this man they say was elect by god and was made equall in knowledge to him Fourtie there are among them called all by the name of Elauted which signifieth in our language a blocke or stocke of a tree out of this number when their Elcoth deceaseth they create another in his roome namely seuentie persons that haue the authoritie of election committed vnto them There are likewise 765. others whose names I doe not well remember who are chosen into the said electors roomes when any of them decease These 765. being bound thereunto by a certaine canon or rule of their order are constrained alwaies to goe vnknowen and they range almost all the world ouer in a most vile and beggerly habite so that a man would take them for mad men and estranged from all sense of humanitie for these lewd miscreants vnder pretence of their religion run like roagues naked and sauage throughout all Africa hauing so little regarde of honestie or shame that they will like brute beastes rauish women in publike places and yet forsooth the grosse common people reuerence them as men of woonderfull holines Great swarmes of these filthie vagabonds you may see in Tunis but many more in Egypt and especially at Alcair whereas in the market called Bain Elcasrain I saw one of these villaines with mine owne eies in the presence of much people deflowre a most beautifull woman as she was comming foorth of the bath which being done the fond people came flocking about the said woman striuing to touch her garment as a most holie thing saying that the adulterer was a man of great sanctitie and that he did not commit the sinne but onely seemed to commit it which when the sillie cuckold her husband vnderstood he shewed himselfe thankfull to his false god with a solemne banket and with liberall giuing of almes The magistrates of the citie would haue punished the adulterer but they were in hazard to be slaine of the people for their labours who as is before said adore these varlets for saints and men of singular holines Other more villanous actes I saw committed by them which I am ashamed to report Of the Caballistes and certaine other sectes LIkewise there is another sort of men which we may fitly call Caballists These fast most streitly neither doe they eate the flesh of any liuing creature but haue certaine meates and garments allotted vnto them they rehearse likewise certaine set-praiers appointed for euery hower of the day and for the night according to the varietie of daies and monethes and they vse to carrie about certaine square tables with characters and numbers engrauen therein They faine themselues to haue daily conference with the angels of whom they learne they say the knowledge of all things They had once a famous doctor of their sect called 〈◊〉 who was author of their canons praiers and square tables Which when I saw me thought their profession had more affinitie with magique then with Cabala Their arte was diuided into eight partes whereof the first was called Elumha Enormita that is the demonstration of light the which contained praiers and fastings The second called Semsul Meharif that is the sunne of sciences contained the foresaid square tables together with their vse and profit The third part they call 〈◊〉 Lasmei Elchusne this part contained a catalogue of those 99. vertues which they say are contained in the names of God which I remember I saw at Rome in the custodie of a certaine Venetian Iew. They haue also a certaine other rule called Suvach that is the rule of heremites the professors and followers whereof inhabite woods and solitarie places neither haue they any other food but such as those wilde deserts wil affoord the conuersation of these heremites no man is able exactly to describe because they are estranged from all humane societie But if I should take vpon me to describe the varietie of Mahumetan sectes I should digresse too farre from my present purpose He that desireth to know more of this matter let him read ouer the booke of Elefacni who discourseth at large of the sectes belonging to the Mahumetan religion the principall whereof are 72. euery one of which defend their opinions to be true and good and such as a man may attaine saluation by At this day you shall finde but two principall sects onely the one of Leshari being dispersed ouer all Africa Egypt Syria Arabia and Turkie the other of Imamia which is authorized throughout the whole kingdome of Persia and in certaine townes of Corasan and this sect the great Sophi of Persia maintaineth insomuch that all Asia had like to been destroied thereabout For whereas before they followed the sect of Leshari the great Sophi by force of armes established his owne of Imamia and yet one onely sect stretcheth ouer all the Mahumetans dominions Of such as search for treasures in Fez. MOreouer in the citie of Fez there are certaine men called Elcanesin who supposing to finde treasure vnder the foundations of old houses doe perpetually search and delue These grosse fellowes vse to resort vnto certaine dennes and caues without the citie-walles certainly perswading themselues that when the Romans were chased out of Africa and driuen into Baetica or Granada in Spaine they hid great abundance of treasure in the bowels of the earth which they could not carrie with them and so enchanted the same by art-magique that it can by no meanes be attained vnto but by the same arte wherefore they seeke vnto inchanters to teach them the arte of digging vp the said treasures Some of them there are that will stedfastly affirme that they sawe gold in this or that caue others that they saw siluer but could not digge it out by reason that they were destitute of perfumes and enchantments fit for the purpose so that being seduced with this vaine opinion and deepely deluing into the earth they turne vpside downe the foundations of houses and sepulchers and sometimes they proceede in this manner ten or twelue daies iourney from Fez yea so fond they are and so besotted that they esteeme those bookes that professe the arte of digging gold as diuine oracles Before my departure from Fez these fantasticall people had chosen them a consul and getting licence of certaine owners to dig their grounds when they had digged as much as they thought good they paid the said owners for all dammages committed Of the Alchymistes of Fez. IN this citie likewise there are great store of Alchymists which are mightily addicted to that vaine practise they are most base fellowes and contaminate themselues with the steam of Sulphur and other stinking smels In the euening they vse to assemble themselues at the great temple where they dispute of their false opinions They haue of their arte of Alchymie many bookes written by learned men amongst which one Geber is of principall account who liued an hundred yeeres after Mahumet and being a Greeke borne is said to haue renounced his owne religion This Geber his works and all his precepts are full of allegories or darke borrowed speeches Likewise they haue another author that
that of part Barbarie which containeth the kingdome of Tripolis and Tunis was in times past gouerned by Apulian Sicilian Captaines and the countries of Caesaria and of Mauritania are supposed to haue beene 〈◊〉 vnto the Gothes At what time also many Christians fleeing from the furie and madnes of the Gothes left their sweet natiue soyle of Italy and at length arriued in Africa neere vnto Tunis where hauing setled their aboad for some certaine space they began at length to haue the dominion ouer all that region Howbeit the Christians which inhabited Barbaria not respecting the rites and ceremonies of the Church of Rome followed the Arrians 〈◊〉 and forme of liuing and one of the African Christians was that most godly and learned father Saint Augustine When the Arabians therefore came to conquer that part of Africa they found Christians to be Lords ouer the regions adiacent of whom after sundry hot conflicts the saide Arabians got the victorie Whereupon the Arrians being depriued of all their dominions and goods went part of them into Italy and part into Spaine And so about two hundred yeeres after the death of Mahumet almost all Barbarie was infected with his law Howbeit afterward ciuile dissensions arising among them neglecting the law of Mahumet they slue all the priests and gouernours of that region Which tumult when it came to the eares of the Mahumetan Caliphas they sent an huge armie against the saide rebels of Barbarie to wit those which were reuolted from the Calipha of Bagdet and seuerely punished their misdemeanor And euen at the same time was layd the most 〈◊〉 foundation of the Mahumetan law notwithstanding there haue remained many heresies among them euen vntill this verie day As touching the patrons of the Mahumetan lawe and likewise concerning the difference in religion betweene the Mahumetans of Africa and them of Asia we will by Gods grace write more in another seuerall volume and in the meane season let these particulars which we haue noted suffice the Reader Of the letters and characters of the Africans THose writers which record the histories of the Arabians doings are all iointly of opinion that the Africans were woont to vse onely the Latine letters And they doe most constantly affirme that the Arabians when they first 〈◊〉 Africa and especially Barbarie which was the principall seate of the Africans founde no letters nor characters there beside the Latine Neither indeede doe they denie that the Africans haue a peculiar kinde of language but this they firmly auouch that they haue the very same letters which the 〈◊〉 or Florentinesa people of Italie haue The Arabians haue no historie of African matters which was not first written in Latine They haue certaine ancient authors who writ partly in the times of the Arrians and partly before their times the names of all which are cleane forgotten Howbeit it is very likely that those Latine authors haue written many volumes for when their interpreters laboured to perswade something vnto vs I remember they would say it is contained in the seuentieth booke Neither did they in translating of the said volumes altogether follow the authors order but taking the historie of some one prince they would conioine his time and actions with the historie of the Persian Assyrian and Chaldaean kings or of the Israelites which concerned the same times But when as those which rebelled against the Calipha of Bagdet as is aforesaid got the vpper hand in Africa they burnt all the Africans bookes For they were of opinion that the Africans so long as they had any knowledge of naturall philosophie or of other good artes and sciences would euery day more and more arrogantly contemne the lawe of Mahumet Contrariwise some historiographers there are which affirme that the Africans had a kinde of letters peculiar vnto themselues which notwithstanding from the time wherein the Italians began first to inhabite Barbarie and wherein the Christians 〈◊〉 out of Italie from the Gothes began to subdue those prouinces of Africa were vtterly abolished and taken away For it is likely that a people vanquished shoulde follow the customes and the letters also of their conquerors And did not the same thing happen to the Persians while the Arabians empire stood For certaine it is that the Persians at the same time lost those letters which were peculiar vnto their nation and that all their bookes by the commandement of the Mahumetan prelates were burnt least their knowledge in naturall philosophie or their idolatrous religion might mooue them to contemne the precepts of Mahumet The like also as we shewed before befell the Barbarians when as the Italians and the Gothes vsurped their dominions in Barbarie which may here I hope suffice the gentle reader Howbeit this is out of doubt that all the 〈◊〉 cities and inland-cities of Barbarie doe vse Latine letters onely whensoeuer they will commit any epitaphes or any other verses or prose vnto posteritie The consideration of all which former particulars hath made me to be of opinion that the Africans in times past had their owne proper and peculiar letters wherein they described their doings and exploites For it is likely that the Romans when they first subdued those prouinces as conquerours vsually doe vtterly spoiled and tooke away all their letters and memorie and established their owne letters in the stead thereof to the end that the fame and honour of the Roman people might there onely be continued And who knoweth not that the very same attempt was practised by the Goths vpon the stately buildings of the Romans and by the Arabians against the monuments of the Persians The very same thing likewise we daily see put in practise by the Turks who when they haue gotten any citie or towne from the Christians doe presently cast foorth of the temples all the images and memorials of their saints And to omit all the aforesaid may we not in our time see the like daily practised in Rome where sumptuous and stately buildings left vnperfect by reason of the vntimely death of one Pope are for some noueltie vtterly ruined and destroied by his next successour Or else doth not the new Pope cause his predecessours armes to be razed and his owne in stead thereof to be set vp Or at the least if he will not seeme so arrogant letting his predecessours monuments stand still doth he not erect others for himselfe farre more sumptuous and stately No maruell therefore though so long successe of times and so many alterations haue quite bereaued the Africans of their letters Concerning those nine hundred yeeres wherein the Africans vsed the letters of the Arabians Ibnu Rachich a most diligent writer of Africa doth in his Chronicle most largely dispute whether the Africans euer had any peculiar kinde of writing or no. And at last he concludeth the affirmatiue part that they had for saith he whosoeuer denieth this may as well denie that they had a language peculiar vnto themselues
most part of the gentlemen of Fez haue vineyards vpon the saide mountaine At the north foote of this mountaine the fields are replenished with all kinde of graine and fruits For all that plaine is watered southward with the riuer Sebu and here the gardiners with certaine artificiall wheeles and engines draw water out of the riuer to moisten their gardens In this plaine are wel-nigh two hundreth acres of ground the reuenues whereof are giuen vnto the kings master of ceremonies howbeit he maketh thereof not aboue fiue hundreth ducates a yeere the tenth part of all which reuenues amounting to three thousand bushels of corne belongeth to the kings prouision Of mount Zarhon THis mountaine beginneth from the plaine of Esais lying ten miles distant from the citie of Fez westward it extendeth thirtie miles and is almost ten miles broad This mountaine is all couered with waste and desert woods being otherwise well stored with oliues In this mountaine there are of sheepe-foldes and castles to the number of fiftie and the inhabitants are very wealthy for it standeth betweene two flourishing cities that is to say Fez on the east and Mecnase on the west The women weaue woollen cloth according to the custome of that place and are adorned with many siluer rings and bracelets The men of this mountaine are most valiant and are much giuen to pursue and take lions whereof they send great store vnto the king of Fez. And the king hunteth the said lions in manner following in a large field there are certaine little cels made being so high that a man may stand vpright in them each one of these cels is shut fast with a little doore and containe within euery of them an armed man who opening the doore presents himselfe to the view of the lion then the lion 〈◊〉 the doores open comes running toward them with great furie but the doores being shut againe he waxeth more furious then before then bring they foorth a bull to combate with the lion who enter a fierce and bloudie conflict wherein if the bull kill the lion that daies sport is at an end but if the lion get the victorie then all the armed men being ordinarily twelue leape foorth of their cels and inuade the lion each one of them hauing a iauelin with a pike of a cubite and an halfe long And if these armed men seeme to bee too hard for the lion the king causeth their number to be diminished but perceiuing them too weake the king with his companie from a certaine high place where he standeth to behold the sport kill the lion with their crossebowes And oftentimes it falleth out that before the lion be slaine some one of the men dies for it the residue being sore wounded The reward of those that encounter the lion is ten duckats apeece and a new garment neither are any admitted vnto this combat but men of redoubted valour and such as come from mount Zelagi but those that take the lions first are inhabitants of mount Zarhon Of Gualili a towne of mount Zarhon THis towne was built by the Romanes vpon the top of the foresaide mountaine what time they were lordes of Granada in south Spaine It is enuironed around with mighty thicke walles made of smoothe and hewen stones The gates are large and high and the fields are manured for the space of sixe miles about howbeit this towne was long sithence destroied by the Africans But afterward when the schismatike Idris came into this region he began to repaire this desolate towne and to replant it so with inhabitants that within short time it grew very populous howbeit after his decease it was neglected by his sonne being wholy addicted as is beforesaid vnto the building of Fez. And yet Idris lieth buried in this towne whose sepulchre is visited with great reuerence almost by all the people of Barbarie for he is as highly esteemed as if he had been some patriarke because he was of the linage of Mahumet At this present there are but two or three houses in all the towne which were there built for the honour and maintenance of the sepulchre The fields adiacent are exceedingly well husbanded and their gardens are most pleasant by reason of two sweet freshets running through them the which diuersly winding themselues about the little hils and vallies doe water all that plaine Of a certaine towne called the palace of Pharao THis towne was founded by the Romans vpon the top of an hill about eight miles distant from Gualili The people of this said mountaine together with some historiographers are most certainly perswaded that this towne was built by Pharao king of Egypt in the time of Moses and tooke the name from the first founder which notwithstanding I thinke to be otherwise for I can read in no approoued author that either Pharao or any other Egyptians euer inhabited these regions But I suppose that this fond opinion was taken out of that booke which one Elcabi wrote concerning the words of Mahumet For the said booke affirmeth from the authoritie of Mahumet that there were fower kings onely that gouerned the whole world two whereof were faithfull and the other two ethnikes the faithfull he 〈◊〉 were Alexander the great and Salomon the sonne of Dauid and the ethnikes were Nimrod and Pharao But I am rather of opinion by the Latine letters which are there engrauen in the walles that the Romanes built this towne About this towne run two small riuers on either side thereof The little hils and vallies adiacent doe greatly abound with oliues Not far from hence are certaine wilde deserts frequented with lions and leopards Of the towne called Pietra Rossa or The red rocke PIetra Rossa is a small towne built by the Romans vpon the side of the foresaid mountaine being so neere the forrest that the lions will come daily into the towne and gather vp bones in the streets yea they are so tame and familiar that neither women nor children are afeard of them The wals of this towne are built very high and of great stones but now they are ruined in many places and the whole towne is diminished into one streete Their fields being ioyned vnto the plaines of Azgara abound with oliues and all kinde of pulse Of the towne of Maghilla MAghilla is a little towne founded of old by the Romans vpon that side of the foresaid hill which looketh toward Fez. About this towne are most fertill fields and greatly enriched with oliues there is a plaine likewise containing many fresh fountaines and well stored with hempe and flaxe Of the castle of Shame THis ancient castle is built at the foote of the said mountaine neer vnto the high way from Fez to Mecnase and it was called by this name because the inhabitants are most shamefully addicted to couetise like vnto all the people thereabouts In old time it is reported that a certaine king passed by whom the inhabitants of the castle inuited to dinner requesting him to
A GEOGRAPHICAL HISTORIE of AFRICA Written in Arabicke and Italian by IOHN LEO a More borne in Granada and brought vp in Barbarie Wherein he hath at large described not onely the qualities situations and true distances of the regions cities townes mountaines riuers and other places throughout all the north and principall partes of Africa but also the descents and families of their kings the causes and euents of their warres with their manners customes religions and ciuile gouernment and many other memorable matters gathered partly out of his owne diligent obseruations and partly out of the ancient records and Chronicles of the Arabians and Mores Before which out of the best ancient and moderne writers is prefixed a generall description of Africa and also a particular treatise of all the maine lands and Isles vndescribed by Iohn Leo. And after the same is annexed a relation of the great Princes and the manifold religions in that part of the world Translated and collected by IOHN PORY lately of Goneuill and Caius College in Cambridge LONDINI Impensis Georg. Bishop 1600 TO THE RIGHT HONORAble sir ROBERT CECIL Knight principall Secretarie to her Maiestie Master of the Court of Wardes and Liueries and one of her Highnes most Honorable priuie Counsell LO heere the first fruits or rather the tender buddes and blossomes of my labours Which least in this their winterly sprouting they might perhaps by some bitter blasts of censure be frost-nipped I humbly recommend to your Honorable protection Most due they are onely to your selfe being for the greatest part nothing else but a large illustration of certaine southern voiages of the English alreadie dedicated to your Honour And at this time especially I thought they would prooue the more acceptable in that the Marocan ambassadour whose Kings dominions are heere most amplie and particularly described hath so lately treated with your Honour concerning matters of that estate Vouchsafe therefore right Honorable according to your accustomed humanitie towards learning to accept of this Geographicall historie in like manner as it pleased your Honour not long since most fauourablie to take in good part those commendable indeuours of my reuerend friend M. Richard Hakluyt who out of his mature iudgement in these studies knowing the excellencie of this storie aboue all others in the same kinde was the onely man that mooued me to translate it At London this three and fortieth most ioifull Coronation-day of her sacred Maiestie 1600. Your Honors alwaies most readie to be commanded IOHN PORY To the Reader GIue me leaue gentle Readers if not to present vnto your knowledge bicause some perhaps may aswel be informed as my selfe yet to call to your remembrance some fewe particulars concerning this Geographicall Historie and Iohn Leo the auther thereof Who albeit by birth a More and by religion for many yeeres a Mahumetan yet if you consider his Parentage Witte Education Learning Emploiments Trauels and his conuersion to Christianitie you shall finde him not altogither vnfit to vndertake such an enterprize nor vnwoorthy to be regarded First therefore his Parentage seemeth not to haue bin ignoble seeing as in his second booke himselfe testifieth an Vncle of his was so Honorable a person and so excellent an Oratour and Poet that he was sent as a principall Ambassadour from the king of Fez to the king of Tombuto And whether this our Author were borne at Granada in Spaine as it is most likely or in some part of Africa certaine it is that in naturall sharpenes and 〈◊〉 of Wit he most liuely resembled those great and classicall authours Pomponius Mela Iustinus Historicus Columella Seneca Quintilian Orosius Prudentius Martial Iuuenal Auicen c. reputed all for Spanish writers as likewise Terentius After Tertullian Saint Augustine Victor Optatus c. knowen to be writers of Africa But amongst great varietie which are to be found in the processe of this not able discourse I will heere lay before your view one onely patterne of his surpassing wit In his second booke therefore if you peruse the description of Mount Tenueues you shall there finde the learned and sweete Arabian verses of Iohn Leo not being then fully sixteene yeeres of age so highly esteemed by the Prince of the same mountaine that in recompence thereof after bountifull entertainment he dismissed him with gifts of great value Neither wanted he the best Education that all Barbarie could affoord For being euen from his tender yeeres trained vp at the Vniuersitie of Fez in Grammar Poetrie Rhetorick Philosophie Historie Cabala Astronomie and other ingenuous sciences and hauing so great acquaintance and conuersation in the kings court how could he choose but prooue in his kinde a most accomplished and absolute man So as I may iustly say if the comparison be tolerable that as Moses was learned in all the wisedome of the Egyptians so likewise was Leo in that of the Arabians and Mores And that he was not meanely but extraordinarily learned let me keepe silence that the admirable fruits of his rare Learning and this Geographicall Historie among the rest may beare record Besides which he wrote an Arabian Grammar highly commended by a great Linguist of Italie who had the sight and examination thereof as likewise a booke of the liues of the Arabian Philosophers and a discourse of the religion of Mahumet with diuers excellent Poems and other monuments of his industrie which are not come to light Now as concerning his Emploiments were they not such as might well beseeme a man of good woorth For to omit how many courts and campes of princes he had frequented did not he as himselfe in his third booke witnesseth personally serue king Mahumet of Fez in his wars against Arzilla And was he not at another time as appeereth out of his second Booke in seruice and honorable place vnder the same king of Fez and sent ambassadour by him to the king of Maroco Yea how often in regard of his singular knowledge and iudgement in the lawes of those countries was he appointed and sometimes constrained at diuers strange cities and townes through which he trauelled to become a iudge and arbiter in matters of greatest moment Moreouer as touching his exceeding great Trauels had he not at the first beene a More and a Mahumetan in religion and most skilfull in the languages and customes of the Arabians and Africans and for the most part trauelled in Carouans or vnder the authoritie safe conduct and commendation of great princes I maruell much how euer he should haue escaped so manie thousands of imminent dangers And all the former notwithstanding I maruel much more how euer he escaped them For how many desolate cold mountaines and huge drie and barren deserts passed he How often was he in hazard to haue beene captiued or to 〈◊〉 had his throte cut by the prouling Arabians and wilde Mores And how hardly manie times escaped he the Lyons greedie mouth and the deuouring iawes of the Crocodile But if you will needes haue a
briefe iournall of his trauels you may see in the end of his eight booke what he writeth for himselfe Wherefore saith he if it shall please God to vouchsafe me longer life I purpose to describe all the regions of Asia which I haue trauelled to wit Arabia Deserta Arabia Petrea Arabia Felix the Asian part of Egypt Armenia and some part of Tartaria all which countries I sawe and passed through in the time of my youth Likewise I will describe my last voiages from Constantinople to Egypt and from thence vnto Italy c. Besides all which places he had also beene at Tauris in Persia and of his owne countrey and other African regions adioining and remote he was so diligent a traueller that there was no kingdome prouince signorie or citie nor scarcelie any towne village mountaine valley riuer or forrest c. which he left vnuisited And so much the more credite and commendation descrueth this woorthy Historie of his in that it is except the antiquities and certaine other incidents nothing else but a large Itinerarium or Iournal of his African voiages neither describeth he almost any one particular place where himselfe had not sometime beene an eie-witnes But not to forget His conuersion to Christianitie amidst all these his busie and dangerous trauels it pleased the diuine prouidence for the discouery and manifestation of Gods woonderfull works and of his dreadfull and iust iudgements performed in Africa which before the time of Iohn Leo were either vtterly concealed or vnperfectly and fabulously reported both by ancient and late writers to deliuer this author of ours and this present Geographicall Historie into the hands of certaine Italian Pirates about the isle of Gerbi situate in the gulfe of Capes betweene the cities of Tunis and Tripolis in Barbarie Being thus taken the Pirates presented him and his Booke vnto Pope Leo the tenth who esteeming of him as of a most rich and inualuable prize greatly reioiced at his arriuall and gaue him most kinde entertainement and liberall maintenance till such time as he had woone him to be baptized in the name of Christ and to be called Iohn Leo after the Popes owne name And so during his abode in Italy learning the Italian toong he translated this booke thereinto being before written in Arabick Thus much of Iohn Leo. Now let vs acquaint you with the Historie it selfe First therefore from so woorthy an author how could an historie proceed but of speciall woorth and consequence For proofe whereof I appeale vnto the translations thereof into Latine Italian Spanish French English and if I be not deceiued into some other languages which argue a generall 〈◊〉 of the same I appeale also to the grand and most iudiciall Cosmographer Master Iohn Baptista Ramusius sometime Secretarie to the state of Venice who in the Preface to his first volume of voiages so highly commendeth it to learned Fracastoro and placeth it euery word in the very forefront of his discourses as the principal most praise-woorthy of thē all And were renoumed Ortelius aliue I would vnder correction report me to him whether his map of Barbarie and Biledulgerid as also in his last Additament that of the kingdomes of Maroco and Fez were not particularly and from point to point framed out of this present relation which he also in two places at the least preferreth farre before all other histories written of Africa But to leaue the testimonies of others and to come neerer to the matter it selfe like as our prime and peerelesse English Antiquarie master William Camden in his learned Britannia 〈◊〉 exactly described England Scotland Ireland and the isles adiacent the which by Leander for 〈◊〉 by Damianus a Goez briefly for Spaine by Belforest for France by Munster for vpper Germanie by Guiccardini for the Netherlandes and by others for other countries hath beene performed so likewise this our author Iohn Leo in the historie ensuing hath so largely particularly and methodically deciphered the countries of Barbarie Numidia Libya The land of Negros and the hither part of Egypt as I take it neuer any writer either before or since his time hath done For if you shall throughly consider him what kingdome prouince citie towne village mountaine vallie riuer yea what temple college hospitall bath-stoue Inne or what other memorable matter doth he omit So doth he most iudicially describe the temperature of the climate and the nature of the soile as also the dispositions manners rites customes and most ancient pedigrees of the inhabitants togither with the alterations of religion and estate the conquests and ouerthrowes of the Romaines Goths and Arabians and other things by the way right woorthie the obseruation So that the Africans may iustly say to him and the English to master Camden as the prince of Roman oratours did vnto Marcus Varro the learnedst of his nation Nos in patria nostra peregrinantes errantesque tanquam hospites tui libri quasi domum deduxerunt vt possemus aliquando qui vbi essemus agnoscere Tuaetatem patriae tu descriptiones temporum tu sacrorum iura tu domesticam tu bellicam disciplinam tu sedem regionum locorum c. Which may thus be rudely 〈◊〉 Wandring vp and downe like Pilgrimes in our owne natiue soile thy bookes haue as it were led vs the right way home that we might at length acknowledge both who and where we are Thou hast reuealed the antiquitie of our nation the order of times the rites of our religion our manner of gouernment both in peace and warre yea thou hast described the situations of countries and places c. Now as concerning the additions before and after this Geographicall Historie hauing had some spare-howers since it came first vnder the presse I thought good both for the Readers satisfaction and that Iohn Leo might not appeere too solitarie vpon the stage to bestowe a part of them in collecting and digesting the same The chiefe scope of this my enterprize is to make a briefe and cursorie description of all those maine lands and isles of Africa which mine author in his nine bookes hath omitted For he in very deed leaueth vntouched all those parts of the African continent which lie to the south of the fifteene kingdomes of Negros and to the east of Nilus For the manifestation whereof I haue as truely as I could coniecture in the mappe adioined to this booke caused a list or border of small prickes to be engrauen which running westward from the mouth of Nilus to The streights of Gibraltar and from thence southward to the coast of Guinie and then eastward to the banks of Nilus and so northward to the place where it began doth with aduantage include all places treated of by Leo and excludeth the residue which by way of Preface we haue described before the beginning of his African historie Likewise at the latter end I haue put downe certaine relations of the great Princes of Africa and of the Christian
camels backs At this towne of Suez they haue no fresh water but all their water is brought them from a place sixe miles distant vpon camels backs being notwithstanding brackish and bitter The western shore of the Red sea is inhabited with people called in old time Troglodytae which at this present do all of them yeelde obedience to the great Turke who considering that the fleets of the Portugales entered very often into the Red sea and were there receiued by the subiects of Prete Gianni and did him great domage hath thereupon taken occasion not onely to conquer the Troglodytae but also to wast and subdue a great part of Barnagasso the most Northerlie prouince of the said Prete So that the audacious attempts of the Portugales in those partes haue bred two most dangerous and bad effects the one is that the Arabians haue most strongly fortified all their sea-townes which before lay naked and without fortification the other for that the Turke also hath bin occasioned thereby to make warre against the Prete Wherefore they ought not to haue vndertaken any such enterprise but with full resolution and sufficient forces to accomplish the same for lesser attempts serue to no other end but onely to rouze and arme the enimie which was before secure and quiet Neither is it heere to be omitted that in the foresaide sea a man can saile in no ships nor barks but only those of the great Turke or at least with his licence paying vnto him for tribute a good part of the fraight For this purpose he hath certaine Magazines or store-houses of timber which is brought partly from the gulfe of Satalia and partly from Nicomedia and other places vpon the Euxin sea vnto Rosetto and Alexandria from whence it is afterward transported to Cairo and thence to Suez This sea is called the Red sea not in regard that the waters thereofbe all red but as some thinke from certaine red rushes which growe vpon the shore and as others are of opinion from a kinde of red earth which in sundry places it hath at the bottome which earth dieth not the very substance of the water red but by transparence causeth it especially neere the shore to appeere of that colour Africa Troglodytica THat sandie barren and desert part of Africa which lieth betweene Nilus and the Red sea especially to the south of the tropike was in old times inhabited by the Troglodytae a people so called bicause of their dwelling in caues vnder the ground Along this westerne coast of the Red sea runneth a ridge of mountaines which being an occasion that the inland riuers can not fall into the saide sea they are forced to discharge themselues into Nilus The foresaide mountaines and sea coast are now inhabited by Mahumetans being partly Arabians and partly Turkes which not many yeeres ago haue attempted to saile that sea and to inuade the regions adioining The naturall inhabitants are a rude barbarous people and very poore and beggerly The chiefe places of habitation are Corondol a speciall good porte Alcosser a place well knowne bicause that neere vnto it the saide mountaines open themselues and giue passage to the bringing in of the fruits and commodities of Abassia Suachen esteemed one of the principall ports in all the streights and being made by an island Here resideth the Bassa of the great Turke which is called the gouernour of Abassia with three thousand soldiers or thereabout Next followeth Ercoco the onely hauen towne of the Prete lying ouer against the little isle of Mazua and heere the mountaines make an other opening or passage for transporting of victuals out of the lande of the saide Prete Ianni From hence almost to the very entrance of the Red sea the coast is at this present vninhabited forlorne and desert Likewise from Suachen to Mazua is a continuall woode the trees whereof are but of small woorth Iust within the saide entrance standeth the towne and port of Vela vnder the iurisdiction of the king of Dancali a Moore Vpon all this west shore of the Red sea as likewise vpon the contrary east shore scarcitie of water is the cause why there are so fewe and so small places of habitation and the people runne and flocke togither where they may finde any pit or fountaine of water Some curious reader might here expect because I haue nowe passed so neere the frontiers of Egypt that I should make an exact description of that most famous and fruitefull prouince and likewise of the great city of Alcair and of the inundation and decrease of Nilus all which because they are expressed in most orient liuelie colours by our author Iohn Leo I should shew my selfe both iniurious to him and tedious to all iudiciall readers in anticipating and forestalling that before the beginning of his booke which he so neere the end doth in such large and particular wise intreate of Now therefore let vs proceed to the vpper or inner Ethiopia beginning with the first and most northerly prouince thereof called Nubia Nubia PAssing therefore westward from the Island of Siene you enter into the prouince of Nubia bordering on the west vpon Gaoga eastward vpon the riuer Nilus towards the North vpon Egypt and southward vpon the desert of Goran The inhabitants thereof called by Strabo 〈◊〉 liue at this present as Francisco Aluarez reporteth a most miserable and wretched kinde of life for hauing lost the sinceritie and light of the gospel they do embrace infinite corruptions of the Iewish and Mahumetan religions At the same time when the foresaid Aluarez was in Abassia there came certaine messengers out of Nubia to make suit vnto the Prete that he would send them priests and such persons as might preach and administer the sacraments vnto them But he returned answere that he coulde not in regard of the scarcitie of great cler-giemen in his dominions The said messengers reported that the Nubians had sent often to Rome for a bishop but being afterward by the inuasions of the Moores and the calamitie of warre cut short of that assistance they fell for want of teachers and ministers into extreme ignorance of Christian religion and by little and little were infected with the impious and abominable sects of the Iewes and Mahumetans Some Portugals trauailing to those parts sawe many churches destroied by the handes of the Arabians and in some places the pictures of saints painted vpon the wals They are gouerned by women and call their Queene Gaua Their principall citie called Dangala and consisting of about ten thousand housholds is a place of great traffike bicause it is so neere vnto Egypt and the riuer Nilus All their other habitations are villages and base cottages Their houses are built of claie and couered with strawe The chiefe commodities of this region are rice stone-sugar sanders iuorie for they take many elephants as likewise abundance of ciuet and golde in great plentie The countrey is for the most part sandie howbeit there
time they will challenge and prouoke one another foorth of the citie-walles And hauing fought hard all the whole day at night they fall to throwing of stones till at length the citie-officers come vpon them taking some and beating them publiquely throughout the citie Sometimes it falleth 〈◊〉 that the yoong striplings arming themselues and going by night out of the citie range vp and downe the fields and gardens and if the contrarie faction of yoonkers and they meere it is woonderfull what a bloodie skirmish ensueth howbeit they are often most seuerely punished for it Of the African poets IN Fez there are diuers most excellent poets which make verses in their owne mother toong Most of their poems and songs intreat of loue Euery yeere they pen certaine verses in the commendation of Mahumet especially vpon his birth-day for then betimes in the morning they resort vnto the palace of the chiefe iudge or gouernour ascending his tribunall-seate and from thence reading their verses to a great audience of people and hee whose verses are most elegant and pithie is that yeere proclaimed prince of the poets But when as the kings of the Marin-familie prospered they vsed to inuite all the learned men of the citie vnto their palace and honourably entertaining them they commanded each man in their hearing to recite their verses to the commendation of Mahumet and he that was in all mens opinions esteemed the best poet was rewarded by the king with an hundred duckats with an excellent horse with a woman-slaue and with the kings owne robes wherewith he was then apparelled all the rest had fiftie duckats apeece giuen them so that none departed without the kings liberalitie but an hundred and thirtie yeeres are expired since this custome together with the maiestie of the Fessan kingdome decaied A description of the grammar-schooles in Fez. OF schooles in Fez for the instructing of children there are almost two hundred euery one of which is in fashion like a great hall The schoolemasters teach their children to write and read not out of a booke but out of a certaine great table Euery day they expound one sentence of the Alcoran and hauing red quite through they begin it againe repeating it so often til they haue most firmely committed the same to memorie which they doe right well in the space of 7. yeeres Then read they vnto their scholers some part of orthographie howbeit both this and the other parts of Grammar are far more exactly taught in the colleges then in these triuiall schooles The said schoolemasters are allowed a very small stipend but when their boies haue learned some part of the Alcoran they present certaine gifts vnto their master according to each ones abilitie Afterward so soon as any boy hath perfectly learned the whole Alcaron his father inuiteth all his sonnes schoole-fellowes vnto a great banket and his sonne in costly apparell rides through the street vpon a gallant horse which horse and apparell the gouernour of the royall citadell is bound to lend him The rest of his schoole-fellowes being mounted likewise on horse-backe accompany him to the banketing house singing diuers songs to the praise of God and of Mahumet Then are they brought to a most sumptuous banket whereat all the kinsfolkes of the foresaid boyes father are vsually present euery one of whom bestoweth on the schoolemaster some small gift and the boyes father giues him a new sute of apparell The said scholers likewise vse to celebrate a feast vpon the birth-day of Mahumet and then their fathers are bound to send each man a torch vnto the schoole whereupon euery boy carrieth a torch in his hand some of which waigh thirty pound These torches are most curiously made being adorned round about with diuers fruits of waxe which being lighted betimes in the morning doe burne till sun-rise in the meane while certaine singers resound the praises of Mahumet and so soone as the sunne is vp all their solemnitie ceaseth this day vseth to be very gainfull vnto the schoolemasters for they sell the remnant of the waxe vpon the torches for an hundred duckats and sometimes for more None of them paies any rent for his schoole for all their schooles were built many yeeres agoe and were freely bestowed for the training vp of youth Whatsoeuer ornaments or toyes are vpon the 〈◊〉 the schoolemasters diuide them among their scholers and among the singers Both in these common schooles and also in the colleges they haue two daies of recreation euery weeke wherein they neither teach nor studie Of the fortune-tellers and some other artizans in Fez. WE haue said nothing as yet of the leather-dressers who haue diuers mansions by the riuers side paying for euery skin an halfepeny custome which amounteth yeerely almost vnto three hundred duckats Here are likewise chirurgions barbers whom because they are so few I thought not to haue mentioned in this place Now let vs speake of the fortune-tellers and diuiners of whom there is a great number and three kindes For one sort vseth certaine Geomanticall figures Others powring a drop of oile into a viall or glasse of water make the saide water to bee transparent and bright wherein as it were in a mirrour they affirme that they see huge swarmes of diuels that resemble an whole armie some whereof are trauelling some are passing ouer a riuer and others fighting a land-battell whom when the diuiner seeth at quiet he demandeth such questions of them as he is desirous to be resolued of and the diuels giue them answere with beckning or with some gesture of their hands or eies so inconsiderate and damnable is their credulitie in this behalfe The foresaid glasse-viall they will deliuer into childrens hands scarce of eight yeeres old of whom they will aske whether they see this or that diuell Many of the citie are so besotted with these vanities that they spend great summes vpon them The third kinde of diuiners are women-witches which are affirmed to haue familiaritie with diuels some diuels they call red some white and some blacke diuels and when they will tell any mans fortune they perfume themselues with certaine odours saying that then they possesse themselues with that diuell which they called for afterward changing their voice they faine the diuell to speake within them then they which come to enquire ought with great feare trembling aske these vile abominable witches such questions as they meane to propound and lastly offering some fee vnto the diuell they depart But the wiser and honester sort of people call these women Sahaoat which in Latin signifieth Fricatrices because they haue a damnable custome to commit vnlawfull Venerie among themselues which I cannot expresse in any modester termes If faire women come vnto them at any time these abominable witches will burne in lust towardes them no otherwise then lustie yoonkers doe towards yoong maides and will in the diuels behalfe demaunde for a rewarde that they may lie with them and so by
of artificers and merchants Vpon this mountaine dwelleth one called Sidi Heli Berrased being lord ouer many mountaines This Sidi Heli brought some ciuilitie into this mountaine rebelled against the king of Fez and maintained continuall warre against the Portugals The inhabitants of the villages of this and the foresaid mountaines are free from all taxation and tribute bicause 〈◊〉 serue vnder their captaine as well for horsemen as for 〈◊〉 Come heere groweth small store but great plentie of flaxe There are 〈◊〉 woods and many fountaines vpon this hill and the inhabitants go all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of mount Beni Gebara THis mountaine is very steepe and of a woonderfull height out of the foote whereof spring certaine riuers Vines and figges here are great store but no corne at all and the inhabitants weare most base attire They haue abundance of goats oxen of so little a stature that a man would take them to be calues of halfe a yeere olde Euery weeke they haue a market being furnished with very few commodities Hither doe the merchants of Fez resort and the muletters or carriers which conueie fruits out of this mountaine vnto Fez. In times past it was subiect vnto a certaine prince of the king of Fez his kinred and there were collected out of this mountaine almost two thousand ducates of yeerely tribute Of mount Beni Ierso THis mountaine in times past was exceedingly well peopled Heere was likewise a faire colledge built wherein the Mahumetan lawe was publikely taught for which cause the inhabitants were freed from all tributes and exactions Afterward a certaine tirant being assisted by the king of Fez made this mountaine to become tributarie vnto him but first he put the inhabitants to flight and then destroied the colledge wherein were founde bookes woorth more then fowre thousand ducates and the learned and famous men he cruelly put to the sword This was done in the 918. yeere of the Hegeira which was in the yeere of our Lord 1509. Of mount Tezarin THis mountaine called by the inhabitants Tezarin standeth neer vnto the foresaid Beni Ierso aboundeth greatly with fountaines deserts vineyards Vpon the top thereof stand diuers ancient buildings which so farre foorth as I can coniecture were erected by the Romains And here as is before signified certaine fond people continually search in caues and holes of the earth for the Romains treasure All the inhabitants of this mountaine are most ignorant people and greatly oppressed with exactions Of mount Beni Busibet THis is a most cold mountaine and therefore it yeeldeth neither corne nor cattell both by reason of the extreme coldnes and the barrennes thereof Moreouer the leaues of the trees are not fit for goates to feede vpon They haue so great plentie of nuts that they abundantly furnish the citie of Fez and all other neighbour cities and townes therewith All their grapes are blacke whereof they make a certaine pleasant meate called Zibibbo They make likewise great store of must and wine They are clad in certaine woollen clokes or mantles such as are vsed in Italy these mantles haue certaine hoods which couer their heads and visages so that you can scarce discerne them to be men and they are particoloured with blacke and white spots In winter the merchants that resort vnto this mountaine to carrie away nuts and raisins vnto Fez can scarce finde any meate to eate for there is neither corne nor flesh but onely onions and certaine salt fishes which are extreme deere They vse likewise to eate sodden must and beanes dressed after their manner and this is the daintiest fare that this mountaine can affoord and their sodden must they eate with much bread Of mount Beni Gualid IT is an exceeding high and steepe hill and the inhabitants are very rich for of their blacke grapes they make the foresaid meate called Zibibbo Almonds figges and oliues they haue in great abundance neither pay they any tribute vnto the king of Fez but onely each family one fourth part of a ducate to the end they may haue free libertie to buie and sell in Fez market And if any citizen of Fez doth them any wrong when they take him or anie of his kinred in their mountaine they will not suffer him to returne home to Fez till sufficient recompence be made These people go decently apparelled and they haue a priuilege granted that whatsoeuer persons are banished out of Fez may freely remaine in their mountaine yea they will bestow their liuing gratìs vpon such banished persons so long as they continue amongst them And doubtles if this mountaine were subiect vnto the king of Fez it would affoord him yeerely for tribute sixe thousand ducates for it containeth mo then sixe hundreth rich families Of mount Merniza THis mountaine standèth iust by the former the inhabitants being endued with the same nobilitie libertie and wealth that the people of the former are endued with The women of this mountaine for any light iniurie offered by their husbands leauing foorthwith their saide husbands and children will depart vnto some other mountaine and seeke them newe paramours fit for their humor For which cause they are at continuall warre one with another neither will they be reconciled till he that is last possessed of the woman pay her former husband all such money as he spent in the solemnizing of her marriage and for this purpose they haue certaine iudges that make their poore clients spend almost all their whole substance Of mount Haugustian IT is an exceeding high and a cold mountaine containing great store of springs and abundance of vines bearing blacke grapes togither with plentie of figs of honie and of quinces howbeit the sweetest and fairest quinces grow vpon a plaine at the foote of the hill Likewise they are well stored with oile and are free from all tribute and yet there is not one of them but in token of a thankefull minde will sende great gifts vnto the king of Fez hence it is that they may freely and securely traffique with the people of Fez of whom they buie great store of corne wooll and cloth They are most ciuilly and decently apparelled especially such as dwell vpon the principall part of this mountaine who are most of them either merchants or artificers and a great many of them gentlemen Of Mount Beni Iedir THis is a great and well peopled mountaine but it yeeldeth nought but grapes whereof they vse to make the foresaid Zibibbo and wines The inhabitants were in times past free from all tribute howbeit in regard of their daily robberies and outrages committed against other people the gouernour of Bedis being aided with some souldiers of Fez subdued them all and depriued them of their libertie in this mountaine there are about fiftie farmes or granges which scarcely pay fower hundred ducates for tribute Of Mount Lucai THis mountaine is of a wonderfull height and verie difficult to ascend The inhabitants are exceeding rich hauing great abundance of raisins figs almonds oyle
of the mouth as it were a long threede of spittle with a round drop like a perle hanging at the end which drop falling wrong the camelion changeth his place till it may light directly vpon the serpents head by the vertue wherofhe presently dyeth Our African writers haue reported many things concerning the properties and secret qualities of this beast which at this present I do not wel remember Of the Ostrich SOmewhat we will here say concerning the strange birdes and fowles of Africa and first of the ostriche which in shape resembleth a goose but that the neck and legges are somewhat longer so that some of them exceede the length of two cubites The body of this birde is large and the winges therof are full of great feathers both white and black which wings and feathers being vnfitte to fly withall do helpe the ostriche with the motion of her traine to runne a swifte pace This fowle liueth in dry deserts and layeth to the number of ten or twelue egges in the sandes which being about the bignes of great bullets waigh fifteene pounds a piece but the ostrich is of so weake a memorie that shee presently forgetteth the place where her egges were laide And afterward the same or some other ostrichehenne finding the said egges by chance hatcheth and fosterech them as if they were certainly her owne the chickens are no sooner crept out of the shell but they prowle vp and downe the deserts for their foode and before their fethers be growne they are so swift that a man shall hardly ouertake them The ostriche is a silly and deafe creature feeding vpon any thing which it findeth be it as hard and vndigestable as yron The flesh especially of their legges is of a slymie and strong tast and yet the Numidians vse it for foode for they take yong ostriches and set them vp a fatting The ostriches wander vp and downe the deserts in orderly troupes so that a far off a man would take them to bee so many horsemen which illusion hath often dismaied whole carouans Being in Numidia I my selfe 〈◊〉 of the ostriches flesh which seemed to haue not 〈◊〉 an vnsauory tast Of the Eagle OF eagles there are diuers kindes according to their naturall properties the proportion of their bodies or the diuersitie of their colours and the greatest kinde of eagles are called in the Arabian toong Nesir The Africans teach their eagles to pray vpon foxes and woolues which in their encounter 〈◊〉 vpon the heads of the saide beasts with their bils and vpon the backes with their talents to auoide the danger of biting But if the beast turne his belly vpwarde the eagle will not forsake him till she hath either peckt out his eies or slaine him Many of our African writers affirme that the male eagle oftentimes ingendring with a 〈◊〉 woofe begetteth a dragon hauing the beake and wings of a birde a serpents taile the feete of a woolfe and a skin speckled and partie coloured like the skin of a serpent Neither can it open the eie-lids and it liueth in caues This monster albeit my selfe haue not seene yet the common report ouer all Africa affirmeth that there is such an one Of the foule called Nesir THis is the greatest foule in all Africa and exceedeth a crane in bignes though the bill necke and legs are somewhat shorter In flying this birde mounteth vp so high into the aire that it cannot be 〈◊〉 but at the sight of a dead carkase it will immediately descend This birde liueth a long time and I my selfe haue seene many of them vnfeathered by reason of extreme old age wherefore hauing cast all their feathers they returne vnto their nest as if they were newly hatched and are there nourished by the yoonger birds of the same kinde The Italians call it by the name of a Vulture but I thinke it to be of another kinde They nestle vpon high rockes and vpon the tops of wilde and desert mountaines especially vpon mount Atlas and they are taken by such as are acquainted with those places Of the birde called Bezi or the hauke THis bird called in Latine Accipiter is very common in Africa But the best African haukes are white being taken vpon certaine mountaines of the Numidian deserts and with these haukes they pursue the crane Of these haukes there are diuers kinds some being vsed to flie at partriges and quailes and others at the hare Of the Bat. THese vgly night-birdes are rife all the world ouer but in certaine caues of Atlas there are many of them founde as bigge and bigger then doues especially in their winges which albeit my selfe neuer sawe yet haue I heard of them by diuers persons Of the parrat or poppiniay THese parrats are commonly founde in the woods of Ethiopia but the better sort of them and such as will imitate mans voice more perfectly are the greene ones Parrats there are as big as a doue of diuers colours some red some blacke and some ash-coloured which albeit they cannot so fitly expresse mans speech yet haue they most sweete and shrill voices Of the locustes OF locustes there are sometimes seene such monstrous swarmes in Africa that in flying they intercept the sunne-beames like a thicke cloude They deuoure trees leaues fruites and all greene things growing out of the earth At their departure they leaue egges behinde them whereof other yoong locusts breede which in the places where they are left will eate and consume al things euen to the very barke of trees procuring thereby extreme dearth of corne especially in Mauritania Howbeit the inhabitants of Arabia deserta and of Libya esteeme the comming of these locusts as a fortunate boading for seething or drying them in the sun they bruise them to powder and so eate them And nowe let thus much suffice to haue spoken of the African beastes foules fishes serpents c. which are either not to be found in Europe or such as differ from creatures of the same kinde there Wherefore hauing once briefly intreated in the chapters following of certaine minerals trees and fruits of Africa I purpose then to conclude this my present discourse Whereas mine author Iohn Leo intreateth but briefly of these locustes which God vfeth as a most sharp scourge between times to discple all the nations of Africa I thought it not vnmeete to adde two other relations or testimonies of the same argument the one being reuerend in regard of the authors antiquitie and the other credible and to be accepted for that the reporter himselfe was a most diligent and faithfull eie-witnes of the same The first testimonie taken out of the 11. chap. of the fift booke of Paulus Orosius contra Paganos Of an huge and pernicious companie of Locusts in Africa which after they had wasted the countrey being drowned in the sea and cast vp dead on the shore bred a most woonderfull pestilence both of man and beast IN the consulship of Marcus Plautius Hypsaeus and Marcus Fuluius
getting of their 〈◊〉 that they are free from those violent passions of lust Infants that die before baptisme they name halfe christians because being sanctified onely by the faith of 〈◊〉 parents they are not as yet by baptisme throughly engraffed into the church From meates which the law of Moses accounted vncleane they also do abstaine The heresies of Arrius Macedonius and Nestorius they reiect and condemne The whole church of Ethiopia is gouerned by a patriark called in the Ethiopick language Abuna which signifieth A Father This patriark of theirs is first solemnely created at Ierurasem by the voices of those monkes which keepe the sepulchre of our Lord. Afterward hee is confirmed and sent into Ethiopia by the patriarke of Alexandria The emperour Prete Ianni so often as there is need of a new patriark sendeth an ambassage with many gifts to Ierusalem and requireth a patriark from thence Which patriarke together with a monke of the order of Saint Antony the Hermite being come into Ethiopia is according to an ancient custome receiued with the generall consent congratulation applause and reioycing of all degrees and estates of people To this high function is singled out some one man of singular piety grauity 〈◊〉 and of more ancient yeeres then the rest His speciall duties are to giue holy orders to administer church-discipline and to excommunicate contumaces or obstinate offenders which are for their stubbornnes famished to death But the authoritie of giuing Bishopricks and spirituall benefices the Emperour reserueth to himselfe In Ethiopia there are infinit numbers of priests and of monkes Francis Aluarez saw at one time ordained by the Patriarke two thousand three hundred fiftie sixe priests And the like manner of ordaining or instalment they haue euerie yeere twise It seemeth that those which are chosen into that order are men destitute of learning and liberall artes Vnto their priesthood none is admitted before he be full thirtie yeeres of age It falleth out likewise that during the vacation of the Patriarkship the church hath great want of priests Which vacation is often times prolonged by reason of the continuall wars betweene the Christians and the bordering Mahumetans and Gentiles whereby all passage from Ethiopia to the monks of Ierusalem is quite cut off Hence proceedeth great desolation in that church But with monks all places in this Abassin empire do mightily swarme These do not onely confine themselues in monasteries wherof here are great numbers but also take vpon them offices in the court and intangle themselues in militarie affaires and in buying and selling of merchandize Neither are there anie kinde of people in those easterne parts more conuersant in trade of merchandize then priests 〈◊〉 monkes So that the old said sawe is most truelie verified What ere the world doth put in vre The Monke will intermeddle sure It is 〈◊〉 to be noted that the priests monkes and other ministers of 〈◊〉 Ethiopian church are not maintained by tithes and almes as they are in Europe They haue onelie certaine fieldes and gardens which must be manured by the monkes and clergie themselues To beg ought of the common people they are in no wise permitted vnlesse perhaps some man will of his owne accorde bestowe somewhat in their churches for the exequies of the dead or for some other sacred vses These Ethiopians haue a certaine booke which they suppose to haue beene written by all the Apostles when they were assembled at Ierusalem This booke in their language they call Manda and Abetilis and do beleeue that all thinges therein contained are to be holden for gospel In it amongst other matters are contained certaine penal statutes as for example If a priest be conuicted of Adultery Man-slaughter Robberie or periurie he is to receiue like punishment with other malefactors Likewise that aswell ecclesiasticall as secular persons are to abstaine from comming to church for the space of fower and twentie howers after carnall copulation Some lawes also there are concerning the purification of women after their moneths and their child-birth which bicause we can make but little vse of them I do heere passe ouer in silence One thing there is in this booke very well prouided namely that twise euery yeere there be a Synod assembled in the church of Christ for the handling and discussing of all matters ecclesiasticall These are the principall points of the religion faith and ceremonies of the Ethiopicke church vnder Prete Ianni which hitherto haue come to our knowledge A good part whereofis agreeable vnto the scriptures of the old and new testament And such in very deed they are as represent vnto vs the acknowledgement of one true God and the faith and worship of our onely Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ. But as neuer any church vpon earth was quite voide of blemish so neither is this of Ethiopia free from all staines of errour Which notwithstanding may seeme the lesse strange bicause in Ethiopia there are no schooles nor Seminaries of liberall artes saue only that the priests themselues according to their simple skill traine vp their sonnes vnto such learning as may in time make them capable of priesthood Neither was there euer any man yet that reformed their errors Francis Aluarez reporteth that the Patriarke of this Ethiopick church in a certaine priuate conference did grieuously complaine of all such errours as were there maintained and was most earnestly desirous of a reformation Which desire of his as it is most holy cōmendable so is it by al christiās to be approoued God almightie grant that the Ethiopians may one daie attaine to the accomplishment of this his compassionate well-wishing and may haue a happie reformation of their church For this to desire and praie for is farre more conuenient and Christian-like then to disgrace them with reprochfull words and to bereaue them of the name of Christians Which harde and vnchristian measure Zagazabo the Ethiopian ambassadour reporteth with griefe that he found among the Popish priests of Portugall by whom he was quite restrained from the vse and communion of the 〈◊〉 supper as ifhe had beene a meere Gentile or Anathema It is indeed an errour or rather a great infirmitie that they do as yet retaine and vse some of the Iewish ceremonies But we are 〈◊〉 to impute it to their ignorance of Christian liberty And wheras they permit mariage to their priests it is neither repugnant to the sacred word of God nor to the institution of the Apostles Wherefore it ought not to be disallowed of any Christians Vnlesse they will preferre the decrees of the Pope before the commandement of God established by Christ and his apostles Wherby it may plainly appeere how impiously and sauagely the Priests of Portugall dealt in that especially for this cause they so sharpely inneied against the Ethiopick ambassadour and so vnciuilly entreated him Their yeerely renewing ofbaptisme was at the first brought in by errour and since by ancient vse and tradition hath growen authenticall For in