare the Sagri which is that we call Chagrine in France but much more of it is made in Persia They are so jealous of their secret in preparing of Turkey Leather that they suffer no body to enter their houses The Sagri is made of the crupper-piece Skin of an Ass The way of making Chagrin they shave that skin so long till it become smooth white and thin like Partchment but what they do with it afterwards is all mystery I did all I could to learn it but could not onely I was told by a Jew who trades in it and deals much with them that they put some very small grain upon the skin so prepared which being pressed makes at first little dents in it but these dents afterwards filling up again they make that grane which we see in Chagrin but he assured me that he knew not in the least what grain it was they made use of I came to
know afterwards in Persia that when they make the Sagri after they have shaved the skin they wet it and put it upon a little frame of wood to which they fasten it by streight cords then they lay the grain which perhaps is no more but sand pretty thick all over it and so expose it to the Sun when it is dry they beat off that sand or grain knocking the back-side of the skin with a stick and then they wet it again and put the grain to it a second time which sometimes after they beat off again in the same manner and that 's the whole mystery They drive a pretty good trade at Aleppo in Cabrons hair that is the hair under the belly of some he Goats which is very fine and used in the making of hats I was told that when they are put on board great care must be taken that they be not wet because then they would be in danger of taking fire of themselves in a short time like Hay that is brought in before it be dry and some Ships have been burnt by that means though that happen not always infallibly Blew-Dye The Dyers of that Countrey make a most excellent blew dye They put in it as we do Indigo and Pomgranat-peels but besides that they have this particular secret They fill their great fats that are of Earth with water and put into it two or three Oques of Indigo according to the bigness of the fat and the goodness of the Indigo and for some time they stir the liquour in the fat until the Indigo be all dissolved and well mixt afterwards they put into it Dogs-turd prepared in this manner They take about an Oque of that Excrement and boil it in water then they strain that water and put it into the fat adding afterwards some of the water of dates For making of that date-water there is no more to be done but to put about an Oque of Dates into water and stir them well rubbing them with the hands in the water so that all the substance of the Dates may be dissolved and nothing remain but the stone then having passed that liquour through a strainer which looks then like honey they put it into the fat For want of Dates they make use of the Juice of black grapes well stamped and for want of grapes they take the Juice of stamped figs. In Aleppo they use grapes having no dates Four days after they have put in these waters of Dogs-turd and Date they add to it about two handfulls of unslacked Lime The preparation of that dye requires seven or eight days and sometimes a fortnight during that time they keep a gentle fire of Camels-dung under the Fat but so weak that it serves onely to keep the dye always warm they put no urine to it using Dogs-turd in stead of it which they say makes the Indigo to stick better to the things that are dyed There is an Indian living at Aleppo who paints Boxes and Canes of Pipes on which he makes a great many Circles and little points of divers Colours but being the onely person that knows the secret he is so jealous of it that he will not teach any other and it was to no purpose for Monsieur Bertet to offer him five and twenty Piastres to oblige him to tell it me CHAP. VIII The Sequel of the Observations of Aleppo WHilst I was at Aleppo there was a Zineh kept Zineh that word literally signifies Ornament but here it signifies a Festival or if you please a publick rejoycing These Zinehs here are more magnificent than at Caire where the houses onely of the Consuls Beys and the great Bazar are adorned and nothing else of any note But seeing there are many rich Merchants in Aleppo by reason of the great trade of the place at all times when there is a Zineh every one hangs his shop inside and outside with the finest stuffs he can get covers the Floor with lovely Carpets and lays rich Cushions upon them lights a great many Lamps and Wax-Candles and so all the Bazars being covered it yields a glorious prospect You shall see a Bazar whereof all the houses are hung with Velvet of several pieces or streaks another with Cloath of Gold and Silver another with Cloath another with wrought Stuffs and so every Bazar according to the trade of it and the Wealth of the Tradesmen who live there The gates of the great men are also adorned with costly Stuffs lovely Arms and all sorts of Lamps During that time they are day and night in their Divans which nevertheless are onely their Shops transformed into Divans But all the shops in Turkey are raised two or three foot from the ground and there as I told you they spread Carpets and lay Cushions all round and on the outside have rails of wood which they also cover with Carpet They visit each other and mutually receive their visits in their Divans and there they entertain themselves with Coffee and Sorbet musick after their way and their little Lute which they call Tamboura The Zineh which I saw at Aleppo was appointed for seven days Zineh for the Birth of a Prince beginning on Sunday the two and twentieth of June the reason of that rejoycing was the Birth of the Grand Signiors Eldest Son whereupon immediately Agas were sent from Constantinople to all the Towns of Turkey to publish the news and appoint Zinehs So soon as the Aga arrived the Zineh was proclaimed all over the Town and then the Guns of the Castle proclaimed it more loudly which continued Morning and Night all the days following If any had failed to rejoice and to adorn his house of whatsoever Nation religion or quality he was he would have been deeply fined and if a Subject of the Grand Signiors Bastonadoed besides During the Zineh all walk freely day and night up and down the City which in the Night-time is lighted by a great number of Lamps in all the Streets where there is constantly so great a Croud that one has much adoe to pass All treat one another and make merry with their friends Not so much as the Jews but force a publick rejoycing and they are to be seen in troops up and down danceing to the musick of instruments The second day of the Zineh the Musellem being come to the great Khan to visit the Scheick Bandar he is the Judge of the Merchants and Master of the great Khan he was received upon a Divan erected before the Gate where at first he was regaled with Coffee A Comedy after the way of Turkey Sorbet and Wine Then about ten of the Clock he was conducted to another Divan prepared against the Wall at the lower end of the Court to see a Comedy to be acted by Jews The Court served for a Theatre there are onely two Cresset-lights of Pine-wood which they took care to keep burning and that suffised to light all that great
Court twenty steps from the Divan four or five Jews sitting on the ground played on several Instruments and sung to them The Ballet began by the entry of a Turk who danced to the sound of Instruments and shewed a thousand feats of agility of body but all most infamous and lascivious next followed two Jewish youths in the Apparrel of the Maids of our Countrey who acted almost the same postures from time to time whirling very fast round and for a pretty long while at a time Then were several other entrys all different and amongst the rest one wherein there was a Jew in the dress of a Franck which extreamly pleased the People of the Countrey who look upon our habit to be altogether ridiculous But all these entrys were performed with abominable Lasciviousness not onely in gestures but words acting in presence of all the most filthy postures imaginable and at every turn using most obscene and bawdy expressions Their whole discourse in general was nothing but filthiness from which if in some places of Christendom the Stage be not altogether free at least they are not so frequent and are wrapt up in clean Linnen but these express every thing plainly and down right which pleases the Turks best and I observed that fopperies spoken without sense or coherence were sufficient to make them tear their Throats with laughter provided the words were filthy and obscene In short it is horrid and incredible to see how far the impudence of the Turks transports them to lust and especially to Sodomy Besides this ignominious entertainment several Players upon Instruments that go about the Town every Company consisting of two Hoboys and a little Boy that plays on a Timbrel stopt before the gate of the great Khan and played in expectation of some gratuity from the Scheick Bandar who was still on the Divan opposite to the Gate and who after they had played for some time sent some half a Piastre others a quarter and to some a whole Piastre The finest thing to be seen in the Zinehs is the processions of the trades This entertainment began the third day about nine of the Clock The procession of the Shoe-makers by the Shoe-makers who marched in this order In the first place were a great many little Boys who wore on their heads sharp pointed Caps of Paper like Sugar-loaves they shouted as loud as they could wishing Blessings to the Grand Signior The Shoe-makers after them came three or fourscore men of the trade two and two attired body and head in different manners but all very extravagantly and most of them had on Coats of Mail or Tigres skins they had all Muskets on their Shoulders Swords and Targets by their sides with a Wax-taper in their hands they were followed by the Ancientest of the trade without any Arms but all together made a quire of Musick after their way praying for and blessing the Grand Signior sometimes they cast themselves into a ring and singing with great action tossed their heads so violently that it seemed they had a mind to throw them at one another Immediately came eight men after them carrying a Divan or Pageant upon their Shoulders railed about on which were several Tapers and two little Boys of the trade one of which cut out Paboutches and the other sewed them When they came before the Khan they stopt and the ancientest of the musical Quire with a loud voice called to the Scheick Bandar that they must pray for and bless the Grand Signior and say the fatah for his sake and immediately all said it together and so they went on their way Next day about nine of the Clock at Night The procession of the Confectioners the Company of Confectioners marched in the same Order as the Shoe-makers had done save that after the Quire of Musick there came two men who carried each upon their heads a Castle of very lovely Sweat-meats but after their fashion then came the Divan carried by several men on which there was a little Boy standing upright with his Apron about him and before him a round Box on a Table full of Sweet-meats who whilst the rest roared out like Devils chanted with all his might the songs of the trade Half an hour after came the Company of Gold-Spinners The procession of Gold-Spinners they were all in goodly Apparel and upon their little Divan two little Boys sitting at the two ends the one blew the Bellows to melt the Gold and the other spun it Sometime after came the Weavers The procession of the Weavers The procession of the Bakers The procession of the Taylers who upon their portable Divan had a Loom and a little Boy working at it Then passed the Bakers most of them all dawbed with Flower and their portable Divan was stuck all round with Ears of Corn on which a little Boy kneeded Dough in a tray that stood before him The last who came that Night were the Taylers in the same order the others did but many of their Company were covered all over with Furs having also sticks like fools baubles covered in the same manner and their Divan on which was a little Boy a sewing was edged all round with Furs The first Trade that marched the fifth night was the Dyers The procession of the Dyers which made one of the finest Shews After some little Boys wearing horns on their Heads came about an hundred men covered with Tygres skins or Coats of Mail they carried Muskets on their Shoulders Swords and Targets by their sides and Wax-tapers in their hands and roared and danced like Fools then came three Quires of Musick consisting of the ancientest of the company who singing with all their force and dancing at least with their heads said the Fatah for the Grand Signior before the great Khan After that appeared the Divan carried by some men on which were spread several pieces of stuff dyed red and in the middle there was a little Boy who singing as loud as he could took a white Cloath by the two Corners and spreading it out before all the Spectators dipt it into a great Pale standing before him and immediately pulled it out all red he wrung it and then spread it abroad I was surprized at first and so were all the rest to see that the Cloath had taken the dye so soon but I fancy that he left it in the Pale and pulled out another already dyed however it was nimbly done That Divan was followed by another whereon a Boy knocked blew Stuffs to make the water come out of them To this company succeeded the Curriers or Turkey Leather-dressers The Curriers who had a great many Youths marching before them attired with Goats horns of several Colours four or five foot long they were followed by several Children all clad in Turkey-leather and then marched the Militia the Old men and the Divan on which were two little Boys one of which dyed the Leather red
would have perswaded me to stay till the heats were over I agreed with a Turk who had hired several Mules Agreement for transportation from Aleppo to Mosul and Bagdad and gave him thirty Piastres to transport me my man and baggage by Land to Mosul and from Mosul to Bagdad by Keleck and to clear me of all Caffares some days after he would have three Piastres more and Cloath-Stockins for four Piastres I gave him all in hand as he desired though I thought it not the safest course but onely that I might not baulk a friend from whom I had received many kindnesses and who had made the bargain for me Seeing he had never travelled that Journey himself and that he thought every man as honest as he was he perswaded himself that he had done very well for me In the mean time the onely way is to bargain with the Muletors and not to pay them in hand for if I had done so it would not have cost me so much That Turk payed the Muletor but fifteen Piastres for the two Mules and a half that I had loaded and all the rest of the Caravan payed no more but six Piastres a Mule. Besides Six Piastres a Mule. that infidel told me many times upon the road that he had neither agreed for my baggage nor for the Caffares and would have I know not how many Piastres more and in fine I was forced to pay new charges from Mosul to Bagdad I parted from Aleppo on Sunday the nine and twentieth of June accompanied with several French Merchants on Horse-back who would needs do me that honour to see me to the Caravan which was in the Meidan by the Gardens close by the City I went out by the Gate Bab-El-Barkousa and my Servant told me who had been there with my Goods two days that the Night before one of my Fire-locks had been stollen A Theft and some Goods taken from others It behoved me to be contented since others were in the same condition and that they told me they had seen the Thieves and pursued them but could not overtake them These thieves slide cunningly along upon their bellies like Snakes and therefore in all that Journey they lye not in tents in the Night-time but on the contrary unpitch them at Night because then as they say they serve onely for spectacles to Robbers Next morning at the break of day we set forward on our Journey and were at first troubled with cold for some time We marched till nine of the Clock and then encamped in a Field called Sammaia Sammaia near the River of Aleppo that runs by this place and has a little Bridge over it We parted from thence on Tuesday the first of July about break of day and about nine a Clock we met a great Caravan coming from Mosul in which there was a Watch-maker who came from Persia where he had long lived with his Wife and Children After we had discoursed a little together we parted there Caravan going on to Sammaia and ours about ten in the morning stopping in a field called Chetanli Chetanli where a little Brook runs among Reeds From Aleppo to that place we had always kept East-North-East and from thence to Bi r our way lay East Next day being Wednesday the second of July we parted from Cheranli about break of day and about ten in the Morning came to a great Village called Mazar Mazar near to which we encamped This place hath much wood and water about it which renders it very pleasant and here you may see a very lovely Cascade of nine or ten Stories which has been made for a Water-mill hard by We began then to feel it very hot both day and night Next morning July the third we decamped about two Clock after midnight and at break of day past betwixt two grounds where a great many Fig-trees were planted in streight rows About half an hour after seven we marched betwixt two Hillocks upon one of which to the right hand there is a Building with a kind of a Pyramide Half an hour after we came to the Banks of Euphrates Euphrates which seemed to me to be no bigger than the River of Seine but they say it is very broad in Winter and the truth is its bed is twice as broad This River is called Frat and Mourat Soui that 's to say the water of desire because say they a Calife of Bagdad having sent for a little of all the Waters of the Countrey The Water of Euphrates is very light and having caused them to be weighed the Water of Euphrates was found to be the lightest This River runs very slowly and is navigable for little Barks as far up as the place where it joyns the Tygris but great Barks go onely from Bi r to Rousvania Rousvania which is a Village distant from Bi r about ten days Journey and then they unload their Goods which are carried upon Camels to Bagdad which is but a small days Journey from it where they are conveyed by Water upon the Tygris Thus do the barks loaded with glass of which I shall presently speak go to Baslora Not that this River is so unnavigable as some would have it for whilst I was at Aleppo the Scheick Bandar hired a bark to carry by Euphrates to Rousvania five or six hundred cases of glass which he sent to the Indies The reason why great barks go not beyond Rousvania is because there are some Rocks in the River which hinder their passage but are avoided by smaller Boats. Nevertheless I should have taken that occasion to go to Bagdad had I not been told that the barks stopped some days in certain places where the passage is best and go but very slowly and that besides I could not in the least stir from the bark without danger of being robbed by the Arabs nor stay on board without being much incommoded by the heat because they have no Deck I wondered to see that they who baled up these Chests for the Scheick Bandar tumbled them so rudely that they broke all the glass but they told me that it mattered not though it were all broken into pieces because the Indian Men and Women buy it onely to have little pieces set in Rings which serve them for Looking-glasses to see themselves in That glass is all over laid with Quick-silver on one side and is a very saleable commodity in the Indies and profitable to the Merchants The Boats of Euphrates We crossed over Euphrates in great boats which have the rudder about three foot distant from the stern of the boat below as Pietro della Valle reports and I think no other reason need to be given for it but that of frugality because these kinds of boats cost them less than if they were made like ours for their rudder is no more but pieces of board nailed cross-ways to the end of Poles and that would signifie nothing
if fastened to the stern as ours are Bir. We came a shoar at Bi r which is a little Town in Mesopotamia upon the side of the River the houses of it beginning below at the Water-side and reaching up to the top of a hill the Castle which seems to be pretty enough is also situated upon an ascent The Walls of the Town are entire and as the houses are built of little square Stones got in the hill which is all of a soft Rock but within there is nothing but Ruines We encamped on the top of the hill without the Town and arrived there half an hour after eight having first payed custom for all Merchants goods at so much a load so soon as we crossed the River The Burying-place of Bi r is on the other side of the River in Syria and they give this reason for it that our Saviour being come as far as Euphrates gave a man a Handkerchief on which his Picture was stamped that he might therewith go and convert the people of Mesopotamia but that this man being curious to see what it was and having unfolded the Handkerchief contrary to the commands of our Lord it flew into a Well and that our Lord knowing this said that that Land was good for nothing and therefore went no farther this is the cause why they will not bury their dead there Others tell this story in another manner which I shall relate when I come to speak of Orfa Friday the fourth of July we parted from Bi r Departure from Bir. about two a Clock in the Morning and took our way a little different from what we had held till we came there for we directed our course East-North-East untill we came to Orfa About nine in the Morning we encamped in a Field near to a hill where heretofore had been a great Town called Aidar Ahmet at present there is nothing of it to be seen and a little Brook runs by it among Reeds Next day being Saturday the fifth of July we set forwards on our Journey about two a Clock in the Morning Tcharmelick and about five a Clock passed by Tcharmelick which was formerly a little Town with a Castle built by one Delivar Basha who was Basha of Diarbeck upon a little eminence with a Han for the convenience of the Caravans and that because of the many Robbers upon that road as there is still at present All was built of stones taken out of the Ruines of Aidar Ahmet but there is no more now remaining but a little of a Castle with a small Village at the foot of it and part of the Walls of the Town whereof two gates are still to be seen the Han which is still entire is very pretty We went on and about nine in the Morning encamped in a place where formerly stood a great Town called Yogonboul Yogonboul at present it is no more but a confused heap of stones amongst which there are some Wells of rain-Rain-water We parted from thence the same day about ten of the Clock at Night and ascended by bad ways Next morning being Sunday the sixth of July at one a Clock in the Morning we travelled along a lovely way made in the Rock two fathom deep a fathom broad and eight fathom long before that way was cut there was no travelling by that road Then we went down an ugly descent which continues as far as the Town of Orfa where we arrived about two a Clock in the Morning and encamped near the Walls The Town of Orfa which is the ancient Edessa is about two hours march in circuit the Walls of it are fair and pretty entire it is almost square Orfa Edessa but within there is hardly any thing but Ruines to be seen and nevertheless it is very populous On the South-side there is an adjoining Castle upon a hill with large and deep Ditches though they be cut in the Rock it is large in compass but full of Ruines and has onely some pittifull old broken Guns on the top of the Castle there is a little square Turret from whence one may see a great way The Chamber of Elias and the People of the Countrey say that Elias lived in that little Chamber On the side that looks towards the Town there are two great Stone-pillars at six or seven steps distance one from another and standing upon their Pedestals they are of Corinthian order Pillars of Corinthian order consisting of seven and twenty lays of stone a piece each lay contains but two stones and each stone is nineteen Inches high being two foot and a half in Diametre The People of the Countrey say that heretofore there were two others like to these and that one of the Thrones of Nimrod was placed upon these four Pillars The throne of Nimrod that from this place to which they bear great reverence Abraham was thrown headlong into the Furnace that was underneath and that at the same instant a Spring of Water gushed out which is running at present and fills a Canal close by it is a great many fathom in length and five or six in breadth whose Water having washed all the Town loses it self under ground at some hours Journey from thence There is so great plenty of Fish in this Canal that they appear in great shoals and I take them to be Carps but they say that if a man should catch any in this Canal and eat of them he would not fail to fall into a Feaver and that 's the reason they suffer no body to catch them unless on the other side of a little Bridge which is at the end of the Canal for they say that being taken beyond that Bridge there is no danger in them Betwixt the Castle and the Canal there is another smaller one distant from the greater about fifty paces whose Waters joyn together at the end of the Channel Seeing the Inhabitants of Orfa fancy all to be miracle in their Countrey they say that it is another source which sprung out of a place into which they threw a slave who seeing that Abraham received no hurt by his fall and that Water gushed out miraculously from the place into which he was precipitated told Nimrod that that man was a true Prophet and not a Sorcerer as he said whereupon he caused him also to be precipitated Had it not been for that Orfa could not have subsisted so long but must have perished for drought for there is no Water in that Town but what comes from those two Sources On the South-side of the Castle there are several neighbouring Hills that command it and especially one which the People of the Countrey call Nimrod Tahhtasi that 's to say the Throne of Nimrod because they believe that his chief Throne was upon the top of that hill there are a great many Grotto's in these hills where they say an hundred thousand of Nimrod's Soldiers quartered Next day I went out of the Town
not worth Eight pence they would not take it saying that they would not give it for a Piastre but for Soap they would The Night following we had a very cold Wind but not so the day after for then it was excessively hot We parted from Alaki on Tuesday the fifteenth of July about three of the Clock in the Morning and marched on East-South East An hour after we left the bad way full of Stones which we had constantly had from Orfa and entered into a great Plain having always to the left the Mountains Caradgia which are the Mount Taurus The Mountains of Caradgia or Taurus that reaches from above Ofra to Diarbeck towards the East and from thence South-East till over against Kinzilken and till near to Nisibin towards the North-East and from thence South-East till within two days Journey of Mosul About six a Clock I was told that the Town of Diarbeck The Town of Diarbeck called in Armenian Amid was two long or three short days march to our left hand and that was the nearest we came to it Half an hour after seven we passed by a little Chappel covered with a stone-Dome wherein there is a Tomb which the People of the Countrey say is the Tomb of Job Jobs Tomb. and at present there is a Santo who prays at the back of that Chappel for this is a famous place of Pilgrimage and this Santo hath a little Cell near a Well of good Spring-water Half an hour after eight we arrived at the foot of a hillock on which stands a Village called Telghiouran Telghiouran Tel in Arabick signifies a little hill and we encamped in the Plain near a Fountain This day and the preceeding we found by the way many plants called Agnus Castus or Canabis Canabis Agnus castus for they grow three foot high and have the leaves divided by fives like a hand the middlemost being the longest and then the two next to it the two last are the least they are jagged in the middle and white underneath in short that plant ends at the top in an ear of several little Flowers of a very bright blew they grow among the Stones and may be seen there in great tufts I must here also observe some faults in Sansons Mapp of Diarbeck An errour in Geography Mid-way from Orfa to Telghiouran we should have passed a River which he calls Soaid and makes it to come from Mount Taurus pass by Caraemit and a great deal after fall into Euphrates nevertheless in all our Caravan there was not one who could give me any tidings of that Water and from Orfa to Telghiouran we passed no other Water but Dgiallab Other errours Besides he hath made so many faults in the positions of places and in their distances as also in the changing their Names that nothing is to be known by it and though I named to many of our Caravan most of the Names that he has put in his Diarbeck or rather Diarbekir the best way I could yet they knew not above two or three of them Caramid Amid and Diarbeck are but one and the same Town Alchabour He makes two Towns of Caramid and Amid and it is but one to wit Diarbeck He makes the River Alchabour the same with Dgiallab and that of Orfa That River of Alchabour takes its source about four days Journey from Mardin towards the South and falls into Euphrates They say that the Water of this River is so good that if after a man hath eaten a whole Lamb he drink of it he 'll not find it burthen his Stomach Chabur Chobar But it is to be observed that there is also another River called Chabur which is the Chobar mentioned in the Prophesie of Daniel it is less and has it source below Mosul on the left hand to those who go down the Tygris and at Bagdad loses it self in the Tygris and by what I could learn of an ancient Syrian of Mosul who hath many times travelled by divers ways from Mosul to Aleppo and from Aleppo to Mosul there are a great many other faults in the Mapp of Diarbeck which makes me to think that it hath been taken from bad Memoirs Telghiouran Telghiouran is a Castle enclosed with a great many Stones piled up one upon another in former times it was a great Town but through the Turkish Tyranny it was defeated There are about an hundred Houses of Armenians in it but none of Turks except of the Aga and his Servants which Aga is also customer and Chorbagi we found a little thick muddy Claret there which they bring from Mardin Under the trees at the foot of the hill there is a little Chappel where are Chains that they put about mad mens Necks and they say that if they are to be cured they fall off of themselves but if otherwise they must be taken off The Customer of this place came to our Caravan to receive his dues We parted from thence next day the sixteenth of July three quarters after three in the Morning and continued our way East-South-East About half an hour after five we saw by the way many stones and some walls of houses still standing About six a Clock we had a great allarm because those who were foremost had espied some Horse-men all made ready some lighted their matches ond others took their bow and two arrows in their hand some run this way and others that way and nevertheless it was in vain for me to ask where the Arabs were for no body could let me see them because then they were in a little bottom A little after we came to know that it was the Aga of Telghiouran coming from some place where his business had carried him who was accompanied with ten Horse-men armed some with Muskets and others with Lances or Darts About eight a Clock we saw on our left hand near a Well several black Tents of the Curds who flying from the Arabs came and encamped in that place and we marching forewards about three quarters after ten came and encamped near a hillock in a place called Carakouzi Carakouzi where there is a Well of good Spring-water which bears the same Name Next day Thursday the seventeenth of July we parted from thence about three quarters after two in the Morning and continued our way East-South-East we entered among the Mountains where for almost an hour we did nothing but climb up and down in ways full of great stones having past them and got again into the plain we kept on the same course approaching to the Caradgia Mountains Half an hour after six we found a Well of good spring-Spring-water Maes Sarazin Corn. Ricinus Palma Christi at seven we saw a Field sowed with Maez or Sarazin Corn and another full of Ricinus or Palma Christi at most but a foot high a great many draw Oil from it for Lamps and to rub the Camels with to make their
called Sertschehan of which several panels of Wall still stand About eight of the Clock we found some Tents of the Curds and then crossed at least twelve Canals one after another which discharge their Water at Nisibin where we arrived three quarters of an hour after eight and encamped beyond the Bridge which consists of eleven small Arches under which a great Water runs which is divided into three by plowed Fields that reach even to the Bridge and render three of its Arches useless They call all these the Waters of Nisibin for ask them the Name of a River in what manner you please they 'll give you no other but the Name of the place it runs by This water comes from the Mountains and before it reach Nisibin they cut it into several Channels for watering of their grounds that are planted with Cotton rice and other things which require Water That 's a heavy and unwholsome Water and so is the Air which is so bad that I was told that if one sleep in it by day or by night he runs a great risk of being sick and that is the reason why the People of the Countrey are so tawny as they are Nisibin Nisibin was formerly a great Town at present it is divided into two quarters separated by a plowed field and both these quarters make but an ordinary Village Mar-Jacob Heretofore it had a Church dedicated to Mar-Jacob that 's to say St. James who is called the Brother of our Lord It was very large but at present there is nothing to be seen but the Arches of the doors and a small space which was as I think the end of the Church walled up by the Syrians where they and the Armenians at present celebrate Mass The Customer of Nisibin came and demanded his dues of our Caravan though Nisibin depend on the Basha of Merdin the Customer of which had already taken his dues at Kodgiasar but he took nothing from me because he thought I was a Greek We parted from Nisibin next day being Tuesday the two and twentieth of July about one a Clock in the Morning by Star-light and passed another Canal a strong North-Wind blew then which hardly cooled the Air. About five of the Clock we began to see on our right hand the Mountains Sendgiar which reach from North-West to South-East Mountain Sendgiar but they were about two days Journey distant from us Half an hour after seven we crossed a water half an hour after eight another and a quarter after nine we passed a third which was very lovely Dgerrahhi Soui and called Dgerrahhi Soui We thought to have encamped near it as is usual but because the Mules must have been sent to grase on the other side and that it would have been troublesome to make them cross it back again in the Evening we went farther and encamped near to a Spring of good Water Kimarlick in a place called Kimarlick from which we parted about eleven of the Clock at Night and crossed a great Water where our Caravan was a long time in passing it because of the dark and of the many great Stones that are in the Water when we passed it we stood away Eastwards Wednesday the three and twentieth of July about two a Clock in the Morning we found another Water and another again about four a Clock and three quarters of an hour after a very pleasant little River which turns and winds through a small plain encompassed with hills Three quarters after five we saw by the way to our left a Hillock on the top of which there is a Dome under which lies buried one Imam Ahmed Imam-Ahmed for whom the Turks have great Veneration and this is a place of Pilgrimage About seven a Clock we passed by a sorry Village called Candgi Candgi and half an hour after we encamped near a Spring of good Water in a plain called by the Name of the Village The Inhabitants thereabouts are so given to thieving that they stay not for the Night as others do but come into the Camp in the day-time under pretext of selling Corn for the Horses and walking up and down if they perceive any thing not well looked after they fail not to lift it We parted from thence the same day about half an hour after seven of the Clock at Night and marched East-South-East It was extreamly hot till about two a Clock next Morning that the Air grew cooler We marched without finding Water or Habitation untll half an hour after six that we came and encamped in a plain called Adgisou because of a water that runs there among the reeds and is bitter according as I had been told that from Candgi to Mosul there was neither habitation nor good water which made me provide my self before hand nevertheless having tasted it I did not find it to be so bitter Friday the five and twentieth of July we parted from Adgisou half an hour after three in the Morning for we were not willing to travel in the Night-time for fear of the Arabs We marched South and about eight of the Clock crossed a Brook of bitter water half an hour after we crossed another whose water was pretty good upon a hillock close by there stands a wall which seems to have been the Wall of a Castle whereof there is no more remaining Half an hour after nine we crossed a great Brook of brackish Water and three quarters after eleven a small River that runs under a Bridge of four Arches of which two are broken and indeed they seem to be useless for the breadth of the water reaches but to the two that are whole and it must needs be very high when it passes through the other two which stand upon a pretty high ground This Bridge is below a little ruinous Castle standing upon a hillock it hath been square but there is nothing remaining but the four Walls and a little round Tower in a corner We encamped close by this Castle all scorched with the Sun and stewed in Sweat that place is called Kesick-Cupri that 's to say broken Bridge Kesick-Cupri and the Water is called Cupri-Sou that 's to say the Bridge-water and no other Names of Rivers are to be got from them I informed my self of the source of that River An errour in Geography which Sanson seems to have confounded with that of Nisibin and I was told that it was another and that the source is not far from that Bridge This water is not very good but it is not bitter as I had been told and close by it there is a Fountain of far worse water We left that place the same day three quarters after seven at Night and took our way East-ward About eleven a Clock we passed by a Village called Wlhayat Wlhayat which is wholly forsaken because of the Tyranny of the Turks At midnight we had a great Allarm but we found it onely to
be twelve Horse-men armed with Muskets who came from Mosul where we arrived the six and twentieth of July three quarters of an hour after five in the Morning A little before we came there one of our Company having alighted and returning back to look for his Sword which he had dropt was stript of all by the Arabs CHAP. XI Of Mosul Mosul WE entered Mosul by Bagdad Capisi that looks to the South and at that Gate I payed a Piastre to the Janissaries I went and lodged with the Capucins who were lately arrived there to settle a mission by orders of the Congregation de propaganda fide and therefore as yet they were but very ill accommodated but a house was a preparing for them which a Syrian Priest had let them at a pretty dear rate There were but two Capucins there to wit the Reverend Father John and brother George who charitably administred Physick to all the People without distinction of Religion This with the knowledge he had of all Diseases dew so many sick People to their house that it was always as full as an Hospital They came to him even ten days Journey off and the most powerfull sent and prayed him to come to them from all parts of Mesopotamia Aasour The City of Mosul anciently called Aasour stands upon the side of the Tigris which runs to the East of it it is encompassed with Walls of rough stone plastered over with little pointed Battlements on the top two fingers breadth thick and four or five broad much like to wooden Pales I think that one may walk round this Town in an hours time there is a Castle in the water which is narrow but reaches out in length from North to South and is almost of an oval figure towards the River it is all built of Free stone and the Walls are about three fathom high on the land-side it is separated from the Town by a ditch five or six fathom broad and very deep being filled with the River-Water and in this place it is about four fathom deep but is not faced with Free-stone above one fathom high from the foundation and the rest is only rough Stone The entry into it is on the side of the Town and the Gate is in the middle of a great square Tower built upon a strong and large Arch under which runs the Water of the ditch and there is a little Draw-Bridge to be past before one comes to the Gate which heretofore was strongly defended by Artillery for before it on the outside there are six large Guns still to be seen but one of them is broken and but one mounted there are about as many field-pieces and onely two of them mounted I was told that this Castle was built by the Christians and that there is a fair Church within it The Tigris seems to be somewhat broader than the River of Seine but is very deep and rapid nevertheless it has a Bridge of Boats over it a little below the Castle and opposite to one of the Gates of the City called Dgesir Capisi that 's to say the Bridge-Gate It consists of about thirty Boats on which they pass to an Isle the other end reaches not the Land unless it be by a Stone-Causey which is as long as the Bridge it self where it ends In Winter that Bridge is removed because the River then overflowing becomes as broad again as it is in Summer A few paces from the River-side there are large Ditches which it fills with water that is drawn out from thence for watering their grounds and that I think by a very silly invention They have great Buckets of Leather that hold more than a Barrel and at the bottom of the Bucket there is a large Pipe of Leather about three foot long such as I have in former times seen at Paris fastened to Casks full of water which served to water the Cours de la Reine This Bucket is fastened to a Rope put over a wheel that turns upon an Axletree whose ends enter into the Penthouses that are on each side of the Well and there is another Cord fastened to the Mouth of the Bucket that holds it upright to keep the water from spilling and this last Cord goes under the wheel these two Cords are fastened together to a great Rope and because it requires several men to draw the Bucket full of Water they fasten this great Rope to an Ox whom they drive foreward about twenty paces in descent that he may draw more easily and fast When the Bucket is up they let the water run out at the Pipe into a little furrow from whence it spreads over their grounds When that is done they bring the Ox back again and so set him a drawing as before I cannot tell why in this Countrey and in Persia they make no use of Pousseragues as in Egypt and the West of Turky Whilst I was at Mosul the Customer who learnt that I was a Franck sent for me and my servant and having presented me with Coffee he demanded of me ten Piastres for the Custome of two load of Goods which he said I had I pretended not to understand neither Turkish nor Arabick it being best to do so when one is known to be a Franck for many reasons I told him then by an Interpreter that I had not two load of Goods and that they were onely Books By chance there was a Syrian Merchant there called Codgia Elias who is very powerfull in Mosul and a friend of the Capucins and he had business with the Customer this Codgia seeing me took two Piastres out of his Purse which he threw to the Customer praying him to let me go for that but this generosity of a man whom I knew not making me distrust him I bid tell him that if he laid out any thing for me I could not repay it this put the Customer into so great a passion that having abused my servant with his tongue he sent him away to prison for my part I stayed there and he still treated me calmly and civilly enough At length Codgia Elias offering to pull out more Money I made him plainly to understand by Signs that I would not repay it wherefore he put up his Money again and departed not well satisfied with me though he brought my Servant back from prison again to whom the Customer gave leave to go to my Lodging for one of my Books that he might see it he came back and Father John with him who ordered matters so that I came off for two Piastres I thought it might not be unprofitable to relate these things Profitable advice which seem to be but trifles and yet may serve for a lesson to the Francks who travel in Turky when they find themselves in the like Circumstances and in places where there is no Consul nor Merchants for where there is any it is best to let them to whom you are recommended act because they know the
that they could not be seen but by holding it to a Candle and looking through and then they might plainly be seen these Melons come in Autumn Whilst I was at Mosul Eclipse of the Moon there happened an Eclipse of the Moon on the seventh of August it began about one a Clock after midnight and lasted till four in the Morning during all which time the Moon seemed to be of the colour of bloud All the while it lasted the Terrasses were full of People who made a continual clashing din with their Kettles which they beat with sticks and that to frighten a huge Beast which the People of the Countrey say would devour the Moon I learnt from a knowing man that the Authour of that Mummery was an Astrologer who foretold to a King an Eclipse of the Moon which stirred up his curiosity to desire to see it But having waited sometime though the moment prefixt by the Astrologer drew nigh he grew impatient and because the Eclipse happened not so soon as he would have had it he discharged his choler upon the Astrologer as he who ought to have answered for it and then fell asleep In the mean time the Eclipse beginning shortly after the Astrologer was in a new perplexity because on the one hand he durst not awaken the King and on the other he was afraid that if he did not awake before the Eclipse was over he would not believe it and yet make him feel the bad influences of the same To be short that he might come off the best way he could he invented a tale to the People and told them that there was a huge Beast which had a mind to devour the Moon and that to scare it away they must make a great deal of noise which they did and by that means awakened the King. Nevertheless it seems that the Romans had this custom of making a noise with Kettles and Drums to assist the Moon when she laboured in an Eclipse as may be seen in the sixth Satyr of Juvenal Nemo tubas atque aera fatigat Unde laboranti poterit succurrere Lunae CHAP. XII Of the Wind Samiel the Kelecks and the Authours embarking in that kind of Vessel WHen we came to Mosul it was resolved that five Kelecks should be made because many of the Caravan had a mind to go by Water to the end they might avoid the Samiel and I was one of those The rest departed on Wednesday the thirtieth of July and took their way through Mesopotamia which is certainly the shortest but no Village to be found upon the Road and two days after we had news that six of them were already dead Within a few days more came the Hazna which is the money for paying the Soldiers of Bagdad and because the Kelecks were long in making a great many took that occasion and on Wednesday the sixth of August went away with the Hazna through Curdistan and crossed the Water upon the Bridge of Mosul That is the longest way but there are several Villages upon the Road and my Moucre had a mind I should go that way however I would not partly because of the Samiel and partly also for fear he might play me some trick because I had refused him some Piastres that he would have had over and above our bargain though he had been already payed double and therefore he went away and left me A profitable advice This ought to be a lesson never to pay that sort of men before hand Next day after they were gone the news came that nine of them were dying Samiel But having spoken so much of the Samiel it is but reasonable I should relate what I have been told of it Sam in Arabick signifies poyson and â—iel in Turkish wind so that that compound word signifies Poyson-wind and it may be the ventus urens or East Wind of which Job speaks in the one and twentieth Chapter of his Book Having with much curiosity informed my self of that Wind all told me the same thing that it is a very hot Wind that reigns in Summer from Mosul to Surrat but onely by Land and not upon the Water and that they who have breathed that Wind fall instantly dead upon the place though sometimes they have the time to say that they burn within No sooner does a man dye by this Wind but he becomes as black as a coal and if one take him by the Leg Arm or any other place his flesh comes from the bone and is plucked off by the hand that would lift him up They say that in this Wind there are streaks of fire as small as a hair which have been seen by some and that they who breath in those rays of fire dye of them the rest receiving no prejudice if it be so it may be thought that these fires volant proceed from sulphurous exhalations that rise out of the Earth which being tossed by the Wind kindle for they are inflameable and being with the Air sucked in by respiration consume the entrals in a moment Or otherwise if it be no more but a bare Wind that Wind must be so hot that in an instant it corrupts the whole body it enters into and if it kill no body upon the Water the reason must be that these enflamed Vapours are dissipated or extinguished by the exhalations that continually rise out of the water which are gross and humid or because there is always a cool breez upon the water However leaving the discussion of this point to the learned what I have related of the effects of the Samiel is certainly true for I have informed my self thereof by many most of whom have seen and handled those that have died of it which is very common in Summer If that Wind reign from Mosul to Surrat as some say it must be along the Water-side for over land there are many places where it reigns not at all Having been so well informed then of that Wind I resolved not to run the hazard of suffering by it but because many were gone with the Hazna Kelecks they could hardly resolve at Mosul to make Kelecks which is a kind of boat wherein there is neither peg nail nor indeed any bit of Iron though it be made up of at least of as many pieces as our boats are It hath neither Mast nor Sail and nevertheless if it wanted Wind it would presently sink to the bottom And quite contrary to our boats out of which they are obliged to pump the water often into this water must be thrown For making of these boats then they make fast and tye together with ropes a great many Borrachios or leathern Jugs in a square figure but longer than broad Ours consisted of twenty Borrachios in length and thirteen in breadth which in all made an hundred and threescore Upon these Borrachios they fasten a train or hurdle of poles tyed together with withies and upon that bed of poles they place four benches
which are nothing else but bundles of poles about half a foot thick they are set at about two foot and a half distance one from another and are made as high so that there remains all round without a border or side-way two or three foot broad Afterwards they lay poles cross over from one bench to another and upon them they load the goods and place their passengers every one shifting for themselves aswell as they can upon the things they carry along with them So these boats are about four fathom long and three broad below and above when they are loaded about three fathom long and two broad and they are loading and all about five or six foot high These Borrachios must be wet every half quarter of an hour for fear they should squat for want of Wind which the boat-men do with a leathern pouch tied to the end of a pole There is neither rudder nor sail as I said and the whole crue consists of three Watermen two of which row the boat with Oars which are towards one of the ends on each side one and these Oars are no more but Poles having sins about two foot and a half long fastened to the end of them they are made of several pieces of Cane six or seven Inches long and the third Waterman wets the Borrachios They have neither stem nor stern and goe any way but commonly side ways quite contrary to ours Every evening these Barrachios must be new blow'd which they do with the ends of reeds and when they are cracked they mend them These Kelecks put a shoar always twice a day that the men may do their needs They are necessitated to make use of such boats because in the Summer-time a small boat of Timber cannot go upon that River by reason of the multitude of banks Two of these Kelecks were made and so soon as they were finished I sent to take a place but the answer I had was that they would not receive me because some said I had Wine and others Musk with me the smell whereof would heat them too much However since I would by no means lose that occasion the Reverend Father John spoke to some No Wine in a Keleck who promised that I should have a place on condition that I carried no Wine with me for they fancy that Wine would sink the Keleck And indeed I saw some Christians who had a great deal of credit but not enough to embark Wine I presently sent my Servant with my things he stayed on board to look after them and sent me word that they would not put off before the next day I failed not next morning to go thither but it was in vain for our departure being put off till night and then till next day I was perswaded to return back which I did the more willingly because I perceived it would be very incommodious to spend the Night in that place However having heard the Soldiers of Bagdad who were to go with us threaten to throw over-board the Goods of those that offered to carry Wine I then resolved not to take any with me Next morning I came to the water-side where at first I had a proof of the tyranny and barbarity of these people who putting the passengers Goods on board without weighing them reckoned them double the weight they were for one hundred weight setting down two and doing the like for the provisions for one must carry every thing with him in this Voyage wherein as they say there was neither house nor harbour to be found We went to the Office and payed two Piastres for every head and four for the hundred weight of my Goods Then I came to keep my place where I suffered a great deal of heat for every thing was so hot there that whatever I touched burnt my hands and rivers of sweat ran from me on all sides During that time I saw an experiment of the dexterity the People of the Countrey have to cross the water without a Bridge I perceived forty or fifty she Buffles driven by a Boy stark naked who came to sell the milk of them these Buffles took the water and fell a swimming in a square body the little Boy stood upright upon the last and stepping from one to another drove them on with a stick and that with as much force and assurance as if he had been on dry Land sometimes sitting down upon their Buttocks He went ashoar above five hundred paces below the Town on the other side of the Water After Noon they demanded a Piastre more of each Person and I was obliged to Codgia Elias that I payed a little less But when they came to talk of putting me in the middle of the other Keleck where I should have been stifled for want of Air I demanded back my money and goods telling them that I would stay at Mosul until the heats were over In fine Codgia Elias prevailed so far that they left me my place and they sent other passengers with their goods out of our Keleck into the other which was less loaded From that time they began to shew me good countenance and to assure me that no body should molest me I think that besides the credit of Codgia Elias to whom I am much obliged for that good office and for many more that he did me the Authority of Topgi Bassa whose Kinsman I gave my self out to be in the Caravan stood me in no small stead and I had reason to say I was since in the Letters he gave me at Damascus he had called me his Brother CHAP. XIII Of the Voyage on board the Keleck to Bagdad Departure from Mosul WE parted from Mosul on Friday the eighth of August about three of the Clock in the Afternoon at least our Keleck went to the Isle on the other side where we stayed at least an hour in putting men and goods on board of the other which was less loaded than ours There was left on board of ours no more than ten hundred weight of goods and twenty passengers then they made me change my place as a sign they would oblige me and gave me a better upon the side of the Keleck all beginning to caress me We began then to set forward in good earnest and were gone but a little way when we found an Island which we left to the right hand keeping always to the left along by the shoar of Curdistan The side of Mesopotamia is well sowed but the Curdistan shoar is barren and uncultivated as if the curse of Nineveh were fallen upon it nevertheless in the Evening I saw great flocks of sheep and goats a watering The River of Tigris is more crooked and winding than any that ever I saw It maketh a great many Islands and is full of banks of stone when we passed near to any of these banks all the Turks in Chorus called Mahomet to their assistance There are a great many Birds on both sides
and amongst others we saw a flight altogether like Francolines save that they have an unpleasant smell though the flesh of them be firm and very good to eat They were so numerous that I think a grain of small shot could not have past through without hitting some of them and they made a Cloud above five hundred paces in length and fifty in breadth About six a Clock we began to have little hills on our right hand which lasted about two hours And we passed near to one out of which they have Sulphur which they purifie and melt into Canes This Sulphur is a very white Earth for we were pretty near that hill which is almost wholely of Sulphur We stopped on the Curdistan shoar two hundred paces from thence about Sun-setting and rested upon the ground by the Water-side some of the Company stayed on board to guard the Kelecks for the Arabs when they see Kelecks many times come swimming and take what they can and then make their escape in the same manner They have besides the cunning when they are swimming to put some branches of trees upon their heads that it may not be thought they are men The water over against these hills is no broader than the length of the Pont Marie at Paris That Night we had a very hot Wind which sometimes brought with it cold gusts also and I observed they were not so strong as the others I was afraid it might have been the Samiel because it blew from that hill of Sulphur Next Morning being Saturday the ninth of August we embarked about break of day Hills of Sulphur We still saw on the side of Mesopotamia some hills of Sulphur which we smelt We met several People Men Women and Girls that crossed the Water stark naked having a Borrachio under each Arm-pit and their baggage on their heads and amongst the rest we saw two Girls who swam over without any help Half an hour after Sun-rising we perceived on the Water-side to the left hand Houses of Arabs several of the Arabs houses square and about two fathom high they were made of Poles and covered with leaves their Cattel were hard by and also their Horses which are always saddled These are their Summer-houses for in the Winter-time they shelter themselves under their Tents of black Goats hair Alyhamam Hot Baths About six a Clock we stopt at a Village called Alyhamam in Mesopotamia there are a great many natural hot Baths there and I make no doubt but these Waters run through Sulphur The People of the Countrey have dugg great Pits in the Earth under little Domes wherein they bath themselves for my own part I thought it enough to wet a finger therein and found it very hot but not scalding Sick people come there from all quarters and are cured but especially Lepers There are a great many always there from Mosul which is but a days Journey of Caravan distant All the Houses of this Village are by the Water-side they are all about two fathom square and the Walls and Roofs are onely of Canes interlaced with branches of Trees we rested there about two hours and then continued our Voyage The Sun that day was several times overcast with Clouds that did us a great kindness after Noon we stopt a little to stay for the other Keleck which was not come up About three a Clock we came to Asiguir Asiguir which is a place where the remains of the Foundation of a Bridge are still to be seen over which the Water runs with so much noise that we heard it half an hour before we came to the place When we were got there we went a shoar on the left hand because there is onely a small passage near Land for the Kelecks and in the Summer-time it is so shallow that many times they are forced to keep in the middle and go over stones that rise to the brim of the Water and make a kind of cascade or fall We all took our Arms to defend us against the Lions which are there in great Numbers amongst little Coppises however we saw none When the Keleck had passed near the shoar the current carried it into the middle of the River so that it could not stop till it came to an Island which is about fifty paces from the main Land and thither we went to it up to the knees in water A little after we had a great many hills to the right hand and on the first of them there is still some remains of a Castle called Top-Calai that 's to say the Castle of Cannons Top-Calai they say it was built by Nimrod as well as that Bridge which he had built for his convenience in going to his Mistress whom he kept on the other side Besides that we saw a great many other hills of Sulphur and one amongst the rest very high the Sulphur whereof appeared very yellow and smelt strong About half an hour after we saw the end of these Mountains and had others on the left hand covered over with Trees A quarter of an hour after we saw on the left hand River of Zarb the place where the River of Zarb falls into the Tigris It 's a great River more than half as broad as the Tigris very rapid and the Water thereof is whitish and cold They say that it comes very far off from the Mountains of Curdistan and is onely Snow-water On the same side about a French League up in the Countrey there is a hill by it self on which are the Ruines of a Castle called Kchaf Kchaf Having passed this place which looks like a little Sea we had constantly to the left hand Woods full of Lions Boars and other wild Beasts We rowed on till the Sun was setting not knowing where to lye because we durst not go a shoar on the side of the Woods for fear of Lions and on the side of Mesopotamia we saw Arabs at length just at Sun-setting we stopt near Woods which are all of Tamarisk and Liquourice and set a guard both against Men and Beasts From Mosul to this place they reckon it two days Journey and a half by Caravan After midnight three Robbers stark naked approached but finding themselves discovered they dived into the water and disappeared nevertheless this gave us a great allarm for they who saw them ran in all haste to the Keleck crying out like men in extreme danger and the rest not knowing what the matter was and thinking that they had a Lion at their heels threw themselves desperately into the Keleck whilst those that were asleep on board awaking at the noise and imagining there was a Lion in the Keleck endeavoured to get out In short so great was the disorder that no man knowing what he did it is a wonder we did not kill one another Sunday the tenth of April about break of day we put forward again and half an hour after past by the foot of a
very thieving Beasts not only of what is fit for eating but of any thing else they find carrying away even Turbans sometimes they howl almost like Dogs one making the Treble another the Basse and a third the Counter-Tenor and so soon as one cries the rest cry also so that all together they make a noise which may truly be called Dogs Musick Thursday the fourteenth of August we parted from that place at break of day Aaschouk Maaschouk and a little after saw on our right hand a Village called Aaschouk and to the left another called Maaschouk The people of the Countrey say that these places are so called because in each of those two Villages there was in former times a Tower in one of which lived a Man who was in love with a Woman that lived in the Tower of the other Village and was in like manner beloved of her This place is the seventh Lodging of the Caravans that come from Mosul to Bagdad About half an hour after six we saw to the left hand a Village called Imam-Samerva Imam-Samerva Hedgiadge Elhan Digel About eleven a clock we passed by another Village called Hedgiadge which is in Mesopotamia Three hours after we saw another on the same side named Elhan and besides it some Houses all that Land being called Digel Half an hour past six in the evening we put a-shoar on our left hand where I was told of another-guess prowess of a Lion than what I had been told of that of Kizil-Han They said then that not long before a Caravan passing by that place a Lion came who setting upon a young Boy mounted on an Ass that came after the rest carried away both Boy and Ass in view of the whole Caravan After Supper we went upon the water again about nine of the clock at night and for the space of half an hour heard on our right hand many Chakales very near us which called the Lions and after that we saw no more Woods We began then to make the best of our way by night as well as by day because there are no more Banks and the River is very broad but also so still that it can hardly be discerned which way it runs We past by several Villages most of which were on Mesopotamia-side Next day being Friday the fifteenth of August we saw about noon many Boats near the shoar which have Masts like Saicks and serve to carry Corn to Bagdad from the neighbouring Villages We then discovered several Palm-Trees and many of those Wheels they call Dollab which serve to draw water out of Wells as at Mosul Half an hour after six in the evening we stopt at a Village called Yenghige on the left hand there are many Gardens there where they sold us good Figs Pomegranats and very big long Grapes At that place we were not altogether safe from Lions seeing the people of the Countrey told us that they come often into their Gardens and that one morning a Lion came to the very Suburbs of Bagdad that lies on the Desart-side where it seized a man who had risen too early Nevertheless betwixt Yenghige and Bagdad there are several Villages with a great many Gardens Yenghige We parted about nine a clock at night and next day being Saturday the sixteenth of August at two a clock in the afternoon passed by a Village called Imam-Mousa which is on the right hand It is a place of Pilgrimage Imam-Mousa whither people resort from afar and the Women of Bagdad go thither every Friday it being only an hours march by Land. A little after we saw another Village on our left hand called Imam-Aazem Imam-Aazem which is likewise a place of Pilgrimage and about five of the clock in the evening we arrived at Bagdad In that Voyage they speak every where Turkish The Turkish Language towards Bagdad but it is Persian Turkish which differs somewhat from that of Greece and the nearer Bagdad the more the Turkish Language differs from that of Constantinople CHAP. XIV Of Bagdad and of the Road from Bagdad to Mendeli the last Place the Turks have on the Confines of Persia BAGDAD is a long Town lying upon the River-side Bagdad the first thing one sees in arriving is the Castle on the side of the River to the left hand which on the outside appears to be pretty strong It is built of lovely white Stone but I was told that there was nothing within but Huts Below that Castle upon the water-side also stands the Serraglio of the Basha which hath fair Kiochks from whence they have a good Prospect and fresh Air. Next you find a Bridge of about forty Boats on which they cross into Mesopotamia where there is a Town also or rather a Suburbs of Bagdad but the Houses of it are ill built Every night they undo that Bridge It requires at least two hours to make the round of Bagdad which is not very strong on the Land-side There are fair Bazars and lovely Bagnio's in this Town built by the Persians and generally all that is goodly in it hath been built by them It is but ill peopled considering the bigness of the place and indeed it is not compactly built for there are a great many empty places in it where there 's not one Soul to be found and except the Bazars where there is always a great confluence of people the rest looks like a Desart The Soldiers here are very licentious and commit all imaginable Insolencies their Officers not daring scarcely to punish them Some weeks before I arrived there they had put the Basha to death by poyson because of his Tyrannies and it was said the Aga had a share in it though he kept not his bed but was in a languishing condition Besides the Turkish Militia there are a great many Christians in the Grand-Signior's Pay to fight against the Arabs when they are commanded It is very hot in this Town and that 's the reason the people sleep upon the Terrasses The degrees of heat at Bagdad The eighteenth of August at noon the heat was at the thirty seventh degree by my Thermometre and nevertheless it blew a cool breeze of wind The Capuchins to whom I went as soon as I entred Bagdad very charitably practise Physick there The water of the Tygris Opposite to Bagdad the Tygris is very broad the water whereof they draw and put into great Jars of Clay that is not burnt and through these Jars the water transpires and percolates into an earthen Vessel underneath in the same manner as at Aleppo they call this River Chav-Bagdad that 's to say the River of Bagdad but wanting skill to make Water-mills upon it they are forced to grind all their Corn with Horse-mills or Hand-mills Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is very desart every thing being ruined there by the Tyranny of the Turks but the places that are inhabited are well peopled It bears few or no Trees
better Way though the Mountains still surrounded us but we mounted onely some small Ascents until marching Northwards we began an hour after to have ups and downs again over very high hills and in worse and more dangerous ways than hitherto we had seen but that lasted not an hour and then we came into a Plain encompassed with hills Standing away Eastwards we came by a Village called Chegiafar Chegiafar where there are a great many scattering houses of which part are built of rough Stone and Earth and some of Canes and Reeds covered with green branches those of Earth serve for the Winter and Rainy weather and then no body lived in them and the other of Canes are for the Summer that the Inhabitants may have the fresh Air. Amongst these houses there is also a great Mosque built of rough Stone and Earth We made no stop there but a little beyond it came and encamped near another Village consisting as the former in the Summer and Winter-houses but not in so great Number it is called Seraou Seraou and is distant from Chegiafar about a quarter of an hours march We arrived there a little after seven in the Morning the Village stands upon a rising ground at the foot whereof runs a lovely spring-Spring-water Towards the Evening some of these Curds came to our Tent and bid us take heed to our selves because there were Robbers in the hills who creeping on their Bellies in the Night-time came and carried away what they could find We shew'd them our Arms which they seemed to be much in love with many amongst us believed that they themselves were the onely Thieves and that they came to give us this warning that we might not accuse them if we were robbed and also that they might see our Arms. We parted from thence on Saturday the thirtieth of August half an hour after two in the Morning We went up hill and down hill over exceeding high and troublesome Mountains until eight a Clock after that we marched for two hours in a plain environed with hills where we saw several black Tents and about ten a Clock we encamped under Trees in a place called Rengpereng Rengpereng near which a Brook runs There was close by a Village of Curds who brought us provisions We parted from thence on Sunday the last of August about four of the Clock in the Morning At first we marched Eastward amongst Woods of Chestnut-trees where there is great plenty of liquorice as there is all that Countrey over we kept going upward still but in very good and easie way In the Morning we saw a Field sowed with Rice About seven a Clock we encamped in a Plain where there are some Trees near a Hamlet of three or four Huts of Canes Goaour and this place is called Goaour We parted from thence the same day about seven at Night and by Moon-light marched Eastward in the Plain or Valley till past Midnight that we descended by an ugly way into a very low Plain where having travelled almost an hour we passed a little Water Having marched about another hour we passed a Stone-Bridge of one Arch under which runs a little River that I could not learn the Name of a little after we passed over another Bridge much alike standing upon the same River About half an hour after two in the Morning Munday the first of September we encamped at the end of that Bridge near to a Village called Arnoua Arnoua where there is a good Kervanserai of brick there are also several Stone-houses and as many Huts of Canes These Bridges seem to have been lately built and the River that runs under them has no other Name amongst the People of the Countrey but the Water of Arnoua There are so many Frogs in that Countrey that my Tent was always full of them though they were continually driven out We parted the same day half an hour after ten at Night and marched Eastward in fair way till half an hour after one a Clock in the Morning of Tuesday the second of September when we came to a very uneasie descent and very dangerous too especially being in the dark because the Moon was then set for three hours after we had pretty good way Goumedli a River We crossed several Brooks and a small River called Goumedli and our way lay Northwards About half an hour after four in the Morning having gone down hill a little we went away Eastward in pretty good way having for sometime a large Brook of running Water on our left hand Half an hour after five we descended into a great Plain where we marched about an hour still Eastward Then about half an hour after six we came and encamped near to a Kervanserai built by a Lady A quarter of a league from that Kervanserai Maidescht there is a Village built of stone called Maidescht and a little farther off than that Village Scheik-Hali-Kan-Kervanserai there is another Kervanserai called Scheik-Hali Kan Kervanserai from the Name of a Chan that built it We passed by it after we had dislodged from the other about half an hour after eight at Night We lookt upon it to be very fair and commodious especially because of a little River that runs close by it it is called from the Name of the Village Maidescht Soui We crossed over it upon a Bridge of one Arch which is built very steep and sharp as most of the rest are we then kept on our way Eastward in the same smooth Plain Wednesday the third of September a litttle after Midnight we went over a hill but the way was pleasant enough and then came into the Plain again About three a Clock in the Morning we passed a little River and an hour and a half after came to a Village called Poul Schah Poul-Schah that 's to say the Kings Bridge we put our selves under cover there in a Kervanserai The Kervanserais of Persia are much finer and more commodious than those of Turkey at least such as are on the great Roads The Kervanserais of Persia for I speak not of those in Towns the loveliest in all the Levant being in Bursa These Kervanserais of Persia are large square brick-Buildings above three fathom high the entry into them is by a Portico under which are shops where all things necessary for life are to be had Passing through that Portico one enters into the Court in the middle of this of Poul Schah there is a Fountain which is not to be found in others All round the Court there are great Arches about three fathom wide and one and a half or two fathom deep under which are Mastabez or stone Divans about two foot raised from the ground In the middle of the Front or if you will at the bottom of the Divan there is a door about two foot wide where one enters into a Room of the same bigness as the place under the
to make them go faster than Asses so that we made but very small Journeys In the Evening we had a shower of rain that was presently over which was the first save onely a little mizling that we had seen fall since our departure from Aleppo Next day being Tuesday the three and twentieth of September about three a Clock in the Morning we set out again and continued our Journey Eastwards by very good way About seven a Clock we came into a very stony way betwixt rocky hills but it lasted not long about eleven a Clock we came to a large Village called Sari Sari and resolved to lodge in a very pretty and large Kervanserai but it was as full already as it could hold of Men and Beasts Wherefore it behoved us to betake our selves to another which was less bad and ruinous where we lodged very uneasily in the Stable amongst the Horses and Mules This Village is well built and I observed that the chief Wall of the Stable where we lodged was wholely built of black square Stones A kind of Marble about a foot long and about three fingers thick which when they are broken split into Tables like slate but thicker and I took them for black Marble The Watc-hmaker that was with us told me that men of his profession make use of this stone for polishing that which hath been filed before it be guilt Of this Marble are all the doors of houses as Pietro Della Valle says but there are few of them at Sari Some I saw at Dizava nay and I have seen of them in several places of Syria and I believe they make them of this Stone for want of Timber At Sari there is four Bistis to be payed a load This Evening there fell some rain again and it came to us accompanied with good old White wine which the Porter of the Kervanserai underhand sent for to the Village but his scruples were onely in formality For some Turks of our Caravan who had also bought of it found it to be so good that they sate by it merrily all Night till we were ready to depart which put them into so good a humour that for part of the way they did nothing but roar and sing like drunken Francks as they were till at length one of the gang tumbled off of his Mule and had almost broken his Neck but fell fast a sleep on the place About three a Clock in the Morning Wednesday the four and twentieth of September we parted from Sari About eight a Clock we passed by a Village called Dehile Dehile Mouclasabah Machat and an hour after by another called Mouclasabah and about ten a Clock we arrived at a Village named Machat where we sheltered our selves in a little Kervanserai We parted from thence next day being Thursday the five and twentieth of September at Midnight and by break of day passed through a Town called Scheher-ghird Scheher-ghird which seemed to me to be well built we then marched forwards till ten of the Clock through a large barren Plain there being no Water in it nor indeed any habitation that we could find At ten a Clock we came to a very fair Kervanserai called Bag Bag. the appartments whereof are very commodious and under the Gate there lives a man who sells all things necessary for life and he hath three little Rooms for his dwelling There are such Porters in all the Kervanserais of Persia but more especially there is need of one at this for there is no habitation about it and the nearest place is a Village to the right hand behind the hill Angouan called Angouan where much Tapistry is made and if they told me true is an Agatsch that 's to say Agatsch Farsang a league distant For the Persians count the way by Agatsch or Farsang which is one and the same Agatsch being the Turkish Word and Farsang the Persian and it is an hours Journey for a Horse-man but for us it is almost two nevertheless near to Ispahan they are so short that we travelled one an hour At this Kervanserai there are three Bistis payed a Load The lintels of the gates of it are made of one entire piece of that kind of Marble which I mentioned to be at Sari but it is not polished and without the gate there is on each side a Mastabe they are in length about six foot each and four or five foot high upon three of breadth the upper part of these Mastabez is of one whole piece of that Stone This Marble hath been dug about fifty paces from the gate out of a Rock a little higher than the ground at the root whereof there is a little Spring of Water which is all they have in that place to drink As I was walking about this Kervanserai I found little Marble-Stones white red spotted and of all sorts of colours Which makes me think that that place affords Marble of all colours and indeed the upper part of the Rock is almost all white We parted next day being Friday the six and twentieth of September about three of the Clock in the Morning and went up hill and down hill in pretty good way for the space of three hours I observed by the ways side several Rocks of black Stone rising a little out of the ground Black Stone which were all divided into Tables hardly thicker than blew Slates and much about the same colour but joyned very close together Half an hour after six we came into a great Plain where we found Water in three or four places and there we travelled till eleven a Clock when we arrived at a Village called Nichouan which we went almost quite through Nichouan and came to rest in a great Kervanserai pretty commodious but ugly and all built of pieces of unburnt greyish Earth There are two others in this Village which we past by they are small but seemed to me to be neater We stayed there the day following to refresh our Beasts and parted on Sunday the seven and twentieth of September about half an hour after nine at Night We travelled up hill and down hill by intervals but still in fair and soft way Sunday Morning the eight and twentieth of September half an hour before day we passed by a great Village called Fagasoun Fagasoun all that I could there observe in the darkness of the Night was that having gone over a Bridge of five Arches upon a small Rivulet we passed along the sides of several great Gardens where there is plenty of Water Half an hour after six in the Morning we came to another Village called Ithoua Ithoua where we lodged in a little Kervanserai all built of Clods of unburnt greyish Earth An hours travelling from thence there is a little Town called Ghulpaigan Ghulpaigan but we past not through it We left this Lodging on Munday the nine and twentieth of September about two a Clock in
the other we lodged in the greater which is all built of great thick Flints of several colours cemented with good Plaister and the Vaults are of Brick the different colours of these Flints make a pretty pleasant Mosaick Work. The Water thereabouts is good for nothing and therefore there is no habitation there We parted from thence the same day at seven a Clock at Night and on Thursday the first of October one thousand six hundred sixty and four about two a Clock in the Morning arrived at Ispahan where I went and lodged with the reverend Fathers Capucins The Reverend Father Raphael of Mans a person of extraordinary vertue and capacity and of a most exemplary life was their Guardian Arrival at Ispahan he had two Religious with him to wit the reverend Father Valentine of Anger 's and the reverend Father John Baptista of Loche CHAP. III. Of Persia in General BEfore I enter into the description of what I have observed at Ispahan I think it will not be impertinent to give the Reader a general notion of Persia which is a Kingdom onely strong because environed with Mountains and barren Desarts that defend it against the attempts of its most powerfull Enemies And indeed the forces that are entertained therein of whom I shall speak in the Chapter of the Court or if you will the Armies that have been raised there in our days are so inconsiderable in respect of so vast a Countrey that the Persians are not to be reckoned amongst formidable Powers The cause of that weakness is the scarcity of money in those Countreys which cannot suffice to set on foot great Armies and far less to maintain them this want of money proceeds from the small trade the Persians drive having but few Goods amongst them proper to be exported to wit some Silk which is made in the Gheilan and Mazendaran Carpets and wrought Stuffs and hardly any thing else considerable In so much that it may be said of Persia that it is as a Kervanserai that serves for passage to the money that goes out of Europe and Turkey to the Indies and to the Stuffs and Spices that come from the Indies into Turkey and Europe whereof it makes some small profit in the passage The soyl of the bordering Countreys speaking generally is very bad The soil of Persia in general not onely by reason of the many Mountains but also of the want of water and wood in most places thereof there being no other Trees but fruit-Trees that are enclosed within Gardens for there are none to be found in the Fields though the Countrey People seem to be carefull and diligent enough in cultivating sowing and planting all the Land that is good It is true the great pains they take in making Gardens and cultivating them for the benefit they make of the Fruit which are exceedingly much eaten in Persia makes them a little neglect the rest of their grounds for after we had past Curdistan I saw in several places very good Land and Hills which in my opinion would be very fruitfull if they were well cultivated and manured Nay in many of these places there is plenty of excellent good water wherewith in my Judgment they might water their grounds by making Ditches through them as they do in other parts And nevertheless I cannot tell why they are desart and full of Liquorice or such like shrubs and no Trees growing in them There are so many Brooks in several Countreys of Persia that I believe the ways are very bad to travel in in the Winter-time for though we were about the end of Summer yet we passed some which were full of thick mud at the bottom The Mazandaran indeed is a very lovely Countrey Mazandaran abounding with Plants Fruit and Wood as well as Europe and good reason why for it is watered by many Springs and Rivers which having run through the Countrey fall into the Caspian Sea that is near it The chief Town of that Countrey is called Eschref Eschref and in it there is a Royal Palace where one may have all imaginable Recreations Lovely Gardens Large Gardens full of flowers with many Ponds and Fountains in these Gardens lovely Houses and artificial Mounts for taking the fresh Air all covered with Flowers with little Buildings on the top to repose in In a word it is a very pleasant place And indeed this is the onely lovely Province of all Persia and yet it hath its inconveniences The Air of Mazandaran for in Winter it is very cold there and the ways very bad In the Summer the Air is so malignant that most of the Inhabitants are obliged to remove to other Places and all the People of that Countrey look yellowish and tawny Venomous Creatures The cause of that bad Air is the vast number of Serpents and other insects that swarm there which in the Summer-time dying for want of water because most Springs in that Season are dried up cause a corruption and infection which fills the Air with contagious Vapours CHAP. IV. Of what hath been observed in Ispahan Ispahan ISpahan is the Capital City of the Province of Irac which is part of the ancient Parthia and generally of the whole Kingdom of Persia for in this Town the King holds his ordinary residence The Air of it is extremely dry therefore what the Earth produces for the food of man is easily preserved there all the year round I cannot tell but it may be attributed to this disposition of the Air what commonly happens that all the Bodies whether of Men or Beasts an hour after they are dead swell extremely which may be occasioned by this so dry an Air that penetrating into the Bodies drives out the humidity which being extravasated betwixt the Flesh and Skin endeavours to break out and so puffs them up until it hath found an Issue when the parts of it have been sufficiently subtilized The hands and feet likewise swell at the end of all Sicknesses which continues some weeks before the cause of it be discussed Nevertheless in time of Rain there are great damps so that the effects of the humidity are to be seen on all things not onely at Ispahan but also all over Persia in so much that all Instruments of Iron rust where ever they may be kept even keys in ones Pocket as I several times found by experience The truth is it rains there very seldom unless it be in Winter And whilst I was there the first Rain that fell was on the eleventh of December But likewise when it rains the Houses crumble and fall away in pieces and the Snow rots the Terrasses if they be not paved with Bricks and seeing most of them are of Earth the Snow must be thrown off assoon as it falls upon them In the year one thousand six hundred sixty and five there was a great Rain in all that extent of Countrey which reaches from Bender Abassi and Bender Cougo
till within three or four days Journey of Schiras and that rain lasted from the beginning of August untill the middle of September so that it seemed the Winter of the Indies had shifted into that Countrey but that was lookt upon as a thing extraordinary The VValls of Ispahan The Circuit of Ispahan The City of Ispahan is walled round with Earthen Walls which is singular to it for in Persia most part of the Towns have none at all It requires about four or five hours to make the round of this City but there are a great many large Houses that have but few living in them and which take up a great deal of space because of the spaciousness of the Gardens Great Gardens some houses taking up twenty Acres of ground nay it is not long since there was nothing but Gardens on the side of the Fort But now there are many Buildings there and that quarter is called the New Town where the Air and Water are better than in the old Town The New Town This City hath seven Gates of which these are the Names Der-Vasal Lembon Der-Decht Der-Mark Der-Tockhi Der-Cha Gerestan Der-Nasanabad and Der-Vasalchab which is not far from the Serraglio The City of Ispahan hath also great Suburbs where many Persons of Quality live The best built most beautifull and richest of all is the Suburbs of Giolfa that lies beyond the River of Senderu and the Walls of its Gardens being near that River in this Burrough or Suburbs live the Armenians whom Schah Abbas the first transplanted thither after he had ruined a Town of that Name in the Upper Armenia And they thought fit to give to this new Habitation the Name of their ancient Town and Countrey to preserve the memory of it so that to distinguish them from the others they are commonly called Giolfalu that 's to say one of Giolfa All round Giolfa there are a great many other Cantons which are likewise pretty well built not onely of Armenians who have left their own Countrey to come and live there but also of other Nations There are the Cantons of Ecrivan Nackhuan Chaksaban Sirou-Kainan Gaur Sitchan Mekrigan c. The quarter of Taurislu called Tauris-Abad or Abis-Abad which is opposite to Giolfa on this side the River towards Ispahan is much bigger than Giolfa but neither so pleasant nor so well built The beauty of the houses of pleasure which Persons of Quality have in the Suburbs consists in great Divans having in the middle and before them Basons of Water and the Gardens which are full of two or three kinds of Flowers and these commonly Turkey Gilly-Flowers Marsh-Mallows and some other such all very ordinary Flowers but yet lasting many Months of the year give a pleasant prospect The Persians fit in the cool in these Divans every one with his Pipe of Tobacco which is the most delightfull Employment they have when they are at home There are many squares in Ispahan but of all that which is called the Meidan is not onely the loveliest but I think that of all regular Piazzas The Meidan it is the greatest and finest place in the World. It is about seven hundred common paces in length and two or three hundred in breadth so that it is above twice as long as broad It is built all about and the Houses are all in form of Portico's over which there is another second range of Arches more backwards which serve for Galleries and a passage to the rooms of some adjoyning Kervanserais and seeing these houses are all of an equal height they yield a very lovely prospect All round the place at some little distance from the Buildings there is a fair Canal of Spring-water made by the Schah Abbas the first who for greater embellishment caused plane-Trees at competent distances to be planted all along which render that place exceedingly delightfull but they dayly decay because they neglect the planting of Trees in the place of those that are wanting At one end of the place that is on the North over the Gate of the Bazar there is a Bell round which is this inscription Ave Maria gratia plena A Bell. They say that it was taken out of a Monastery of Nuns at Ormus On the two sides of that Bell are great Balconies or Galleries Galleries where every Evening at Sun-set and at midnight many men assemble who make musick some with the ordinary trumpet some with Timbrels and others with an extraordinary kind of trumpet which perhaps has not as yet been heard of in France and therefore I have thought fit to give a description of it A long copper Trumpet These trumppets are made of copper and streight about eight foot long the body of it is of an unequal bigness for the end that is put to the mouth is an inch in diameter but about an inch from it the neck is very narrow Hence our speaking Trumpets and then enlarges again to the breadth of an inch and the end or mouth out of which the sound and wind comes is almost a foot and a half in diameter These trumpets are taken in two at the middle and they put the upper part into the lower at the great end where it easily enters when they have a mind to sound they skrew the two parts together but they had need of a strong Arm to hold that long Pipe of copper out right when they sound it It makes a strong deep sound so that the musick is heard all over the City but it is not at all pleasant and is more proper to fright People with an Allarm than to divert them As you go from that place of the Meidan where these musicians meet which as I said is at the North end of it towards the South there are two Banks five or six foot high and above a fathom distant which serve for playing at the mall on horse-back and the bowl must go betwixt those Banks The Mall About the middle of the Place there is a high Tree or Mast erected on the top whereof there is a round ball A Mast where they shoot with Arrows and there Horse men practice Archery riding at full speed and not shooting their arrow till they be past which they do by turning themselves quite round upon the crupper of the horse The Gate of Aly. A little farther to the right or West-side is the Gate of Aly called Aly-Capi which is a large plane Gate over which there is a lovely Divan the roof whereof is onely supported with wooden Pillars and the King comes often to take the Air in this place Entering in at this Gate you go along a great Alley to another large Gate The threshold of a Gate in Veneration whose threshhold is a step of round stone to which the Persians shew great respect and that is it which is properly called the Gate of Aly. All malefactors that can make their escape into a Court
beyond it Three Sanctuaries Sofis as also into the Kings Stables or Kitchins are in safe sanctuary no body dares tread upon that step which many in devotion kiss and the Gate is guarded by Sofis who are always there in great Numbers There is an entery into the King's House by the Court that is beyond it but that is not the principal Entry The Gate of the Palace Going back again into the Meidan a little beyond the Gate of Aly is the ordinary Gate of the King's Palace it is but an indifferent Gate and there are hundreds better in Ispahan Before these Gates upon an Earthen work raised three foot high or thereabouts there is a great Number of great and small Guns some mounted and others not which were all taken at Ormus Opposite to this Gate on the other side of the Square there is a Mosque with a Dome covered with Earth burnt and varnished green the Porch whereof is very high and painted all over with lovely Colours varnished for the rest it is but inconsiderable and the entry into it is by some steps There is another Mosque at the South end of the place which seems to be of the same contrivance but is far neater and this is called the King's Mosque not onely because it was founded by Schah Abbas the first but also because it is near the Palace Before this Mosque there is a Parvis or Walk of many Angles and in the middle of it a Bason of Water likewise Polygone the Porch is all over painted and varnished with blew yellow and many other Colours in great Flowers and over each side there is a Minaret painted in the same fashion with a very pretty Balcony out of which juts a kind of little Turret The Gates of the Mosque It hath two Gates almost three fathom high a piece and about a fathom wide which are faced all over with Plates of Silver with some Curiosities here and there embossed and there is a step there just like to that of Aly Capi. Having passed these Gates you enter into a great square Court paved with large smooth Stones in the middle whereof there is a square Bason of Water and along the side by which you enter a kind of gallery under which there are some shops there is another over head where you may see the doors of a great many little Chambers which as I think serve for lodging Rooms for the Scholars of the Medrese Fronts to the five Gates of the Mosque In the middle of the fourth side of the Court which faces you as you enter is the Mosque which hath five Gates and each of them its Porch the middlemost is at least ten fathom wide and about ten or twelve high the other two on each side lessen proportionably as they are distant from the middle This frontispiece hath a Minaret on each side which surpass it above three fathom in height and all is built of white Marble about a fathom high the rest being painted with several lovely colours and varnished over The entry of the middle and chief Porch is about six or seven fathom broad on the outside for on the inside it draws narrower by degrees till you come at the end of it where there are two doors which are also very high and are each above a fathom wide This is the entry into the Mosque which is large and spacious with a vast round Dome very well built and all painted and varnished It is square and divided into five Isles by a double range of six or seven great stone-Pillars two or three fathom high on each side The side Isles have their several entries by these four other Gates which with that of the middle Porch make all the frontispiece of the Porch of that Mosque and the middle Isle or Body with its Porch is much higher as I said then the rest and the two next exceed also the two remotest in proportion of height Along the Wall on the left hand are Windows reaching from the pavement a fathom high they are all square holes through which one may see into the Cloyster that is on the left side and which is one of the Courts of the Medreseâ— that I have mentioned All the Walls of this Mosque are of white Marble from the paving a fathom high the rest like the Dome is painted with various colours and varnished The pavement is all of large and very smooth Stones but under the Dome it is covered all over with lovely Carpets and the outside of the Dome is faced with green Bricks varnished After all Christians are not suffered to enter it it and if one be found there and known he is driven out with Cudgels like a Dog and yet that hindered not me from going thither with Monsieur Diagre master of the Dutch factory at Ispahan for which purpose both he and I put our selves into the habit of the Coutrey and received not the least affront At the corner of the Meidan betwixt South and West there is a Street in which to the right hand is the Gate of the King 's Haram that 's to say his Wifes house and on the left hand is his Karchanee that 's to say his Work-house because all the Workmen of every sort of trade who are under his pay work there they all have their shops and it is like to an Arsenal where all trades are to be found One of the finest things to be seen at Ispahan are the stately Gardens of Hezar Dgerib the chief building whereof is pleasant and at the end of the fair Street of Tcharbag or Tcheharbag but since that Street leads to it The Street of Tcheharbag and that it hath particular beauties of its own I think fit to describe it before I come to the description of Hezar Dgerib Tcheharbag which signifies four Gardens is a great Street near a hundred paces broad and above two Italian miles in length On the side of Ispahan there is at the head and entry into it a little Pavillion or Square building two stories high adorned with many Balconys and painted Windows to which they come from the King's Palace by a kind of corridor or curtain and this Street ends at Hezar Dgerib as we have just now said It is bounded on both sides by the Walls of a great many Gardens and at certain distances by little houses of uniform Symmetry which have all a little Pavillion and doors that open into the Gardens that belong some to the King and the rest to several great Lords who take their diversion in these places About twelve steps from the Garden-Walls there is on each side a row of lovely Plane Trees planted in a streight line which yield a rare shade and in the middle betwixt those two rows of Trees runs along the whole Street a current of Water in a Canal of fair Stone about five foot deep and thirteen over adorned here and there with Cascades and some rare
Water-works which fall into Basons The sides of that Canal are paved into the Street and make a way of Free-Stone for Foot-men which eases them of the inconvenience of meeting horses that go lower in the Street In short this Street is divided by the River of Senderu on which there is built a very lovely Bridge A Bridge of lovely Structure of a pretty singular structure which joyns together the two parts of the Street This Bridge which is called by the Name of him that built it to wit Alyverdy-Chan and which is also named the Bridge of Julpha is built of good Brick with edgings of Free-Stone and supported by a great many little and low stone-Arches It is about three hundred paces long and about twenty broad but in the middle where Carts and Horses goe it is not above four fathom broad and is no higher in the middle than at the two ends On each side instead of a Parapet it hath a Gallery covered with a plat-form both which are very commodious for Passengers These Galleries are raised above the level of the Bridge above half a pikes height The going up to them is by so easie Stairs that horses may without trouble ascend them men are there secure from bad weather or the heat of the Sun and yet have an open Air and fair prospect for these vaulted Walks have a great many Windows that look upon the River If a man desire a more open passage he hath the plat-form over this gallery that equally reaches from one end of the Bridge to the other But it is so hot upon it in the Summer-time that the other way is more commonly taken which serves also many times for a Horse-way in the Winter that they may avoid the Water that fills up the middle of the Bridge when the River overflows which sometimes happens though in the Summer-time it be so low that there is hardly any Water in it so that they have been forced to use art in paving the bottom in that place very smooth that so it may fill its Channel by spreading its Waters equally This Bridge then hath five passages one in the middle and four in the two sides to wit the two covered Galleries and the two Plat-forms over them which are above twelve foot broad with Rails both towards the Bridge and River Nay there is a sixth passage when the water is low which during the great heats of Summer is very delightfull for its coolness and that is a little vaulted Gallery which crosses all the Arches from one end of the Bridge to the other it is low underneath and reacheth to the bottom of the River but there are Stones so laid that one may step over without wetting the foot they go down into it from the Bridge by steps made in the thickness of the Walls There are also two other Bridges upon that River to the right hand and all the three are at above half a miles distance from one another The first above this is very plain but the other which they call the Bridge of Schiras for one thing exceeds the first in beauty and that is a Hexagone place which it hath in the middle where the Water of the River hath a lovely fall Let us now consider Hezar Dgerib which ends the fair Street of Tcheharbag The name of it imports a thousand Dgerib and Dgerib is a certain land measure which the Persians have as we have the pearch the fathom and other measures Before this house there is a large square Court at the end whereof stands the Building which consists of a Divan onely one story high with Chambers at its four corners and it hath the same front towards the Garden which in reality is very pretty The Gardens of Hezar-gerib This Garden of Hezar-gerib hath six stories of Terrasses the Earth of which is supported by stone-Walls and these stories are raised about a fathom in height one above another There are a great many Alleys or Walks in that Garden both in length and breadth which reach all from the one end to the other and are very streight and even save that in those which reach in length at every story one must ascend seven or eight steps The chief Walk or Alley that begins at the building is very broad but that which renders it altogether charming is a stone-Canal in the middle of it of the same breadth as that of the Street Tcheharbag which answers in a streight line to this and hath no Water but what it receives from it The Canal of this Walk is far more beautifull than that of the Street and affords a lovely prospect in regard that at every two fathoms distance there are Pipes which spurt up Water very high and that at each story there is a sheet of Water that falls into a Bason underneath from whence it runs into the Canal On each side of these sheets of water there is a pair of Stairs and a way that leads streight up I leave it to the Readers imagination to conceive the pleasantness of that prospect and the beauty of these Cascades which are the first object that offers and surprises the sight of those that enter into this Garden Walking then along the great Alley after you have advanced a little you cross over a Canal a fathom broad which cuts it as it does all the other Walks that are parallel thereunto but without breaking them for it runs under little brick-Arches Mounting up to the fourth story you 'll find a large place where there is a Bason of eight sides above twenty fathom in diameter and three foot deep of water it hath Water-pipes that play all round it besides one in the middle On each side of this place you have a large covered Divan built of Brick but open on all hands with a bason of water in the middle These are really charming places especially for enjoying the cool wherein the Levantines place their greatest delight Having ascended three stories more you come to a pretty high Building which bounds the Walk and on both sides of it there is a wall that separates this part of the Garden from the other beyond it to the front of this Building there is a bason of water Then you enter into a Hall made cross-ways open on the four sides at each Corner whereof you 'll find little rooms Over that there is another story which is much the same From that Hall you enter into the other part of the Garden and recover the great Walk or Alley again which is continued in a streight line through the Hall There you have the Canal and Sheets of Water in the same manner as in the other save that in this part the basons are above the sheets of water whereas in the former they are under them Having mounted the sixth story you 'll find an octogone Bason of the same bigness as the former with a Divan or Kiosk on each hand After you have
Mason at work there for he calls for what he wants as if he were singing and the Labourers who are always attentive to the tone serve him most punctually In Persia commonly they make the Floors of the Rooms of Joists Floros on which they lay planks and over them a Mat or Store and then a lay of Reeds which they cover with Clay half a foot thick But they observe to mingle Salt with the first lay of Earth Salt mingled with Clay that the Worms may not get into the Timber underneath They who will not be at the charge of boards or planks put onely in place of Joists pieces of Timber as thick as ones Arm and over them two Matts and then the Reeds which they cover with Clay salting also the first lay The Persians make their Lime of Stones which they burn as we doe and when they have taken them out of the Kiln they break them into small pieces When they are to use it they prepare it in the manner following The way of preparing Lime They sweep a place very clean to sift the Lime in and when it is sifted they make it up in a heap sharp at the top like a Sugar-Loaf then they sift Ashes upon it and that in almost as great a quantity as the lime that being done they sweep the adjoyning place very clean and water it and over the wet sift a very slight lay of Ashes then with Iron-shovels they throw upon it their Lime mingled with Ashes working and incorporating them well together When they have cast on three or four shovel fulls one of them throws upon it about a quarter of a Bucket full of Water or somewhat less and the rest cast very fast upon the wet Lime other Lime mingled with Ashes so that they give not the Water time to penetrate through that first lime then they throw on a good deal of water more and then another quantity of lime and ashes and they keep this course untill they have put all the lime which they had mingled with Ashes into a heap and the water they throw upon it is so little in regard of the quantity of that matter that it scarcely appears to be wet After this they sweep a neighbouring place and having watered and then covered it with a few Ashes as before they turn over again the mixture that they may well mingle and incorporate the Ashes with the lime and so turn it over from one side to another several times that 's to say nine or ten times But it is to be observed that after the first time they pour no more water upon the mixture but onely from time to time lightly sprinkle with the hand the outside of the heap to keep it a little humid without appearing to be wet but every time they cast the heap from one side to another they are sure first to sweep the place water it and then to scatter a few Ashes upon the same and then with their Iron-shovels they turn the heap I wondered to see these People when they prepared their lime that they were not afraid to burn their feet going bare footed upon that Stuff nor yet to wrong themselves by receiving into their Mouth and Nose the dust of the lime when they sifted it When they have thus well mingled the Ashes with the lime they divide the Stuff into several heaps which they spread a little giving to each about four foot of Diameter and one foot in thickness After that four of them stand round the heap and beat the Stuff with sticks somewhat crooked about two foot and a half long the handle they hold them by being two fingers thick with a little round knob at the end to keep them from slipping through their hands then they grow greater and greater till about the middle where they are as big as ones Arm and round so far and from that place where they bend and make an obtuse Angle with the other half they grow thicker and thicker according as they come nearer the end and are round on the concave side but flat on the convex and about the end are about six fingers broad These Clubs are of Ash They beat this Stuff with one hand two and two over against one another singing Y a allah Y a allah and other attributes of God and keeping time to this tune which seems to be essential to the trade they beat as our Threshers do sometimes in one place sometimes in another stooping at every blow and nothing but the flat side of the Club hits the matter They beat every heap so about half an hour without intermission and then go to another which they beat as much and continue this exercise almost an hour without resting onely now and then shifting their hand after this they take breath a little for the space of half a quarter of an hour or less and then fall to their business again In this manner they beat every heap four or five times and every time they leave it it is all reduced to the thickness of about half a foot in the middle falling thinner towards the edges and then one of the men takes a spade wherewith he breaks the Lumps and turns it all up again into a heap cooling it with a little water that he throws upon it with his hands When every heap is sufficiently beaten they spread it well so that it be alike thick in all places and a little hollow in the middle then they strow chopt Straw upon it such as they give to Horses they 'll spread upon a heap of lime about a sack full such as they give their Horses provender in so that the lime is all covered over with it with that they pour into the middle of it about four Buckets of water and mingle all together stirring it well with their shovels that the materials may be well incorporated and when all is reduced into a kind of soft morter they fall a beating it a new sometimes with their shovels and sometimes with the end of their Clubs Then they open it again in the middle making a round hole a good foot and a half wide so that it looks like a Well raised a good foot above ground they fill this hole with water pouring in about two Buckets full and so leave it after they have smoothed the outside with the back of their shovels so that it looks polished and of a blewish colour that 's to say like blew Fullers-Earth or Clay to take out grease and spots with these holes are always kept full of water till they be ready to use the Stuff When they are to use it they work it with a great deal of water and mingle therewith about half the quantity of Straw that was employed in the first working of it then they beat it well with shovels and leavers pouring on so much water that it is reduced almost into a liquid running mud I have seen it so employed for
covering a great pent-house which was made of sticks or laths laid cross ways and two Stores over them upon which they spread a very thin lay of this lime smoothing it with the Trowel Then they put upon this lay three fingers thick of Earth mingled with Straw and wrought into a morter In this which I saw prepared there were four and twenty Ass loads and four men prepared it They were near eleven hours about it and made it up into five Wells or Heaps which remained so for two days before they were used The greatest use they make of this lime mingled with Ashes and Straw Lime for fish Ponds Basons and Fountains is for Fish-ponds Basons of Fountains and other things that are to hold water When that Stuff is well made it lasts above thirty years and is harder than Stone In whitening of their Walls they use no lime but make use of a white Earth which is in small pieces like plaister and immediately dissolves in water This Earth they call Ghilsefid Ghilsefid that 's to say white Earth they dig it out of certain Pits or Quarries of which there are many about Ispahan As to their morter it is usually made of plaister The making of Morter earth and chopped straw all well wrought and incorporated together At Schiras to spare the charges of Ghilsefid they sometimes make use of plaister for whitening their Walls but they have not that bright whiteness which Ghilsefid giveth They cast their Walls pretty often also with a mixture made of Plaister and Earth which they call Zerdghil Zerdghil that 's to say yellow Earth though in reality it be not yellow but rather of a Musk or Cinnamon colour they get it on the River-side and work it in a great Earthen Vessel but they put so little earth in proportion to water that it remains liquid like muddy water or at most like strained Juice and it is altogether of the Colour of that Earth they make use of it to work the Plaister in another Earthen Vessel where they mingle this water with plaister in such a quantity that it be reduced to the thickness of morter which retains the colour of that Earth With this mixture they cast their Walls which at first look all greyish but according as they dry they grow so white that when they are fully dry they seem almost as if they were plaistered over with pure plaister This mixture is used not onely for saving of plaister but also because it holds better than plaister alone and in my opinion looks as well For making of Terrasses they lay as I have said upon the Stores and reeds almost half a foot thick of Earth The way of making Terrasses but which sinks to far less being trampled and tread upon when it is well dried in the Air they lay on more Earth mingled with a like quantity of Straw which they work well together stirring it often that they may better incorporate the Straw with the Earth And when that is well mixt and reduced to the consistence of kennel-dirt they trample it a long while with their feet and spread it very even all over This second lay is commonly about half a foot thick also but being dry is hardly half so thick when it is dry they lay on a third lay like the former so that all being dry it may be about a foot thick All this is held up by a range of broad burnt Bricks or Tiles which is laid all round the Terrass five or six high and level with the Earth in some places they make a little shelving that the rain-Water may run off into wooden Spouts which jet out for conveying it away In this manner I saw two Terrasses made which had in surface each about a fathom and a half square when they laid on the second lay two men wrought at each about an hours time stirring the Earth with shovels and incorporating it with the Straw whilst another man continually poured water upon it the last lay requires the same labour and pains At Schiras Lar and in other hot Countries they have upon the tops of their Houses an invention for catching the fresh Air An invention for having the fresh Air. It is a Wall one or two fathom high and about the same breadth to which at the intervals of about three foot other Walls about three foot broad and as high as the great Wall joyn in right Angles there are several of such on each side of the great Wall and all together support a Roof that covers them The effect of this is that from whatsoever corner the Wind blows it is straitned betwixt three Walls and the Roof over head and so easily descends into the house below by a hole that is made for it CHAP. VI. A Sequel of the Observations of Ispahan Of ARTS LET us go on in speaking of Arts and Trades Artists of Persia since we are insensibly engaged in it The Artists in Persia and all over the Levant use their Feet in working as much as their hands for their Feet serve them for a Loom hold fast and several other Instruments An imposition upon the companies of traydesmen Every Company of crafts men pays the King a certain Summ of Money which is raised upon all the Artists of the several Trades every one of them being assessed according to his incomes They have no Loom for turning as we have but put that which they have a mind to turn upon a Pivot or Spindle and wrap about it a thong of Leather leaving two ends A Boy holds the two ends of this strap and pulls towards him The way of turning wood sometimes the one and sometimes the other and in that fashion makes the piece to turn whilst the other labours whereas with us a single Person does all The use of the wimble Nor are the Wimbles of Carpenters and Joyners so convenient as with us neither They have a long Iron as thick as two of our Wimbles but square and flat at the end like a slice or Spatula yet drawing into a point with a side and edge which way soever they turn it This Iron is in a wooden handle about a foot long and above an inch thick with a weight of lead on the top with that they have a stick with a strap of Leather like a bow but very slack they turn the strap of this bow once about the handle of the Wimble and then leaning the left hand upon the head of the handle and pulling to and fro the bow with the right hand they turn the Wimble They have a most excellent Varnish for Painters Varnish it is made of Sandarack and lintseed Oyl which they mingle together and reduce all into the consistence of an Unguent when they would make use of it they dissolve it with the Oyl of Naphta but for want of the Oyl of Naphta one may use the Spirit of Wine many times
rectified They have a Glew that holds as well as strong white Glew Scherischoun instead of Glew and the Shoe-makers and other Artisans make use of no other It is a root they call Scherischoun which they grind like corn betwixt Stones when it is ground it looks like Saw dust they steep this powder in water and make use of it in glewing any thing Soap In Persia they make soap of grease or tallow instead of Oyl and that makes it to have a bad scent and with the least sweating to breed lice in their Linnen Rasors The Rasors they make have a very thick back and are very heavy Physicians There are many Physicians in Persia and amongst them some skilfull men When they have visited their Patient they write their Bills upon a little bit of Paper which they give to a Woman who goes to a drugists and buys all the ingredients which she prepares for a Medicine for all over Persia the Women prepare the Medicines Remedy for a Feaver Their most usual Medicine for a Feaver are the cold Seeds which they peel and put into water giving the Patient the whole presently to be drank down China They make great use of China in several distempers They put it in infusion in Brandy and for fifteen days set it in the Sun they take it for the space of a Month observing in the mean time a good diet and especially not to eat any thing that has Salt in it to abstain from Wine and Women and not to stir abroad out of ones Chamber but they use not that Medicine in the Summer-time Bloud-letting They let bloud too and are very dextrous at it I speak by experience they tye a ligature of leather very streight about the Arm and then without rubbing or looking much on the place they take their Lance which is very broad and in a handle like a Rasor and prick very skilfully but they draw a great quantity of bloud when they are let alone In this Countrey of Persia as well as in Turkey they whiten or if you will tinn brass and copper otherwise than with us The Workmen make use of Salt Armoniack which they set over the fire with a little water to purifie and take the grease from it there they leave it till the humidity be evaporated so that it be all reduced into a white Powder Then they wash the Vessel they are to tinn very clean with * Soudegrise grey Saltwort which they have boiled in it after that a Boy setting the Vessel upon the ground puts sand into it and putting his two feet thereon turns to and again untill the Vessel be well scoured and no grease remain Then the Master takes it and setting it upon a clear coal fire with the Mouth downwards leaves it there till it be almost red when it is so he takes hold on it with a pair of Pinsers and with the other hand takes a parcel of Cotton with which he takes a little Salt Armoniack and therewith rubs the Vessel very well then he presses a piece of tin on it which being a little melted he takes a small portion of Salt Armoniack on his Cotton again and applying it upon the melted tinn he therewith rubs the Vessel untill it be all tinned over and so soon as he hath done that he throws it into cold water This they do so fast that in half an hours time they 'll tinn five or six Skillets and that costs but very little nay those that have store of vessels send for them to their houses and they bring their shops along with them which consists in a few coals a little Saltwort a pair of bellows the horn of an Ox full of Salt Armoniack and some small pieces of Tinn They work in any place they would have them whether in the Court Gardens or any where else without any need of a Chimney for they make their fire by a stone against which they lean their Vessel that it may not put out the fire when it is set upon it they cover the nose of their bellows with a little Earth made over it arch-ways and so their shop is prepared and in readiness CHAP. VII The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of Moneys Weights and Measures SInce it happens often in the sequel of this discourse that when I am to speak of things I make use of the terms used in the Countrey without explaining them for avoiding of prolixity I have thought fit to do it in a Chapter by it self where the Reader may be satisfied when he has a mind I shall onely speak here of moneys that are current in Persia and especially of the pieces of the Countrey Moneys and VVeights of Persia The Piastres are commonly worth there thirteen Schais and when they are full weight they are worth thirteen Schais and a Bisti the Bisti consists of four Casbeghis of which ten make a Schai The most current money are the Abassis Mahmoudis Chais and Casbeghis The Abassi is of the value of four Schais which make about eighteen Sols of our money and the Mahmoudi contains two Schais which are nine Sols the Schai is worth about four Sols and a half and the Casbeghi five Deniers and a half or somewhat less The Toman is worth fifteen Piastres or fifty Abassis The Boquelle is worth three Abassis or twelve Schais They have great pieces of silver of the value of five Schais and weigh two Medicals The Mahmoudi is also called Yuz-Alton which is as much as to say an hundred Altons and nevertheless that word Alton which signifies Gold is commonly taken for a Chequin but in a Mahmoudi it is taken for the value of a Denier and in the same manner five Abassis are also called Min-Alton or Bing-alton which signifies a thousand Alton but I could not learn of any a satisfactory reason for that last signification Seeing the Abassis are the pieces that are most current in Persia it is fit one should know that it is the best money in the World. They are of the finest silver and the Officers of the Mint dare not coyn one single piece until they have first refined the Piastres and other pieces of silver that are appointed for the making of Abassis They are stamped as all the rest of their money with the hammer and not milled and there is so great equality in their weight that in great payments they are weighed after this manner They put five and twenty Abassis in one scale of the balance and as many in the other and if the one weigh more or less than the other they conclude for a certain that there are some false Abassis amongst them and fail not to examine them in which they are never out for each Scale ought most exactly to weigh alike They then put the five and twenty of the one Scale into the other which by that means contains fifty and that number makes the Toman
afterward they count no more of the money but onely filling up the empty Scale of the Balance until it weigh as much as the other wherein the Toman is counted and when they find that both sides weigh not alike they examine the pieces The Man of Ispahan is a weight of twelve pounds The Man. In Geometry the Persians make use of a certain Measure which they call the Farsange and is as much as three Miles Farsange The Mile the Mile contains four thousand Cubits the Cubit four and twenty Fingers and the finger six Barley Corns laid side-ways this account I had out of a Persian Book of Geography I have measured six Barley Corns with a pair of Compasses and found that eight times that Measure of six Barley Corns laid by one another side-ways make eight common Inches So that the four and twenty Fingers will make eighteen Inches or a common Foot and a half which is exactly a Cubit and so the Mile will be six thousand common Feet which make four thousand Cubits The Geographers degree The same Persian Geography makes the Degree to be two and twenty Farsanges or Parasanges and a seventh Part I think I have said elsewhere that a Farsange or Parasange makes a French League CHAP. VIII The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of the Nature of the Persians The language of the Court. AT the Court of Persia they speak nothing but Turkish but a Dialect of Turkish so different from what is spoken at Constantinople that one may say it is a quite different Language The reason why they speak Turkish there and not Persian is not onely because the Turkish Language hath been introduced by the different Powers of Turks and Tartars who conquered Persia but also because that Language which commonly none speak but those that belong to the Court distinguishes them from the rest of the People and gives them a certain Pre-eminence and Authority which they affect to have on all occasions The nature of the Persians as being extremely vain glorious and proud This gives us an opportunity to say somewhat of the Nature of the Persians By what I could find in them it may be confidently said that they are extremely vain The Persians are vain and voluptuous and much given to Luxury which puts them to vast expences not onely in Apparel and Furniture but also in Servants whom they entertain in great Numbers and in their Table too which according to their Power they fill with Diversity of Dishes In the Countrey they carry about with them an infinite deal of baggage because they will have all their Conveniencies as if they were in the City and their Tents are not inferiour in magnificence to the Tents of any other Nations which makes most of them to be beggarly poor and destitute of Money Persons of Quality lead a very idle Life in Persia in the Morning they come to Court but at Noon return home where they spend the rest of the day in smoaking Tobacco If they pay a Visit to any of their Friends all their Exercise is smoaking of Tobacco and that is the greatest part of their Conversation They take their Tobacco in a pretty singular manner they draw the Smoak of it through Water by means of a large Vessel full of Water which they hold betwixt the bowl and end of the Pipe through which the Smoak passes that Vessel is commonly of glass when they go a visiting they fail not to have their Vessel and Pipe carried along with them They play there also at Draughts and Chess wherein the Armenians imitate them much There are a great many in Persia who understand the Mathematicks and they are generally curious of Sciences The Persians are Mathematicians and Phylosophers They have all the Parts of Philosophy and Mathematicks and there have been good Authors of that Nation who have written of them as well as of Ethicks and Morality But with these laudable Curiosities they are somewhat importune and uneasie for their Curiosity is in some manner insupportable they stop at the meanest thing to do that which they call Tamacha that 's to say to consider and admire it and if they perceive that you have any little knack they take a pretext from that to examine all you have They make Astrolabes very well and have not that aversion which the Turks have to the figures of Animals Not hating the Figures of Animals on the contrary they commonly use them upon their Works both of painting carving and sculpture but their Pictures for the most part are as lascivious and obscene as can be imagined and indeed They are lascivious they as well as the Turks are much addicted to impurity and especially to that abominable Crime which in France is punished by fire They are subject to quarrelling and fighting which happens pretty often amongst them and then they bang one another soundly with Cudgels contrary to the Turks who must stand a tryal for a cuff of the hand but in Persia if there be no bloud spilt there is no danger A Melefactor that hath killed another man is delivered up to the Prosecutor When a man hath killed another the next of Kin or the Widow of the party deceased demands her Husband's bloud then the Murderer endeavours to compound with the parties for money but if they will not which happens often enough the Criminal is to be deliver'd over tied and bound into the hands of the Prosecutor who may do with him what he pleases Commonly he makes him suffer a great deal of torment before he put him to death Persian Women cruel especially when he falls into the hands of a Woman but because by delivering up in this manner the Malefactor into the hands of the Prosecutor there is nothing for the Judges to do they always endeavour what lies in their power to compound the business for money of which they take a good share The Persians revengefull There are a great many that compound willingly but the Persians are naturally so revengefull that notwithstanding their Agreements the Relations of the party deceased leave not off seeking for occasion of revenging him and are not content untill they have accomplished it thinking that their honour is concerned so to do In the administration of Justice avarice reigns in Persia as well as in Turky and all the World over Nothing without presents and therefore there is nothing to be done without presents If any man hath been robbed he makes his complaint to the Deroga who is as the Sous-basha in Turky the Deroga sends abroad his men causes those he suspects to be apprehended and to make them confess the Robbery puts them to the rack The thing robbed being found again he takes a tenth and sometimes a sixth part he takes nothing from the Francks The Deroga takes nothing from the Francks but they make him a present and commonly he shews them
other paints are stamped upon them with a mould besmeared with Colours CHAP. X. The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Chiefly of Eating A Persian Chimney ALL over Persia they seldom warm themselves by a Fire in the Chimney which is taken out of the wall but so little that it is hardly to be seen They have an Engine in their Rooms which they call the Coursi Coursi which is more convenient for use and renders a milder heat than that of a Chimney In the Floor of the Room they have a great square hole The way of warming a foot deep and about three foot broad into that they put clear burning Coals and over them a little wooden Table much of the same bigness and a large foot high which hath four feet that rest upon Stones purposely set at the four Corners of the hole They cover this Table with a large pinked Carpet which on all sides trails on the ground so that they see no fire and yet receive a gentle heat through the Carpet Now if they have a mind to have a greater heat to warm them all over of a sudden they sit down on Cushions round the Table and put their feet a-cross the frame of it and then cover themselves with the Carpet up to the Neck so that their whole body is under it and nothing out but the Head which warms them all over without burning their Face or breathing too hot an Air. Neither do they make use of Candle but the most part even the King himself The Persians use Lamps use Lamps whereinto they put tallow by bits for they employ not the Oil of Naphta which is got in a place near the Caspian Sea but onely in varnishing of Pictures As to their feeding the Persians are no greater husbands Their eating than in their Cloaths and Attendants Nevertheless they eat boiled meat but once a day which is commonly at Night and they wonder that the Franks eat twice In the King's House they boil Victuals twice a day though they eat of them but once The Persians eat boiled meat but once a day but every one is left to their humour to eat in the Morning or Evening according to their Appetite though most commonly they eat in the Evening and the King observes usually that rule As for the women they ask them every Morning if they have a mind to boiled meat which they call the Hazir in the Morning or at Night and they who have it in the Morning have none at Night Their other meal is of Fruit Cheese and Sweet-meats Their boiled meat consists in Pilao or Schilao Schilao which is boiled Rice without Butter but onely Water and Salt till it be as thick as Pilao which is instead of a Pottage to the Turks as the Schilao is in Persia and all over the Indies I have spoken of Pilao in my former travels When they serve in the Schilao at the same time they set upon the Table another dish of meat or fish with a great deal of broth of which they take several spoonfulls that they put upon their Plates with the Schilao And that with Salt-fish makes their most delicious Food They make also another kind of broth with Rice which they call Cangi Cangi When the Rice is boiled they strain it and take the water and mingle it with a little Flower as if they were to make broth and if it be the Flower of Barley it is the wholsomer they put to it also two Yelks of an Egg with Sugar and boil all like a thin broth when it is almost fully boiled they put Rose-water into it This is very good food especially for the sick to whom they commonly give it being of easie digestion nourishing and pleasant and in that Countrey they are allowed no other food A great many who are in health take a mess of broth every Morning but it is made after another way They put into a Skillet two or three handfulls of Rice and boil that with a good deal of water untill the substance of the Rice be incorporated into the water then they strain it and drink it fasting which is very refreshing Much after this manner they give it commonly to the sick both in Persia and the Indies nor indeed do they take so much pains about it but onely bruise a handfull of Rice and boil it very clear with Water and Salt The meat most commonly used in Persia is Mutton and Lamb as also Pullets and Capons when they are in season And indeed it is but of late that they have had the use of Capons they usually have them boiled for it is not their custom to roast meat on the Spit The Persians Roast-meat and if sometimes they do it it is onely by little pieces but they bake in the Oven whole Sheep and Lambs in this manner After they have well heated the Oven which hath the Mouth in the top they put into it the meat and hang it there with an Earthen Dripping-pan underneath to receive the fat It roasts alike on all sides and when it is enough they cut it into pieces There are many shops where they sell all sorts of it and in what quantity one pleases and to say the truth they dress it very well The Armenians way of roasting a Lamb. The Armenians have another way of roasting a whole Sheep for having flead it they cover it again with the skin and put it into an Oven upon the quick Coals covering it also with a good many of the same Coals that it may have fire under and over to roast it well on all sides and the skin keeps it from being burnt The Persians have also a great many Ragoes which though singly they cost but little yet by the number of them are very expensive wherein they differ much from the Turks who spend little on their Belly The frugality of the Turks as in other things to wit their women and servants of whom they keep no more than they can conveniently entertain Above all things the Persians are immoderate in the excessive eating of fruits and I have been assured that some of them in a frolick will eat three nay four Man 's of Melons to eat a Man is a very usual thing The Persians eat too much fruit and nevertheless the Man of Ispahan is no less than twelve pound Weight as I have said already And indeed many of them die through their excessive eating of fruit Persian Bread. Their bread is commonly sprinkled over with Poppy-seed and for the rest is very good They make it into large Cakes half a finger thick some they make also so thin that it looks like fine Paper and they are obliged to lay twelve or fifteen of them together which they fold into two or four pleats and some of that fashion is very good But in some places it is but half baked very brown and all full of
bits of Straw so that it looks more like brown Paper than bread if a Stranger were not told it he might be mistaken And some French when first these Cakes were brought before them took them for course Napkins They make great use of Earthen ware which is very pretty especially because of the lovely Varnish they give it it is made in Kerman and I was assured that the Dutch had the invention from thence of making that false purcelane which we call Hollands purcelane Butter In Persia generally they make not use of Butter of Cow's Milk alone because it is not good but they mingle it with the Butter of Ewes Milk which is much better The Yogourt is an ordinary Ragoe in that Countrey I remember that I have described it already and shall onely now add how they season it in the Spring they cut Fennel into small bits and with Turpentine-seed which in that season is still green and begins onely to look a little reddish they put it into the Yogourt to qualify the coldness of it Torschi They also make Torschi or a preserve of that seed in Vinegar into which they put the Berries to be pickled whole The Persians way of drinking VVine The Persians by their Law are prohibited to drink Wine as well as the Turks but they are not so scrupulous as to that point When they drink VVine they do it without mixture after the Levantines manner who never drink water with it but when they drink VVine they have pots of water by them whereof now and then they take large draughts Bowl of Punch The Francks use a Beverage there which they call a Bowl of Punch and is cooling They take a large Earthen Bowl that holds four or five quarts and fill it half full of water then they put in as much VVine with the Juice of Limons Sugar Cinamon and Nutmeg which they drink in full draughts in the Summer-time Ice-houses in Persia The Persians make great use of Ice even in VVinter but never of Snow they make not their Ice-houses as in France and this is their way They raise a wall towards the South three or four fathom high Along that wall on the North-side they digg a Ditch about three fathom deep and as much broad and Northwards from the Ditch they make several beds six or seven fathom long and one fathom broad which are separated one from another by little Dykes of Earth like Salt-pits some are two or three foot deep and others one foot When it is very cold they bring the River-water into these beds which freezes very quickly and when it is thick and hard they break the Ice of the hollowest beds into great pieces which they carry into the Ditch where they lay it in very good order Then they break the Ice of the shallower beds and having put it into the Ditch upon that which they had laid there before they beat it into very small morcels with a spade or shovel and fill up all the chinks that are betwixt the large pieces with them At night they throw a great deal of water over all which they do with the skins of gourds cut in two pieces and fastened to the end of long poles this water freezes in the Night-time and joyns all the Ice into one piece In the mean time they bring in more water into the beds that it may freeze there after which they remove the Ice into the Ditch where they place it above the former in the same manner untill it be a fathom and a half high then they cover all with Straw and Reeds two or three foot thick and when they would take out any for use they open the Ditch but in one place This is an easie invention at at Ispahan where the Air is very dry and where there is but little moist Weather It would seem some few of these Ice-houses might be sufficient for a whole great City and nevertheless there are a great many such made in several places near the Town A good many in Persia take Opium The use of Opium but it is a drug that so enslaves those who are addicted to it that if a man hath once made it customary to himself and after forbear to take it no less than his life is in danger so that if a Tereaqui as they call them all over the Levant go ten Leagues from the Town and forget to take Opium with him if he find none in the place he comes to though he should immediately return back again and make all the haste he can yet he would not get to the Town in time enough to save his Life CHAP. XI The Continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of the Court of Persia HAving treated of the nature of the Persians of their Carriage Apparel and way of living we may now see how their Monarch governs them whom he makes use of for executing his Orders and at the same time observe some of his recreations Persia is a Monarchy governed by a King Monarchy of Persia The King of Persia absolute in all things who has so absolute a power over his Subjects that no limits can be set to it He meddles in Religion and they do not begin the Ramadan nor any Festival till first they have had his leave and sometimes he keeps them back a few days according to his pleasure though the Moon wherein they are to be celebrated hath been seen His Subjects never look upon him but with fear and trembling and they have such respect for him and pay so blind an obedience to all his Orders that how unjust soever his Commands might be they perform them though against all Law both of God and Nature Nay if they swear by the King's head their Oath is more Authentick and of greater credit than if they swore by all that is most sacred in Heaven and upon Earth He observes no form of Justice in most of his Decrees and without consulting any Person no not the Laws and Customes he judges of lives and fortunes as seems best to him without any regard to those who feel the weight of his power The kinds of punishments not regulated and that without observing the kinds of punishments that are in use in the Countrey but appointing such as his fancy suggests to him According to this Principle two years ago he commanded the Nazer who had vexed him to be exposed naked to the Sun and the Nazer is one of the chief Officers of that Court This was presently put into execution and he was exposed to the heat of the Sun and the rage of flies in the great place from Morning till Night at which time the King discharged him Whilst he was thus exposed no body minded him no more than if he had been a Dog which was a great instance of the inconstancy of fortune and of the friends she gives but both counterfeit and real friends have this excuse that on
a very false step at first acting at their first coming what drew upon them the contempt which they met with at that Court all the while they stayed there for they made a present to the Eatmad Doulet that they might obtain a permission to sell the Commodities that they brought with them The presents of the Muscovites They had pretty fair presents to make to the King having brought with them a great many fine Furs and other Curiosities of their Countrey amongst which there was a Coach and a Falcon which onely remained alive of many more that died by the way In the mean time they were not received An affront given to the Ambassadours of Muscovy on the contrary during their abode at Ispahan they suffered many affronts and whilst I was there had a very signal one So soon as they were come the King being informed that they brought him a lovely Falcon sent for it Nevertheless as it is the custom to carry the presents when they go to the first Audience when they were about to have it they demanded their Falcon that they might solemnly present it to his Majesty with the Glove according to the instructions they had from their Duke but in scorn it was refused them And the more to insult over them when they came into the Meidan and were ordered to alight off of their Horses they made them take a turn all round the Meidan as in procession with their presents in the view of the King who was in a Divan to please himself therewith At their Audience the King complained to them of several things and amongst others of the Piracies that the Muscovites and the Tartars who are their Subjects commit on the Caspian Sea and of their inrodes into the Dominions of Persia where they land and carry away in their Vessels all they find Men Women Children and Cattel and having done so put off to Sea and send some back in a small boat who coming near the shoar tell the Inhabitants of the Coast that they have taken so many Persons and that if they have a mind to recover them they must send them so much money The Ambassadours made answer that they could not suppress Pirats and Robbers to which the King replyed that these Robbers were not in so great Bodies and that if the Duke of Muscovy put not a stop to it he was Master of a passage by which he would send fifty thousand men that should put all Muscovy to fire and sword The Muscovites are nasty These Muscovites left behind them in Persia such a reputation of filthiness and nastiness in their feeding that a Persian Lord told the Reverend Father Raphael a Capucin that the Muscovites were among the Europeans what the Tartars were amongst them The Civillest of these two Ambassadours died at Ispahan and the other being ready to depart would needs leave in that Countrey a memorial of his Avarice The avarice of the Muscovites Seeing it is the Custom of the King of Persia to defray the Charges of all Ambassadours from the time they enter his Territories they give them daily a certain allowance of Bread Meat Butter Candle and of all Necessaries nay and of Money too This Ambassadour who was not ignorant of the proportion that was appointed him and who found some fault with the distribution of it presented a complaint to the King against the Meimandar who is the Officer that takes care of Ambassadours wherein he declared that this Minister had not faithfully delivered him his allowance and specified in his Memorial day by day how many Casbeghis or Schais he had received less than the Summ which the King had ordered him This the Persians lookt upon to be infamously base as well as the sordid and nasty way that the Ambassadour and all his train lived in for so great was his Coveteousness that most commonly he fed his Domesticks with bread steeped in water instead of Pottage which being the best of their Diet he almost starved them CHAP. XII The continuation of the Observations of Ispahan Of Astrologers a Comet an Eclipse and of the Superstition of the Persians SInce there are Astrologers at the Court of Persia who have their quality of ordinary Officers by the name of Munedgim I thought it might not be amiss to say something of them after I had Treated of the Court. Astrology is in so great vogue in Persia that there it degenerates in Superstition and not only the Learned and men of Letters sollicitously apply themselves to it but even the common people and Soldiers tamper with it and if a man can but Read he fails not dayly to observe the disposition of the Planets their Aspects and their Conjunction or Opposition that he may seem to be somewhat amongst those who have not the same knowledg In Conversation all their Discourse is of Spheres Apogees Perigees Excentricks Epicycles and other such hard names whereby they pretend to distinguish themselves from the Vulgar It is very probable that this passion among the people proceeds not only from the Genius of the Nation but also from a desire of imitating the Great ones who are known to have always had in that Country a great propensity to those kinds of Sciences whether that their mind bent that way Policy engaged them or those that professed them imposed upon their credulity or weakness for their own interests However it be The Kings of Persia make great account of Astrologers and these men who have a chief residing at Court cost them yearly vast sums of mony and indeed they undertake no business till first they be informed by them of the lucky minute of some favourable Constellation when they are to set about it and if a King hath had bad success in any Affair wherein he had not consulted them all attribute the cause of it to the negligence of the Prince who omitted to nick the happy minute of the Astrologers This custom hath taken such root at Court that these Gentlemen are become as necessary as any other Officers thereof and if the King have sense enough not to give credit to all their raveries yet he must seem at least to rely much upon them because under pretext of the good or bad minute he orders his Affairs at his pleasure and no body murmurs at it no not Strangers with whom he never wants a fair pretext of refusing or granting their desires telling them if they complain that it is the superiour power of the Stars which obliges him to act so or so Now I am speaking of Astrology A Comet at Ispahan I remember there appeared a Comet whilst I was at Ispahan The Reverend Father John Baptista a Capucin discovered it on Thursday the eleventh of December one thousand six hundred and sixty four about Five a Clock in the Morning in the Sign of Virgo It had a Tail and moved from East to West I saw it on Monday the fifteenth of the same
of a Cherry and is very hard and round so that there is hardly any thing but a skin over the stone The Fruit being ripe is wrinkly and inclining to an Orange-colour it is pretty sweet but woolly I believe it grows in Italy by the name of Azzarole and is perhaps the Rhamnus Azzarole Rhamnus Folio sub rotundo Livas an Herb. folio sub rotundo fructu compresso Jonston Amongst Plants there is a certain Herb in Persia called Livas which hath a very curled Leaf somewhat like a Beet or like curled Coleworts but it is much more curled the stalk of it is like the stalk of an Artichoak and is very sharp they Eat of it in the Spring as a delicious food many will have it to be the Rhuebarb but it is not The End of the Second Book TRAVELS INTO THE LEVANT PART II. BOOK III. Of the Country of Schiras and other places under the Dominion of the King of Persia CHAP. I. Of the Road from Ispahan to Schiras AFTER almost five Months stay at Ispahan Departure from Ispahan I made ready to continue my Travels forwards and parted from thence the four and twentieth day of February 1664 / 5. with a Caravan wherein there were about fifty Mules a great part of them belonging to Monsieur Tavernier and the rest to Armenians who took the occasion of our going We took Mules for our Goods at the rate of five Abassis for an hundred Man 's of Tauris for our selves we had Horses for the Muletors scrupuled to let us have Mules to Ride on however they were obliged to spare one for my Servant who carried part of my things with him for they reckon a man but for thirty Man 's comprehending therein four or five Mans of Bagage We set out then from Giolfa Tuesday at Noon and past by Hezar Dgirib taking our way streight East at One of the Clock we Encamped by a Kervanseray called Tahhtpoulad and Babaruk which is near the burying place of the Mahometans We parted from that place the same day Tahhtpoulad Babaruk half an hour after Nine of the Clock at Night and held our way streight South-East over a Plain which at the entry is streightned a little by Hills on both sides and then opens into a pretty large Champain there grows not one Pile of Grass in it and in some places there are great pieces of white Earth of Natural Salt. This Salt is made of rain-Rain-water Natural Salt. which incorporating with that Salinous Earth produces a Salt that works out of the Surface of it We marched in that Plain till about Four a Clock in the Morning Wednesday the five and twentieth of February and then ascended a little Hill called Ortschin Ortschin a little Hill. that is to say Stairs it is not high but yet very difficult to get up being all steps in a very slippery Rock which hath given it that name we were a full half hour in that passage not only because it behoved us to goe one by one but also because several Mules fell and threw their burdens which we must load again and all this by Star-light which in Persia commonly shine so clear that one may Travel by them even when there is no Moon-shine we afterwards continued Travelling amongst Hills till it was day that we entered into a great Plain as barren as the former wherein we marched on till half an hour after Eight when being arrived at a Village called Mayar we Lodged in a Kervanseray this place is eight long Agatsch from Babaruk Mayar is a ruinated Village which was formerly of note and had many Gardens about it that produced plenty of Fruit but some years since an Eatmad Doulet cut off their water to bring it all into a Garden which he had in those Quarters so that since that time nothing Grows there and they bring what they want from other Villages nor have they any other water to drink but what they get out of a great Pool hard by Mayar is the beginning of the Country of Fars or real Persia Schairza at that Village begins the Country which is properly Persia We parted from thence next day being Thursday the six and twentieth of February about Three a Clock in the Morning and continued our way over the same Plain about Five in the Morning we crossed a small running water Half an hour after Nine we passed through a little Village called Schairza where there is much Sowed Land and many Gardens in one of those Gardens there is a Pond of Spring-water which falls down from the Hills that are over it it is so full of Fish that from thence the Garden hath taken the name of Hhaouz-Mahi which signifies a Fish-Pond but there is a Dervish that hinders people from catching them Keeping on our way about half an hour after Ten in the Morning we came near to a Town called Komschah Komschah five Agatsch from Mayar there is Wine there and several Kervanserays in one of which we Lodged out of the Town We parted from thence next day being Friday the seven and twentieth of February at Three a Clock in the Morning but no sooner were we gone but we were forced to turn back again because there was a Chan upon the Road going to Schiras with his Haram The meeting of a Chan with his Haram that is to say his women and therefore we could not goe on for the jealous Persians fuffer no man to come near the Road where there women are So then we came back and having fetched many compasses about another way three quarters of an hour after we fell into the High-way again which was still a Plain and we kept on marching still almost South wards but with a piercing cold Wind we found several Brooks on our way and the ground being pretty good in that Country so soon as it was day we saw some Villages on our Right Hand and about Nine of the Clock arrived near to a Village called Maksoud Beghi Maksoud Beghi five Agatsch distant from Komschah we Lodged in a new Kervanseray that of the Village being demolished Next Morning about a quarter after Two of the Clock we set forward on our Journey again over the same Plain we had the day before at break of day we passed by a little Castle built of Stone with some round Towers where there is a Village hard by with Gardens and a Kervanseray Amnebad that place is called Amnebad it is distant from Maksoud-Beghi three Agatsch and as far from Yez-de-Kast This Castle was built by Imam-Couli-Chan who was Chan of Schiras in time of the great Schah-Abbas Keeping on our way about Eleven of the Clock we arrived at Yez-de-Kast a little Town or Burrough three Agatsch distant from Amnebad and six from Maksoud-Beghi we went and Lodged in a Kervanseray a little beyond it Tez-de-Kast Yez-de Kast is very little having but only one Street it is
built upon a narrow Rock which stretches out in length from North-East to South-West this Rock is very steep so that it is almost as broad on the top as at the bottom especially on the North-West side it is in some places above seven or eight Fathom high particularly on the South-East side at the Foot of this Rock on the same South-East side there are some Gardens and some steps farther runs a little River near to which is the Kervanseray built of burnt Bricks and over the Gate there is a pretty convenient Lodging-House it stands at the Foot of a high Rock that is to the South of it from which sometimes great pieces fall and are to be seen below most of them being as big as Houses The Village of Yez-de-Kast takes up the whole Surface of the Rock on which it stands as well in length as in breadth it hath no other Walls but the Walls of the Houses which are three or four Stories high and some higher all built of Stone This Town is in manifest danger sometime or other of falling down topsie turvy all at once being so high and having nothing to support it and indeed the Inhabitants mistrust it for about ten years since they began to build another Town at some distance from the Rock and to the Northward of it and when I passed by it on my return in the Year one thousand six hundred sixty and seven a great many Houses were already finished and new ones going up all forsaking the other Seat whereas when I past it first in the Year one thousand six hundred sixty five there was not so much as one House begun The Gate of Yez-de-Kast is on the South-West side where the ground about is as high as the Rock it is but little so that not having observed it at first coming I went from the Kervanseray to the Town climbing up the Rock on the South-East side betwixt the Gardens and after much climbing up I entered by a little Gate and went on above a hundred steps in a covered way that receives no light but by ugly holes and is by consequence so dark that one must groap along as they go in it I durst proceed no farther for fear of losing my self or entering into some House by mistake and so for that time I was obliged to turn back again by the same way I came but it is not so when one enters the Town by the other Gate The Land about Yez-de-Kast bears the best Corn in Persia and indeed they make most excellent Bread there the Inhabitants as they say mingling dry Pease with the Corn which makes the Bread so good There are several fair Tombs here built in Fashion of Domes Sunday the first of March we parted from that place half an hour after midnight and took the upper way for there are two ways the one on the Left Hand East-wards which is called the lower way and the other on the Right Hand to the West side which they call the upper way because it lies among Hills in the Winter-time when this way is filled up with Snow they are obliged to go the lower way which is the longer by a days Journy but being assured that the upper way was open we took it and for that end when we set out from the Kervanseray we held Westward for some time till we came to a place where the way leads up that Hill at the Foot whereof the Kervanseray stands being got up we marched in a Plain betwixt little Hills covered with Snow streight South-East until about Three a Clock we mounted up a Hill where the ascent is not long and the descent shorter but the way very bad and therefore it is called Chotali-Naar-Schekeni Chotali-Naar-Schekeni that is to say the Hill that pulls off the Horses shoes we came afterward into a pretty good way betwixt little Hills all white with Snow at day break we passed by a little Castle called Gombez-Cala where there is a Village also but ruined Gombez-Cala Half an hour after Nine we entered into a Plain in which we Travelled on till after Eleven that we came to a Village where we Lodged in a Kervanseray This Village is called Dehi ghirdon that is to say Village of Nuts Dehi ghirdon not that it abounds in that Fruit for having informed my self I learnt that the Nuts they eat there come from Lar however I took the pains to ask the reason why it was so called but all the answer I could get was that that was the name of it it is seven Agatsch distant from Yez-de-Kast We parted from Dehi-ghirdon Monday the second of March about midnight and after two hours and a halfs Journey past by a ruinous Kervanserai beyond which we marched on in a Plain covered over with Snow where there was but one Path open and that all Frozen about seven of the Clock we crossed over a little Bridge of five Arches under which runs a River two Fathom broad and travelling on still in that white Plain we arrived about Noon at a Village called Keuschkzer that is to say the Silver-Pavillion there are two Kervanserais there Keuschkzer the one old and the other all new well built of Free-Stone and burnt Bricks with many embellishments and very commodious Lodgings and Stables near which also there are Appartments for the Winter and in these we Lodged Keuschkzer is seven long Agatsch distance from Dehi-ghirdon the Land about is very good being Sowed with Corn there are about it also a great many Meadows where the Kings Horses are sent to Grass in the Season It is always cold there and the Snow lyes all the year round upon the neighbouring Hills The Inhabitants of that Village are Circassians they make Wine and sell it but they have the Grapes from Maain of which we shall Treat in its proper place Next Morning about half an hour after Four we went on our Journey and Travelled in a way covered with Snow and full of holes but we found it worse when the Sun was up and the ground began to Thaw especially about Eleven of the Clock when we entered amongst the Hills which being full of Dirt and Stones made the way as bad as it could be This passage makes that they goe not that way in the Winter-time for in the Summer all these ways are good we kept on always ascending a little till about One a Clock that we went down Hill a good way at the the bottom of that descent a great Brook rises out of the Ground a good Fathom in breadth the water whereof is very clear this Brook runs by a Village called Asoupas Asoupas where we arrived half an hour after two in the afternoon and there we were very ill Lodged in a nasty Kervanserai this Village is five Agatsch distant from Keuschkzer and has a sorry old ruinous Castle upon a little Hill the Inhabitants are Circassians who were Transported thither
that was a building a Rich man of Schiras having left by Will money for that purpose That place is called Abgherm which signifies hot water Abgherm because the water there is a little warm it gave some of our Company a looseness but has plenty of Fish in it This place which is but four Agatsch from Main was but half of our usual days Journey however our Beasts being tired we stayed there till next day the seventh of March when we parted half an hour after Two in the Morning and put on before the Caravan that we might get to Schiras the same day There are several ways that lead to it but we kept still to the Left crossing over many Brooks about half an hour after six we came to a Causey above two Fathom broad and two thousand Paces long all well Paved with Arches in several places and chiefly in the middle where there is a Bridge an hundred Paces in length under which runs a small branch of the River of Main Poligorgh that Causey is called Poligorgh Half an hour after Seven we saw a sorry Kervanserai but a little beyond it there is a very good one which is extraordinary large and well built with many embellishments at each corner there is a little Tower the Gate is fair and high adorned with many pieces of Marble on which there are Inscriptions The Appartments of this Kervanserai are very commodious but it is so infested with Gnats that there is no being in it It was built by a Chan of Sciras who to take off the Gnats built but to no purpose a large Garden by it it is called Agassef Agassef and is three Agatsch from Abgherm its common name is Poligourg that is to say the Woolfs Bridge or Poligord We went on The way that leads to Tchebelminar Badgega and an hour after left a broad way on the left Hand which goes streight to Tchebelminar and that is the way to it from Schiras About half an hour after Two we came to a Kervanserai called Badgega three Agatsch from Agassef there we found several Horses Camels and Mules which the Vizir of Schiras sent as a present to the King for the Neurouz for it is the custom as we have already observed that all the Grandees make great Presents to the King Present for the Neurouz or a New-Years-Gift the day of the Neurouz or Spring which is the two and twentieth of March just so as New-Years Gifts are given in France on the first of January We rested in that place till Three in the Afternoon when we parted to goe to Schiras two great Agatsch distant At first we went up a great Hill and then saw to our Left hand a Dome somewhat ruinous under which there are some Tombs close by runs a very clear Brook shaded by several great Planes and many little Pomegranate-Trees which render that place extraordinarily pleasant Having Travelled near two hours in very stony way and crossed several lovely Brooks about Five a Clock at night we came to a place from whence there is a very pleasant prospect of the City for two Hills there drawing near together at the end make a narrow passage beyond which are Gardens full of lovely Cypresses and then the Town which lyes in a Plain from North to South so that it yields a most delightful prospect After we had a little advanced betwixt those two Hills we saw a great Reservatory of water which is pretty ruinous the water is stopt by a thick Wall almost two Fathom broad supported by two spurs of the same thickness which with the Wall from the bottom of the Ditch are almost three Fathom high the Reservatory was formerly much of the same depth but is at present almost filled up with the Earth that the water has brought into it the Wall hath been made to serve for a Bank to stop the waters that in Winter fall from the Hills and running too violently through that streight beat down all that stood in their way but it is dry in the Summer-time Arrival at Schiras at length we came to the City-Gate which is fair and well built CHAP. II. Of Schiras THE first thing we found upon our entry into Schiras was a great broad Street on each side bordered by Gardens with little pretty neat Houses over the Gates of them having advanced in that Street about a quarter of an hour we came to a large Stone-Bason full of water and of an Oblong Figure being about twenty or twenty five Fathom in length and more than fifteen in breadth Continuing in the same Street you see a lovely Mosque whose Dome is covered with blew Varnished Tiles Joyning to this Mosque there is a burying-place Planted with fair Trees with a round Stone-Bason full of water which renders the place very pleasant so that there are always people taking the Air in it with their Pipes of Tobacco a little farther there is a Bridge of five Arches under which runs a small River and onward in the same Street you come to a covered Bazar that puts an end to it this Street is but as a Suburbs to the City which at that place begins We struck off to the Left and alighted at the little House of the Reverend Fathers Carmelites where all the Francks goe The City of Schiras heretofore Schirsaz and which many will have to be Cyropolis is properly the Metropolis of the Province of Persia it lyes in a most pleasant and fertile Plain that yields the best Wine in Persia On the East it is at the Foot of a Hill covered with several sorts of Fruit-Trees amongst which are many Orange and Limon-Trees intermingled with Cypresses it is about two hours walk in Circumference The Circumference of Schiras and lyes from North to South it hath no Walls but only a scurvy Ditch and that is all it needs having no Enemies to be afraid of it is watered by a River which is but little and yet subject to overflowings when that happens the Inhabitants hinder it from breaking into their Gardens and carrying away their Walls by casting up Dykes to stop it they make them with Couffes Couffes that is to say great Panniers made of bruised Canes like Palm-Tree-Leaves which they fill with Earth and Stone and that hinders the passage of the water very well The Streets of Schiras are for the most part somewhat narrow though there be some fair ones having in the middle lovely Canals bordered with Stone through which a very clear Rivulet runs There are a great many fair covered Bazars long and broad with great Shops on each side well furnished with all sorts both of Indian and Turkish Commodities and every Commodity hath its particular Bazar It hath many large well built Kervanserays as to the Palaces they make no shew on the outside no more than in the rest of the Levant but all their beauty is within the Palace of the Chan himself
Bottles with a good deal of straw and two of these Chests make a Mules load They have also store of Capers Capers which they send also into all parts They preserve another thing in Vinegar which I never saw done any where else Preserved Grapes and that is Grapes which they gather half ripe and the time of gathering them they take to be when the Sparrows begin to peck them they put these Grapes into Bottles with good store of Vinegar which so macerates them that they lose their hardness yet no so as to become too soft or lose their Greenness only they look a little yellowish These Grapes preserved in Vinegar have a certain sweet acidity which is not unpleasant especially in the great heats and therefore they send great quantities of them into the Indies rose- Rose-water They have also abundance of Roses from which they draw so much Rose-water that they furnish all the Indies with it They have a great deal of Corn but they give much of it to the Horses to be eaten in the blade because they say it would not come to maturity for want of water There is a great deal of Opium made at Schiras and round the Town there are large fields sowed with White Poppies A powerful Chan of Schiras In former times Schiras was Governed by a Chan who was the first of Persia and his Government reached as far as Lar Bender and the Isle of Ormus nay he was so powerful that in the Reign of the great Schah Abbas there was a Chan or Schiras called Imem-Couli-Chan who spent as much as the King and kept no smaller Family in so much that the King commanded him to spend a Mabmoudi less a day that there might be some difference betwixt their Expences Schah Sâ—fi grand Child of Schah Abbas and Father to Schah Abbas who Reigns at present put that Chan and all his Children to death because he was afraid that being so powerful he might play him some trick and after him there have been some Chans in Schiras but at present there is none a Vizier commands there as the Kings Farmer to whom he yearly pays out of his Government a thousand Tomaâ— which make a hundred and fifty thousand Crowns CHAP. III. Of the Road from Schiras to Bender and first to Lar. WE parted from Schiras Monday the sixteenth of March half an hour after Eight in the Morning having let the Caravan set out an hour and half before We took our way Southwards and past near the Lime-Kilns the way was good and in a lovely cultivated Plain Half an hour after Nine we had on our Left Hand a large Village called Oudgeval by which runs a Rivulet about half an hour after Ten we struck off a little to the Right Hand Oudgeval marching full South over Land all white with Salt where nothing grows but Abrotanum foemina An hour after we crossed over a Bridge of ten Arches under which a little River runs Abrotanum foemina It is called Poulifesa in coming to it you go along a Causey and find such another on the farther side the water that runs underneath is as salt as Sea-water Poulifesa about Noon we entered into a great Plain covered with green Grass where having Travelled till half an hour after One a Clock we came to a wretched Kervanseray standing all alone it is called Baba-Adgi from the name of its Founder who lies buried hard by and is five Agatsch from Schiras Baba-adgi close by this Kervanseray there is a little Spring which makes a great marish in that Plain but the water being naught they drink of another a little farther off which is very good water We parted from that place Tuesday the seventeenth of March half an hour after Six in the Morning and marched South-East in a great green Plain full of Heath where we saw on both hands several Villages and a great many Flocks of Sheep feeding having Travelled there till half an hour after two in the Afternoon we arrived at a Kervanseray standing by it self and called Mouzeferi seven Agatsch from Baba-Adgi near to it there is a Spring of very good water Mouzeferi behind the Kervanseray there are several vent-holes by which one may see the water run and Fish playing therein whereof some are pretty big We parted from thence on Wednesday the Eighteenth of March half an hour after five in the Morning and kept our way Southward going up Hills and down Hills covered with Turpentine-Trees and Heath this Heath is like Tragacantha and has a Carnation-Blossome divided into four or five Leaves bearing a kind of Wooll Turpentine-Trees Tragacantha Erigerum Paira and perhaps it is your Erigerum we were troubled with this rough and stony way till Noon that we arrived at a great Kervanseray called Paira which stands alone by it self and is four Agatsch distant from Monzeferi A few steps from that Kervanseray there is an artificial Canal drawn from a River a little beyond and parallel to it that River comes from the Mountains of Orostan which are above thirteen or fourteen days Journy from thence and runs as far as Tadivan a great Village Tadivan upon the way to Lar six Agatsch from Paira it afterwards loses it self in the fields which is not to be wondered at because these people having scarcity of water when they can command a River they so let it blood by drawing it off to water their Grounds that they reduce it to nothing nevertheless in those places where that River is in its strength it is seven or eight Fathom broad the water of it is clear and good and runs rapidly in a fair bed of Sand where there is not a stone to stop its course it is full of Fish Rose-Laurels and Planted on the sides with Rose-Laurels and such like Trees so that there can be nothing more charming to the sight The Canal that passes near to Paira is cut from it a little above this place and waters many Sowed fields which being done about four Agatsch lower it falls again into the same River from which it was never far distant but in all its course it runs through high ground whereas the River rowls with a great noise in a very deep precipice We parted from that place Thursday the Nineteenth of March at four of the Clock in the Morning and held our way South-Eastwards having met now and then with very stony ways we found afterwards a fair way where on each hand we saw good Corn-Land with a great many Villages where there were many Gardens full of Trees About eight a Clock in the Morning we arrived at a fair large Kervanseray Chafer called Kervanseray Chafer from the name of a Village close by it on the River-side which at this place is dwindled away almost to nothing this is a great Village and nothing to be seen in it but Gardens with long Walks in them
where one may take the Air under the shade of Orange-Trees which are prodigiously big and bear much Fruit. There they have plenty also of Limon Pomegranate Date and other Fruit-Trees of all sorts nay and Vines also and the River runs in a bottom by the back of the Village in short it is a very agreeable place especially to those who have Travelled over large barren and dry Countries this Village is three Agatsch from Paira We left that pleasant Quarter Friday the Twentieth of March half an hour after one a Clock in the morning keeping still South-Eastwards in our way but a little toward the South in a fair even and smooth Road about four of the Clock we crossed a large Brook of running water which comes from the River of Paira below Chafer and a little after we crossed a Canal of running water over a little Bridge We afterwards crossed several other little Brooks having always to our Right Hand a great many Villages about break of day it behoved us to pass one large Brook more and about six a Clock in the Morning we found a little House where Rahdars lived about two or three Musket-shot from thence at the foot of a Hill Tadivan there is a Village call Tadivan where the River of Paira loses it self and ends Families of Arabs Upon that Road we met several Arabs with their Wives and Children on Camels which carried all their baggage also they were driving their Flocks of Sheep and Goats Since our departure from Schiras we dayly met such and they came from about Gomron and Lar. These Arabs Lodge under black Tents and have vast Flocks wherein consists the greatest part of their substance and that is partly the reason that they have no fixed Habitation and that they even remove from one Country into another in the different seasons of the Year just as some Birds doe For in the Spring they leave the Country of Lar and other places thereabout where the Heat is too great and packing up bag and baggage betake themselves with their whole Families towards Couchouzer which is a Village I have mentioned with very good Land about it and when Winter begins to draw nigh they pack up their Houses again and with their Flocks return towards Lar and Gomron where it is never Cold. It is not only the Heat that in the Summer-time drives them out of the hot Countrys but also the scarcity of water for they need a great deal for their Flocks They are almost all Black both men and women have long black Hair and cover not their Faces About Nine a Clock in the Morning we entered into stony way where we kept marching till half an hour after Ten that we arrived at a little Kervanseray called Mouchek Mouchek standing by it self and built in stony ground surrounded with Hills about some hundred paces behind this Kervanseray there is a great round Cistern four or five Fathom in Diametre and is very deep it is covered with a great Dome of rough stone that hath six Entries by so many Doors that are round it by which they go in to draw water which in the Spring-time is so high that it comes almost up to the Doors swelling so high by the Rain-water in the Winter-time by means of a Trench that comes from a neighbouring Hill at each Door there are steps to go down to the bottom when the water is low for there is no other water in that place They make Cisterns besides in those Quarters Cisterns after another manner they are of an Oblong Square covered with a long Convex Vault shaped much like the Roof of a Coach with a Door at each end and one of these ways are all the Cisterns from that place to Bender built We parted from that Kervanseray which is six Agatsch distant from Chafer Saturday the one and twentieth of May half an hour after Two a Clock in the Morning and had stony way till about Four after that we found a good Road which led us full South about half an hour after Five we past by the Walls of a ruinated Kervanseray with a Cistern adjoyning it about Seven a Clock we found some Brooks and then Travelled amongst good Corn-Fields until half an hour after Ten when having passed by a great many Gardens we arrived at a large Kervanseray Dgiaroun which is about an hundred paces from a little Town called Dgiaroun and is hardly worth a good Village however there is a fair Bazar in it This Town is on all Hands encompassed with Gardens full of Palm-Trees which there are so numerous and grow so near one another that they make a great Forrest and to say the truth I never saw so many together in one place Tamarisks besides the Tamarisks which are likewise plentiful in that place They have many Wells there and draw their water with Oxen as in all the rest of Persia in the manner I have described when I treated of Mosul There is a Cistern near the Kervanseray like to that of Mouchek but it is bigger having at least seven or eight Fathom in it Diametre it has a little house belonging to it which consists of a Kitchin and a Lodging-Room for the use of such as will not Lodge in the Kervanseray or cannot when it is full this place is five Agatsch distant from Mouchek there we began to feel the heat though in the Mornings a little before Sun rising we had pretty cold Winds before the Gate of the Kervanseray there is one of those Ox Wells with a great trough for watering the Horses but it is not good for men who in the Town drink running-running-water We stayed there all that day and the following and departed Monday the three and twentieth of March half an hour after midnight we took our way Westward by a very stony Road about an hour after we found a Cistern covered with a steep Roof half an hour after two we began to ascend the Hill of Dgiaroun The Hill of Dgiaroun to the South it is very high and the ascent not difficult save only that the way is full of stones but the higher one goes the worse it is and besides there is danger from Precipices that are on one side of it the truth is they have built little breast-walls about two foot high in some places to keep the Mules from falling down there one may see wild bitter Almond-Trees and other Trees of the Mountains We went up three or four times and down as often and the Sun found us in this exercise about five a Clock we came to a Cistern covered with a Dome and an hour after to another with a steep Roof Half an hour after seven we were passed our up Hills and down Hills but the way was still stony and bad at length about nine of the Clock we came to a little Kervanseray standing all alone near to which are two Cisterns the one covered with
a Dome three or four Fathom in Diametre wherein there are three Doors and as many Windows the other has a steep Roof this place is called Tschai-telhh Tschai-telhh that is to say bitter Well because of a Well not far from that Kervanseray whose water is bitter There is besides another Well behind the Kervanseray but it is dry and this place is six Agatsch from Dgiaroun Heretofore they went not by this Hill but struck off to the East and went round it and the Camel-drivers still take that way but because of five days Journey of Desart Horse-men and Muletors chuse rather to suffer the fatigue of a worse way but shorter over the Hill. Next Morning Tuesday about half an hour after four we set forward again directing our march Southwards about seven a Clock we descended into a very low place by very bad way that Hill is called Chotali Hasani Chotali Hasani or Chotali Mahhmaseni or Chotali Mahhmaseni it goes by both names towards the bottom of that descent we found a little Brook that runs out of the Ground and discharges it self into a square Bason at some few paces from the source being come down we Travelled through a very stony Plain about half an hour after Nine we came to a fair Kerva-seray standing alone by it self and called Momzir having a great square Bason before the Gate Momzir which is always filled full by a Brook that runs into it this Kervanseray is four Agatsch from Tschai-telhh we made no stop there because we found no body to sell us Provisions either for Men or Beasts so we continued our march in the stony Plain till about an hour after having found a little Brook on our Left Hand we entered about Noon into a great smooth Plain where we suffered much heat we Travelled on South-Eastward until about two of the Clock that we found a little Kervanseray close by a Village called Dehidombe Dehidombe that is to say the Village of the tail where there are some Palms and Tamarisk-Trees They drink no water there but out of a Cistern near the Kervanseray which is three or four Fathom in Diametre and covered by a Dome with six Doors this place is three long Agatsch from Momzir and is the last of the Government of Schiras after which we enter into that of Lar. We parted from thence on Wednesday the five and twentieth of March about half an hour after four in the Morning and marched over a very even Plain till half an hour after seven when we arrived at a Kervanseray at the end of a large Village called Benaru lying at the foot of the Hill that is to the right of it Benaru upon which on the other side of the Kervanseray are the ruins of many folid Buildings that reach from the top to the bottom of the Hill and seem to have been some considerable place in this Village there is plenty of Palms and Tamarisk-Trees and a great many Cisterns it is two Agatsch distant from Dehidombe We left it next day being Thursday at one a Clock in the Morning and Travelled in stony way until half an hour after two that we came into a fair fmooth way where having Travelled on till five we arrived at an ugly little Kervanseray called Dehra where there are some Rhadars we paid nothing there because of an order which Monsieur Tavernier had to pay nothing in Persia Without stopping at that place we continued our Journey but by very stony way about six of the Clock we were got amongst the Hills where having gone up Hill and down Hill until eight a Clock we came into a Plain which lasted till near nine Bihri that we arrived at a great Village called Bihri where many Palms and Tamarisk-Trees grow there are several Cisterns there but the water of them is full of Worms and therefore one must be careful to strain it through a Cloath We Lodged in a fair new built Kervanseray in that Village this is one of the lovliest Kervanserays in all Persia The fair Kervanseray of Aivaz Chan. not only for the solidity of the Fabrick being built of rough Stone and hard Flint but also for its neat Portal large square Court many spacious Rooms with several conveniences for securing Goods and fair Terrasses to which they go up by great and broad Stair-Cases In fine every thing in it is magnificent very neat and commodious even to the Houses of Office which are in each corner of the Kervanseray and on one side there is a lovely Garden full of Tulips Roses and abundance of other Flowers of all kinds it is well Planted also with Fruit-Trees and Vines and all kept in very good order the Walks very neat and covered with Artificial Arbours all round before this Garden there is a fair watering place for Horses which is always kept full of water from a Well hard by this Kervanseray was built by the Chan of Lar called Aivaz Chan and is six Agatsch from Benaru Friday the seven and twentieth of March after four a Clock in the Morning we parted from this place and Travelled Southward in a pretty good way though stony in some places about day we found a Cistern with a steep Roof and about half an hour after six we saw upon the Road a limit of stone about a Fathom high built upon a Paving of Free-stone that serves it for a Basis we were told that a man was shut up in it A man shut up in a stone according to the custom of the Country in times past when they used that particular punishment for Robbers on the High-ways others said that it was only a mark in the way which divides at that place about seven a Clock we passed by a Village called De-hi-Kourd De-hi-Kourd where there is a Kervanseray in that place are many Tamarisks some Palm-Trees and several Cisterns We left that Village on our Left Hand and continuing our way over an even Plain betwixt Corn-fields Pai Chotali about nine a Clock we came to a Kervanseray called Pai Chotali that is to say the foot of the Hill because it is near the Hills The same night I saw a Blazing Star Blazing-Star like to that which I had seen at Ispahan it was near the Dolphin and its Tail reached from East to West I saw it again all the nights following so long as our Journey lasted It rose always much about the same place of the Horizon and about the same hour or a quarter in or over On one side of this Kervanseray there is a Cistern and a Well on the other both covered with a Dome the Well is exceeding deep and it is a considerable time before the biggest stone that may be thrown into it reaches the bottom the water is drawn with a great Wheel and poured into a square Bason near to it from whence it passes through a hole into
there are so great numbers of Sparrows in Persia that they destroy all things and scare-Crows are so far from frightning them that they will Pearch upon them At eight a Clock we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Tscherchab Tscherchab which puts an end to the Corn-Fields for beyond that there is hardly any thing to be found but Desarts sowed with stones about two hours after we passed by another Kervanseray Tenghinoun like to the former called Tenghinoun and a little further to the Left Hand we saw a small Forrest of Palm-Trees We afterwards marched on for the space of about two hours through very stony Ground and then came to good even Sandy way Half an hour after one in the Afternoon we passed by a covered Kervanseray called Ouasili Ouasili and keeping on our way over little Sandy Hills we came at three a Clock to another which is also covered Schemzenghi and called Schemzenghi where we stopt and this place is seven Agatsch from Lar. These Kervanserays are not built as others are but are little covered buildings about six Fathom long and as many broad on the outside and about a Fathom and a half high in the middle of each Front there is a Gate and you enter by these Gates under so many Vaulted Walks which run cross-ways within and have each about two Fathom in length they leave in the middle or Centre of the cross they make a little Square about two Fathom every way covered with a Dome In some of them there is in each Vault a half pace of stone two foot high and about a Fathom broad in the outside is the House of the House-keeper or Condar as they call him it stands along one of the sides of the Kervanseray and instead of Walls is only enclosed with a little Hedge in the mean time all the Provisions you are to expect must be had out of these wretched Hovels When there is no body in the Kervanseray these House-keepers retire to their Village or Huts which is out of the way a quarter or half a French League from thence and sometimes Travellers must go look for them when they have had no notice of their coming In the Angles of these Kervanserays there are commonly little Chambers which have the Doors on the outside and the rest of the place is for the Horses there is no other water but what is drawn out of Cisterns of which there are many in the Fields a little way from the Kervanseray We parted from that wretched Lodging Friday the third of April about four a Clock in the Evening and Travelled through a large very even Plain where we saw in many places the Ground whitened over with Salt which is made by the Rain Bahadini Tschektschek about half an hour after five we passed by a covered Kervanseray called Bahadini and about seven by another called Tschektschek by this last there is a Hut where Rhadars Lodge about eight a Clock we entered in amongst Hills and had up Hill and down Hill in very bad stony way where having turned to and again till nine of the Clock we came into a fair large Plain and there marched on till about half an hour after eleven at Night when we passed along a great Village where grow many Palm-Trees from which it hath taken the name of Hhormont Hhormont and a little beyond it there is a covered Kervanseray where we Lodged this place is five Agatsch from Schemzenghi We parted from thence on Saturday half an hour after a eleven a Clock at Night and took our way full South by a very bad and stony Road. Sunday about four a Clock in the Morning we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Serten then taking our way Eastward Serten Bedgi-Paria after an hours Travelling we found another called Bedgi-Paria a little after we came to a running water the clearness whereof tempted us to fill our Mataras or leathern Bottles but it was good luck that I bid one of the Company who alighted purposely from his Horse to taste it first for he found it to be as Salt as Salt it self Our way continued still bad till about seven of the Clock in the Morning that we came to a Kervanseray called Tengbidalan this Kervanseray is covered as many others are Tengbidalan but it is much finer It is a Square about eight Fathom in the middle of each Face there is a great Arch by which one enters into Vaults which make a Cross as in the others but they are higher and it is not under these Vaults that Travellers Lodge for the Chambers are in the four Corners about three Fathom square two or three foot raised from the Ground and open on the two sides within where there are great Arches from the Floor up to the Vault each Chamber hath its Chimny and other small conveniences the Place in the middle is covered with a Dome in which there is a great round opening in the top By one of the Gates of this Kervanseray there runs a very clear Brook about a good Foot broad which falls into an oblong square Bason in the middle and keeps it always full then it passes farther in such another Canal as brought it and runs out at the opposite Gate this Brook comes from a Hill two Muskets shot from the Kervanseray it falls down from it impetuously in a Channel above a Foot broad and about half as deep and is received on the first Pillar of a broken Arch which is shaped like a Well there are a great many of these broken Arches in a row with some ruins of the Pillars and I believe they have been beaten down by the force of the water which in time of Rain is very great at that place nay some of it too ran then betwixt the Pillars perhaps it was because they were afraid of that accident that they brought not the water upon these Arches which in all appearance were only made for Ornament The water falling down into this Well runs under Ground about twenty Fathom length and comes up again by the Pillar of the first of the Arches that remain entire to the number of eleven this Pillar being also like a well and rising to a height it glides away in a Channel like to that which comes from the Hill save that it is carried along these Arches that are about a Fathom and a half high till coming to a higher Ground the Canal is not above two Foot high and a little farther runs level with the Ground where making several turnings and windings it waters the Roots of a great deal of Liquorice growing by the sides of it until it come to the Kervanseray The truth is that water is not good to drink and it is only necessity that makes men use it when there is none in a Cistern close by but it serves at least to cool the Kervanseray and to wash any thing in
Adjoyning to this Kervanseray there is another very little one through which the same water runs and a little farther there is a third which is bigger but somewhat ruinous This place is five Agatsch from Hhormont We parted from thence Monday the sixth of April half an hour after Midnight at first for above an hour we had very bad stony way but it proved pretty good afterward about two in the Morning we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Berkei Dobend and about four a Clock by another called Dgei Hhon Berkei Dobend Dgei Hhon at break of day we entered into bad way again where we clambered up and down for above an hour among stones and then we found the way better till we came to a covered Kervanseray called Kor Bazirghion Kor Bazirghion that is to say the Merchants Ditch where we arrived about eight a Clock This Kervanseray is of the same bigness as the other where we Lodged the day before it is built much after the same manner having in each Corner three Chambers of which the one which is on the inside is open by Arches on two sides and the other two have their Door without the Kervanseray this place is five Agatsch from Tengbidalan We parted from thence about half an hour after one a Clock in the Morning during a large quarter of an hour we had bad stony way and about half an hour after five we passed by a little covered Kervanseray Berkei Soltouni called Berkei Soltouni about three quarters of an hour after seven we came to such another near to a great Village called Coureston Coureston four Agatsch from Kor Bazirghion we left the Caravan at this place because our Carriers took Camels to finish the Journy with and resolved to Travel only by day and to be four days longer by the way I therefore took a Camel to carry my man and baggage and a guide to shew us the way which from thence to Bender is so difficult that he who hath Travelled it fifty times may lose himself there in so that it is absolutely necessary to take a man of the Country if one would not wander out of the way We parted about eleven a Clock at Night and presently entered into a great sandy Plain which nevertheless is peopled and hath a great many Villages that are to be seen here and there this is occasioned by the abundance of Palm-Trees that this Country is full of the Soil being proper for them though very barren for any thing else About an hour after Midnight we passed by a little covered Kervanseray Dobrike called Dobrike which is an Agatsch and a half from Coureston and a little after we passed over an Aqueduct which is level with the Ground and called Pariabzahed Aly Pariabzahed Aly. this Aqueduct brings water from a Spring at the Foot of the Hills that are to the Left Hand towards the North in digging it was discovered and the water of it is very good Betwixt three and four of the Clock we went over a very high and fair Bridge above three Fathom broad and betwixt seven and eight hundred common Paces long it is well Paved and has a side-Wall on each side about a Foot and a half high under this Bridge runs a River above nine or ten Fathom broad which is heard at a great distance by reason of the noise it makes in its course there is no drinking of the water of it for it is Salt and it discharges it self into the Sea about six hundred Paces from thence Rohhouna The name of that River is Rohhouna that is to say the running River and that is the name they give to all great Rivers it comes from Kermont Pouli Seugh the name of the Bridge is Pouli Seugh that is to say Stone-Bridge or otherwise Pouli Coreston before this River comes to the Bridge it runs by the Foot of the Hills on the Left Hand Northwards and there it begins to be Salt when it comes to this Bridge which indeed is only upon the side of it finding it so runs along the side of it and discharges but part of its water underneath in passing which running under the Arches and finding the Ground lower on the other side of the Bridge falls with great impetuosity and that makes the rumbling noise that is heard at such a distance the rest of the water running along by the Bridge turns afterwards towards the South and loses it self in the Sea. Being over the Bridge we went a long a Causey above two Fathom broad and all Paved about a thousand Paces in length which hath a good Parapet or Breast-Wall about a Foot and a half high Wednesday the eighth of April about six of the Clock in the Morning we came to a covered Kervanseray called Ghetschi Ghetschi six Agatsch from Coureston There is another besides close by which is not covered but like the rest in all things else and a little ruinous There were several Tents of black Goats hair thereabout and as soon as we arrived a great many Women and Girls came out of them to visit us they were cloathed with blew streakâ—d Drawers and a blew Shirt over them their Noses Ears Arms and Feet were full of Silver Copper Bone or Glass-Rings every one of them held an Earthen Porringer full of Yogourt or Sower Milk and a little Vessel full of the same under their Arms and to invite us to buy some of them in our presence dabbed four Fingers and a Thumb into their Budgets and pulled out Butter full of Straws which they mingled with the Milk that was in their Porringers and then poured out more Sower Milk out of the same Borrachy their Husbands are all Fishermen and both men and women are Inhabitants fit for such a Country We parted from that place the same day half an hour after six in the Evening and continued our Journy along the sandy Plain about eight a Clock we passed a narrow streight betwixt little Hills and having kept turning about half a quarter of an hour we found two ways the one to the Left Hand over a pretty high Hill and the other to the Right which hardly appeared we followed this last leaving that to the Left Hand which is very dangerous if we may believe the people of the Country for they would needs persuade us that on that Hill there were Dgius who killed all Passengers by that word Dgius they understand evil Spirits Dgius which they say are of a middle Nature betwixt Angels and Men. This imagination then they have and give it out for a very certan thing that in that Hill there is a Tlisim or Charm by vertue whereof the Dgius prevail Tlisim and that they make Cauldrons there the sound whereof may be heard for they all agree that some men have been there and come safe back again who related all these things but they say that none but such
as have been excepted from the Charm by him who made it can return back again The truth of the matter is according as I have learned from some of more sense and who have advanced a little in that way it is so bad that if one engage but in the least in it it is very hard to get back again so full it is of Precipices on all Hands Nevertheless the way seems to be so much the better that though we had warning given us we began to mount by it when our Guide suddenly called to us and made us follow him the other this Hill is called Kouchtscheizer Gheroun Kouchtscheizer Gheroun When we were over this passage we Travelled almost two hours in a Champian Ground where there are a great many little Mounts or Hillocks some one some two and some almost four Fathom high About eleven a Clock we passed by a little covered Kervanseray called Houni Sourkh that is to say red blood Houni Sourkh and is four Agatsch from Ghetschi about an hour and a half after we came to another little covered Kervanseray called Bendali Bendali which is but an Agatsch from Houni Sourkh and close by the Sea we rested there two hours because they would have fired upon us from the Fort of Bender Abassi if we had come there in the Night time and therefore we parted not from Bendali till next day at half an hour after two in the Morning and a little after five a Clock we came to the House of a Rhadar near the Town of Bender where the Jurisdiction of the Chan of Lar ends Arrival at Bender and that of the Chan of Bender begins CHAP. V. Of Bender-Abassi Ormus and the Author 's return to Schiras SO soon as we arrived the Rhadar according to the Custom carried us to the Custom-House where our Goods were searched and then we went and Lodged in a Kervanseray Before I engage to say any thing of Bender it will not be amiss here to observe some Errors in the Maps which all place the Town of Schiras almost two thirds of the way from Ispahan to Bender Erroâ—â— in Geography and nevertheless it is but one third Besides the Authors of these Maps put Bender to the South-West and almost to the West of Lar and yet it is to the Eastward of it and Lar is to the East drawing a little towards the South of Schiras All along the Road from Lar or rather from Dehi-Kou to Bender grow many of those accursed Plants which the Persians call Kherzehreh Kherzehreh upon the Road. Mortal Winds of which I have spoken before and which are pretended to have such noxious qualities that if in June or July any man breath in certain hot South Winds that come from the Sea and blow over these Plants he falls down dead and at most has no more time than to say he burns which happened at Bender Congo where that Wind rages much to the Vikil of Monsieur del ' Estoille who as soon as he had said he burnt died without remedy though there was a great deal of water presently thrown upon his body that is the reason that during these two months men Travel there but very seldom After all I can hardly agree in Opinion with the people of the Country who attribute this bad effect to that Plant I should rather think that it proceeded only from the malignity of the Wind for at Mosul where that Wind reigns also and is much dreaded I never heard any mention made of that Plant. This Wind may not be said properly to blow from Lar but from Coureston to the Sea. Gomron or Bender Abbassi The Town of Comron or Gomron otherwise called Bender-Abassi because it was the great Schah Abbas that began to put it in Vogue is inconsiderable as to what it contains for it is very little and scarcely deserves the name of a good Village nevertheless it is considerable in respect of its situation which is very advantageous for Traffick It is governed by a Chan and has a Schah Bender or Customer to gather the Customs which are worth much to the King of Persia though one half of them belong to the English Part of the Customs belong to the English by vertue of the agreement they made with that Prince when they assisted him in taking of Ormus but they receive not the fourth part the Persians giving them but as little as they can There is very little then in this Town that is worth the observing there is only one publick Gate The Fort of Bender a Bazar and a small Fort on the Sea-side which chiefly consists in a square Platform of about four Fathom each Face and some two Fathom high there are Port-holes in it for five or six pieces of Cannon but they have no more but two The English and Dutch have each of them their Houses very well built by the Sea-side with the Flag of their several Nations upon a high Pole on their Terrasses Two good Leagues to the Southward from the main Land is that so famed Isle of Ormus which is at the mouth of the Gulf of Persia that reaches from thence to Bassora Ormus which is the bottom of the Gulf. Ormus lies in the seven and twentieth Degree of North Latitude distant from Bassora an hundred and fourscore Leagues it hath a Fort which was long held by the Portuguese until the year one thousand six hundred twenty two that the great Schah Abbas King of Persia assisted by the English took it from them by force This Isle which is but three Leagues in Circuit is wholely barren for it is all over Rock that does not bear a pile of Grass nor has it a drop of Fresh water but what falls from the Sky which the Inhabitants preserve in good Cisterns that are in the Fort so that they are obliged to bring every thing from the main Land. And nevertheless in the time of the Portuguese it had a very populous Town and exceeding rich where all the Trade of the Indies was managed at present there remains no mark of it and there is nothing Inhabited but the Fort. The Portuguese lost Ormus by their own fault The Portuguese lost that Island by the fault of the Governour for all he needed to do was to have cut a little Ground to let in the Sea-water that would have surrounded the Fort which stands upon the point of the Island on the side of Gomron and then it would have been very hard to have mastered it But out of a bravery or rather pride which is natural to that people this Governour made so small account of his Enemies and trusted so much to his own Valour that he thought it would reflect upon him if he took any pains to make a Work to defend himself against them It is true also there was a point of Honour in the Case because he had not thought of that expedient himself but
Dutch there was no thinking to go with them The Dutch will not carry Francks to the Indies for they have taken an Oath to Transport no Franck thither and that by express Command from the Company because they say the Franks discoursing with their Sea-men inform themselves commonly of what concerns the Trade and they are willing that that should be a hidden mystery unknown to any but themselves Though I had not known this and that they had offered to admit of me yet I should have had a care not to have embraced the offer knowing what thoughts they entertained of me Mistrust of the Dutch. The Moorish Ship was bad not able to weather a Storm and far less to resist Pirats if it had been attacked which in the mean time was much to be feared for there was a certain Sivagy at Sea who was a Radgia or Prince a Vassal to the Mogul but having revolted some years before had wholly Plundered Surrat two years ago since that he Cruised on the Seas and had at that time a Fleet abroad as it was said of an hundred Galliots with which he took all he met except the Dutch whom he durst not meddle with for fear of offending the Company which is powerful there In the Armenian Ship there was no room because of the multitude of people that had a mind to embark in her so that many Armenians themselves could not have a passage But besides I had no thoughts of that because the Vessel was bought by an Armenian from the Dutch and still carried their Colours the Captain and Master being Hollanders and the Master of the Dutch Factory who was one called Vanvick having told Monsieur Tavernier that he would not suffer me to be taken on board These Gentlemen entertained a very ill grounded suspicion of me An ill grounded imagination of the Hollanders but which nevertheless made great impressions on their minds They imagined and told some men so that they knew very well that my Relations were the chief persons concerned in the Company that was Establishing in France for the Trade of the Indies and that I was a Spy sent to observe the places I know not what ground they had for entertaining such a fancy for when I came out of France there was no talk of any such Establishment and it is more than I can tell if any Relation of mine was concerned in it However that imagination had almost cost me my life which convinced me that not only for three Months but all the twelve Months of the Year the Air is mortal at Bender for Francks who come thither out of Curiosity to pass into the Indies and though it would seem that there should be more danger for those who go thither upon the account of Trade yet the contrary is manifest by experience This ought to be a Lesson to those who would Travel into these Countrys merely out of Curiosity The Authors design in Travelling and a desire of seeing and learning as I did they may be persuaded that not only the Hollanders but all in general who Trade into the Indies of whatsoever Nation though even ones own Country men are unwilling that any body else should put their Noses there and return back to tell News and they ought accordingly to use circumspection and especially shun those places where the Hollanders are Masters I was not long in resolving to be gone as soon as I could and the best way I could from a place where I had so much to to be afraid of and so little to hope for for the Dutch are absolute Masters at Bender They have so great Credit there that some days before the Scheich Bender having displeased the Dutch Commander A sign of the power of the Dutch at Bender this Commander caused the Dutch Flag to be torn down and made the Scheich humbly beseech him nay and give him Presents too to put up another The Author returns to Schiras I resolved then to go spend the Summer at Schiras where I might securely consult what I had best to do but because I had notice given me that I should not at all trust those Blades I concealed my departure and only discovered it to Master Flore Factor for the English Company who was the only person I could trust to he gave me one of his Chaters to prevent my being stopt by the Rhadars and for that effect said I was an English man. I parted from the Kervanseray Wednesday the fifteenth of April at nine of the Clock at night giving it out in the Kervanseray that I was going to Bender Congo and that they might not fire at me from the Fort as they do at all who come near it in the Night-time I crossed the Town and passed along amidst the Fields Ghetschi Next day when I was at Ghetschi there arose a Tempest of Sand in the same manner as it happens sometimes in Arabia and Egypt especially in the Spring it was raised by a very hot South Wind A Storm of Sand. which drove so much Sand that one of the Gates of the Kervanseray was half stopt up with it and the way could not be found being covered over above a Foot deep the Sand lying in heaps on all Hands This Sand was extreamly fine and salt and was very troublesome to our Eyes even in the Kervanseray where all our Baggage was covered over with it The Storm lasted from Noon to Sun-set and it was so very hot the Night following without any Wind that one could hardly fetch breath which in my Opinion was partly occasioned by the reflection of the hot Sand. Next day I felt a great pain in one Eye which made it smart as if Salt had been melted into it and this I attributed to the heat of the Night before and the Sand that had got into my Eyes though I had washed them with cold water in the Evening after the Storm was over For the next two days after we had still such hot Winds that they scorched our Faces and Hands in the same manner as the heat of an Oven would have done but so soon as we were past Lar we began to find it cold in the Night-time Those who come from Bender towards Schiras Circumspection to be used at Lar. Return to Schiras ought to take special care to cover their Stomach very well at Lar otherwise they will not fail to fall sick At length thanks be to God I arrived at Schiras the first of May. CHAP. VI. Of the Antiquities that are to be seen betwixt Schiras and Tschehel-minar I Shall take the occasion of this second abode at Schiras to give the description of what is most lovely and curious to be seen in that Country though indeed there be no more but ruins whereof the Antiquity is not well known nor what they have been in former times but they deserve to be seen by Travellers who go into those parts and
and at the Guard four Fingers broad at least but growing broader and broader it is five Fingers broad at the end and draws not into a point this man seems to present to the Woman a Posie of Flowers with the Right Hand and rests his Left Hand upon the Handle of his Sword. A little farther about ten Fathom from thence and at the same height of Ground Two other Figures there are two other Figures of the same bigness of which the first is of a young Man without a Beard whose curled Locks hang backwards behind his Head on it he carries a great Globe it might be taken for a Turban but in my Opinion it appears not to be his Head-attire though he hath no other he looks towards the neighbouring Figure and hath the Left Hand shut wherein he seems to hold somewhat the Right Hand is stretched out as if ready to receive what is presented to him The Figure that is by him seems to be of a Woman for she hath pretty round Breasts nevertheless she wears a Sword by her side like to that which I have just now described her Head-attire seems to be the Cap of a Dervisch somewhat long and all round upon her Left Shoulder she hath a little Basket or perhaps it is only the Tresses of her Hair she seems to present something with her Right Hand to the man who is looking towards her and her Left Hand is upon the Handle of her Sword. All these Figures seem to have the Body naked and only some few foldings of a Garment towards the Legs In short the two last are almost in the same posture and action as the two first but one cannot tell what it is they present to one another for the extremities of their Hands as well as many other parts of their Bodies are worn out and eaten by the weather The Work appears very well hath been good though all the proportions be not exactly observed I looked about all along the side of the Hill but could see no more and I believe there has been some Temple there This place is so covered with Trees and encompassed by Marishes by reason of the many Springs thereabouts that few people know of it and of all the Franks the Reverend Father Athanasius a bare-Footed Carmelite living at Schiras Father Athanasius was the first that found it out by chance as he was walking in that place and it being my fortune to pass by Schiras sometime after he led me to it The people of the Country call that place Kadem-Ghah that is to say the place of the step Kadem-Ghah because say they I know not what old Man walking in that place a Spring of water gushed out under his Foot it is but a few steps wide of the High-way that leads to the Salt-Lake an Agatsch distant from thence Though all these Antiquities be curious enough yet they are not that which they call the Antiquities of Tschehel-minar so much mentioned in Relations and which are in effect the same at present in Persia as the Pyramids are in Egypt that is to say the finest thing in its kind that is to be seen and the most worthy of observation One may go thither in coming from Ispahan by Main The way to Tschehel-Minar or Abgherim and the way is not long but the way to it from Schiras is by Badgega which is the first Kervanseray upon the Road to Ispahan and after two hours march from thence there are two ways whereof that to the Left goes to Ispahan you must leave it and take the way to the Right Hand which leads to Tschehel-minar Having Travelled about two hours and a half that way in a pretty good Road amongst Heath there is a Village on the Right Hand where one may stop and bait Having passed this Village you enter into a great Plain where after you have Travelled three quarters of an hour you pass over a Causey a Fathom and a half broad and about an hundred paces in length a little after you find another three hundred paces long and a little beyond that just such another having Travelled a little farther you go over another Causey five hundred paces in length beyond which after three quarters of an hours Journy you come to a great Bridge of two large Arches which is called Pouli-Chan in the middlemost Pillar of it there is a Room with some steps to go down to it which would be very delightful to take the fresh Air in if it were not uninhabitable by reason of the prodigious swarms of Gnats that haunt it The River of Bendemir runs under this Bridge and is at that place broad deep and full of Fish the water looking very white they assured me that it swells so high in the Winter-time that it reaches over the Arches almost level with the Parapet after you have passed that Bridge and Travelled an hour longer in a Plain you leave a Village upon your Left Hand and an hour after another to the Right and then within another hour you come to the Village called Mirchas-Chan near to which is Tschehel-minar being but a quarter of an hours Journy from it This Village stands in a most spacious and Fruitful Plain watered with a great many waters there you have a Kervanseray to Lodge in because in the Winter-time it is the way from Ispahan to Schiras and going Eastward but somewhat to the South from this Village you arrive at Tschehel-minar CHAP. VII Of Tschehel-minar and Nakschi Rustan I Am of their Opinion who will have Tschehel-Minar to be part of the Ancient Persepolis which was built in the place where at present stands the large Burrough of Mirkas Chan not only because of the River which Diodorus Siculus and others mention to be there under the name of the little Araxes which is now called Bendemir but also of many other marks that cannot be called into question All Tschehel-Minar is built upon the skirt of a Hill. The first thing that presents to view upon ones arrival is a great Wall of blackish stones four Foot thick which supports a large Platform or Terrass reaching from South to North about five hundred Paces in length to the West side it hath the Plain to the East beyond a great many magnificent ruins of Buildings whereof it makes the beginning it hath the Hill which bending into a Semicircle forms a kind of Amphitheatre that embraces all those stately ruins to ascend to the top of this Terrass you must go to the farther end of it towards the North where at first you will find two Stair-Cases The first Stairs of Tschehel-Minar or rather one Stair-Case of two ascents or if you please a double Stair-Case which on each side hath fix and fifty steps of a greyish stone and are so easie that Horses go up them without any difficulty having ascended by one of the sides of that double Stair-Case up to a square Landing-place where one may
Frontispiece there is Table of Bas-reliefs reaching down to the Ground whereon Men are represented Fighting on Horse-back but it is somewhat defaced Two steps from thence there is another Table of Bas-reliefs two Foot from the Ground about a Fathom and a half high and three Fathom broad where you see a Gigantick Horse-man Armed Capapie having a Crown on his Head with a Globe upon it his Left Hand is upon the Handle of his Sword and with the Right he lifts up a Woman whom he holds by the Arm near to whom there is a Man kneeling and in supplicant manner streatching forth his Hands The people of the Country say that this Horse-man is Rustan who would carry away his own Daughter and that his Son the Maids Brother beseeches him to let her alone Behind the Horse-man there is another great Figure standing upright but much defaced it hath a long Cap round at the top this Figure is all over full of Inscriptions which seem to be Greek but so worn out that it cannot be Read four steps from thence there is another Frontispiece like the other two at the bottom whereof there is a Bas-relief but all defaced Twenty paces from thence there is a fourth Frontispiece more of the same likeness with a Bas-relief underneath representing men a fighting but it is a little ruinated Opposite to this place at a few paces distance from the Hill there is a square Building A square Building in fashion of a Tower three Fathom broad and four high with a Terrass over on the top there is a kind of Architrave of the Dorick Order all of a white shining stone like Marble though it be not all the stones are three Foot high or thereabouts and three Fathom long so that there is but one in each Lay of the front The Gate of this Building looks to the Hill and is three Fathom high and one Fathom wide it is above half filled up with large stones that have been put into it In the Lintel of the Gate there are two great round holes into which went the ends of the shutting Gates that served for Hinges On each of the other three faces there are six inches and two other square ones over them but less they are all of greyish and black stone and sixty paces from thence there is a round piece of Bas-relief An Altar An hundred paces more foreward there is a kind of a round Altar cut in the Rock two Fathom from the Ground at the bottom of which there is a Man with a Head-piece on his Head his two Hands rest upon his Sword which stands before him with the point downwards he is accompanied with five Men on his Right Hand and four on his Left all with Head-pieces on their Heads but of these five there is no more to be seen but the Bust all the rest from the Feet up to the Breast being as it were behind a stone or Parapet which is on each side none but he in the middle is seen all over all of them have their Hair and Beards made up in Tresses Bas-relief six paces from thence there is a piece in Bas-relief a Fathom from the Ground one Fathom and a half high and four Fathom broad representing two Gigantick Horse-men facing one another so that their Horses Heads touch one of the Horse-men hath a long Cap round at the top with a brim four Fingers broad in his Left Hand he holds a great Truncheon in manner of a Scepter and with his Righ the pulls a Ring which the other pulls also with his Right Hand and hath a Globe on his Head if we may believe the people of the Country these two Horse-men are Rustan Sal and Rustan Colades behind this latter there is a great Figure of a Man or Woman somewhat defaced streatching forth the Hand to hinder as it were the Globe which is on his Head from falling to the side of each Horse there is a Vessel for holding of water fastened with Chains and shaped like a Pine-Apple after the manner of the Levantines who carry always a Mataras full of water A Pillar upon a Rock Some paces from thence upon a rising Rock there is a Pillar four Foot high a little farther likewise upon a rising Rock there are two Pedestals by one another and besides there are other Pillars scattered up and down here and there The people of the Country believe that all these things have been made by Dgius or Spirits Dgius or Spirits whom as they say Solomon who had power over them commanded to Build them The truth is whoever were the Work-men they have been Artists for they are well done and of curious design The good people say more that in the Chamber of the first Frontispiece there is a Treasure but that one cannot come at it because one must go over a Wheel of stone that is in the Chamber and that a Man having once attempted it the Wheel turned and crushed him to pieces they may say what they please as to that because to get up to it there is need of such long Ladders that few would be at the pains to attempt it They say also that on another neighbouring Hill beyond this there was a Gate of a City which they call the City of Solomon another at that Pillar I mentioned The Town of Solomon which is to be seen on the Right Hand as you come from Mirchas-Chan and a third on the other side of Tschehel-minar if so that Town must have had above eight Agatsch in Circumference As for Tschehel-minar many are of Opinion that it was the Palace of the Kings of Persia who held their usual Residence in Persepolis which Alexander the Great being Drunk Burnt at the instigation of a Miss but besides that this place is too little for the compass of a Palace that might answer the magnificence of the Kings of Persia in those days the Tombs that are in the Hill shew the contrary moreover since these places seem never to have been covered I had rather think that it hath been some Temple and that is probable enough because of the Pillars on which were Idols and all know that the Temples of the Ancient Persians were uncovered These Buildings have been spoilt not only by the weather but also by Men especially by a Governour of Schiras whom covetousness prompted to make great havock of them because he was obliged to defray the charges of all whom Curiosity brought thither to see them which was like to have cost him his Head the King having been extreamly displeased at so unworthy an action At Nakschi Rustan and Tschehel-minar there are Birds as big as Black-Birds which have the Beak of the same bigness and length but both it and the rest of their body is of a Flesh-colour so that one would think at first fight that these Birds had no Feathers unless on the Head Wings and Tail which are black they are
always to be seen about the many holes that are amongst the ruins they are to be seen sometimes also at Schiras but that is only in the time of Mulberries of which at least of the white they are very greedy these Birds in bulk and shape are much like Starlings CHAP. VIII The Road to Bender-Rik I Bargained with a Muletor at Schiras to go to Bender-Rik at the rate of a Toman for five Mules for that Road is not proper for Horses which comes to ten Abassis apiece for the Mules Departure from Schiras to Bender-Rik and he obliged himself to carry us to Bender-Rik in seven days I went in the Company of the Reverend Father Denys a Polander Provincial of the bare-footed Carmelites who had two with him and I my servant We parted from Schiras Munday the eight and twentieth of September a little after midnight and went out of the Town by the West Gate which is called the Gate of Bassora because that is the way to it though there be neither Gate nor Walls at the place We took our way streight West Travelling in a Plain more fruitful in Bushes than any thing else about three a Clock in the Morning we past by a little wretched Kervanseray where there are Rahdars who demanded Toll of us but we answered that we were Franks and had an Order from the King not to pay any thing only we made them a Present of five Casbeghis This Kervanseray is two Parasanges from Schiras and is called Tschenar Rahdar that is to say the Rahdars Maple though there be no Maple-Trees there Near to it there is a new built Bridge of three Arches as I take it under which runs a little water but which in the Winter-time must be impetuous for near to that Bridge I saw the ruins of another which in all appearance hath been beat down by the water This water is called Abtschenar-Rahdar We past over that Bridge Abtschenar-Rahdar and half an hour after crossed another new one also of two Arches over the same River near to which are also the ruins of another Bridge These Bridges are called Poul-Hhadgikol that is to say the Bridge of Hhadgikol which perhaps Poul-Hhadgikol was the name of him that built them A quarter of an hour after we passed by the ruins of a Kervanseray that had been very spacious and seated upon the side of the same River which in appearance beat it down also though it stood upon a pretty high Bank the Chanel of the River being very deep at that place A quarter of an hour after we foarded over that River and began to ascend in a way that was pretty good except in some passes About half an hour after five we crossed a little Canal About six a Clock we were got into a Plain all full of Heath as the Hills about were and had very good way Half an hour after nine we came to lovely running streams The River of Preskiaft that come from a River called Preskiaft which waters the Country thereabout About ten of the Clock we met with two ways the one pretty narrow on a very steep Hill which has the same River running by the foot of it that is very deep there and if the Mules made a false step in this way which is high above the River they would not fail to fall into it and be in danger either of breaking their Necks or drowning The other way is on the other side of the River which may be crossed in several places where the water is shallow this was the way I took because it pleased my Mule so to do to whom I freely gave the Reins being persuaded that it was better acquainted with the Road than I was one of our Company who followed the other way had almost tumbled into the River Mule and all together perhaps the way that I took is covered with water in Winter and so there is a necessity of going the Hill way About half an hour after ten we came to a wretched Kervanseray which is no more but some sorry Vaults all black with Soot and full of Horse and Pullets dung however we had shelter there There are some Rahdars that live in that place to whom we gave a few Casbeghis The River of Preskiaft runs in a bottom at the back of this Kervanseray where there are four Arches remaining of a Bridge that has been in that place which are mightily decayed the water runs not under these Arches but at the side of them where the ruins of the rest of the Bridge may still be seen which seems to have been of eight Arches The River is not very deep at that place but very broad and one may see that in Winter it swells very high and overflows a great part of the Country about Hadgi-Zenon This Kervanseray is named Hadgi-Zenon and is eight Parasanges or Agatsch from Schiras We parted from Hadgi-Zenon Tuesday the nine and twentieth of September at two a Clock in the Morning and continued our way Westward We had not gone an hundred paces when we past over a new Bridge of four Arches under which runs the River Preskat afterwards we found a great many lovely waters that fall down from the Hill and I believe that in the Winter-time they overflow all the Land thereabouts which is very barren and stony bearing nothing but Heath wild Chess-Nuts and such like Trees Half an hour after three we came to a Hill called Estou Asbi Estou-Asbi and having a good way to go up an hour after we came to the top of it where there is a Lodge for Rahdars whom we satisfied with a Present of a few Cosbeghis then we had a little down Hill till about six a Clock we came into a large Plain full of water in the middle that makes a Marish which made us fetch a compass about for the space of two hours and above to gain a very high Mountain called Andgira Mount Andgira covered with Turpentine and other wild Trees about a quarter after eight we were got there and having passed by a Kervanseray Chadgeghi called Chadgeghi at the foot of it we mounted up a very stony way for the space of a long hour and then went down on the other side till about eleven a Clock when finding good water we rested at half way down the Hill under a Tree there being no Lodging but a kind of Cottage where commonly lives a man that sell Victuals and who was not there at that time it is six Parasanges from Hadgi-Zenon to this Menzil for so they call a Lodging place in those Quarters We parted from thence on Wednesday the last of September about two of the Clock in the Morning and having kept going down Hill still about an hours time we then Travelled on two hours Westward in a great Plain where there are a great many Oaks and other wild Trees which made the way that was of it self
good very pleasant Destberm Half an hour after five we came to a Lodge of Rahdars which is at the end of the Plain and is called Destberm commonly they make it a Menzil or days Journy from Chadgegih to Destberm because of the trouble of climbing over the Mountain which extreamly tires the Mules There being no water in that place but what is taken out of a beastly open Cistern we gave the Rahdars some Casbeghis and so went on A quarter of an hour after we found a Sepulchre in form of a square Chappel covered with a Dome and pretty near it two Cisterns We went downwards afterwards Chotal Ouscheneck by a very rugged descent called Chotal Ouscheneck in former times it was more rugged and I believe that neither Men nor Beasts could pass it but the Mother of Imam-Couli-Chan Governour of Schiras called Voli Naamet caused the passage to be made as now it is The Rock in many places is cut in the fashion of steps in other places it is Paved and all over where the way is so narrow that Beasts making a false step were in danger of tumbling into a Precipice there is a Parapet made of stone about a Foot and a half high and a Foot thick so that now it is passable though a great way of it one must alight and lead being come to the bottom of that descent for near three quarters of an hour we had very stony way and then came to a lovely Spring of water which spreads so over the Country that with its waters it covers a very large Plain it is called Abghine We saw that water the day before Abghine from Mount Andgira though there be a great Hill betwixt them We passed it at a narrow place upon a Bridge of two Arches which is all ruinous and is called Poul-Abghine Poul-Abghine Having Travelled on two hours and a half more over a barren Plain about half an hour after ten we came to Karzerum six Parasanges and a half from the last Stage Karzerum Karzerum is a Town of many Houses but all so miserable that in our Country the greatest Compliment that could be put upon it would be to call it Bourg or Village because it has a Market-place it depends on the Vizir of Schiras and is Commanded by a Kelonter there are two or three good Kervanserays it it and the water they drink there is brought above half a League from the Town but both in it and the Kervanserays there is water good enough for Beasts and the Kitchin. Here they would have seized our Mules to carry Provisions for the King to Ispahan but the Reverend Father Provincial going to wait upon the Kelonter to represent to him that we were Franks so soon as the Kelonter saw him he ordered that our Mules should not be taken because we were strangers They have a great many Grapes and Melons here and make Wine that may be made use of We parted from Karzerum Friday the second of October at two of the Clock in the Morning and Travelled on still Westwards in very good way Half an hour after four we passed by a sorry Village called Dris Dris where they have no water to drink but what is taken out of a little Lake About six a Clock we passed by a little River that runs in a bottom and there is a way along the side of it we took not that way but leaving both it and the River struck off to the Left Hand by a very stony way about seven a Clock we began to go up Hill in bad way and a quarter of an hour after found a Lodge of Rahdars to whom we made a Present of some Casbeghis and kept on mounting upwards till about eight a Clock and then having descended a little we came into a very even Plain but which produces nothing though there be not one stone in it Having Travelled therein an hour we passed by a Village called Kangh Turkon Kangh Turkon Kamaredge and still kept on in the same Plain till we came to a Village called Kamaredge at the farther end of it This Village is six Parasanges from Karzerum we arrived there half an hour after nine and Lodged in a House that was lent us for some small Gratuity the water we drank there is taken out of a Well close by We parted from that Village Saturday the third of October half an hour after three a Clock in the Morning A little after we passed by a Kervanseray called Kervanseray Khodgia Belfet it is not opened but in the Winter-time Khodgia Belfet when it Rains or Snows the rest of the Year it is shut and no body Lodges in it We continued going Westward but the way was very bad about four a Clock the way was so narrow that only one Mule could pass at a time it lyes betwixt two Hills that are very near one another but it is not above an hundred paces long immediately after we entered into another narrow pass among the Hills where the way is no broader and we went down Hill in very bad way until three quarters of an hour after four there we found a Caravan of several Mules and Camels which were coming from Bender Rik and we met with several others afterward every day Then we went up Hill for about a quarter of an hour and afterwards went down Hill again till six of the Clock in very irksome way and amongst dreadful Precipices being steep black Rocks where one is often forced to alight for fear of tumbling headlong After that we had good way but still amongst Hills until half an hour after six that we found a great broad and deep River Roudchone Bouschavir called Roudchone Bouschavir the water of which tasts a little sweetish the source of it is near the Town called Scheleston Scheleston which is a days Journy from Karzerum Northwards and it loses it self in the Sea towards Bender-Rik we Coasted along it at first in a Plain for the space of an hour and after that mounting during a quarter of an hour we continued our Journy by a flat way for another quarter and then lost fight of the River for the space of half an hour going up Hill all the while until about half an hour after nine we joyned it again and Travelled on along the sides of it an hour and a half in very good way There are many Villages thereabouts and much Cultivated Land some of which bears Tobacco I also saw in several places that fatal Shrub Kerzebreh About ten a Clock we Foarded over a large Brook that falls into the River of Bouschavir Bouschavir Sirt This may very well be the River which Sanson marks in his Map by the name of Sirt we Foarded it again a quarter of an hour after and then five times an end so that in less than half an hours time we crossed it six times having the water always up
midnight we had a fresh Gale from North-West Monday Morning the twelfth of October the Wind slackned very much but changed not and therefore we weighed Anchor at half an hour after eight and standing away South-West we were soon after becalmed Towards Noon we Rowed a little and half an hour after had a breeze from South-West with which we bore away North-West till three in the Afternoon when we entered into the River Caron that comes from the Hills above the Town Souster Caron Souster Khusistan Susa Ahasuerus Coaspes Choasp Tiripari Zeimare which is the Capital Town of Khusistan and was in ancient times the Town of Susa where Ahasuerus held his Court. This River of Caron must be the Coaspes of the Ancients nay they assured me that there is still at present near to the Town of Souster a Hill called Choasp where the River of Caron which Sanson calls Tiripari Tiritiri and Zeimare hath its source but what reason he has for these names I cannot tell since no body could give me any account of them though I have enquired of many who all told me they knew of no such thing On the Right Hand to the West there is an Isle called Dorghestan and on the Left or towards the East Dorghestan Gheban is the Island of Gheban the point whereof is called Mouele and Gheban because all that Country is called Gheban and is the limits of the Kingdom of Bassora on that side In that place to the Left Hand there is a piece of of Palm-Tree-Wood fixed in the Ground to serve for a signal when it his high water not to go beyond it and they call that signal Dgioudoh The Land here on both sides depends on the Basha of Bassora The usual way to Bassora is by Sea to the mouth of Schat-el-Aarab The way to Bassora which they enter and go by water to Bassora but we put in to the River because our Sea-men who had nothing to do at Bassora being only come to take in Dates imposed upon us telling us that we must go to Gheban to take in fresh water and wood which we wanted and that it was also the shortest cut to Bassora but that great Barks went not that way because it was not deep enough which we too easily believed So soon as we were got into the River we came to Anchor in a Fathom water At low water the River at that place is but very little salt and a little higher it is fresh even when it is Flood Being Flood about midnight our men fell to their Oars but Rowed not above an hour and then came to an Anchor The Country about seems to be very good Land it is low even and green on all Hands and we saw many Cows there feeding in the Meadows which look much like the Meadows of Holland Tuesday the thirteenth of October about ten a Clock in the Morning our Sea-men went a shoar and Towed us up till one of the Clock when being over against a Village where there are a great many Palm-Trees we hoisted Sail with a North-West Wind that lasted not long and so came to an Anchor again Our men went a shoar to hear News as they said of Bassora and coming back in the Evening told us that all things were in confusion at Bassora that the Basha was marched with his whole Army towards Bagdad and that all Barks were taken up for Transporting of Soldiers and that therefore they durst go no farther but were resolved to return empty to Bender-Rik This was all false A cheat of the Sea-men and the truth was they had no mind to go any farther designing to take in their Cargoe at the place we were at where there is plenty of Dates and that was the reason they had brought us that way Nevertheless we must pretend to believe all the Knaves told us and try to find another Bark to carry us to Bassora We sent then a servant next day to look for one and he brought us a small thing wherein the men promised in four and twenty hours to carry us to the Town for six Abassis which we gave them These Barks are flat bottomed about a Fathom high one and a half broad and about five Fathom long The Stern is very low but the Head is as high again and draws into a sharp point as the Gondolos of Venice Barks on the River of Caron These Barks are not Caulked but only Pitched over on the outside which they do in the manner following When they are to Pitch a Daneg for so they call that sort of Bark in Arabick ten or twelve paces from the Daneg they make a Furnace of Earth the upper part whereof is made like a Cauldron into that they put the Pitch and the fire underneath and when the Pitch is almost melted but not altogether liquid a man comes with a little wet Shovel in his Hand and another lays some of this Pitch upon it The Pitching of a Daneg and then puts water upon the Pitch which the first carrying to the Daneg and stirring the Pitch with a piece of Wood to which it does not stick he that is working at the Daneg takes the Pitch in his Hand and dawbs it as one would do Plaster upon the Daneg and then with a Rowler which is not altogether round he spreads it upon the Vessel and in that manner Pitches it all over on the outside These Barks are made very strong the sides being about a Foot thick and all the Planks are Nailed with great Nails such as are driven into Gates in France they have likewise a Mast of an indifferent bigness Indeed these Barks make but heavy way especially in the middle of the water where they cannot use a Sail if they have not the Wind in Poop and nevertheless they load them so deep that they are not above half a Foot above water We embarked in one of these Boats about half an hour after three in the Afternoon it was full of a kind of very long green Rushes that have a great point at the end whereof they make very fine mats Our Crew consisted of two Sea-men and a Master the two men Towed us on Land till half an hour after six that we came before a Village to the Left Hand there we cast Anchor our Men unloaded all the Rushes and going afterwards to the Village we we saw no more of them till next day This is a great Village and has a square Castle with eight Towers to wit one at each corner and one in the middle of each side but they are all of Earth and so thin that a double Musket could batter them all down This place is called Koutmian Koutmian that is to say Castle Mian and they make many Danegs there The Country of Gheban reaches from thence to the mouth of the River of Caron and in all that space the Land on both sides the River is called Gheban it
no Bark to come to Bassora laid an Embargo also upon all Vessels that were at Bassora loaded with Goods for Bagdad They had other false News at that time at Bassora to wit that the King of Persia was coming to Besiege it False News from Persia and some people of Fashion asked me the News at the Custom House but I put them out of trouble as to that assuring them that in Persia there was no appearance that the King had any thoughts of making War which was true enough They then told me how much they were troubled at the News they had of twenty French Corsairs being at Sea False News of the French raised by the Dutch. which very much terrified all the Merchants This report was raised by the Dutch who purposely broached it that all the Merchants might put their mony on board of Dutch Ships and not in Mahometan and this News was the more easily believed that it was known every where now that the French were coming to settle a Trade in the Indies and they were persuaded that all our Vessels were Pirats French Corsairs because three Years before two French Corsairs came to Moca just about the time that the Vessels put out from the Port of Moca carrying nothing but mony to Surrat from whence they bring Goods which is at the end of August The French took all these Vessels and went off If they had had a little more skill in those Seas they might have done more for they might have come into the Gulf of Persia about the end of October and there waited for the Ships of Bassora at which time they carry a great deal of mony for Trafficking in the Indies and they might easily have made themselves Masters of them and therein of several millions in ready mony there being none but Indians on Board of all these Vessels who make no resistance and that being done they might as easily have got away but they did not do it in short they left such a terrible consternation on all these Seas Fear of the French. that to name but the French to them is enough to make them all shake for fear CHAP. X. Of Bassora The situation of Bassora BAssora the Capital Town of the Kingdom or Bashaship of that name lies at the farther end of Arabia the Desart which is to the West of it and near Arabia the Happy that lies to the South two days Journy below the place where the two Rivers Euphrates and Tygris joyn upon the Banks of Schat-El-Aarab which is no other than Euphrates and Tygris joyned into one it is eighteen Leagues from the Sea The Latitude of Bassora The variation of the Loadstone The distance of Bagdad from Bassora and in the thirtieth or one and thirtieth Degree ten Minutes North Latitude The Needle declines there about thirteen Degrees and a half from North to West and from thence to the Indies it always declines about eleven Degrees and a third some say a half from North to West It is two days Journy by Land from Bagdad and by water they come from Bagdad to Bassora in great Barks in fifteen or sixteen days time and most commonly in eighteen but the Barks that go from Bassora to Bagdad are commonly fifty sixty and sometimes fourscore days in the Voyage The Circuit of Bassora because they are only drawn by men This is a great Town encompassed with Walls of Earth that are about six hours march in Circuit but they contain a great many void spaces where there are neither Houses nor Gardens It hath two Gates The Gates of Bassora the one called the East Gate and the other the West and the Gate of Bagdad because by it they go out of the Town when they are bound for Bagdad The situation of Bassora advantageous This Town in my Opinion is so advantageously seated that it might be made one of the richest and most lovely Cities in the World It would certainly be very pleasant if it were a little better built and Gardens made all along the sides of the Canal that comes from Schat-El-Aarab and runs through the whole Town For the Land about if they would Manure it and Plant Trees therein I believe it would bear any thing for the Climate is hot and the Soil of a greyish colour which seems to me to be very fertile being twice a day moistened by the River-water which the Tide carries up four days Journy and a half from Bassora the water rising at the Town a Fathom and a half but yet not salt some have told me that the Ground is too salt to bear any thing but Palm-Trees which thrive much in salt Ground Abundance of Palm-Trees and grow in greater numbers in the Country about Bassora than in any other Country in the World and to shew that it is really salt they say that if one dig two Fathom deep in the Earth they will find salt-salt-water but perhaps it is not so in all places However it be it is certain that from November forwards that Country produces a great many Herbs as Succory Spinage Herbs and Fruits at Bassora and other Pot-Herbs and in several Gardens there are very good Apricots which last all June and July and in July and August also many Grapes as in October Melons water-Melons Pomegranats and Limons the truth is none of these Fruits will keep because of the South-East Wind that reigns during that time and is hot and moist There are pretty enough publick places in Bassora and amongst others the Meidan which is before the Bashas Palace and is very large The Meidan of Bassora there are in it twelve pieces of Cannon or Culverines mounted on their Carriages near that Palace and there are also several very fair Bazars in the Town I said that this might be made one of the richest Cities in the World The Port. of Bassora commodious for all Countries because of the Commerce that might be settled there with all parts almost of the Habitable World. Its Port is good and very safe being twelve Leagues from the Sea in the fresh water of Schat-El-Aarab and it is so broad and deep that the greatest Vessels may come to it without danger all the Goods of Europe might be brought thither by the Mediteranean because being once come to Aleppo it would not be difficult to Transport them to Bi r which is but four days Journy from Aleppo and there they might be embarked on the Euphrates on which they might in ten days time come to Rousvania from whence there is but a days Journy to Bagdad where they might embark them on the Tygris and in fifteen or sixteen days time they would come to Bassora nay and with a very little pains and industry the River Euphrates might be made Navigable for great Vessels only by clearing the Channel in some places where it is choaked up with great stones and that is the reason
made himself Master of Dgezire Besides that the Basha of Bassora holds in Arabia Foelix the Port El-Catif El-Catif Lehhsa and the Town of Lehhsa which formerly belonged to a Basha Tributary also to the Grand Seignior but twelve years since he took the Port Catif and since that having a mind also to Lehhsa he sent thither an Arab Scheik with many Arabs at whose approach the Basha of Lehhsa fled leaving them a free entry into that Town which they plundered but afterwards the Arab Scheik slighted the Basha of Bassora saying that he had not taken that Town for him but for himself and recalled the Basha of Lehhsa to whom he delivered back the Town in consideration of a sum of mony which that Basha paid him In fine last year one thousand six hundred sixty and four the Basha of Bassora finding the Grand Signior engaged in a War with the Emperour and thinking that the War would be of long continuance in the month of November put on Shipboard an Army which The Basha makes War. as I was assured consisted not of above five or six thousand Men with some Cannon though the News flew into all places that they were seven or eight times so many This Army having Landed at Port Catif and marched from thence to Lehhsa which is but three days Journy distant they presently made themselves Masters of it without any resistance the Basha of Lehhsa being upon their approach fled to Constantinople where he made his complaints to the Grand Signior who presently thereupon ordered the Bashas of Aleppo Orfa Diarbeck Mosul Bagdad and some others to the number of eight to joyn and restore the Basha of Lehhsa to his Government and turn the Basha of Bassora out of all This Basha was not daunted for all that but making a shew as if he intended to be upon his defence and indeed putting himself in a posture to do so he fortified Lehhsa sending thither a great deal of Artillery whilst on the other Hand he sent to the Port to inform the Grand Signior that he ought not to concern himself in his Conquest because he was ready to pay him for his new acquisitions the same Tribute that he formerly received It is certain that if the Turk had not made Peace with the Emperour so soon this Basha would have carried his Conquests farther on thinking of nothing less than to have made himself Master of Mascat Now though this State of Lehhsa comprehend no more but the two Towns Catif and Lehhsa it is nevertheless very considerable and of great extent having a great many good Villages but the principal Riches of that Country consists in the the Traffick of Indian Commodities which are Transported from Mascat to Port Catif from whence they come to Lehhsa Indian Commodities at Mascat and thence are dispersed all over Arabia Foelix and chiefly at Mecha where they sell very well when the Caravans come from all Parts to perform their Devotions there Port Catif is on the main Land in Arabia Foelix over against the Isle of Bahrin by corruption called Bahrem which is only seven Leagues distant from it Catif The Isle of Bahrem though it belong not to the Turk being under the Dominion of the King of Persia This Island is very famous for the Fishing of Pearls there in the months of June July August and September It must needs be great if one may judge of it by the great number of Barks that are employed therein which amount to two or three thousand In the Isle of Bahrin there is a Town and a Fort distant from it a large League and a half Though there be good water in that Town yet the Fishermen take not in fresh water there they find it more commodious to draw it out of the bottom of the Sea Three Springs of fresh water in the Sea. where there are three Springs of good water yet not all in one place but here and there and all above two Leagues distant from the Town Signor Emanuel Mendez Henriquez Agent for the King of Portugal at Congo hath often told me the way how they draw this water which is thus An extraordinary way of drawing fresh water out of the bottom of the Sea. The Barks go near to the place where the Springs are which they know by the bearing of the Island at high water there is two Fathom water in those places but when the Sea is out they have not above three Foot water and many times they are on dry Ground for Bahrem is encompassed with Banks of Sand that run out a great way where there are such flats that Vessels cannot pass them but amongst these Banks there are deep Channels which the Vessels keep and whatsoever storm may blow at Sea the Vessels that are in these Channels are safe and secure When these Barks are come near the Wells they stay till low water and then they plant two Oars in the Sand one on each side of the Well where they intend to water at then they strain a Rope under water from one Oar to the other We must know that upon every one of these Wells the Arabs have always the half of a Jarr to wit the upper half where the mouth is which may be called an Earthen Pipe they put the wider end upon the mouth of the Spring and thrust it down above four inches in the Sand they dawb it besides all round with Plaster and Bitumen that the Salt water may not get in when these half Jars break or are worn out they take care to put another in the place of them after that the Fishermen then have planted the Oars and fastened the Rope a Man goes down into the Sea with a Borrachio stopt and Diving down his Head puts himself under the strained Rope that so the force of the fresh water that gushes out of the Jarr may not raise him up again for it gushes out with great impetuosity and then he claps the mouth of his Borrachio to the mouth of the Jarr which being narrow and opened is immediatly filled with fresh water when it is full he he stops it again and brings it up to the Bark where he empties his fresh water and then goes down again for more till the Bark be supplied This Portuguese Gentleman told me that it was very easie to be done and that he himself had been so curious as to go and fill a Borrachio there Now I am speaking of Bahrem The way of Fishing for Pearls I will here relate the manner of the Pearl Fishing as the same Emanuel Mendez Henriquez who hath been at it told me This Fishing begins about the end of June and lasts till the end of September During this time there are to be seen about Bahrem above two or three thousand Fishermens Barks all Arabs who pay severally a due to the Prince whose Subjects they are for their permission to Fish and besides each Bark pays to
Captain making use of the occasion failed not to tell the Merchants who waited for our Ship that she would not come this year which they believed to be true and went aboard with their mony on his Ship. All this proceeded from the fault of the Vikil that stayed behind at Bassora who detained the Ship in the Harbour a Fortnight longer than he should have done to get on Board some Goods which payed not above an hundred Piastres Freight and in the mean while he lost the Freight of a great deal of Goods and Mony and of many Passengers that were at Carek Congo and Comoron who embarked in the Ships which touched at these Ports before us When we had put a shoar all the Goods and the Man who was to take care of them we weighed Anchor three quarters of an hour after seven making all the Sail we could and Steering away South South-East with a very easie Wind about ten a Clock we were becalmed till midnight when there blew a little Gale at East but as easie as the former and with it we bore away South Next day about two or three a Clock in the morning we Sailed by the Isle of Rischer which was to our Larboard This Island is very near the main Land and makes a little Port which is called Bender-Rischer a days Journy from Bender-Regh and there is a Fort on it which belonged formerly to the Portuguese At break of day we made two Ships on Head of us one of which had put out from Carek five days before us Half an hour after seven we were off of the Isle of Coucher Coucher that was to our Larboard and is a pretty big Island At eight a Clock we got a Head of one of the Ships that had been before us the other which was at some distance put us into some apprehension for a few hours time for by his manner of working he gave us cause to think that he had a mind to be up with us and we were affraid he might be a Corsair but at length he Steered the same Course that we did About ten a Clock we were becalmed Three quarters after twelve the Wind being Southerly we Steered away East A quarter after two we Steered South-East Three quarters after three a Clock the Wind chopping about to South-West we stood away South South-East And thus the Wind being but very easie did nothing but chop and change until the evening that we were becalmed Wednesday the eighteenth of November towards day having an easie Gale from East South-East we Steered our Course South South-West about half an hour after nine it blowing hard from South we bore away West South-West About three quarters of an hour after ten the Wind turned South South-East and we Steered East Half an hour after noon the Wind slackened much and about five a Clock in the evening we were becalmed About half an hour after nine we made a Sail to the Windward of us and another on Head but a great way before us we cast the Lead and found seventeen Fathom water At ten a Clock at night the Wind turned East South-East and blew pretty hard and we Steered away South South-West finding only thirteen Fathom water when we heaved the Lead After midnight we past Cape Verdestan which was to our Larboard This is a very dangerous Cape and one night several Portuguese Ships being Land-lockt there when they thought themselves far enough off of it were cast away We Sailed within three or four Leagues of it and when it was day saw it a Stern of us About half an hour after nine the Wind turned South South-East and we Steered East About noon we saw several Taranquins Half an hour after one the Wind turned South South-West and we bore away South-East We were then off and on Cape Naban to our Larboard Cape Naban and made it but very dimly but coming up more and more towards it we made it very plain and saw along the Sea-side Rocky Hills which seemed to be very steep and at the foot of them a great many Palm-Trees We continued our Course off and on with these Rocks till five a Clock that we saw the end of them at least in this place they run far up into the Land and leave a very level Coast in this low Country is the Village called Naban which gives the name to the Cape Here we cast the Lead and found only seven Fathom water there is but little water all along that Coast and therefore we presently tackt and stood off to the West about ten a Clock at night the Wind turned North-East and we Steered away South South-East Friday the twentieth of November by break of day we made the three Ships that put out the same day with us from Bassora two of which were at a pretty good distance to the Starboard and the other very near a Head of us it was this last which some days before we had taken for a Corsair we made also to our Larboard the Land of Persia but at a great distance A quarter after nine a Clock in the morning having a very easie Gale from North North-West we put out our Main and Fore-Top-Galant-Sail and kept on our Course South South-East in a short time we left all the other Ships a Stern About noon the Wind blew much fresher and about three a Clock we stood away East South-East about five a Clock we took in our Top-Galant-Sails the Mizan and Mizan-Top-Sails because it would have been dangerous to have made so much way in the night-time that was now coming on for we might have run within Land considering that the Wind freshened more and more and we bore away South South-East that we might keep without the Isle of Lara If it had been day we would have Steered our Course betwixt the main Land and that Island but we durst not venture it in the night-time being safer to leave it to the Larboard we made account to have Sailed by that Island about midnight but we saw it not though we had all along light enough to discern a little of the main Land near to which it lyes We concluded then that we had past that Isle of Lara in the night-time but next day we found that we were out in our reckoning Nevertheless seeing we did not find out our mistake till after noon about six a Clock in the morning we Steered away East bearing in towards the Land for fear we might be cast too far to the Leeward of Congo About half an hour after six our Long-Boat that was fastened to the Stern filled full of water and sunk under the surface of the Sea we presently furled all Sails but the Sprit-Sail and three Seamen swam to the Boat to fasten another Rope to it which they held by the end then they went into it and we halled it to the Leeward side of the Ship and took out a little Anchor that was in her this being done our
South South-East from the Town There were four Ships at Anchor there already and the same day four more came after us on their way from Bassora to Surrat CHAP. II. The Continuation of our Voyage from Bassora to the Indies COngo a little Town in the Kingdom of Persia lyes twenty seven degrees Congo and fifteen minutes North Latitude it stands upon the Sea-side almost at the foot of a blackish Rock which is very near the shoar and for some thousands of paces reaches from West to East it shelters all the Town from the North Wind and behind it there is a high white Hill as all the Hills along the Coast of Persia are white This Town lyes in length from West North-West to East South-East it is but very small and has a little Castle defended by three pieces of Cannon It has a safe Road for Ships though they be often tossed by high Winds whilst we were there it blew so strong an East Wind for four days time that no Boat could come or go a shoar and all the Ships that were at Anchor drove except ours though they had two Anchors a piece a broad but they being small Anchors took no strong hold in the ground but easily came home we rode it out very well with a great Anchor and all that we were affraid of was least the other Ships that drove might run foul of us as indeed it happened one night when the Wind having broken the Cables and forced a Turkish Ship from two Anchors if she had not had a third which they speedily let fall she would have put us in danger for she was just upon our Head nevertheless I never heard of any Ship cast away in that Road. The Territory of this Town is of small extent consisting of a little Plain that is to the Eastward Westward and Northward of the Town betwixt it and the Rock but this spot of ground produces good Fruits as Figs Grapes good Quinces Pears Oranges Limons very large and good Pomegranats Melons Water-Melons and plenty of good Turneps it produces also Palm-Trees and two kinds of Indian Trees to wit Mango-Trees Mango Trees Arbor de Reyzes and those Trees which are by the Portuguese called Arbor de Reyzes that is to say the Tree of Roots because their Branches take Rooting in the ground They have Schiras Wine there but it is very dear and good Brandy made of Dates There are Sulphur-Hills near this Town and Ships take in great quantities of it in flat Cakes of two or three pound weight a piece to be Transported to the Indies It is very hot in this Town but the Air is good the Water is brackish and taken out of Wells there is some pretty good but that is only for the richer sort because it is dear being brought upon Asses a Parasangue from the Town and after all it is but Well water and hath always some bad relish This Town depends on the Chan of Lar in whose absene the Schah-Bender that is to say Customer or to render it word for word King of the Port for so they call the Customers in Persia governs all This Custom-House receives a great deal of mony both for Goods Imported and unloaded there and for the Commodities of Persia that are Exported from that Port to the Indies especially within these two last years that Ships go but very seldom to Bender-Abassi because of the exactions and extorsions of the Governour of that place exacting seven Tomans for Anchorage whereas at Congo they pay much less Less to be payed at Congo than Bender-Abassi Half of the Customs of Congo belong to the King of Portugal which makes Ships from all quarters come thither when formerly they never touched there unless they had been obliged to put into it for water One half of the profit of that Custom-House belongs to the King of Portugal who after the loss of Ormus still so infested the King of Persia by his Ships that continually kept cruising along that Coast that the Persian was constrained to make peace with him upon Conditions of which this was one that he should have the half of the profits of those Customs and five Persian Horses every year and therefore the King of Portugal keeps an Agent there who has the Portuguese Colours aloft upon his House The Portuguese Augustine Monks have also a Convent and Church there The Dutch were accustomed to send a Factor thither yearly to buy the Pearls of Bahrem which are for the most part brought thither it being but fifty Leagues from Congo to Bahrem and the Pearls that go from thence to Bassora being but the smaller but this present year one thousand six hundred sixty five they have begun to settle a permanent Factory there Being at Congo I had thoughts of leaving the Ship Hopewel and to take the opportunity of a Bark for the Sindy Sindy which is the hither part of the Indies and the place where the River of Indus discharges it self into the Sea. I had two reasons to incline me to this the first that I might the more regularly make the Tour of the Indies and besides I was willing to learn at a distance news of some Hollanders my enemies who were at Surrat before I came too near them Since I had the same design at Bassora where there were two good Barks each mounted with six Brass Guns ready to set Sail for the Sindy I was resolved to have taken passage in one of them and for that end had spoken to the Reis who was a Turk of Bassora but the War of the Basha supervening he caused those Barks to be unloaded of their Goods and loaded with Corn for the Castle of Corna where he designed to maintain the brunt of the War and besides he made account in case he should be overcome to put on Board those two Barks the best of his Goods and make his escape with them not into Persia where the last time he had taken refuge there they would have Arrested him but to the Indies In the mean time that unexpected War broke all my Measures and left me none other to take for the same design because there was not a Ship at Bassora bound for that Voyage and that a little before hoping to have a passage in one of these two Barks I had let slip the occasion of a Galliot going to Congo where she expected to take in mony and then continue her Course to Sindy finding my self frustrate of my expectation I was obliged to take Shipping in the Hopewel that being come to Congo I might take the occasion of a Bark for Sindy In the beginning of December they put out from Congo for the Indies for every year in the beginning of December several small Barks Sail from Congo to Sindy but we found none there but the Galliot which set out from Bassora there being no other to make the Voyage this year I made enquiry whether or not it was
where it is used for dying red and several Bags of Tobacco for neither the Indian nor Persian Tobacco is good for any thing and cannot be taken but with a Bottle full of water through which the smoak passes before it come at the Mouth so that they who carry good Tabacco to the Indies make a great profit of it we took on Board also several Chests of Schiras Wine and our Franks of the Ships Company carried some Bags of Nuts of which they hoped to make at least fifty per cent Bags of Nuts but you must take notice that this is a Commodity proper only for those who have not above twenty Piastres to lay out in Trading and pay no Freight such as the inferiour Officers or Sea-men for every Officer and Sea-man may put on Board so many Bags Freight free according to the Office he discharges in the Ship. Besides all these Goods there came on Board so many people with their Chests Jarrs and other luggage and such a quantity of Pullets Goats and Kids for in that Climate it is the best and wholesomest meat the Mutton there being good for nothing A great clutter in the Ship. that the Ship was thwackt full above and below Decks and so pestered that one had much a do to stir Many more Goods were offered to be put on Board but the Captain refused them having no more spare room With all this clutter and confusion we had the vexatious humour of the Captain to suffer who was so imperious and haughty The Captain a hasty man. that the least triffle offended him and he was continually quarrelling with one or other of the three Franks who were Officers in the Ship though they never gave him a word again when the fancy took him in the Head he would break out into such extravagancies of rage that he would fall a Cursing and abusing the first Man that stood in his way and sometimes he would challenge all the Ship to fight him when he came to Surrat adding that he was an Italian yes that he was He would suffer no body to say any thing to him and to hear him vapour there was no Man greater than he he had many debates with the Soubrescart at whom he had a great Pique as with the rest of the Armenians also sometimes he was so enflamed with rage that no less would serve his turn than to go a shoar and leave the Ship but then considering on it better he would burn her or run her against a Rock All the Armenians were to have their Heads broken nay more than that he was resolved to come some time or other and take all the Ships on those Seas and a hundred such extravagancies that blew away with the Wind the Pilot had no easie task of it for he could not endure that he should give his Opinion thinking it an indignity that any Man should seem to know more than himself When he was in all his rage no body made him answer no more than if he had been a Mad-man and indeed it was commonly the Shiras Wine or Congo Brandy that raised all this huff and din. When he was at a stand whom to fall soul on he turned to the Merchants that came last on Board who had their Goods in some place upon the Deck not knowing where else to put them he would tell them that he must have so much mony to suffer their Goods to lye in such a place or else threaten to throw them over Board if they told him that they had payed so much to the Soubrescart and that they knew not where to lye he shewed them little Cabins but he would have so much mony for the hire of them that no body would take them The truth is he was not altogether in the wrong as to this last point for they suffer not commonly Goods to lye upon the Deck because they hinder the working of the Ship and as for the Cabins it is usual to let them at a very dear rate in Indian Ships because of the many Passengers they have commonly on Board An hundred and sixteen souls on Board We were in all an hundred and sixteen on Board of whom about fourscore were Passengers all Armenians except the Sieur Manuel Mendez and his Company my Man and I. A Cabin five Foot long two Foot wide and three Foot high was let for a Toman and a half during the Voyage to Surrat and the Boat was let for fourscore Abassis It is the Custom that so soon as the Ship is out at Sea the Boat is halled in and lashed to Midships betwixt the Main-Mast and Fore-Mast Cabins belonging to the Captain In short all know that there are some Cabins which belong to the Captain as also all the Deck and those who would accommodate themselves there must pay for it especially when there is a Soubrescart on the Ship who takes the mony for the passage What a Passenger is furnished with for which you are allowed no more but Salt Water and Wood and these two last too are given out every day by Measure but you must hire a place to lye and be in from the Captain or some of the Officers of the Ship who have Cabins and have no share of the mony that you pay for your passage These things are all but triffles and have but little relation to the Voyage yet I thought it might not be a miss to mention them to shew how much Ships are commonly pestered in that passage for it is to be concluded that it is the same thing on Board all other Ships A Moorish or Mahometan Ship. nay in Moorish Ships the accommodation is worse where you have no Cabins and where Christians are used like Dogs only the noise is not so great there because commonly in them the Master has absolute command and is not so great a Fool as ours was The greatest inconvenience Men endure on Board these Ships is the want of water for though every one has no more allowed him but two measures a day to drink boil his Victuals water his Poultry c. each of which measures containing three Pints or there abouts and every Horse eight measures nevertheless it is many times wanting and then happy is he that hath a Jarr Care was taken to fill our two Cisterns and all our Casks with the best water that is drank at Congo and these Cisterns held sixteen Hogsheads a piece Monday the sixth of December a West Wind coming in with the New-Moon the Ship Masulipatan made Sail in the morning without firing a Gun and all day long such as were to go with us were coming on Board until five a Clock in the evening when we weighed made Sail and Steered away South We were then in five Fathom water and about half an hour after six we found six Fathom About seven a Clock the Wind veered about to North-West and we stood away South South-East Half an
hour after eight we had seven Fathom water About ten a Clock seven Fathom a Foot less About half an hour after eleven seven Fathom and then we set the Ships Head East South East but at midnight held our Course South Next morning half an hour after five we had thirteen Fathom water and were almost at an equal distance from the Isle of Queschimo which was to the North-East of us the Isle of Nabdgion or Pitombo South South-West of us and the Isle of Tonbo South East from us and we bore away East Queschimo is a great Isle but low Land though it hath several Hillocks Queschimo yet they are all so low that Sailing along this Island on any side you may see the Mountains of the main Land over it It lyes in length East and West is not very broad but twenty Leagues long it is to the East of Congo and West South-West from Comoron it is a fruitful and well inhabited Island the West end of it not being above a good League and a half from Congo and the East end about a League from Bender-Abassi On the East part of this Island there is a Fort before which Ships may come to an Anchor in six Fathom water to take in fresh water which is very good in this place The Portuguese formerly held this Fort and it may be worth the observing that though the Island be very near the main Land yet Barks and Galliots pass betwixt the two Nabdgion or Pitombo is a little low Desart Island lying South Nabgion or Pitombo Tonbo South-East from Queschimo Tonbo is another little low flat Island and Desart affoarding only a great many Antelopes and Conys It lyes to the East of Nabdgion or Pitombo and South from Congo from which it is but four Leagues distant Manuel Mendez who had much experience in those Seas being very young when he came into that Country where he hath during the space of many years made several Voyages made me observe that if any one should build a Fort on that Island and keep some Men of War there he might easily raise a Toll upon all the Ships that Trade in those Seas for they must of necessity Sail near to that Island on the one side or other Towards the South-East it has fifteen or twenty Wells of good water but especially one that is excellent and a good Road before it When the Portuguese were possessed of Mascate they came every year with some Galliots to the Isle of Tonbo to receive the Tribute that was paid them in all the Ports of those Seas and brought thither by those who were obliged to pay it The yearly Tribute they had from the Isle of Queschimo consisted of five Persian Horses and two Falcons Congo payed four hundred Tomans Bahrem sixteen thousand Abassis and Catif the half of the yearly profits of its Customs as for Bassora there was a Portuguese Agent that resided there who received a Chequin a day of the Basha and as often as the General came to that Town the Basha made him a Present This Island is encompassed all round with Banks under water nevertheless there is almost every where four six eight nay in some places nine Fathom water About half an hour after seven the Wind slackened much and we Steered South South East about eleven a Clock we found nine Fathom water and seeing we were almost becalmed and the Tide cast us to the Westward we were obliged to drop an Anchor half an hour after one a Clock at noon We were some three Leagues off of Sannas which was to the West North-West of us to the North-West and by West it makes a Peak but the Hill is higher than the Peak we went thither to take in water for the water is very good there though it be about two Leagues from the West point of Queschimo which was to the North-West of us About four a Clock we had a Breeze from South South-West which made us Steer our Course South-East About six a Clock we had twenty Fathom water Half an hour after seven the Wind turned North-West and we bore away East at eight a Clock we found eighteen Fathom water half an hour after that eighteen and a half and we stood away East and by North. About nine a Clock the Wind freshened a little and we had twenty Fathom water at ten a Clock we had one and twenty and about half an hour after ten we Steered our Course East Wednesday the ninth of December about day break the Wind ceased and we Steered still East the Isle of Angom was to the North-East of us and not far off and on the other side to the South-East we had a Port of Arabia Foelix called Julfar which is a good Harbour where many Indian Barks carrying mony come to buy Dates Julfar Pearl-Fishing and Pearls which are Fished all along that Coast from Mascat to Bahrem there is a good Castle at Julfar From that Port to the Cape of Mosandon the Coast of Arabia the Happy is all Mountanous bearing South-West and North-East and runs so near the Persian shoar that there is but five Leagues betwixt the main Land of Mosandon and the Isle of Lareca which is close by Comoron Betwixt Julfar and Mosandon Good Ports in the Gulf which are not set down in the Maps there are a great many good Ports that are not set down in the Maps where notwithstanding several Ships may safely Winter secure from all Winds and there is every where very good water About half an hour after seven in the morning the Wind turned North-East and we Steered our Course East South-East We were then off and on with the Point of Angom which bears West North-West Angom Angom is a little low Island to the South of Queschimo and reaches along Queschimo from West North-West to East South-East no body lives in it but two or three Fishermen who keep some Goats which they sell to Ships that come there to take in fresh water where it is very good Though this Island be very near to Queschimo yet Ships may pass betwixt them and all that take in water there shoot the Streight About noon we bore away South-East and at one a Clock having cast the Lead we had eight and thirty Fathom water we were then becalmed and made no way but by the Tide of Ebb which cast us upon Arabia so that we were obliged to stand off of it as far as we could to turn the Ships Head East North-East nevertheless towards the evening we were got very near the Mountains of Arabia wherefore to keep off of that shoar as much we could we Steered away North-East and by East and the Tide of floud did us some service About seven a Clock the Wind seemed as if it would get in to North but it blew so gentlely that it hardly curled the water Thursday the tenth of December about half an hour after four in the morning we
those Spouts not that I thought the danger so very great being they were to the Leeward of us and in reality they wrought more admiration than fear in me Nevertheless there was a great consternation amongst our Company all Hands were at work and our Franks kept a heavy stir calling and asking whether any one had the Gospel of St. John they addressed themselves to me and I told them that I was a saying it and whilst they prayed me to continue one of them brought a Knife with a black handle asking if any body knew how to cut the Spouts I made answer that I had been informed of the way that some used to cut them but that I would not put it in practise because it was a bad and unlawful superstition he objected that the Spouts were so near that they would quickly fall upon the Ship and infallibly sink her and that if he knew the secret he would do it I endeavoured to reassure him and the rest from the fear which made him speak so telling them that the Spouts being to the Leeward there was not so much danger as they imagined And in short to put that thought quite out of their Heads I plainly told them that I neither would do that superstitious Art my self nor teach any body else how to do it and that for the Gospel of St. John I should willingly persist in saying it because it was a good and lawful means to procure protection from God Almighty And indeed I forbore not to say it till all the Spouts were dispersed which was not before one a Clock after noon or thereabouts A B C D E F G H I At length seeing the Air on all Hands full of tempestuous Clouds he ordered the Ships Head to be turned North-West which was very hard to be done for the Sea hindered the Ship from coming about though the Wind was then at East and we stood in to Quesomo near which about a quarter after two we came to an Anchor in seven and twenty Fathom water to the South of that Island so that we put back again above a League Then the Pilot was for bringing the Yards by the Board and lowering the Main-Top and Fore-Top-Masts fearing they might be damaged by the storm but the Captain would not give way to it During the rest of the day we had many flurries with continual showers of Rain but whilst these are blowing over I will enlarge a little in the description of the Spouts which I have only occasionally mentioned I am apt to believe that few have considered Spouts with so much attention A description of Spouts as I did those I have been speaking of and perhaps no man hath made the Observations which chance gave me the occasion of making I shall here give an account of them with that plainness I profess in the Relation of all my Travels thereby to render things mere sensible and easie to be comprehended The first we saw was to the Northward betwixt us and the Isle of Quesomo about a Musket shot from the Ship we were then Steering North-East The first thing we perceived in that place was the water boyling up about a Foot high above the surface of the Sea it looked whitish and over it there appeared somewhat like a blackish smoak but not very thick so that the whole looked very like a bundle of straw set on fire but only as yet smoaking see the Figure A this made a dull noise like to a Torrent running impetuously in a deep Valley but it was mingled with another somewhat more distinct noise resembling the loud hissing of Serpents or Geese A little after we saw as it were a dark puff of steam much like to a smoak which turning very fast tapers up to the Clouds and this puff seemed to be a Pipe as big as ones Finger see the Figure B the same noise still continuing Then the light put it out of our sight and we knew that that Spout was spent because the water boyled no more up so that it lasted not above half a quarter of an hour This being spent we saw another Southward of us which began in the same manner as the former did presently after there appeared another by the side of this Westward and then a third by the side of the second The most remote of the three might have been somewhat more than a Musket shot distant from us and all the three appeared like so many bundles of Straw a Foot and a half or two Foot high that yielded a great deal of smoak see the Figure A and made the very same noise that the first did Afterward we saw so many Pipes reaching down from the Clouds upon the places where the water bubbled and every one of these Pipes at the end which joyned to the Cloud was as large as the wide end of a Trumpet and resembled that I may explain my self intelligibly the Teat or Dug of a Beast streatched perpendicularly downwards by some weight see the Figure C. These Channels or Pipes seemed to be of a paleish white and I believe it was the water in these transparent Pipes which made them look white for in all appearance they were already formed before the water was suckt up in them as may be judged by what follows and when they were empty they appeared not in the same manner as a Glass-Pipe that is very clear being set in the light at some distance from our Eyes appears not unless it be full of some coloured liquor These Pipes were not streight but in some places crooked see the Figure D neither were they perpendicular on the contrary from the Clouds into which they seemed to be inserted to the places where they drew up the water they sloaped very Obliquely as you may see by the Figure D and what is more singular the Cloud to which the second of these three was fastened having been driven by the Wind the Pipe followed it without breaking or leaving the place where it drew up the water and passing behind the Pipe of the first they made for sometime a Saltier or the Figure of St. Andrews Cross see the Figure E in the beginning they were all three as big as ones Finger as I have already observed but in the progress the first of the three swelled to a considerable bigness I can say nothing of the other two for the last that was formed was almost as soon spent that to the South continued about a quarter of an hour but the first on the same side lasted somewhat longer and was that which put us into the greatest fear and whereof I have still somewhat more to say at first the Pipe of it was as big as ones Finger then it swelled as big as a mans Arm after that as big as ones Leg and at length as big as the Trunk of a good Tree as much as a Man can Fathom about see the Figure F. We could plainly see through that
At two a Clock we had a breeze from North-West and we bore away South-East and by East About six a Clock the Wind slackened much About seven a Clock our Ships Head stood South-East Friday the five and twentieth of December at six a Clock in the morning it blew a West North-West Wind and we steered on our Course still South-East About seven a Clock the Sky was overcast with Clouds which brought Rain with them and we saw some more Spouts at a pretty good distance and a Weather-Gall this Weather-Gall was like a Segment of a Rain-Bow rising from the Horizon about three degrees or if you will it seemed to be three Foot high Sometimes they appear over a Ship and that is commonly a presage of a Tempest and the Portuguese call this Phenomenon an Oxes Eye About eight a Clock it blew a pretty fresh Gale from North but immediately it veered about to North-East and became very weak At noon we were by our Observations in three and twenty degrees two and fifty minutes Latitude and had made from noon to noon thirteen Leagues Then the Captain and Mate made account that we were eight or ten Leagues off of the Land of Sindy and about five and twenty Leagues from Jaquelte for my part by what I could make out by my Map we were twenty Leagues off Malan and to the Southward of Malan and forty Leagues from Sindy and near threescore Leagues from Jaquelte and this agreed with the Gunners Observation but he durst not say any thing for fear of quarelling with the Captain who thought every body ignorant in respect of himself and nevertheless it was found afterwards that he and the Mate were in the mistake About four a Clock the Wind turned East South-East and we Steered North-East About five a Clock we had a great shower of Rain from a thick Cloud over head which being past we had the Wind at South-East and bore away North-East Half an hour after six we had Rain again with Lightning but we were becalmed and turned the Ships Head North-East At seven a Clock the Wind turned South and by East and we bore away East and by South Half an hour after ten we were becalmed but about eleven a Clock had a great flurry which made much noise at first and this made us furl all our Sails but a great shower of Rain soon carried it off and the Sea being smooth we Steered away South-East and by South At midnight we cast the Lead but though they veered out sixty Fathom of Rope yet we had no ground which was like to have made the Captain mad for shame for he believed us to be very near Land and he fell into a Passion with the Mate saying that he had not left importuning him for two days to heave out the Lead We were all night becalmed though at times we had several showers of Rain Saturday the six and twentieth of December about seven a Clock there blew a gentle Gale from East North-East which made us Steer away South-East and by South About half an hour after nine the Wind being all Easterly we stood away South-East then master Manuel Mendez who perceived very well that no body knew where we were advised the Captain to stand in to Land and gratifie the Pilot which highly offended him saying that since they took him for an ignorant blockhead for the future he would only sleep and take his rest and let the Ship go which way she pleased and that to content us he would put back and make the Land at Jasques however this went no farther About ten a Clock the Wind turned East North-East and we stood away South-East At noon the Gunner found by his Observations that we were in twenty three degrees forty five minutes the Captain in twenty three degrees five minutes and the Mate in twenty three fifteen minutes and in four and twenty hours we had only made about six Leagues That day we began to see of those Birds which the Portuguese call Rabo de Junco Rabo de Junco a Fowl. and are a kind of Sea-Mews only they are bigger and have the Tail all of a piece and pointed like a Rush wherefore they are called Rush Tails and they keep upon the water as the Sea-Mews do At one a Clock the Wind slackened and chopped into the East and we Steered South and by East About four a Clock we tackt and stood away North. About half an hour after five the Wind having veered about to East North-East we Steered South-East About half an hour after seven the Wind turned North-East and by East About ten a Clock it was full North-East and we bore away East South-East Sunday morning the seven and twentieth of December at five of the Clock the Wind turned East and by North and we Steered our Course South-East and by South About nine a Clock we bore away South-East because the Wind was at East North-East and blew pretty fresh Our Officers took an Observation at noon and were again of different opinions the Captain had two and twenty degrees fifty two minutes the Mate twenty three and the Gunner three and twenty degrees and two minutes and in twenty four hours we had made fourteen Leagues In the Evening a flying Fish leaped into our Ship. The Wind freshened so much in the night-time that we were obliged to furl our Top Sails Monday noon the twenty eighth of December the Captain found out by his Observation that we were in the Latitude of twenty two degrees eight minutes and the Gunner in twenty two degrees eighteen minutes in four and twenty hours we had made fourteen Leagues That day we saw a great many Weeds or Herbs floating upon the water which the Portuguese call Sargaso Herb Sargaso and that is one sign of being near the Land of the Indies many such are also to be seen towards Brasil The stalk of that Herb is small blackish and as supple as a hair the Leaves of it are long and narrow and a little jagged besides the Leaves it hath a great many small clear and transparent Berries as soft as little Goosberries that stick to the stalk This Herb grows upon the Rocks in the Sea and being torn off by storm it floats upon the water till it be cast a shoar About two in the afternoon the Wind slackened much and therefore we spread our Main-Top and Fore-Top-Sails the Sea which had been very high before growing calm and smooth within a few hours Tuesday morning the nine and twentieth of December about seven a Clock the Wind was at North North-East and we Steered our Course East At noon the Gunner found that we were in one and twenty degrees forty four minutes Latitude and that in the space of twenty four hours we had made thirteen Leagues and a half at midnight we Steered East and by South that we might keep off of the Banks that are towards Diu our Company thinking themselves nearer to
it than indeed they were Next morning we saw two Snakes upon the water Snakes upon the water are a sign of the nearness of Land. which occasioned great joy in the Ship for when they begin to see Snakes it is an infallible mark that they are not above forty Leagues off the Land of the Indies wherefore one may boldly come to sounding and indeed when at nine a Clock we heaved out the Lead we found fifty three Fathom water At noon by the Gunners Observation we were in one and twenty degrees thirty three minutes Latitude having in the last twenty four hours run five and twenty Leagues and a half we sounded a second time and had forty Fathom water whereupon we stood away South-East and by East that we might not run upon the Land of Diu where we had nothing to do and which is the Rendez-vous of the Malabar Corsairs and the Zinganes Half an hour after five in the evening we had but thirty five Fathom water and then we saw upon the water a great many little yellow Snakes a Foot long and as big as ones little Finger which made us know that we were near the Coast of Diu along which the Snakes are small for from thence forwards along the Coast of the Indies they are big That we might not then run within Land we stood away South-East About six a Clock we began to see some Excrements of the Sea which the Provensals call Carnasse the Italians Potta-Marina Carnasse or Potta Marina or Alfareca and the Portuguese call Alfareca I fancy that I have seen the figure and description of them by the name of Potta-Marina in a Treatise of Fabius Columna de Conchis which is at the end of the Treatise de Plantis of the same Author Our Ships Company told me it was like a frothy Flesh which the Fish eat and when it touches a Mans Flesh it sticks to it like Glew and puts him to hot stinging pains This puts me in mind that heretofore being at Calais a Gentleman of Honour told me that in the Sea of Calais there were some certain Sea-Excrements which stung and occasioned such burning pains when they touched a Mans Flesh that he had seen some Soldiers of the Garison run about the streets roaring and crying out like Mad-men through the violence of the pain they suffered by these Excrements which had touched their Flesh when they washed themselves in the Harbour and that this pain lasted two or three days In all probability those Excrements he spoke to me of were Carnasses If the Translatour be not mistaken the English call that Excrement a Carvel We saw so great a quantity of them all the evening that sometimes they made the Sea look all white and they lay as it were in veins so that to judge by the sight one would have taken them for great Banks of Sand but of a very white Sand or else for Rivers of Milk and certainly a Man that had never seen them nor been told what they were would think himself to be upon a Bank of Sand. No sooner was one of these veins past but we saw another a coming and each of them was above five hundred paces in length and proportionably broad Those that floated along the Ships side lookt like so many very clear Stars and at first I took them for sparks that are many times seen to flash out of the Sea when the water is very rough but having observed that they lost not their splendour as commonly that sort of sparks does which disappear as soon as they are seen I took notice of them to the Captain and the rest that were upon the Quarter Deck and asked them what they were they all told me they were Carnasses and they knew by that that we were near Land for these Excrements are not commonly seen but very near the shoar and are the fore runners of a Gale of Wind but when the Captain considered them and saw them coming in so great a quantity he acknowledged to me that he had never seen so many of them together and about eight a Clock the Lead being heaved out we found thirty Fathom water After eight a Clock we saw no more Carnasses A little after eight the Wind blew very fresh which made us take in the Main-Top-Sail At the same time we perceived to the Windward at East North-East a great light which all presently knew to be some great fire a shoar and we saw many such until midnight which confirmed us in the opinion that we were very near the Land of Diu. Wherefore we Steered on our Course South-East bearing rather to South than East About eleven a Clock the Wind slackened much Thursday the last day of the year one thousand six hundred sixty five about three a Clock in the morning the Wind turned North-East and we still Steered our Course South-East About break of day we made to the Leeward South of us a great Ship with all Sails abroad even their Top-Gallant-Sails though it was no good weather for carrying such Sails which made us conclude it was the Masulipatan which put out from Congo the same day that we did in the morning and which we thought had been at Comoron In all appearance he took our Ship for an English man for the Captain of the Masulipatan was a Hollander and therefore he had put out his Top-Gallant-Sails to run for it and the truth is he made so good way that in an hours time he was got almost out of fight Half an hour after six we cast out the Lead and had thirty five Fathom water According to the Gunners Observation at noon we were in twenty degrees forty minutes Latitude and in four and twenty hours time we had made seven and twenty Leagues and a half We were then becalmed and half an hour after five we had thirty three Fathom water At eight of the Clock at night we had a small Gale from North-East which made us Steer away East South-East At midnight having sounded we found still thirty three Fathom water Friday New-years-day one thousand six hundred sixty and six at five a Clock in the morning we had twenty six Fathom water At break of day we made to the Leeward South South-East of us the same Ship which we saw the day before but somewhat nearer to us We also made Land which was known to be the Point of main Land Point of Diu. The Isle of Diu belonging to the Portuguese Alambater called the Point of Diu and immediately after we made the Island which bears the same name and is near the main Land of the Country of Cambaya This Island was anciently called I think Alambater lyes in the Latitude of twenty degrees forty minutes or one and twenty degrees the Portuguese are masters of it and have a Town there of the same name with the Island and a Fort which is thought to be impregnable being surrounded with two Ditches filled with the
water of the Sea and the first big enough to admit of Ships being besides defended by several stone-Bastions built very high upon a Rock which are mounted with many great Guns that play on all Hands so that it will be no easie task to take it unless being unprovided of Victuals an Enemy might attempt to starve it it hath no water but Cistern-water yet every House has its Cistern There is a good Port in Diu and heretofore all the Trade of the Indies was managed there and at Chaoul Chaoul belonging to the Portuguese which is another place belonging to the Portuguese but the Dutch so ordered matters that it was wholly removed to Surrat where it is at present About seven a Clock we found by observing the Land that we had made eight Leagues since the day before at noon for you must know that so soon as they make Land they heave the Log no more to know the Ships running because it is well enough known by the Land. At eight a Clock the Wind turned East and by North and we stood away South-East and by South About eleven a Clock it turned East South-East and we Steered away South That day we took no Observation because the Land interposed betwixt us and the Horizon nevertheless we lost sight of it immediately after noon and about six a Clock we tackt about and stood North-East and by East About seven a Clock we tackt again About eight a Clock we were becalmed Half an hour after nine we tackt again a third time and at ten a Clock having cast the Lead we had thirty eight Fathom water About eleven a Clock we had a good Wind at North North-East which made us bear away East Next day the second of January about five a Clock in the morning the Wind having veered about to North-East we Steered our Course East South East At break of day having furled our Main-Top-Sail we put out our Colours and waited for the Masulipatan which was close up with us he presently also shewed his Colours and within a quarter of an hour after sheered a long on head of us we hailed one another but could have no discourse together because he had stood too much on head and in a trice fell off from us This was the Hollanders fault for he was vexed that Master Manuel Mendez would not Sail with him though he had invited him and besides he was angry that we should have come up with him which was the reason he would have no Conversation with us though ever since the day before he might many times have born up near enough to have Discoursed with us when we were upon our tacks Half an hour after six we sounded and found six and twenty Fathom water About seven a Clock the Wind came in to East North-East and we Steered South-East About eight a Clock it blew much fresher from East and by North which convincing us that we were off of the mouth of the Bay of Cambaya The mouth of the Bay of Cambaya we steered away South-East and by South and about nine a Clock the Wind turning due East we stood away South South East We could have no Observation that day because of the motion of the Ship and must rest satisfied to know that from noon to noon we had made fifteen Leagues About five a Clock the Captain of the Musulipatan being in a better humour bore up with us and after the Selam and three or four Cups drunk to our good Voyage he asked us if we would go in Consort and we agreed to it About six a Clock the Wind ceased and left us becalmed About half an hour after ten we had a small Gale from North North East which made us bear away East At midnight the Wind veering in to North-East we steered away East South-East Then we heaved the Lead and found forty Fathom water Sunday morning the third of January we perceived several peices of Wood floating upon the water and some Snakes bigger than ones Thumb four or five Foot long and of a blackish colour and about noon we saw the Sea water look whitish these were so many signs that we were near the Indian shoar At noon the Gunner took an Observation but how right I cannot tell because of the Ships great Travel and he found that we were in the Latitude of nineteen degrees fifty four minutes but we could not tell how much we had run for in twenty four hours time we had not heaved the Log knowing that we were near Land we only cast the Lead and found thirty three Fathom water having cast it out again at three a Clock in the afternoon we had no more but thirty Fathom About five a Clock the Wind turned East North East and we stood away South-East Half an hour after five we had again thirty three Fathom water About eight a Clock the Wind was got into East and by North and we steered South-East and by South and had still thirty three Fathom water About half an hour after ten the Wind turned North and by East a brisk Gale and we bore away East and by North. At midnight we had twenty five Fathom water Monday the fourth of January half an hour after five in the morning we had the Wind at North-East and steered away East South-East but this hot Wind blew so fresh that we were obliged to furl our Main-Top-Sail and then we had twenty five Fathom water A North-East Wind blows commonly on that Coast all the Moon of December and the beginning of the Moon of January and after it comes the North-West Wind. About eleven a Clock the Wind flackning a little we unfurled our Main-Top-Sail again At noon the Gunner found that we were in the Latitude of nineteen degrees twenty four minutes and having cast the Lead we had two and twenty Fathom water and at five a Clock the same Half an hour after five the Wind turning North North-East we steered away East At nine a Clock we had only twenty Fathom water and at midnight but eighteen Tuesday the fifth of January after midnight the Wind was at North-East and by East but a very easie Gale and we bore away South-East and by East At five a Clock in the morning we had but four Fathom water At break of day we made the Land of Bassaim on Head which was very near us and we had made it the day before if it had not been hazy upon the Land. Bassaim Bassaim is a Town held by the Portuguese lying about the nineteenth degree and a half of North Latitude There are very high Mountains at this place At six a Clock we tacked and stood away North and by East At two a Clock in the afternoon we came to an Anchor in fourteen Fathom water because it began to Ebb and it is the custom for Ships that put into the Bay of Cambaya when they are near shoar to Tide it only up unless they have the
to that Town and going out at Baroche Gate I marched streight North. Two hours after I crossed the River Tapty in a Boat big enough but very incommodious for taking in of Chariots because the sides of it were two foot high Eight men were forced to carry mine after they had taken out the Oxen and I was about half an hour in crossing that River I continued my Journey by the Town of Beriao Beriao a Town Kim a River Ouclisser a Town Nerdaba a River Cosse the River of Kim which I crossed with the same trouble that I had done the Tapty by the Town of Ouclisser the River of Nerdaba and at length I arrived at the Town of Baroche which is distant from Surrat and the Sea Twenty Cosses which makes about Ten French Leagues because a Cosse which is a Measure amongst the Indians for the distance of places is about half a League Baroche Baroche lies in 21 degrees 55 minutes North Latitude The fortress of Baroche is large and square standing on a Hill which makes it to be seen at a great distance It is one of the chief strengths of the Kingdom and had heretofore a very large Jurisdiction The Town lies upon the side and at the foot of the Hill looking towards the River of Nerdaba It is environed with Stone-Walls about three Fathom high which are flanked by large round Towers at Thirty or Thirty five Paces distance one from another The Bazards or Market-places are in a great Street at the foot of the Hill and there it is that those Cotten-Stuffs are made which are called Baftas Baftas and which are sold in so great plenty in the Indies The Hill being high and hard to be mounted it might be a very easie matter to put the fortress in a condition not to fear any Attack but at present it is so much slighted that there are several great breaches in the Walls to the Land side which no body thinks of repairing In that Town there are Mosques and Pagodes that 's to say Temples of the Heathen as well above as below The River-water is excellent for whitening of Cloaths and they are brought from all parts to be whitened there There is little or no other Trade there but of Agates but most of those are Sold at Cambaye There is great abundance of Peacocks in the Country about Baroche Peacocks at Baroche The Dutch have a Factor there for the quick dispatch and clearing at the Custom-house the other sorts of Cloaths that come from Amedabad and elsewhere because since all Goods must pay duties as they enter and come out of Baroche there would always happen confusion if the care of that were referred to the carriers who transport them Leaving Baroche I continued my Journey Northwards to the little Town of Sourban which is seven Leagues distant from Baroche Sourban and then having crossed the Brook Dader and several Villages Debca I arrived at Debca which lies on the side of a Wood seven Leagues from Sourban The Inhabitants of this Town were formerly such as are called Merdi-Coura or Anthropophagi Man-eaters Anthropophagi and it is not very many Years since Mans flesh was there publickly sold in the Markets That place seems to be a nest of Robbers the Inhabitants who are for the most part Armed with Swords are a most impudent sort of People In what posture soever you be they continually stare you in the Face and with so much boldness that let one say what he pleases to them there is no making of them to withdraw Passengers that know them are always upon their Guard nay and are obliged to carry a Lance with them when they go to do their needs Next day we parted from thence and went to Petnad Petnad a little Town seven Leagues and a half from Debca and arrived there having first past the Gulf or River of Mai where there is a Watch to secure the Rode. We found in our way two great Tanquiez and a great number of Monkies of an extraordinary bigness Tanquiez These Tanquiez are standing Ponds or reservations of rain-Rain-water there are many of them in the Indies and commonly there is great care taken in looking after them because Wells being rare in that Country there is an extream need of these publick reservatories by reason of the continual thirst which the heat causes in all Animals there and some of them are as big as Lakes or large Ponds Next we came to the Town of Sousentra where we say a very lovely Well which I shall not describe in this place An account of the Road from Surrat to Amedabad One must go out by Baroche gate and cross the River of Tapty a league and a half from Surrat There is a great Wartree four leagues from Surrat where one may repose Kim a River Ouclisser a Town Nerdaba a River are to be past and then one comes to Baroche 10 leagues from Surrat Sourban a Town 7 leagues from Baroche Dader a River or Brook. Debca 7 leagues from Sourban Maï a River Petnad 7 leagues and a half from Debca Sousentra a Town Mader 6 leagues and a half from Petnad Matrous a River because it is almost like to that of Amedabad whereof I shall speak in its proper place From thence we went to Mader which is six Leagues and a half from Petnad Upon the Road we saw an infinite number of Apes of all sorts not only upon the Trees in the Fields but even those also by the way side which were not in the least afraid of any body I severall times endeavoured to make them flie with my Arms but they stirr'd not and cried their pou pou like mad which is as I think the houp houp of which Monsieur de la Boulaye speaks We went next to Gitbag five Leagues from Mader Gitbag 5 leagues from Mader we met a great many Colies which are a People of a Caste or tribe of Gentiles who have no fixed Habitation but wander from Village to Village and carry all they have about with them Their chief business is to pick and clean the Cotten and when they have no more to do in one Village they go to another In this Village of Gitbag there is a pretty handsome Garden of the Kings I walked in it it lies along the side of a reservatory and I saw a great many Monkies and Peacocks therein The dwelling which remains appears to have been handsome but it is let run to ruin and a Royal-house not far off is in very bad repair also It is but two Leagues and a half from Gitbag to Amedabad Amedabad two Leagues from Gitbag CHAP. V. Of Amedabad Amedabad the Capital of Guzerat AMedabad is distant from Surrat fourscore and six Cosses which make about fourty three French Leagues It is not improbable but that this Capital of Guzerat is the Amadavistis of Arian though modern Writers say That it
another and spread abundance of Fire They also burnt divers Pots full of Powder from which large flakes of Artificial Lightning glanced up in the Air and all this while Squibs and Serpents flew about in vast numbers and with them many Fire-lances in which was a great deal of Camphire that yielded a whitish dazling flame These Fire-works play'd almost an hour and when they were over the main business was performed The Maid was married in her Fathers House by a Moula and about two of the Clock in the Morning was conducted upon an Elephant to her Husbands Lodgings The Wedding There were a great many Dancers Tumblers Dancers Juglers and players at sleight of Hand in the open places but they acted nothing as I could see but what was dull and yet I was advantageously placed in Windows to examin their play being desirous to see if what was told of their dexterity was true but I found nothing extraordinary in it and I should have had a bad Opinion of the Indian Dances if I had not met with nimbler afterwards in my Travels there The first time I saw Hermaphrodites was there Hermaphrodites It was easie to distinguish them for seeing there is a great number in that Town and all over the Indies I was enform'd before hand that for a mark to know them by they were oblig'd under pain of Correction to wear upon their Heads a Turban like Men though they go in the habit of Women CHAP. XIII Of Burying-places and the Burning of Dead Bodies THe Burying-places of Surrat are without the Town Burying-places about three or four hundred Paces from Baroche-Gate The Catholicks have their own apart and so have the English and Dutch The Sepulchres of the English and Dutch. as well as some Religious Indians The English and Dutch adorn their Graves with Pyramids of Brick whitened over with Lime and whilst I was there there was one a building for a Dutch Commander which was to cost eight thousand Livres The Sepulchre of a Dutch drinker Amongst the rest there is one of a great drinker who had been banished to the Indies by the States General and who is said to have been Kinsman of the Prince of Orange They have raised a Monument for him as for other Persons of note but to let the World see that he could drink stoutly on the top of his Pyramid there is a large Stone-cup and one below at each corner of his Tomb and hard by each Cup there is the Figure of a Suger-loaf When the Dutch have a mind to divert themselves at that Monument they make God knows how many Ragoes in these Cups and with other less Cups drink or eat what they have prepared in the great ones The Tombs of the Religious Gentils The Religious Gentils have their Tombs about two thousand Paces beyond the Dutch Burying-place They are square and made of Plaister they are about two or three Foot high and two Foot broad covered some with a Dome and others with a Pyramid of Plaister somewhat more than three Foot high on the one side there is a little Window through which one may see the top of the Grave and because there are two Soles of Feet cut upon them some have believ'd that the Vartias were interred with the Head down and the Feet upwards but having enform'd my self as to that I learnt that there was no such thing and that the Bodies are laid in their Graves after the ordinary manner The place where Bodies are burnt The place where the Banians burn their dead Bodies is by the River-side beyond the Burying-places and when they are consumed the Ashes are left there on design that they may be carried away by the Tapty because they look upon it as a Sacred River They believe that it contributes much to the Salvation of the Soul of the deceased to burn his Body immediately after his Death because as they say his Soul suffers after the separation from the Body till it be burnt It is true that if they are in a place where there is no Wood they tye a Stone to the dead Body and throw it into the Water and their Religion allows them to bury it if there be neither Water nor Wood but they are still perswaded that the Soul is much happier when the Body hath been burnt They burn not the Bodies of Children that die before they are two Years old because they are as yet innocent nor do they burn the Bodies of the Vartias nor Jogues who are a kind of Dervishes because they follow the rite of Madeo Madeo who is one of their great Saints and who ordered the Bodies to be interred CHAP. XIV Of diverse Curiosities at Surrat A fair Well TOwards the English Burying-place there is a great Well a Banian made it for the convenience of Travellers and it is of an oblong-square Figure like the Well of Amedabad which I have described There are over it diverse thin Brick-Arches at some Feet distance one from another Several Stairs go down to it and the Light enters by the spaces that are between the Arches so that one may see very clearly from the top to the bottom On the outside there is the Figure of a Red-face but the Features are not to be distinguished The Indians say that it is the Pagod of Madeo and the Gentils pay a great Dovotion to it Daman-gate Towards Daman-gate where the loveliest Walk in all the Countrey begins there is a Reservatory much esteemed That Gate is covered and encompassed with the branches of a lovely War which the Portuguese call the Tree of Roots that furnishes the pleasantest Resting-place imaginable to all that go to the Tanquie A lovely Tanquie This great Reservatory of Water hath six Angles the side of every Angle is an hundred Paces long and the whole at least a Musket-shot in diametre The bottom is paved with large Free-stone and there are Steps almost all round in form of an Amphitheatre reaching from the brim to the bottom of the Bason they are each of them half a Foot high and are of lovely Free-stone that hath been brought from about Cambaye where there are no Steps there is a sloaping descent to the Bason and there are three places made for Beasts to water at In the middle of this Reservatory there is a Stone-Building about three Fathom every way to which they go up by two little Stair-cases A Building in the middle of the Tanquie In this place they go to divert themselves and take the fresh Air but they must go to it in Boat. The great Bason is filled with rain-Rain-water in the season when the Rains fall for after it hath run through the Fields where it makes a kind of a great Chanal over which they have been obliged to make Bridges it stops in a place enclosed within Walls from whence it passes into the Tanquie through three round holes which
are above four Foot Diametre and hard by there is a kind of Mahometan Chappel This Tanquie was made at the charges of a rich Banian named Gopy Gopy who built it for the publick and heretofore all the Water that was drank in Surrat came from this Reservatory for the five Wells which at present supply the whole Town were not found out till long after it was built It was begun at the same time the Castle was and they say that the one cost as much as the other It is certainly a Work worthy of a King and it may be compared to the fairest that the Romans ever made for publick benefit But seeing the Levantines let all things go to ruine for want of repair it was above six Foot filled with Earth when I saw it and in danger sometime or other to be wholly choaked up if some Charitable Banian be not at the charge of having it cleansed Having viewed that lovely Reservatory The Princesses Garden we went a quarter of a League farther to see the Princesses Garden so called because it belongs to the Great Moguls Sister It is a great Plot of Trees of several kinds as Manguiers Palms Mirabolans Wars Maisa-trees and many other planted in a streight line Amongst the Shrubs I saw the Querzehere or Aacla of which I have treated at large in my Second Part and also the Accaria of Egypt There are in it a great many very fair streight Walks and especially the four wich make a Cross over the Garden and have in the middle a small Canal of Water that is drawn by Oxen out of a Well In the middle of the Garden there is a Building with four Fronts each whereof hath its Divan with a Closet at each corner and before every one of these Divans there is a square Bason full of Water from whence flow the little Brooks which run through the chief Walks After all though that Garden be well contriv'd it is nothing to the gallantry of ours There is nothing to be seen of our Arbours Borders of Flowers nor of the exactness of their Compartments and far less of their Water-works About an hundred or an hundred and fifty Paces from that Garden The War-tree we saw the War-tree in its full extent It is likewise called Ber and the Tree of Banians as also the Tree of Roots because of the facility wherewith the branches that bear large Filaments take Rooting and by consequence produce other branches insomuch that one single Tree is sufficient to fill a great spot of Ground and this I speak of is very large and high affording a most spacious shade It s circuit is round and is fourscore Paces in Diametre which make above thirthy Fathom The Branches that had irregularly taken Root have been so skilfully cut that at present one may without any trouble walk about every where under it The Gentils of India look upon that Tree as Sacred A Sacred Tree and we might easily perceive that at a distance by the Banners which the Banians had planted on the top and highest Branches of it It hath by it a Pagod dedicated to an Idol which they call Mameva and they who are not of their Religion believe it to be a representation of Eve. We found a Bramen sitting there who put some Red Colour upon the Foreheads of those who come to pay their Devotions and received the Presents of Rice or Cocos that they offered him That Pagod is built under the Tree in form of a Grot the outside is painted with diverse Figures representing the Fables of their false Gods and in the Grot there is a Head all over Red. Charity towards Ants. In that place I saw a Man very charitable towards the Ants He carried Flower in a Sack to be distributed amongst them and left a handful every where where he met with any number Whilst we were abroad in the Fields we considered the Soyl of Surrat it is of a very brown Earth and they assured us that it was so very rich that they never dunged it After the Rains they sow their Corn that is after the Month of September and they cut it down after February They plant Sugar-Canes there also Sugar Canes and the way of planting them is to make great Furrows wherein before they lay the Canes they put a great many of the little Fish called Gudgeons Whether these Fish serve to fatten the Earth or that they add some qualitie to the Cane the Indians pretend that without that Manure the Canes would produce nothing that 's good They lay their pieces of Canes over these Fish end to end and from every joint of Cane so interred their Springs a Sugar-cane which they reap in their season The Soyl about Surrat is good for Rice also and there is a great deal sown Manguiers and Palm-trees of all kinds and other sorts of Trees thrive well there and yield great profit The Dutch water their Ground with Well-Water which is drawn by Oxen after the manner described in my Second Part but the Corn-land is never watered because the Dew that falls plentifully in the Mornings is sufficient for it The River of Tapty The River of Tapty is always brackish at Surrat and therefore the Inhabitants make no use of it neither for Drink nor Watering of their Grounds but only for washing their Bodies which they do every Morning as all the other Indians do They make use of Well-water to drink and it is brought in Borrachoes upon Oxen. This River of it self is but little for at High-water it is no broader than half of the River of Seine at Paris Nevertheless it swells so in the Winter-time by the Rain-water that it furiously overflows and makes great havock It has its source in a place called Gehar-Conde in the Mountains of Decan ten Leagues from Brampour It passes by that Town and before it discharge it self into the Sea it Waters several Countries and washes many Towns as last of all it does Surrat At low Water it runs to the Bar but when it flows the Sea commonly advances two Leagues over that Bar and so receives the Water of the Tapty CHAP. XV. The Port of Surrat The Port of Surrat THe Bar of Surrat where Ships come at present is not its true Port at best it can be called but a Road and I had reason to say in the beginning of this Book that it is called the Bar because of the Banks of Sand which hinder Ships from coming farther in The truth is there is so little Water there that though the Vessels be unloaded the ordinary Tides are not sufficient to bring them up and they are obliged to wait a Spring-tide but then they come up to Surrat especially when they want to be careen'd Small Barks come easily up to the Town with the least Tides The true Port of Surrat is Soualy two Leagues from the Bar. Soualy It is distant from the Town
he orders to be made upon the Water or in the open place Palaces of the great men at Agra This Palace is accompanied with five and twenty or thirty other very large ones all in a line which belong to the Princes and other great Lords of Court and all together afford a most delightful prospect to those who are on the other side of the River which would be a great deal more agreeable were it not for the long Garden-walls which contribute much to the rendering the Town so long as it is There are upon the same line several less Palaces and other Buildings All being desirous to enjoy the lovely prospect and convenience of the Water of the Gemna endeavoured to purchase ground on that side which is the cause that the Town is very long but narrow and excepting some fair Streets that are in it all the rest are very narrow and without Symmetry Square places at Agra Before the Kings Palace there is a very large Square and twelve other besides of less extent within the Town But that which makes the Beauty of Agra besides the Palaces I have mentioned Quervenseras of Agra are the Quervanseras which are above threescore in number and some of them have six large Courts with their Portico's that give entry to very commodious Appartments where stranger Merchants have their Lodgings There are above eight hundred Baths in the Town Baths of Agra and a great number of Mosques of which some serve for Sanctuary Sepulchres of Agra There are many magnificent Sepulchres in it also several great Men having had the ambition to build their own in their own life-time or to erect Monuments to the memory of their Fore-fathers The Sepulchre of King Ecbar King Gebanguir caused one to be built for King Ecbar his Father upon an eminence of the Town It surpasses in magnificnce all those of the Grand Signiors but the fairest of all is that which Cha-Gehan Erected in honour of one of his Wives called Tadge-Mehal whom he tenderly loved and whose death had almost cost him his life I know that the Learned and curious Mr. Bernier hath taken memoires of it and therefore I did not take the pains to be exactly informed of that work Only so much I 'll say that this King having sent for all the able Architects of the Indies to Agra he appointed a Council of them for contriving and perfecting the Tomb which he intended to Erect and having setled Salaries upon them he ordered them to spare no cost in making the finest Mausoleum in the World if they could They compleated it after their manner and succeeded to his satisfaction The beautiful Mausoleum of Tadge-Mehal The stately Garden into which all the parts of that Mausoleum are distributed the great Pavillions with their Fronts the beautiful Porches the lofty dome that covers the Tomb the lovely disposition of its Pillars the raising of Arches which support a great many Galleries Quiochques and Terrasses make it apparent enough that the Indians are not ignorant in Architecture It is true the manner of it seems odd to Europeans yet it hath its excellency and though it be not like that of the Greeks and other Ancients yet the Fabrick may be said to be very lovely The Indians say that it was twenty years in building that as many Men as could labour in that great work were employed and that it was never interrupted during that long space of time The Tomb of King Gehan-guir This King hath not had the same tenderness for the memory of his Father Gehanguir as for that of his Wife Tadge-Mehal for he hath raised no magnificent Monument for him And that Great Mogul is Interred in a Garden where his Tomb is only Painted upon the portal The Air of Agra Now after all the Air of Agra is very incommodious in the Summer-time and it is verv likely that the excessive heat which scorches the Sands that environ this Town was one of the chief causes which made King Cha-Gehan change the Climate King Cha-Gehan prisoner in his Palace and chuse to live at Dehly Little thought this Prince that one day he would be forced to live at Agra what aversion soever he had to it and far less still that he should be Prisoner there in his own Palace and so end his days in affliction and trouble That misfortune though Auran-Zeb imprisoned the King his Father befel him and Auran-Zeb his third Son was the cause of it who having got the better of his Brothers both by cunning and force made sure of the Kings Person and Treasures by means of Soldiers whom he craftily slipt into the Palace and under whose Custody the King was kept till he died So soon as Auran-Zeb knew that his Father was in his Power Auran-Zeb proclaimed King. he made himself be proclaimed King He held his Court at Dehly and no party was made for the unfortunate King though many had been raised by his bounty and liberalities From that time forward Auran-Zeb Reigned without trouble The death of King Cha-gehan and the King his Father dying in Prison about the end of the year One thousand six hundred sixty six he enjoyed at ease the Empire and that so famous Throne of the Moguls which he had left in the Prisoners appartment to divert him with He added to the precious Stones that were set about it those of the Princes his Brothers and particularly the Jewels of Begum-Saheb his Sister who died after her Father and whose death Begum-Saheb Sister to Auran-Zeb as it was said was hastened by Poison And in fine he became absolute Master of all after he had overcome and put to death Dara-Cha his Eldest Brother whom Cha-Gehan had designed for the Crown The Sepulchre of Cha-Gehan That King is Interred on the other side of the River in a Monument which he began but is not finished The Town of Agra is Populous as a great Town ought to be but not so as to be able to send out Two hundred thousand sighting men into the Field as some have written The Palaces and Gardens take up the greatest part of it so that its extent is no infallible Argument of the number of its Inhabitants The ordinary Houses are low and those of the commoner sort of People are but Straw containing but few People a piece and the truth is one may walk the Streets without being crouded and meet with no throng but when the Court is there But at that time I have been told there is great confusion and infinite numbers of People to be seen and no wonder indeed seeing the Streets are narrow and that the King besides his Houshold who are many is always attended by an Army for his Guard and the Rajas Omras Mansepdars and other great Men have great Retinues and most part of the Merchants also follow the Court not to reckon a vast number of Tradesmen and thousands of
twenty or thirty Ells of it which are put into a Turban Cloath whereof 25 or 30 Ells do not weigh four Ounces will not weigh four Ounces These lovely Cloaths are made about Bengale They are dear and one single Turban will cost five and Twenty Crowns They who affect a Richer attire have them mixed with Gold but a Turban of that Stuff costs several Tomans and I have said elsewhere that a Toman is worth about forty five French Livres These Turbans wreathed as they ought to be The form of the Turbans at Agra much resemble the shape of the Head for they are higher behind by four or five Fingers breadth than before so that the upper part of the Head is only well covered and I have seen Paisant women in France whose Coiffing lookt pretty like that kind of Turban The Indians wear their Hair for Ornament The Indians wear their Hair. contrary to the Mahometans who shave their Heads and in that as in many other things the Indians imitate their Ancestours As for Stockings the Indians are at no charge Hose and Shoes for they use neither Stockings nor Socks but put their Shoes on their naked Feet The stuff they are made of is Maroquin or Turkey-leather and they are much of the same shape as the Papouches of the Turks but the Persons of Quality have them bordered with Gold and they have behind a kind of a heel of the same stuff as the instip which most commonly they fold down as they do who go with their Shoes slipshod However the Banians wear the heel of theirs up because being men of business they would walk with freedom which is very hard to be done when the Foot is not on all sides begirt with the Shoe. The Rich Banians cover the upper Leather of theirs with Velvet The Shoes or Papouchâ—s of the Banians Embrodered with great Flowers of Silk and the rest are satisfied with red Leather and small Flowers or some other Galantry of little value The Mogul Women who would distinguish themselves from others The Womens Apparel are Cloathed almost like the Men however the sleeves of their Smocks as those of the other Indian Women reach not below the Elbow that they may have liberty to adorn the rest of their Arm with Carkanets and Bracelets of Gold Silver and Ivory or set with Precious Stones as likewise they do the small of their Legs The Indians Smocks Their Waste-coats The ordinary Smocks of the Indian Idolatrous Women reach down only to the middle as does the Waste-coat of Sattin or Cloath which they wear over it because from the Waste downwards they wrapt themselves up in a piece of Cloath or Stuff that covers them to the Feet like a Petticoat and that Cloath is cut in such a manner that they make one end of it reach up to their Head behind their Back They wear no other Apparel neither within Doors nor abroad in the Streets and for Shoes they have high Pattins They wear a little flat Ring of Gold or Silver in their Ears The Indian Women adorn their Nose and Ears with Rings with engraving upon it and they adorn their Noses with Rings which they put through their Nostril Rings also are the Ornaments of their Fingers as they are in other places They wear a great many and as they love to see themselves they have always one with a Looking-Glass set in it A Finger Looking-glass instead of a Stone which is an Inch in diametre If these Indian Women be Idolators they go bare-faced and if Mahometans Indian Women naked to the middle they are Vailed There are some Countries in the Indies where the Women as well as Men go naked to the middle and the rest of their Body is only covered to the Knee CHAP. XXI Of other Curiosities at Agra Fighting of Beasts THere are a great many at Agra who are curious in breeding up of Beasts to have the pleasure to make them Fight together But seeing they cannot reach to Elephants and Lions because it costs dear to feed them most part content themselves with He-goats Weathers Rams Cocks Quailes Stags and Antilopes to entertain their Friends with the Fightings of these Beasts Indian Antilopes The Indian Antilopes are not altogether like those of other Countries they have even a great deal more courage and are to be distinguished by the Horns The Horns of the ordinary Antilopes are greyish and but half as long as the Horns of those in the Indies which are blackish and a large Foot and a half long These Horns grow winding to the point like a screw and the Faquirs and Santons carry commonly two of them pieced together they are armed with Iron at both ends and they make use of them as of a little Staff. Leopard When they use not a tame Leopard for catching of Antilopes they take with them a Male of the kind that is tame and fasten a Rope about his Horns with several nooses and doubles the two ends whereof are tied under his Belly so soon as they discover a Heard of Antilopes they slip this Male and he runs to joyn them The Male of the Heard advances to hinder him and making no other opposition but by playing with his Horns he fails not to be pestered and entangled with his Rival so that it being uneasie for him to retreat the Huntsman cunningly catches hold on him and carries him off but it is easier so to catch the Male than the Females Pidgeons There are Pidgeons in that Country all over green which differ from ours only in colour The Fowlers take them with Bird-lime in this manner A Screen for Fowling they carry before them a kind of light Shed or Screen that covers the whole Body and has holes in it to see through the Pidgeons seeing no Man are not at all scared when the Fowler draws near so that he cunningly catches them one after another with a Wand and Bird lime on it none offering to flie away In some places Parrocquets are taken after the same manner The Indians are very dexterous at Game they take Water-fowl with great facility as thus The Fowlers swim almost upright yet so that they have their Head above Water The catching of Water-fowl which they hide with a Pot full of holes to let in the Air and give them sight Besides this Pot is covered with Feathers to cheat the Ducks and other Fowl so that when the Fowler draws near them they are not in the least scared taking that floating head for a Fowl and then the Fowler makes sure of them by the Feet which he catches hold of under Water and draws them down The other Ducks seeing no body think that their comrades have only dived and are not at all scared so that growing acquainted with the Feathered head that still follows them they are at length all taken whil'st in vain they stay for the return
of those who have dived before they flie away to another place The Huntsmen of Agra go five Days Journey from the Town as far as a Mountain called Nerouer where there is a mine of excellent Iron Nerouer but their business in going so far is only to catch a kind of Wild Cows which they call Merous that are to be found in a Wood round this Hill Merous Wild-Cows which is upon the Road from Surrat to Golconda and these Cows being commonly very lovely they make great advantage of them One may see a great many Pictures in the Indies upon Paper and Past-board but generally they are dull pieces Indian Pictures and none are esteemed but those of Agra and Dehly However since those of Agra are for the most part indecent and represent Lacivious Postures worse than those of Aretin there are but few civil Europeans that will buy them They have a way in this Town of working in Gold upon Agat Working upon Agat and Chrystal Chrystal and other brittle matters which our Goldsmiths and Lapidaries have not When the Indians would beautifie Vessels Cups or Coffers besides the Circles of Gold they put about them they engrave Flowers and other Figures and also enchase Stones upon them They cut leaves of Gold to fill up the void spaces of the Figures lay several pieces one upon another and enchase them so artificially in the hollow places with an Iron Instrument like a Graver that when the void spaces are filled up it looks like Massie Gold. They do the same with Stones they encompass them also with such pieces of Leaf-Gold and press them in so close that the Stones hold very well They make Rings about Vessels either about the middle or brims of a kind of Gold made into little round Rods which they beat upon an Anvil till they be reduced into flat thin Plates then they take the measure of the part of the Vessel which they would incircle and having most exactly bent the Ring they Soulder the two ends of it together and put it upon the part of the Vessel they intend it for so that it holds very well provided one have the skill to adjust it true to the place marked If Handles be necessary to the Vessels or Locks for the Coffers of Agat or Crystal they soulder them to the Ring with the same Art that they souldered the two ends of it but they do it after another way than our Goldsmiths do For that end they make use of little red Beans which are black at the end and are the fruit of a Convolvulus called in Indian Gomtchi and in the Telenghi Language Gourghindel They peel off the Skin which is dry and hard and taking the inside of the Bean that is yellowish they grind it upon an Iron-Plate with a little Water till it be dissolved into a Liquid Solution then they pound a little bit of Borax mix it with that Solution and with this mixture dawb the ends which they intend to soulder and having heated them with a Coal joyn them together so that the two sides close fast and hold extraordinarily well This work is performed by poor People and sometimes by little Boys who do it very skilfully and quickly for a matter of two Crowns for each tole of Gold and something is also given to him that beats and flattens the Rods of Gold However none of these People know how to Enammel Gold. The Province of Agra hath above fourty Towns in its dependance and as they say above three thousand four hundred Villages Fetipour Fetipour is one of the Towns it was heretofore called Sicari Sicari and the Name Fetipour which signifies The enjoyment of what one desires was given it by Ecbar because of the happy news he received there of the birth of a Son when he was upon his return from a Warlike expedition This Town is about six Leagues from Agra it hath been very lovely and that Great Mogul in the beginning of his Reign having rebuilt the Walls of it made it the Capital of his Empire But the Ambition Kings have to make small things great prompting Ecbar to build a Town where there was nothing but a Village or at most but a Bourg named Agra Agra a Bourg the Town of Fetipour was not only neglected but hath been since wholly abandoned for so soon as Agra was become a Town and that the King had given it his Name calling it Echarabad Echarabad a place built by Ecbar he went to reside there and forsook Fetipour A lovely Meidan at Fetipour A fair Mosque at Fetipour Calenders Though this Town of Fetipour be much decay'd yet there is still a large Square to be seen in it adorned with fair Buildings and the stately entry of Ecbar's Palace is still entire and has adjoyning to it one of the loveliest Mosques in the East built by by a Mahometan a Calender by profession who lies buried there as a Saint The Calenders are Dervishes who go bare-footed This Mosque is still adorn'd with all its Pillars and lovely Seelings and indeed with all that can beautifie a fair Temple Near to it there is a great Reservatory which supplied the whole Town with Water and was the more necessary that all the Springs thereabouts are Salt The cause of forsaking Fetipour and the unwholsome Waters were one of the chief causes that obliged the Great Mogul to settle elsewhere Beruzabad Chitpour Bargant Chalaour Vetapour Mirda Ladona Hindon Canova Byana and Scanderbade all Towns of Agra Beruzabad is one of the Towns of Agra Chitpour is another and has a great trade in Schites or painted Cloaths Bargant is likewise one which belongs to a Raja who exacts some dues Chalaour stands upon a Hill. At Vetapour lovely Tapistry is made Mirda Ladona Hindon Canova Byana and Scanderbade are also Towns of Agra These last furnish the best Indigo of the Indies Two Leagues from Byana there are to be seen the Ruins of Ancient Palaces and other Buildings as also some very considerable ones upon a little Hill some Leagues from Scanderbade At the Foot of the Hill on the side of that Town there is a lovely Valley walled in divided into several Gardens and the Ruins of several Buildings which is not to be wondered at seeing heretofore Scanderbade was several Leagues long having been the Capital City of a powerful King of the Patans and the Hill it self made part of the Town which was afterwards sack'd and ruin'd by Ecbar Raja Selim. when he took it from Raja Selim who made it his chief Garrison and Magazin The Royal House of King Ecbar's Mother Upon the Road from Agra to Byana there is a Royal-House built by the Queen Mother of Ecbar with Gardens kept in very good order There are also in Byana some Serraglio's and a long Meidan but that Town is thin of Inhabitants Seronge hath also been named to me amongst the Towns
of the Province of Agra Gemna or Geminy Lanque Cham-Elnady Geogonady Singour all Rivers of Agra The Revenue of Agra and Schites are made there which in beauty come near those of St. Thomas There are a great many other Towns whose Names I know not The chief Rivers that water Agra are the Gemna or Geminy Lanque Cham-Elnady Geogonady Singour and a great many smaller The Kings Revenue in this Province of Agra is reckoned to amount to above thirty seven Millions of French-Livres a Year CHAP. XXII Of the Province or Town of Dehly or Gehan-Abad The Province of Dehly THe Province of Dehly bounds that of Agra to the North and at present the Great Mogul Auran-zeb keeps his Court in the chief City of it which is about fourty five Leagues distant from Agra In Indostan it is called Gehan-abad Gehan-Abad and elsewhere Dehly The Road betwixt these two Towns is very pleasant it is that famous Alley or Walk one hundred and fifty Leagues in length A Walk of 150 Leagues which King Gehanguir planted with Trees and which reaches not only from Agra to Dehly but even as far as Lahors Each half League is marked with a kind of Turret There are threescore and nine or threescore and ten of them betwixt the two Capital Cities and besides there are little Serraglio's or Carvanseras from Stage to Stage for lodging Travellers However there is nothing worth the observing about these Serraglios unless in that which is called Chekiserai which is six Leagues from Agra The Pagod of Chekiserai In that place there is the Ancient Temple of an Idol and it may be reckoned amongst the largest and fairest Pagods of the Indies It was more frequented than now it is when the Gemna washed the Walls thereof because of the convenience of Ablutions But though that River hath fallen off almost half a League from it yet many Indians still resort thither who forget not to bring with them Food for the Apes that are kept in an Hospital built for them An Hospital for Apes Though the Road I have been speaking of be tolerable yet it hath many inconveniencies One may meet with Tygres Panthers and Lions upon it and one had best also have a care of Robbers and above all things not to suffer any body to come near one upon the Road. The cunningest Robbers in the World are in that Countrey The Robbers Snare They use a certain Slip with a running-noose which they can cast with so much slight about a Mans Neck when they are within reach of him that they never fail so that they strangle him in a trice They have another cunning trick also to catch Travellers with Dangerous Women upon the Road from Agra to Dehly They send out a handsome Woman upon the Road who with her Hair deshevelled seems to be all in Tears sighing and complaining of some misfortune which she pretends has befallen her Now as she takes the same way that the Traveller goes he easily falls into Conversation with her and finding her beautiful offers her his assistance which she accepts but he hath no sooner taken her up behind him on Horse-back but she throws the snare about his Neck and strangles him or at least stuns him until the Robbers who lie hid come running in to her assistance and compleat what she hath begun But besides that there are Men in those quarters so skilful in casting the Snare that they succeed as well at a distance as near at hand and if an Ox or any other Beast belonging to a Caravan run away as sometimes it happens they fail not to catch it by the Neck There are three Towns of Dehly near to one another Three Towns of Dehly The first Town of Dehly The first which is entirely destroy'd and whereof some Ruins only remain was very ancient and the learned Indians will have it to have been the Capital Town of the States of King Porus so famous for the War which he maintained against Alexander the Great It was nearer the Source of the Gemna than the two others that have been built since The Indians say it had two and fifty Gates and there is still at some distance from its Ruins a Stone-bridge from whence a Way hath been made with lovely Trees on each side which leads to the second Dehly The Sepulchre of Cha-Humayon by the place where the Sepulchre of Cha-Humayon is This Second Town of Dehly is that which was taken by the King The second Town of Dehly whom they call the first Conquerour of the Indies amongst the Modern Moguls though his Father Mirzababer had invaded it before It was then beautified with a great many stately Sepulchres of the Patan Kings and other Monuments which rendred it a very lovely Town but Cha-Gehan the Father of King Auran-Zeb demolished it for the Building of Gehan-Abad Towards the Sepulchre of Humayon A Pyramide of great Antiquity towards Dehly there is a Pyramide or Obelisk of Stone which by its unknown Characters shews a great Antiquity and which is thought in the Indies to have been erected by Alexander's order after the defeat of Porus. This I cannot believe because I make no doubt but that the Inscription would then have been in Greek which is not so The Third Town of Dehly is joyned to the remains of the Second The Third Town of Dehly Cha-Gehan resolving to imitate King Ecbar and to give his Name to a new Town caused this to be built of the Ruines of the Second Dehly and called it Gehan-Abad So the Indians call it at present though amongst other Nations it still retains the Name of Dehly It lies in an open Champian Countrey upon the brink of the Gemna which hath its source in this Province and runs into the Ganges The Fortress of it is half a League in circuit The Fort of Dehly and hath good Walls with round Towers every ten Battlements and Ditches full of Water wharffed with Stone as likewise lovely Gardens round it The Kings Palace at Dehly And in this Fort is the Palace of the King and all the Ensignes of the Royalty This Town of Dehly or Gehan-abad contrary to that of Agra or Ecbar-abad hath no Ditches but Walls filled up with Earth behind and Towers There is a place towards the Water-side for the fighting of Elephants and other Exercises and towards the Town there is another very large place where the Raja's who are in the Kings Pay encamp and keep Guard and where many exercises are performed The Market is also kept in that Square and there Puppet-players Juglers and Astrologers shew their tricks A Description of the Palace The Canal of the Palace of Dehly Here I should give a description of the inside of the Fort and Palace and having begun with the two Elephants at the entry which carry two Warriours speak of the Canal that enters into it of the Streets that lead to
the Presents they made him at this Solemnity But he rewarded them afterwards by Offices and Employments And this is the course the King commonly takes with them and few complain of it CHAP. XXIX Of the Beasts of the Country of Azmer and of the Saltpetre THere is in these Countries a Beast like a Fox in the Snout which is no bigger than a Hare the Hair of it is of the colour of a Stags and the Teeth like to a Dogs It yields most excellent Musk for at the Belly it hath a Bladder full of corrupt Blood and that Blood maketh the Musk The Musk Animal or is rather the Musk it self They take it from it and immediately cover the place where the Bladder is cut with Leather to hinder the scent from evaporating But after this Operation is made the Beast is not long liv'd There are also towards Azmer Pullets whose Skin is all over black Pullets as well as their Bones though the Flesh of them be very white and their Feathers of another colour In the extremity of this Province the Maids are very early Marriageable Maids Marriageable at 8 or 9 years of age and so they are in many other places of the Indies where most part can enjoy Man at the age of eight or nine years and have Children at ten That 's a very ordinary thing in the Country where the young ones go naked and wear nothing on their Bodies but a bit of Cloath to cover their Privities Most of the Children in these Countries have the same playes to divert them with as amongst us they commonly make use of Tops Giggs The Childrens playes and Bull-flies in the season of Childrens Trumpets and many other Toys of that nature The People are rude and uncivil The Men are great clowns and very impudent they make a horrid noise when they have any quarrel but what Passion soever they seem to be in and what bitter words soever they utter they never come to blows The Servants are very unfaithful and many times rob their Masters There are very venemous Scorpions in that Country Venemous Scorpions The remedy of Fire but the Indians have several remedies to cure their Stinging and the best of all is Fire They take a burning Coal and put it near the wound they hold it there as long and as near as they can The venom keeps one from being incommoded by the heat of the Fire on the contrary the Poison is perceived to work out of the Wound by little and little and in a short time after one is perfectly cured The ways of this Country being very Stony The Oxen are shod they shoe the Oxen when they are to Travel far on these ways They cast them with a Rope fastened to two of their Legs and so soon as they are down they tye their four Feet together which they put upon an Engine made of two Sticks in form of an X and then they take two little thin and light pieces of Iron which they apply to each Foot one piece covering but one half Foot and that they fasten with three Nails above an Inch long which are clenched upon the side of the Hooffs as Horses with us are shod Seeing the Oxen in the Indies are very tame Indian Oxen. many People make use of them in Travelling and ride them like Horses though commonly they goe but at a very slow pace Instead of a Bit they put one or two small strings through the Gristle of the Oxes Nostrils and throw over his Head a good large Rope fastened to these strings as a Bridle which is held up by the bunch he hath on the fore part of his back that our Oxen have not They Saddle him as they do a Horse and if he be but a little spurred he 'll go very fast and there are some that will go as fast as a good Horse The Oxen are Saddled These Beasts are made use of generally all over the Indies and with them only are drawn Waggons Coaches and Chariots allowing more or fewer according as the load is heavier or lighter The Oxen serve to draw Coaches as well as Carts and Waggons The Oxen are Yoaked by a long Yoak at the end of the Pole laid upon their Necks and the Coach-man holdeth in his hand the Rope to which the strings that are put through the Nostrils are fastened These Oxen are of different sizes there are great small and of a middle size but generally all very hardy so that some of them will Travel fifteen Leagues a day There is one kind of them almost six Foot high but they are rare and on the contrary another which they call Dwarfs because they are not three Foot high these have a bunch on their Back as the rest have go very fast and serve to draw small Waggons White Oxen are very dear They have white Oxen there which are extraordinary dear and I saw two of them which the Dutch had that cost them two hundred Crowns a piece they were really lovely strong and good and their Chariot that was drawn by them made a great shew When People of quality have lovely Oxen They have great care of the Oxen. they keep them with a great deal of care they deck the ends of their Horns with sheaths of Copper they use them to Cloaths as Horses are and they are daily curried and well fed Their ordinary Provender is Straw and Millet The food of the Oxen. but in the Evening they make each Ox swallow down five or six large Balls of a Paste made of Flower Jagre and Butter kned together They give them sometimes in the Country Kichery which is the ordinary Food of the Poor Kichery and it is called Kichery because it is made of a Grain of the same name boiled with Rice Water and Salt Some give them dryed Pease bruised and steeped in Water After all no part of this Province is fertile but the Countries about Azmer and Soret for the Countries of Gesselmere and Bando are Barren The chief Trade of Azmer is in Saltpetre The Saltpetre of Azmer and there are great quantities of it made there by reason of the black fat Earth that is about it which is the properest of all other Soils to afford Saltpetre The Indians fill a great hole with that Earth and pound it in Water with great pounders of very hard Timber when they have reduced it into a Liquid mash they let it rest to the end the Water may imbibe all the Saltpetre out of the Earth The way of making Salt-petre This mixture having continued so for some time they draw off what is clear and put it into great Pots wherein they let it boil and continually scum it when it is well boiled they again drain what is clear out of these Pots and that being congealed and dryed in the Sun where they let it stand for a certain time it is in its perfection
some of them are very skilful and have many secrets in Medicine and amongst other Remedies they often make use of burning The yearly Revenue of Caboul The Great Mogul has not out of this Province above four or five Millions a year CHAP. XXXV Of the Province of Cachmir or Kichmir The Province of Cachmire THe Kingdom or Province of Cachmir hath to the West Caboulistan to the East part of Tibet to the South the Province of Lahors and to the North Tartarie But these are its most remote limits for it is bounded and encompassed on all hands by Mountains and there is no entry into it but by by-ways and narrow passes This Countrey belonged sometimes to the Kings of Turquestan and is one of those which were called Turchind Turchind that is to say the India of the Turks or the Turky of the Indies The Waters of the Mountains that environ it afford so many Springs and Rivulets that they render it the most fertile Countrey of the Indies and having pleasantly watered it Tchenas a River make a River called Tchenas which having communicated its Waters for the transportation of Merchants Goods through the greatest part of the Kingdom breaks out through the breach of a Mountain Atoc and near the Town of Atoc discharges it self into the Indies but before it comes out it is discharged by the name of a Lake which is above four Leagues in circuit and adorned with a great many Isles that look fresh and green and with the Capital Town of the Province that stands almost on the banks thereof Some would have this River to be the Moselle but without any reason for the Moselle runs through Caboulistan and is the same that is now called Behat or Behar because of the aromatick Plants that grow on the sides of it Cachmir a Town The Town of Cachmir which bears the name of the Province and which some call Syrenaquer lies in the five and thirtieth degree of Latitude and in the hundred and third of Longitude Syrenaquer This Capital City is about three quarters of a League in length and half a League in breadth It is about two Leagues from the Mountains and hath no Walls The Houses of it are built of Wood which is brought from these Mountains and for the most part are three Stories high with a Garden and some of them have a little Canal which reaches to the Lake whither they go by Boat to take the Air. This little Kingdom is very populous hath several Towns The beauty of Cachmire and a great many Bourgs It is full of lovely Plains which are here and there intercepted by pleasant little Hills and delightful Waters Fruits it hath in abundance with agreeable Verdures The Mountains which are all Inhabited on the sides afford so lovely a prospect by the great variety of Trees amongst which stand Mosques Palaces and other Structures that it is impossible perspective can furnish a more lovely Landskip The Great Mogul hath a House of Pleasure there wtih a stately Garden and the Magnificence of all is so much the greater that the King who built it adorned it with the spoils of the Gentiles Temples amongst which there are a great many pretious Things King Ecbar subdued this Kingdom King Ecbar subdued Cachmir which was before possest by a King named Justaf-can He being Victorious in all places wrote to this Prince that there was no appearance he could maintain a War against the Emperour of the Indies to whom all other Princes submitted Justaf-can King of Cachmir that he advised him to do as they had done and that he promised him if he would submit willingly without trying the fortune of War he would use him better than he had done the rest and that his Power instead of being lessened should be encreased seeing he was resolved to deny him nothing that he should ask Justaf-can who was a peaceable Prince thinking it enough to leave his Son in his Kingdom came to wait upon the Great Mogul at the Town of Labors trusting to his word He payed him Hommage and the Emperour having confirmed the Promise which he made to him in his Letters treated him with all civility In the mean time Prince Jacob Instafs Son would not stop there Jacob the Son of Justaf-can For being excited by the greatest part of the People of the Kingdom who looked upon the Dominion of the Moguls as the most terrible thing imaginable he caused himself to be proclaimed King made all necessary preparations in the Countrey and at the same time secured the Passes and Entries into it which was not hard to be done because there is no coming to it but by streights and narrow passes which a few Men may defend His Conduct highly displeased the Great Mogul who thought at first that there was Intelligence betwixt the Father and Son but he found at length that there was none And without offering any bad usage to the Father he sent an Army against Cachmir wherein he employed several great Lords and Officers of War who had followed Justaf-can He had so gained them by his Civilities and Promises that they were more devoted to him than to their own Prince and they being perfectly well acquainted with the streights and avenues of the Mountains introduced the Moguls into the Kingdom Cachmirian Officers introduce the Moguls some through Places that belong to them and others by By-ways that could not possibly have been found without the conduct of those who knew the Countrey exactly They succeeded in their Design the more easily that King Jacob thought of nothing but guarding the most dangerous places and especially the Pass of Bamber which is the easiest way for entring into Cachmir The Moguls having left part of their Army at Bamber Bamber to amuse Prince Jacob and his Forces marched towards the highest Mountains whither the Omras of Cachmir led them There they found small passages amongst the Rocks that were not at all to be mistrusted By these places they entred one after another and at length meeting in a place where the Rendez-vous was appointed they had Men enough to make a Body sufficiently able to surprize as they did in the Night-time the Capital City which wanted Walls where Jacob Can was taken Nevertheless Ecbar pardoned him and allowed Him and his Father each of them a Pension for their subsistence But he made sure of the Kingdom which he reduced into a Province He annexed it to the Empire of Mogolistan and his Successours have enjoyed it to this present as the pleasantest Country in all their Empire The yearly Revenue of Cachmir It yields not the Great Mogul yearly above five or six hundred thousand French Livres CHAP. XXXVI Of the Province of Lahors and of the Vartias IT is about forty eight or fifty Leagues from Lahors to the borders of Cachmir which is to the North of it The Province of Lahors as
Fire in their House for fear some Flie may burn it self therein when they have got Charity enough they return to the Convent and there mingle all the Rice Lentils Milk Cheese and other Provisions they have got together Then an Officer distributes all equally among the Vartias who eat their Portions severally cold or hot as it is given them and drink nothing but water They make their meal about noon which serves them for the whole day The Vartias eat but once a day let hunger or thirst press them never so much they must wait till the same hour next day before they either eat or drink The rest of the day they employ in Prayers and reading of Books The Vartias Dormitory and when the Sun sets they go to sleep and never light a Candle They all lie in the same Chamber and have no other Bed but the Ground They cannot of themselves leave the orders after they have once taken the Vows yet if they commit any fault contrary to their Vows and especially against that of Chastity they are expelled not only the order but also their tribe The General Provincials The Officers of the Vartias and all the Officers change their Convent every four Months their Office is for Life and when any of them dies he Names to the Religous him whom he thinks fittest to succeed and they follow his choice These Vartias have above ten thousand Monasteries in the Indies and some of them are more Austere than others Nay their are some who think it enough to worship God in Spirit and these have no Idols and will have no Pagod near them Gentile Nuns There are also Religious Nuns in some places who live very exemplarily CHAP. XXXVII Of the Provinces of Ayoud or Haoud Varad or Varal The Province of Ayoud THe two Provinces of Ayoud and Varal are so little frequented by the Moguls that they from whom I asked an account of them could give me none though they were pretty well acquainted with the rest of Mogulistan and therefore I cannot say much of them in particular The Province of Ayoud as far as I could learn contains the most Northern Countries that belong to the Mogul The Province of Varal as Caucares Bankich Nagarcut Siba and others And that of Varal consists of those which are most North-East ward to wit Gor Pitan Canduana and some others These two Provinces being every where almost watered with the Rivers which run into the Ganges are very fertile notwithstanding the Mountains that are in them The yearly Revenue of Ayoud and Varal which makes them exceeding Rich. The Province of Ayoud yields the Great Mogul above ten Millions and that of Varal more than seven and twenty a year The great gains that these two Provinces and that which is next them make from the Strangers of the North and East are the cause of such considerable Revenues as the Mogul draws out of them and they are so much the greater that these Countries being remote from the Sea no Europeans share with them therein Rajas not Subjected The Pagod of Nagarcut The Idol Matta The Pagod of Calamac There are many Rajas in both who for the most part own not the Authority of the Great Mogul There are two Pagods of great reputation in Ayoud the one at Nagarcut and the other at Calamac but that of Nagarcut is far more famous than the other because of the Idol Matta to which it is Dedicated and they say that there are some Gentiles that come not out of that Pagod without Sacrificing part of their Body The Devotion which the Gentiles make shew of at the Pagod of Calamac proceeds from this that they look upon it as a great Miracle that the Water of the Town which is very cold springs out of a Rock that continually belches out Flames That Rock of Calamac is of the Mountain of Balaguate and the Bramens who Govern the Pagod make great profit of it CHAP. XXXVIII Of the Province of Becar and of the Castes or Tribes of the Indies THe Province of Becar which comprehends the Countries of Douab The Province of Becar Douah Jesuat Udesse Jesuat and Udesse is also watered by the Rivers that discharge themselves into the Ganges It lies not only to the East of Dehly but is also the most Eastern Province of Mogolistan by the Countrey of Udesse which shuts it in with its Mountains And that great Province being rich by reason of the fertility thereof yields to the Great Mogul yearly above fourteen Millions The Towns of Becar Sambal Menapour Rageapour Jehanac Becaner Towns. It contains several good Towns but the best are Sambal Menapour Rageapour Jehanac and above all Becaner which at present is the Capital standing to the West of the Ganges In this Province of Becar and in the two former there are of all the Castes and Tribes of the Indians which are reckoned in all to be fourscore and four in number Though all of them profess the same Religion Castes or Tribes of Gentiles 84. yet the Ceremonies of every one of these Castes nay and of the private Persons of each Caste are so different that they make an infinite number of Sects The People of every one of these Tribes follow a Trade and none of their Off-spring can quit it without being reckoned infamous in his Tribe For Example Bramens The Bramens who make the first Tribe profess Doctrine and so do their Children without ever forsaking that Profession The second is the Tribe of the Catry or Raspoutes Catry or Raspoutes who make profession of Arms Their Children profess the same or ought to do it because they all pretend to be descended of Princes of the Gentiles Not but some of them are Merchants nay and Weavers in the Provinces of Multan Lahors and Sinde but they are despised in the Tribe and pass for base Fellows void of honour The third is the Tribe of the Soudr or Courmy Soudr or Courmy and these are the Labourers of the Ground some of them carry Arms and since that is an honourable Trade and of a superiour Caste it do's not reflect upon them but because they love not to serve on Horse-back they serve commonly for the Garisons of Places and this Caste or Tribe is the greatest of all The fourth is the Tribe of the Ouens or Banians Banians and they are all Merchants Bankers or Brokers and the expertest People in the World for making Money of any thing Anciently there were no more Tribes but these four but in succession of time all those who applied themselves to the same Profession composed a Tribe or Caste and that 's the reason they are so numerous Colis The Colis or Cotton-dressers have made a distinct Caste Tcherons The Tcherons or Travellers Guards have theirs The Palanquin-bearers have also made one and they are called Covillis Bow-makers and Fletchers have also made another
is full of pleasant Islands covered with lovely Indian Trees and for five days Sailing on that River Passengers are delighted with the beauty of them In these Isles and some other places of Bengala there is a kind of bird called Meina Meina a bird which is much esteemed it is of the colour of a Black-bird and almost as big as a Raven having just such another Beak but that it is yellow and red on each side of the neck it hath a yellow streak which covers the whole Cheek till below the eye and its Feet are yellow they teach it to speak like a Starling and it hath the tone and voice much like but besides its ordinary Voice it hath a strong deep Tone which seems to come from a distance it imitates the neighing of a Horse exactly and feeds on dryed Pease which it breaks I have seen some of them upon the Road from Masulipatan to Bagnagar The Water of the Ganges The Heathen Indians esteem the water of the Ganges to be sacred they have Pagods near it which are the fairest of all the Indies and it is in that Countrey especially where Idolatry is triumphant Pagods of Jaganat The two chief Pagods are that of Jaganat which is at one of the mouths of the Ganges and the other of the Town of Benarous which is also upon the Ganges Pagod of Banarous Nothing can be more magnificent than these Pagods by reason of the quantity of Gold and many Jewels wherewith they are adorned Festivals are kept there for many days together and millions of People repair thither from the other Countreys of the Indies they carry their Idols in triumph and act all sorts of Superstitions they are entertained by the Bramens who are numerous there and who therein find their Profit The Great Mogul drinks commonly of the Water of the Ganges The Great Mogul drinks of the Water of the Ganges because it is much lighter than other Waters and yet I have met with those who affirm that it causes Fluxes and that the Europeans who are forced to drink it boil it first This River having received an infinite number of Brooks and Rivers from the North East and West discharges it self by several mouths into the Gulf of Bengala at the height of three and twenty degrees The Gulf of Bengala or thereabouts and that Gulf reaches from the eighth degree of Latitude to the two and twentieth it being eight hundred Leagues over On the sides thereof to the East and West The Coasts of the Gulf of Bengala there are many Towns belonging to several Sovereigns who permit the Traffick of other Nations because of the profit they get thereby My Indian reckons the yearly Revenue of the Mogul in this Province The Moguls Revenue from Bengala to amount to Ten millions but I learnt from other hands that it hardly makes Nine though it be far richer than other Provinces that yield him more The reason given for that is that it lies in the extremity of his Empire and is Inhabited by a capricious sort of People who must be gently used because of the Neighbourhood of Kings that are enemies who might debauch them if they were vexed The Mogul sends the Traitors thither Traitors whom he hath condemned to perpetual Imprisonment and the Castle where they are kept is strictly guarded CHAP. XLI Of the Province of Malva MAlva is to the West of Bengala and Halabas The Province of Malva Raja-Ranas Gualear Mando Towns. Cha-Selim King of Dehly therein are comprehended the Countries of Raja-Ranas Gualear and Chitor The Town of Mando is one of the fairest Ornaments of the Province The Mahometans took it from the Indians above Four hundred years before the Moguls came there and when they attacked it it was in the possession of Cha-Selim King of Dehly The first of the Moguls that took it was King Humayon who lost it again but he afterwards made himself Master of it This Town is of a moderate bigness and hath several Gates which are esteemed for their structure and height Most of the Houses are of Stone and it hath lovely Mosques whereof the chief is much beautified a Palace that is not far from that Mosque and which depends upon it serves as a Mausoleum to four Kings who are interred in it and have each of them a Monument and close by there is a Building in form of a Tower with Portico's and several Pillars Though this Town lying at the foot of a Hill be naturally strong by its Situation it is nevertheless fortified with Walls and Towers and has a Castle on the top of the Hill which is steep The Castle of Mando and encompassed with Walls six or seven Leagues in circuit It is a very neat Town at present but nothing to what it hath been heretofore It appears by the Ruins all about The Ruins of Mando shew that it hath been magnificent that it hath been much greater than it is that it hath had two fair Temples and many stately Palaces and the sixteen large Tanquies or Reservatories which are to be seen still for keeping of Water shew that in former times it hath been a place of great consequence This Province is very fertile and produces all that grows in the other places of the Indies Ratispor the Capital of Malva Traitors condemned to die Ratispor is the Capital of the Province and at present the Town of greatest Traffick it stands also upon a Mountain and thither the Grand Signior sends the Traitors whom he hath condemned to die For a certain time they are kept Prisoners and always one or other in the room with them and the day they are to die they make them drink a great quantity of Milk and throw them down from the top of the Castle upon the declining side of the Hill which is full of sharp pointed craggy Stones that tear the Bodies of the wretches before they can reach the bottom of the Precipice Chitor Raja-Ranas of the Race of Porus. The Town of Chitor is very famous also but it is almost ruined it long belonged to Raja-Ranas who deduced his Genealogie from King Porus though that Raja had considerable Territories and strong by reason of the Mountains that almost encompassed them yet could he not avoid the misfortune of other Princes but fell as they did under the power of the Moguls in the Reign of King Echar At present there are but few Inhabitants in Chitor the Walls of it are low and of a great many stately publick Buildings An hundred Temples in Chitor Antique Statues nothing remains but the ruins The hundred Temples or Pagods are still to be distinguished and many antick Statutes to be seen it hath a Fort where Lords of chief Quality are Imprisoned for small faults In short The remains of many Ancient Fabricks that are to be seen there make it apparent that it hath been a very great Town The
with Colours as they do their Pagods They drink not commonly the Tapty Water at Brampour because it is very brackish but they are supplied from a large square Bason that is in the Meidan the Water whereof comes from a distant Spring and before it fills that Bason passes by the Carvansera for Strangers which it furnishes it then runs under ground to the great Bason in the place which many times is empty at night because of the great quantity of Water which they fetch thence all day long but it fills again in the night-time and so they seldom have any want There are a great many Houses also on the other side of the River and they may be said to be a second Town The great Trade of the Province is in Cotton-cloath and there is as much Traffick at Brampour as in any place of the Indies Painted Cloaths are sold there as every where else but the white are particularly esteeemed because of the lovely mixture of Gold and Silver that is in them whereof the rich make Veils White Cloaths mingled with Gold and Silver at Brampour Indigo at Brampour Scarfs Handkerchiefs and Coverings but the white Cloaths so Adorned are dear In short I do not think that any Countrey of Indostan abounds so much in Cotton as this do's which bears also plenty of Rice and Indigo The same Trade is driven at Orixa Beâ—ar and other Towns of this Province CHAP. XLIII Of the Province of Balagate The Province of Balagate The yearly Revenue of Balagate BAlagate is one of the Great Moguls rich Provinces for it yields him Five and twenty Millions a year it lies to the South of Candich To go from Surrat to Aurangeabad which is the Capital Town of Balagate one must from Daman-Gate hold streight East and soon after turning towards the South-East cross some Countries of the Provinces of Benganala and Telenga Part of Balagate I saw as I went to Golconda for this Journey I hired two Chariots one for my self and another for my Man and Baggage I payed about Seventeen Crowns a month for each Chariot and I entertained two Pions in my Service The Pay of Pions to whom I gave two Crowns a piece by the month and two pence half penny a day for Board-wages as the custom is these Men are always by the sides of their Masters Chariot or Waggon that they may hold it up in bad way if it heel'd The Pions do all things except Kitchin-work when one comes to any place to bait at they 'll do any thing out of the Kitchin but they will not venture to dress Meat which those of their Sect would not eat In short They are in all things else very serviceable they 'll buy what is necessary look after their Masters things exactly The Pions Arms. and stand sentinel all night long they are Armed with Sword and Dagger and have besides the Bow Musket or Lance and are always ready to fight against all sorts of Enemies There are of them both Moors and Gentiles of the Tribe of the Raspoutes The Heathen Pions are better than the Moors I took Raspoutes because I knew they served better than the Moors who are proud and will not be complained of whatsoever foppery or cheat they may be guilty of I made this Journey in company of Monsieur Bazou a French Merchant a very civil and witty Man who had with him ten Waggons or Chariots and fourteen Pions for himself his Servants and Goods we were eight Franks in company and in all Five and forty Men. We parted from Surrat in the Evening and encamped near the Queens Garden which is without Daman-Gate so soon as we were got thither Journey from Surrat to Aurangeabad we sent to the Town for what Provisions we wanted for else we must have fared hard during our Journey The Gentiles who sell Provisions will neither furnish Travellers with Eggs nor Pullets and instead of ordinary Bread there is nothing to be got but ill baked Buns or Cakes so that one must not fail to make Provision of Bisket at Surrat Trees Wars Manguiers Mahova Quiesou Caboul Querzeheray second Vol. Merons wlld Cows The Countrey from Surrat to Anrangeabad is extreamly diversified there are in it a great many Wars Manguiers Mahova Quiesou Caboul and other sorts of Trees and I saw the Querzeheray there also which I have described in my Book of Persia There are vast numbers of Antelopes Hairs and Partridges here and there in that Countrey and towards the Mountains Merons or wild Cows most part of the Land is arable Ground and the Rice wherewith the Fields are covered is the best in all the Indies especially towards Naopoura Places of Camping on the Road from Surrat to Aurangeabad Barnoly a Bourg five Leagues from Surrat Balor a Village 4 Leag from Barnoly Biaraa Village 3 Leag and a half from Balor Charca a Village 2 Leag and a half from Biara Naopoura a Town 6 Leag from Charca Quanapour a Village 6 Leag from Naopoura Pipelnar a Town 6 Leag from Quanapour Tarabat a Village 4 Leag from Pipelnar Setana a Bourg 4 Leag and a half from Tarabat Omrana a Village 5 Leag and a half from Setana Enquitenqui 6 Leag from Omrana Deotcham a Town 6 Leag from Enquitenqui The Sour a Town 6 Leag from Deotcham Aurangeabad 8 Leag from the Sour where it has an odoriferous Taste which that of other Countries has not Cotton abounds there also and in many places they have Sugar-Canes with Mills to bruise the Canes and Furnaces to boyl the Sugar Now and then one meets with Hills that are hard to be crossed over but there are lovely Plains also watered with many Rivers and Brooks In this Road there are four Towns and four or five and thirty Bourgs and Villages pretty well Peopled Tchoguis or Guards of the High-ways are often to be met with here who ask Money of Travellers though it be not their due we gave to some and refused others but that signifies no great matter in the whole In most places Inhabited there are Pagods and every now and then we met with Waggons full of Gentiles who were coming to perform their Devotions in them The first Pagod I saw was by the side of a great War and before the Door of it there was an Ox of Stone which a Gentile who spake Persian told me was the Figure of the Ox An Ox that carried the God Ram. which served to carry their God Ram. We found besides many other Pagods like to that but we saw others which consisted of one single Stone about six Foot high on which the Figure of a Man is cut in relief There are also a great many Reservatories and Carvanseras upon the Road but we chose rather to Encamp than Lodg in them because of their nastiness As we were encamped near the Bourg Setana under Manguiers Setana a Burg. not far distant from a small
supported only by a row of Pillars cut in the Rock and distant from the floor of the Gallery about the length of a Fathom so that it appears as if there were two Galleries Every thing there is extreamly well cut and it is really a wonder to see so great a Mass in the Air which seems so slenderly underpropped A Mass of Rock in the Air. that one can hardly forbear to shiver at first entering into it In the middle of the Court there is a Chappel whose Walls inside and outside are covered with figures in relief Diverse Antick Figures in a Chappel Lovely Pyramides They represent several sorts of Beasts as Griffons and others cut in the Rock On each side of the Chappel there is a Pyramide or Obelisk larger at the Basis than those of Rome but they are not sharp pointed and are cut out of the very Rock having some Characters upon them which I know not An Obelisk with an Elephant The Obelisk on the left hand has by it an Elephant as big as the Life cut out in the Rock as all the rest is but his Trunck has been broken At the farther end of the Court I found two Stair-cases cut in the Rock and I went up with a little Bramen who appeared to have a great deal of Wit Being at the top I perceived a kind of Platform if the space of a League and a half or two Leagues may be called a Platform full of stately Tombs The Pagods of Elora Chappels and Temples which they call Pagods cut in the Rock The little Bramen led me to all the Pagods which the small time I had allowed me to see With a Cane he shew'd me all the Figures of these Pagods told me their Names and by some Indian words which I understood I perceived very well that he gave me a short account of the Histories of them but seeing he understood not the Persian Tongue nor I the Indian I could make nothing at all of it I entered into a great Temple built in the Rock it has a flat Roof and adorned with Figures in the infide as the Walls of it are A great Temple built in the very Rock In that Temple there are eight rows of Pillars in length and six in breadth which are about a Fathom distant from one another The Temple is divided into three parts The Body of it which takes up two thirds and a half of the length is the first part and is of an equal breadth all over The Quire which is narrower makes the second part And the third which is the end of the Temple is the least and looks only like a Chappel in the middle whereof upon a very high Basis there is a Gigantick Idol with a Head as big as a Drum and the rest proportionable A Gigantick Idol All the Walls of the Chappel are covered with Gigantick Figures in relief and on the outside all round the Temple there are a great many little Chappels adorned with Figures of an ordinary bigness in relief Figures of Men and Women representing Men and Women embracing one another Leaving this place I went into several other Temples of different structure built also in the Rock and full of Figures Pilasters and Pillars I saw three Temples one over another which have but one Front all three but it is divided into three Stories supported with as many rows of Pillars and in every Story there is a great door for the Temple the Stair-cases are cut out of the Rock I saw but one Temple that was Arched and therein I found a Room whereof the chief Ornament is a square Well cut in the Rock and full of spring-Spring-water that rises within two or three foot of the brim of the Well There are vast numbers of Pagods all along the Rock For above two Leagues there is nothing to be seen but Pagods and there is nothing else to be seen for above two Leagues They are all Dedicated to some Heathen Saints and the Statue of the false Saint to which every one of them is Dedicated stands upon a Basis at the farther end of the Pagod In these Pagods I saw several Santo's or Sogues without Cloaths except on the parts of the Body which ought to be hid They were all covered with Ashes and I was told that they let their Hair grow as long as it could If I could have stayed longer in those quarters I should have seen the rest of the Pagods and used so much diligence as to have found out some body that might have exactly informed me of every thing but it behoved me to rest satisfied as to that with the information I had from the Gentiles of Aurangeabad who upon my return told me that the constant Tradition was The time when these Pagods were made that all these Pagods great and small with their Works and Ornaments were made by Giants but that in what time it was not known However it be if one consider that number of spacious Temples full of Pillars and Pilasters and so many thousands of Figures all cut out of a natural Rock Multitudes of Figures it may be truly said that they are Works surpassing humane force and that at least in the Age wherein they have been made the Men have not been altogether Barbarous though the Architecture and Sculpture be not so delicate as with us I spent only two hours in seeing what now I have described and it may easily be judged that I needed several days to have examined all the rarities of that place but seeing I wanted time and that it behoved me to make haste if I intended to find my company still at Aurangeabad I broke off my curiosity and I must confess it was with regret I therefore got up into my Waggon again which I found at a Village called Rougequi Rougequi Sultanpoura from whence I went to Sultanpoura a little Town the Mosques and Houses whereof are built of a blackish Free-stone and the Streets paved with the same Not far from thence I found that so difficult descent which I mentioned and at length after three hours march from the time we left Elora we rested an hour under Trees near the Walls of Doltabad which I considered as much as I could CHAP. XLV Of the Province of Doltabad and of the Feats of Agility of Body Doltabad THis Town was the Capital of Balagate before it was conquered by the Moguls It belonged then to Decan and was a place of great Trade but at present the Trade is at Aurangeabad whither King Auran-Zeb used his utmost endeavours to transport it Trade transported from Doltabad to Aurangeabad when he was Governour thereof The Town is indifferently big it reaches from East to West and is much longer than broad it is Walled round with Free-stone and has Battlements and Towers mounted with Cannon But though the Walls and Towers be good yet that is not the thing that
Wood four Inches high set square-ways with a Board upon each of them two Fingers breadth and upon these Boards four other Pins or little Stakes with as many Boards more making in all two Stories over the Bason supported with the great Stake or Pillar And that Girl getting upon the upper Story he ran with her through the place with the same swiftness as at other times she not appearing in the least afraid of falling though the Wind was high These People shew'd a hundred other tricks of Agility which I shall not describe that I may not be tedious only I must say that the finest I saw Acted were performed by Girls We gave them at parting three Roupies for which they gave us a thousand Blessings We sent for them at Night to our Camp where they diverted us again and gained two Roupies more Ila a Town Indour a Town From thence we went to the Towns of Ila and Dentapour and some days after we arrived at Indour which belongs to a Raja who owns the Mogul no more than he thinks fit He is maintained by the King of Golconda and in time of War he sides always with the strongest He would have had us pay two Roupies a Waggon but after much dispute we payed but one and passed on We came before a Village called Bisetpoury and being informed that near to that place on the top of a Hill there was a very fair Pagod we alighted and went on Foot to see it CHAP. XLVI Of Chitanagar THat Pagod is called Chitanagar It is an Oblong square Temple The Pogod of Chitanagar forty five Paces in length twenty eight in breadth and three Fathom high it is built of a Stone of the same kind as the Theban It hath a Basis five Foot high all round charged with Bends and Wreaths The fair Temple of Chitanagar The Architecture of the Temple of Chitanagar The contrivance of the Temple of Chitanagar and adorned with Roses and Notchings as finely cut as if they had been done in Europe It hath a lovely Frontispiece with its Architrave Cornish and Fronton and is Beautified with Pillars and lovely Arches with the Figures of Beasts in relief and some with Figures of Men. Then we viewed the inside The contrivance of that Temple is like that of Elora it hath a Body a Quire and a Chappel at the end I could perceive nothing in the Body and Quire but the four Walls though the Lustre of the Stones they are built of renders the prospect very agreeable The Floor is of the same Stone and in the middle of it there is a great Rose well cut This place like the other Pagods receives light only by the door On each side of the Wall of the Quire there is square hole a foot large A Place for Penance which slopes like a Port-hole for a Piece of Od'nance and in the middle of the thickness of it a long Iron skrew as big as ones Leg which enters Perpedicularly into the Wall like a Bar and I was informed that these Irons served to fasten Ropes to for supporting of those who performed voluntary Abstinence for seven days or longer In the middle of the Chappel at the end there is an Altar of the same Stone as the Walls are of it is cut into several Stories and Adorned all over with Indentings Roses and other Embellishments of Architecture and on each side below there are three Elephants Heads There hath been a Pedestal prepared of the same Stone the Altar is of to set the Idol of the Pagod upon but seeing the building was not finished the Idol hath not been set up When I came down I perceived at the foot of the Hill on the East side a building which I was not told of I went thither alone with my Pions A fair Building near Chitanagar but found nothing but the beginnings of a Palace the Walls whereof were of the same Stone as the Pagod The Threshold of each Door is of one piece of Stone a Fathom and a half long It is all Built of very great Stones and I measured one of them that was above four Fathom long Near to that Building there is a Reservatory as broad as the Seine at Paris A very great Reservatory but so long that from the highest place I went to I could not discover the length of it In that Reservatory there is another little Tanquie seven or eight Fathom square and Walled in This Water being below the House there is a large pair of Stairs to go down to it and about an hundred and fifty paces forward in the great Reservatory opposite to the House there is a square Divan or Quiocbque about eight or ten Fathom wide the Pavement whereof is raised about a foot above the Water That Divan is built and covered with the same Stone that the House is built of It stands upon sixteen Pillars a Fathom and a half high that 's to say each Front on four Seeing my Company kept on their March I spent but half an hour in viewing that Building which very well deserves many as well for examining the design of it the nature of the Stones their Cut Polishing and Bigness as for considering the Architecture The Architecture of Chitanagar of a very good contrivance Chita which is of a very good contrivance and though it cannot absolutely be said to be of any of our Orders yet it comes very near the Dorick The Temple and Palace are called Chitanagar that is to say the Lady Chita because the Pagod is Dedicated to Chita the Wife of Ram I learnt that both had been begun by a Rich Raspoute Encampings upon the Road from Aurangeabad to Calvar Tchequel-Cane Leag and a half from Aurangeabad Ambar a Town Rovilag-herd 6 Leag from Tchequel-Cane Dabolquera 5 Leag from Rovilag-herd Achti a Town 8 Leag from Dabolquera Manod 6 Leag from Achti Parboni a Town 5 Leag from Manod Pourna-nadi a River Lazana a Town 6 Leag from Parboni Nander a Town 5 Leag from Lazana Guenga Ganges a River Patoda a Town 5 Leag from Nander Condelvai 9 Leag from Patoda Mandgera a River Lila a Town Deutapour a Town Indour a Town 9 Leag from Condelvai Coulan a River Indelvai a Town 4 Leag from Indour Calvar 4 Leag from Indelvai who dying left the Temple and House imperfect After all I observed as well in the Ancient as Modern Buildings of the Indies that the Architectors make the Basis Body and Capital of their Pillars of one single piece We past next by the Town of Indelvai of which nothing is to be said in particular but that a great many Swords Daggers and Lances are made there which are vended all over the Indies and that the Iron is taken out of a Mine near the Town in the Mountain of Calagatch The Town at that time was almost void of Inhabitants for they were gone farther up into the Country because of the Brother
is the same all over the Indies A Cow of Paste There is another day of rejoycing whereon they make a Cow of Paste which they fill full of Honey and then make a fashion of killing it and break it to pieces the Honey which distills on all sides represents the Blood of the Cow and they eat the Paste instead of the Flesh I could not learn the Original of that Ceremony as for the Catris or Raspoutes except that they eat no Pullets they as the rest of the inferiour Castes do make use of all kinds of Fish and Flesh unless it be the Cow which they all have in veneration The Gentiles Fasting The Gentiles generally are great Fasters and none of them let a fortnight pass over without mortifying themselves by Abstinence and then they Fast four and twenty hours but that is but the ordinary Fast for there are a great many Gentiles and especially Women who will Fast six or seven days and they say there are some that will Fast a whole month without eating any more than a handful of Rice a day and others that will eat nothing at all Criata a Root only drink Water in which they boyl a Root called Criata which grows towards Cambaye and is good against many distempers it makes the Water bitter and strengthens the Stomach When a Woman is at the end of one of these long Fasts the Bramen her director goes with his companions to the House of the penitent beats a Drum there and having permitted her to eat returns home again There are such Fasts many times among the Vartias the Sogues and other religious Gentiles of that Province and they accompany them with several other mortifications Religious Communities Now I have mentioned these Religious Gentiles I would have it observed that in all the Indies there is no religious Community amongst the Gentiles belonging particularly to one Caste or Tribe For Example There is not any whereinto none are admitted but Bramens or Raspoutes if there be a convent of Sogues any where the Community will consist of Bramens Raspoutes Comris Banians and other Gentiles and it is the same in a convent of Vartias or a company of Faquirs I have already treated of both these as occasion offered CHAP. XLVIII Of the Province of Baglana and of the Marriages of the Gentiles The yearly Revenue of Baglana THe Province of Baglana is neither so large nor do's it yield so great a Revenue as the other nineteen for it pays the Great Mogul a year but Seven hundred and fifty thousand French Livres it is bordered by the Countrey of Telenga Guzerat Balagate and the Mountains of Sivagi the Capital Town of it is called Mouler Mouler The Portuguese border on the Moguls Countrey Daman Before the Moguls this Province was also of Decan and at present it belongs to Mogolistan by it the Portuguese border upon the Moguls Countrey and their Territories begin in the Countrey of Daman The Town of Daman that belongs to them is one and twenty Leagues from Surrat which is commonly Travelled in three days It is indifferently big fortified with good Walls and an excellent Citadel the Streets of it are fair and large and the Churches and Houses built of a white Stone which makes it a pleasant Town There are several Convents of Religious Christians in it it depends on Goa as the other Portuguese Towns do especially as to Spirituals and the Bishop keeps a Vicar General there It lies at the entry of the Gulf of Cambaye and the Portuguese have Slave there of both Sexes Portuguese Slaves which work and procreate only for their Masters to whom the Children belong to be disposed of at their pleasure from Daman to Bassaim it is eighteen Leagues Bassaim This last Town lies in the height of about nineteen Degrees and a half upon the Sea being Walled round and almost as big as Daman it hath Churches and a College of Jesuits as Daman hath From Bassaim to Bombaim it is six Leagues Bombaim made over to the English this last Town hath a good Port and was by the Portuguese made over to the English upon the Marriage of the Infanta of Portugal with the King of England in the year 1662 it is six Leagues more from Bombaim to Chaoul Chaoul The Port of Chaoul is difficult to enter but very safe and secure from all foul weather it is a good Town and defended by a strong Citadel upon the top of a Hill called by the Europeans Il Morro di Ciaul it was taken by the Portuguese Il Morro di Ciaul in the year One thousand five hundred and seven From Chaoul to Dabul it is eighteen good Leagues Dabul Dabul is an ancient Town in the Latitude of seventeen degrees and a half it has its Water from a Hill hard by and the Houses of it are low it being but weakly fortified I am told Sivagi hath seized it notwithstanding its Castle as also Rajapour Vingourla Rasigar Rajapour Vingourlâ— Rasigar Towns. and some other places upon that coast of Decan It is almost fifty Leagues from Dabul to Goa which is in Viziapour As all the People of that coast are much given to Sea-faring so the Gentiles offer many times Sacrifices to the Sea Sacrifice to the Sea. especially when any of their Kindred or Friends are abroad upon a Voyage Once I saw that kind of Sacricrifice a Woman carried in her hands a Vessel made of Straw about three Foot long it was covered with a Vail three Men playing upon the Pipe and Drum accompanied her and two others had each on their head a Basket full of Meat and Fruits being come to the Sea-side they threw into the Sea the Vessel of Straw after they had made some Prayers and left the Meat they brought with them upon the Shoar that the poor and others might come and eat it I have seen the same Sacrifice performed by Mahometans The Gentiles offer another at the end of September Opening of the Sea. and that they call to open the Sea because no body can Sail upon their Seas from May till that time but that Sacrifice is performed with no great Ceremonies they only throw Coco's into the Sea and every one throws one The only thing in that Action that is pleasant is to see all the young Boys leap into the Water to catch the Coco's and whilst they strive to have and keep them shew a hundred tricks and feats of Agility In this Province as in the rest of Decan the Indians Marry their Children very young The Marriage of Children and make them Cohabit much sooner than they do in many places of the Indies they Celebrate Matrimony at the Age of four five or six Years and suffer them to Bed together when the Husband is ten Years old and the Wife eight but the Women who have Children so young soon leave off Child-bearing and commonly do not conceive
served in his Conquests by some Mahometan Captains whom he much esteemed for their Valour he contracted with his Successour that he should leave them in the Governments of the Countries where he had placed them The truth is The new King not only confirmed them therein but that he might please Chahalem the more augmented their Governments and honoured them with a particular confidence These Captains maintained splendidly the power of their Master as long as Chahalem lived but after his death which happened in the Year One thousand five hundred and fifty his Successour having been defeated by the Mogul Humayon who returned into the Indies with the assistance that Chah-Tahmas King of Persia gave him at the Sollicitation of his Sister these Traitors instead of owning their Benefactor as they ought to have done by their Loyalty combined against him and killed all his faithful Friends A great Treason they seized his own person and having shut him up in the Castle of Beder kept him there till he died under the strickt Guard of one of the Conspirators they next invaded his Countreys divided amongst themselves his Provinces and formed them into Kingdoms The three chief Conspirators were Nizam-Cha Coth-Cha and Adil-Cha these three Usurpers made themselves Kings The Usurpers of Decan The settlement of three Kingdoms and established the Kingdoms of Viziapour Bisnagar or Carnates and Golconda Viziapour fell to the share of Nizam-Cha who is said to have been an Indian and of the Royal Blood Bisnagar to Adil-Cha and Golconda to Cobt-cha and the Successours of these several Kings have since continued to take the name of their Founders As many other Captains were concerned in the Conspiracy so were other Principalities erected in Decan but most of them fell under the power of the first three or of their Successours These three Princes possessed their Kingdoms without trouble so long as they lived together in good Intelligence and they defeated the Army of the Mogul in a famous Battel but they fell a clashing amongst themselves about the end of their Reigns and their Children succeeded to their Misunderstandings as well as to their Dominions to which the cunning of the Moguls did not a little contribute These have by degrees taken from them the Provinces of Balagate Telenga and Baglana or at least the greatest part of them Auran-Zeb and Auran-Zeb seized of a great many good Towns in Viziapour when he was no more as yet but the Governour of a Province which would not have happened if the King of Bisnagar had assisted his Neighbour as he ought to have done The want of assistance on that Kings part so exasperated the King of Viziapour that he no sooner made peace with the Mogul in the year One thousand six hundred and fifty but he made a League with the King of Golconda against the King of Bisnagar and entered into a War with him they handled him so very roughly that at length they stript him of his Dominions The King of Golconda seized those of the coast of Coromandel which lay conveniently for him and the King of Viziapour having taken what lay next to him pursued his Conquest as far as the Cape of Negapatan so that Adil-Cha was left without a Kingdom and constrained to flie into the Mountains where he still lives deprived of his Territories His chief Town was Velour Velour five days Journey from St. Thomas but that Town at present belongs to the King of Viziapour as well as Gengi and several others of Carnates Gengi Carnates Bisnagar This Kingdom of Carnates or Bisnagar which was formerly called Narsingue began three days Journey from Golconda towards the South it had many Towns and the Provinces thereof crossed from the coast of Coromandel to the coast of Malabar reaching a great way towards the Cape of Comory it had Viziapour and the Sea of Cambaye to the West and the Sea of Bengala to the East what of it belongs to the King of Viziapour is at present governed by an Enuch of Threescore and ten years of Age Raja Couli called Raja-Couli who conquered it with extraordinary expedition That Raja to whom the King gave the surname of Niecnam-Can which is as much as to say Lord of good renown is the richest Subject of the Indies Whil'st I was in Carnate the Kings of Viziapour and Golconda attacked a certain Raja who had a Fort whither he retreated betwixt the two Kingdoms there he committed an infinite number of Robberies and in the last War that the Great Mogul made in Viziapour that Raja set on by the Mogul made considerable incursions into the Countreys of the two Kings which made them force him to the utmost extremity so that they took his Fort made him Prisoner and seized all his Riches Viziapour The Kingdom of Viziapour is bounded to the East by Carnates and the Mountain of Balagate to the West by the Lands of the Portuguese to the North by Guzerat and the Province of Balagate and to the South by the Countrey of the Naique of Madura whose Territories reach to the Cape Comory This Naique is tributary to the King of Viziapour as well as the Naique of Tanjahor to whom belonged the Towns of Negapatan Trangabar and some others towards the coast of Coromandel when the King of Viziapour took them Negapatan fell since into the hands of the Portuguese but the Dutch took it from them and are at present Masters of it The Danes have also seized a place where they have built a Fort towards Trangabar which is distant from St. Thomas five days Journey of a Foot-post which they call Patamar The Pagod of Trapety As to the famous Pagod of Trapety which is not far from Cape Comory it depends on the Naique of Madura it consists of a great Temple and of many little Pagods about it and there are so many Lodgings for the Bramens and the Servants of the Temple that it looks like a Town There is a great deal of Riches in that Pagod The King of Viziapour The King of Viziapour is the most potent Prince of all those of Decan and therefore he is often called King of Decan His chief City is Viziapour which hath given the name to the Kingdom and he hath many other considerable Towns in his Provinces with three or four Ports to wit Carapatan Dabul Raja-pour and Vingourla but I am informed that Raja Sivagy hath seized some of them not long since The Town of Viziapour The Town of Viziapour is above four or five Leagues in circumference it is fortified with a double Wall with many great Guns mounted and a flat bottomed Ditch The Kings Palace is in the middle of the Town and is likewise encompassed with a Ditch full of water wherein there are some Crocodiles This Town hath several large Suburbs full of Goldsmiths and Jewellers Shops yet after all there is but little Trade and not many things remarkable in it
An Orphan adopted and made King of Viziapour The King who Reigns in Viziapour at present was an Orphan whom the late King and the Queen adopted for their Son and after the death of the King the Queen had so much interest as to settle him upon the Throne but he being as yet very young the Queen was declared Regent of the Kingdom Nevertheless there has been a great deal of weakness during her Government and Raja Sivagy hath made the best on 't for his own Elevation CHAP. III. Of Goa Goa THe Town of Goa with its Isle of the same name which is likewise called Tilsoar borders upon Viziapour directly Southward it lies in the Latitude of fifteen degrees and about forty minutes upon the River of Mandona which discharges it self into the Sea two Leagues from Goa and gives it one of the fairest Harbours in the World some would have this Countrey to be part of Viziapour but it is not and when the Portuguese came there it belonged to a Prince called Zabaim who gave them trouble enough nevertheless Zabaim Prince of Goa Albuquerque made himself Master of it in February One thousand five hundred and ten through the cowardize of the Inhabitants who put him into possession of the Town and Fort and took an Oath of Allegiance to the King of Portugal This Town hath good Walls with Towers and great Guns and the Isle it self is Walled round with Gates towards the Land to hinder the Slaves from running away which they do not fear towards the Sea because all the little Isles and Peninsules that are there belong to the Portuguese and are full of their Subjects This Isle is plentiful in Corn Beasts and Fruit and hath a great deal of good water The City of Goa is the Capital of all those which the Portuguese are Masters of in the Indies The Arch-Bishop Vice-Roy and Inquisitor General have their Residence there and all the Governours and Ecclesiastick and secular Officers of the other Countries subject to the Portuguese Nation in the Indies depend on it The death of Albuquerque The death of St. Francis of Xavier Albuquerque was buried there in the year One thousand five hundred and sixteen and St. Francis of Xavier in One thousand five hundred fifty two The River of Mendoua is held in no less veneration by the Bramens and other Idolaters than Ganges is elsewhere and at certain times and upon certain Festival days they flock thither from a far to perform their Purifications It is a great Town and full of fair Churches lovely Convents and Palaces well beautified there are several Orders of Religious both Men and Women there and the Jesuits alone have five publick Houses few Nations in the World were so rich in the Indies as the Portuguese were before their Commerce was ruined by the Dutch but their vanity is the cause of their loss and if they had feared the Dutch more than they did they might have been still in a condition to give them the Law there from which they are far enough at present There are a great many Gentiles about Goa some of them worship Apes and I observed elsewhere that in some places they have built Pagods to these Beasts Most part of the Gentiles Heads of Families in Viziapour The way of the Banians dressing their Victuals dress their own Victuals themselves he that do's it having swept the place where he is to dress any thing draws a Circle and confines himself within it with all that he is to make use of if he stand in need of any thing else it is given him at a distance because no body is to enter within that Circle and if any chanced to enter it all would be prophaned and the Cook would throw away what he had dressed and be obliged to begin again When the Victuals are ready they are divided into three parts The first part is for the Poor the second for the Cow of the House and the third Portion for the Familie and of this third they make as many Commons as there are Persons and seeing they think it not civil to give their leavings to the poor they give them likewise to the Cow. CHAP. IV. Of the Kingdom of Golconde Of Bagnagar THe most powerful of the Kings of Decan next to Viziapour is the King of Golconda His Kingdom borders on the East side Golconda upon the Sea of Bengala to the North upon the Mountains of the Countrey of Orixa to the South upon many Countries of Bisuagar or Ancient Narsingue which belongs to the King of Viziapour and to the West upon the Empire of the Great Mogul by the province of Balagate where the Village of Calvar is which is the last place of Mogolistan on that side There are very insolent collectors of Tolls at Calvar Calvar and when they have not what they demand Li li li. they cry with all their force their Li li li striking their Mouth with the palm of their Hand and at that kind of alarm-bell which is heard at a great distance naked Men come running from all parts carrying Staves Lances Swords Bows Arrows and some Musquets who make Travellers pay by force what they have demanded and when all is payed it is no easie matter still to get rid of them The bounds of Mogulistan Mahoua The boundaries of Mogulistan and Golconda are planted about a League and a half from Calvar They are Trees which the call Mahoua these mark the outmost Land of the Mogul and immediately after on this side of a Rivulet there are Cadjours or wild Palm-trees planted only in that place to denote the beginning of the Kingdom of Golconda wherein the insolence of collectors is far more insupportable than in the confines of Mogolistan for the duties not being exacted there in the Name of the King but in the Name of private Lords to whom the Villages have been given the Collectors make Travellers pay what they please We found some Officers where they made us give fifty Roupies in stead of twenty which was their due and to shew that it was an Extortion of the Exactors they refused to give us a note for what they had received 16 Officers in 23 Leagues and in the space of three and twenty Leagues betwixt Calvar and Bagnagar we were obliged with extream rigour to pay to sixteen Officers Bramens are the Collectors of these Tolls and are a much ruggeder sort of People to have to do with than the Banians The Road from Calvar to Bagnagar Malaredpet 3 or 4 Leag from Calvar Bouquenour a Town Mellinar 6 Leag from Malaredpet Dgelpeli 6 Leag from Mellinar Marcel 3 Leag from Degelpeli Bagnagar 4 Leag from Marcel In our way from Calvar to Bagnager we found no other Town but Buquenour but there are others to the right and left we passed by eighteen Villages The Nadab or Governour of the Province lives in the little Town of Marcel and we
made that Journey in six days of Caravan In short there are few or no Countries that delight Travellers with their verdure more than the Fields of this Kingdom because of the Rice and Corn that is to be seen every where and the many lovely Reservatories that are to be found in it Bagnagar Aider-abad The Capital City of this Kingdom is called Bagnagar the Persians call it Aider-abad it is fourteen or fifteen Leagues from Viziapour situated in the Latitude of seventeen Degrees ten Minutes in a very long plain hemmed in with little Hills some Coffes distant from the Town which makes the Air of that place very wholesome besides that the Countrey of Golconda lies very high The Houses of the Suburbs where we arrived are only built of Earth and thatched with Straw they are so low and ill contrived that they can be reckoned no more than Huts We went from one end to the other of that Suburbs which is very long and stopt near the Bridge which is at the farther end of it There we stayed for a note from the Cotoual to enter the Town because of the Merchants Goods of the Caravan which were to be carried to the Cotouals House to be searched But a Persian named Ak-Nazar a favorite of the Kings who knew the chief of the Caravan being informed of its arrival sent immediately a Man with orders to let us enter with all the Goods and so we past the Bridge which is only three Arches over It is about three Fathom broad Nerva and is paved with large flat Stones The River of Nerva runs under that Bridge which then seemed to be but a Brook though in time of the Rains it be as broad as the Seine before the Louvre at Paris At the end of the Bridge we found the Gates of the City which are no more but Barriers Being entered we marched a quarter of an hour through a long Street with Houses on both sides but as low as those of the Suburbs and built of the same materials though they have very lovely Gardens We went to a Carvanseray called Nimet-ulla which has its entry from the same Street Every one took his lodging there and I hired two little Chambers at two Roupies a Month. The Town makes a kind of Cross much longer than broad and extends in a streight line from the Bridge to the four Towers but beyond these Towers the Street is no longer streight and whil'st in walking I measured the length of the Town being come to the four Towers I was obliged to turn to the left and entered into a Meidan where there is another Street that led me to the Town-Gate which I looked for Having adjusted my measures I found that Bagnagar was five thousand six hundred and fifty Paces in length to wit two thousand four hundred and fifty from the Bridge to the Towers and from thence through the Meidan to the Gate which leads to Masulipatan three thousand two hundred Paces There is also beyond that Gate a Suburbs eleven hundred Paces long There are several Meidans or Publick places in this Town The Meidan of Bagnagar but the fairest is that before the Kings Palace It hath to the East and West two great Divans very deep in the Ground the Roof whereof being of Carpenters work is raised five Fathom high upon four Wooden Pillars this Roof is flat and hath Balisters of Stone cast over Arch-ways with Turrets at the corners These two Divans serve for Tribunals to the Cotoual whose Prisons are at the bottom of these Divans each of them having a Bason of Water before them The like Balisters go round the Terrass-walks of the place The Royal Palace is to the North of it and there is a Portico over against it where the Musicians come several times a day to play upon their Instruments when the King is in Town In the middle of this place and in sight of the Royal Palace there is a Wall built three Foot thick and six Fathom in height and length Fightings of Elephants for the fighting of Elephants and that Wall is betwixt them when they excite them to fight but so soon as they are wrought up to a rage they quickly throw down the Wall. The ordinary Houses there are not above two Fathom high they raise them no higher that they may have the fresh Air during the heats and most part of them are only of Earth but the Houses of Persons of Quality are pretty enough The Palace which is three hundred and fourscore Paces in length takes up not only one of the sides of the Place The Palace of Bagnagar but is continued to the four Towers where it terminates in a very loftly Pavillion The Walls of it which are built of great Stones have at certain distances half Towers and there are many Windows towards the place with an open Gallery to see the shews They say it is very pleasant within and that the Water rises to the highest Appartments The Reservatory of that Water which is brought a great way off is in the top of the four Towers from whence it is conveyed into the House by Pipes No Man enters into this Palace but by an express Order from the King who grants it but seldom nay commonly no body comes near it and in the place there is a circuit staked out that must not be passed over There is another square Meidan in this Town where many great Men have well built Houses The Carvanseras are generally all handsome and the most esteemed is that which is called Nimet-ulla in the great Street opposite to the Kings Garden It is a spacious square and the Court of it is adorned with several Trees of different kinds and a large Bason where the Mahometans performe their Ablutions That which is called the four Towers is a square building The four Towers of which each face is ten Fathom broad and about seven high It is opened in the four sides by four Arches four or five Fathom high and four Fathom wide and every one of these Arches fronts a Street of the same breadth as the Arch. There are two Galleries in it one over another and over all a Terrass that serves for a Roof bordered with a Stone-Balcony and at each corner of that Building a Decagone Tower about ten Fathom high and each Tower hath four Galleries with little Arches on the outside the whole Building being adorned with Roses and Festons pretty well cut It is vaulted underneath and appears like a Dome which has in the inside all round Balisters of Stone pierced and open as the Galleries in the outside and there are several Doors in the Walls to enter at Under this Dome there is a large Table placed upon a Divan raised seven or eight Foot from the Ground with steps to go up to it All the Galleries of that Building serve to make the Water mount up that so being afterwards conveyed to the Kings
Palace it might reach the highest Appartments Nothing in that Town seems so lovely as the outside of that Building and nevertheless it is surrounded with ugly shops made of Wood and covered with Straw where they sell Fruit which spoiles the prospect of it Gardens near Bagnagar There are many fair Gardens in this Town their beauty consists in having long walks kept very clean and lovely Fruit-trees but they have neither Beds of Flowers nor Water-works and they are satisfied with several Cisterns or Basons with Water The Gardens without the Town are the loveliest and I shall only describe one of them that is reckoned the pleasantest of the Kingdom At first one enters into a great place which is called the first Garden it is planted with Palms and Areca trees so near to one another that the Sun can hardly pierce through them The Walks of it are streight and neat with borders of white Flowers which they call Ghoul Daouds the Flowers of David like Camomile-Flowers there are also Indian Gilly-flowers with some other sorts The House is at the end of this Garden and has two great Wings adjoyning the main Body of it It is two Story high the first consisting in three Halls of which the greatest is in the middle the main Body of the House and in each Wing there is one all three having Doors and Windows but the great Hall has two Doors higher than the others which open into a large Kioch or Divan supported by eight great Pillars in two rows Crossing the Hall and Divan one goes down a pair of Stairs into another Divan of the same form but longer which as the former hath a Room on each side opened with Doors and Windows The second Story of the Building is like the first save that it hath but one Divan but it hath a Balcony that reaches the whole length of that front of it The House is covered with a flat Roof of so great extent that it reaches over the outmost Divan of the lower Story and is supported by six eight-cornered Wooden Pillars six or seven Fathom high and proportionably big From the lower Divan a Terrass-walk two hundred Paces long and fifty broad faced with Stones runs along all the Front of the House and two little groves of Trees that are on the sides of it This Terrass that is at the head of the second Garden which is much larger than the first is raised a Fathom and a halfe above it and has very neat Stairs for going down into it The first thing that is to be seen looking forwards is a great square Reservatory or Tanquie each side whereof is above two hundred Paces long in it there are a great many Pipes that rise half a Foot above Water and a Bridge upon it raised about a Foot over the surface of the Water and above six Foot broad with wooden Railes This Bridge is fourscore Paces long and leads into a Platform of an Octogone figure in the middle of the Reservatory where there are Steps to descend into the Water which is but about a Foot lower than the Platform There are Pipes in the eight Angles of it and in the Pillars of the Railes from whence the Water plays on all sides which makes a very lovely sight In the middle of the Platform there is a little House built two Stories high and of an Octogone figure also each Story hath a little Room with eight Doors and round the second Story there is a Balcony to walk in The Roof of this Building which is flat is bordered with Balisters and covers the whole Platform also That Roof is supported by sixteen woodden Pillars as big as a Mans Body and about three Fathom high if you comprehend their Capitals and there are two of them at each Angle of which one rests upon the Wall of the House and the other is near the Railes that go round it The Garden wherein this Reservatory is is planted with Flowers and Fruit-trees All are in very good order and in this as well as in the first Garden there are lovely Walks well Gravelled and Bordered with divers Flowers There runs a Canal in the middle of the great Walk which is four Foot over and carries away what it receives from several little Fountains of Water that are also in the middle of that Walk at certain distances In short this Garden is very large and bounded by a Wall which hath a great Gate in the middle that opens into a Close of a large extent Planted with Fruit-trees and as nearly contrived as the Gardens CHAP. V. Of the Inhabitants of Bagnagar THere are many Officers and Men of Law at Bagnagar but the most considerable is the Cotoual He is not only Governour of the Town The Inhabitants of Bagnagar but also chief Customer of the Kingdom He is besides Master of the Mint-house and Supream Judge of the City as well in Civil as Criminal matters he rents all these places of the King for which he pays a good deal of Money There are in this Town many Rich Merchants Bankers and Jewellers and vast numbers of very skilful Artisans Amongst the Inhabitants of Bagnagar we are to recken the forty thousand Horse Persians Moguls or Tartars whom the King entertains that he may not be again surprised as he hath been heretofore by his Enemies Besides the Indian Merchants that are at Bagnagar there are many Persians and Armenians but through the weakness of the Government the Omras sometimes squeeze them and whil'st I was there an Omra detained in his House a Gentile Banker whom he had sent for and made him give him five thousand Chequins upon the report of this Extortion the Bankers shut up their Offices but the King Commanded all to be restored to the Gentile and so the matter was taken up The Tradesmen of the Town and those who cultivate the Land are Natives of the Country There are many Franks also in the Kingdome but most of them are Portuguese who have fled thither for Crimes they have committed However the English and Dutch have lately setled there and the last make great profits They established a Factory there three years since where they buy up for the Company may Chites and other Cloaths which they vent elsewhere in the Indies They bring from Masulipatan upon Oxen the Goods which they know to be of readiest sale in Bagnagar and other Towns of the Kingdom as Cloves Pepper Cinnamon Silver Copper Tin and Lead and thereby gain very much for they say they get five an twenty for one of profit and I was assured that this profit amounted yearly to eleven or twelve hundred thousand French Livres They are made welcome in that Countrey because they make many Presents and a few days before I parted from Bagnagar their Governour began to have Trumpets and Tymbals and a Standard carried before him by Orders from his Superiours Publick Women are allowed in the Kingdom so that no body minds