Elionara Sister to the King of Portugal at Bruges in Flanders which was solemnized in the deep of Winter whenas by reason of unseasonable Weather he could neither hawk nor hunt and was now tired with Cards Dice c. and such other domestical Sports or to see Ladies dance with some of his Courtiers he would in the Evening walk disguised all about the Town It so fortuned as he was walking late one Night he found a Country-Fellow dead drunk snorting on a Bulk he caused his Followers to bring him to his Palace and there stripped him of his old Cloaths and attired him after the Court Fashion when he waked he and they were ready to attend upon his Excellency persuading him he was some great Duke The poor Fellow admiring how he came thither was served in state all the day long After Supper he saw them dance heard Musick and the rest of those Court-like Pleasures but late at night when he was well tipled and again fast asleep they put on his old Cloaths and so conveyed him to the place where they first found him Now the Fellow had not made them so good sport the day before as he did when he returned to himself all the Jest was to see how he looked upon it In conclusion after some little Admiration the poor man told his Friends he had seen a Vision constantly believed it would not otherwise be persuaded and so the Jest ended Memorials of Thomas Coriat the famous Odcombian Traveller MR. Thomas Coriat was born at Odcombe nigh Evil in Somerset-shire and bred at Oxford where he attained to admirable fluency in the Greek Tongue he was a Man in his Time Notus nimis omnibus very sufficiently known one who seemed to carry Folly in his Face the shape of his Head being like a Sugar-loaf inverted with the little end before but such as conceived him Fool ad duo and something else ad decem were utterly mistaken for he drave on no Design cared for Coin and Counters alike so contented with what was present that he accounted those men guilty of Superfluity who had more Suits and Shirts than Bodies seldom putting off either till they were ready to go away from him Noble Prince Henry King James his Son allowed him a Pension and kept him for his Servant Sweet-meats and Coriat made up the last Course at all Court-Entertainments indeed he was the Courtiers Anvil to try their Wits upon and sometimes this Anvil returned the Hammers as hard Knocks as it received his Bluntness repaying their Abusiveness He being addicted to travel took a Journey into several places of Europe and at his Return made a Book thereof known by the name of Coriat's Crudities printed about the year 1611. being ushered into the World by very many Copies of excellent Verses made by the Wits of those times which made one to say that the Porch was more worth than the Palace the Preface of other mens mock-commending Verses than the Book it self however they did very much advantage and improve if not enforce the Sale thereof doing themselves much more Honour than him whom they undertook to commend in their several Encomiasticks Now because the Book is very scarce and hard to come by I shall give you a Copy of one of their Encomiums there being about sixty in all by which you may give a guess at the rest To the no less learned than wise and discreet Gentleman Mr. Thomas Coriat in some few Months Travels born and brought up to what you see viz. To be the delight of a world of noble Wits to be a shame to all Authors as the Gout and Quartane Fever have been to all Physicians This plain Song sendeth Christopher Brooke his poor Friend to attend the Descant of his famous Book thorough all Hands Tongues Arts Trades Mysteries and Occupations whatsoever THE subtile Greek Ulysses needs must travel Ten years sorsooth over much Sand and Gravel And many Cities see and Manners know Before there could be writ a Book or two Of his Adventures and he travell'd still Else there are Lyars sore against his Will But this rare English-Latin-Grecian Of Orators and Authors the Black Swan A voluntary Journey undertook Of scarce six Months and yet hath writ a Book Bigger than Homer's and tho' writ in Prose As full of Poetry spite of Homer's Nose If he liv'd now that in Darius Casket Plac'd the poor Iliads he had bought a Basket Of richer stuff t' intomb thy Volume large Which thou O noble Tom at thine own charge Art pleas'd to print but thou need'st not repent Of this thy bitter cost for thy brave Precedent Great Caesar is who penned his own Gests And as some write recited them at Feasts And at 's own Charge had printed them they say If printing had been used at that day The Press hath spent the three for one you got At your Return What 's that Poor thing God wot Manure this Land still with such Books my Friend And you shall be paid for it in the end For I methinks see how men strive to carry This jovial Journal into each Library And we e're long shall well perceive your Wit Grave learned Bodley by your placing it Therefore lanch forth great Book like Ship of Fame Th' Hopewel of Odcombe thou shalt have to name Explicit Christopherus Brook Eboracensis Amongst others that writ mock-commendatory Verses of this Book of Crudities was John Taylor the Water-Poet which though of the same nature with the other yet gave great offence to Mr. Coriat complaining of him therefore to King James The Verses were these What matters for the place I first came from I am no Dunce-comb Cox-comb Odcombe Tom Nor am I like a Wool-pack cramb'd with Greek Venus in Venice minded to go seek And at my back-return to write a Volume In memory of my Wits Gargantua Columne The choicest Wits would never so adore me Nor like so many Lacquies run before me But honest Tom I envy not thy state There 's nothing in thee worthy of my hate Yet I confess thou hast an excellent Wit But that an idle Brain doth harbour it Fool thou it at the Court I on the Thames So farewel Odcombe Tom God bless King James Afterwards Taylor wrote a Book called Laugh and be fat wherein he paraphrased upon all those Gentlemen that had written on Mr. Coriat's Book which Book by the Command of King James he procured to be burnt and afterwards adding more Complaints against Taylor to the King his Majesty was pleased to tell him that when the Lords of his Honourable Privy Council had leisure and nothing else to do then they should hear and determine the Differences betwixt Mr. Coriat the Scholar and John Taylor the Sculler Whereupon Taylor wrote these following Verses to the King Most mighty Monarch of this famous Isle Upon the Knees of my submissive mind I beg thou wilt be graciously inclin'd To read these Lines my rustick Pen compile Know Royal Sir
third was of Pearls wherein was Abraham and the huge huge Angel of Death with his Book and Pen in Hand writing the Times and mens Lives which fatal opinions make them hardy In the fourth he beheld an infinite company of Angels whereof every one was a thousand times bigger then the Globe of the earth exactly to an inch each of them had ten thousand Heads every head threescore and ten thousand tongues and every tongue praised God in seven hundred thousand several Languages Amongst other of these Angels saith he was one named Phatyr or the Angel of mercy who was of that immense greatness that every step he trod was twelve times more than the distance betwixt the Poles This Angel said he had a Quill or Pen of orient Pearl of such a length never a Scrivener in London hath the like that an excellent Arabian Courser could hardly reach to the end of it in five hundred years continual galloping with this Pen saith he doth God record all things past present and to come in such a mysterious Character that none but He and Seraphael can understand it with this Quill were written all the hundred and four Holy Books viz. the ten which Adam received Seth fifty Enoch thirty and Abraham the Remainder this Pen forsooth also writ Moses Law David's Psalms Christ's Gospel and Mahomet's Alcoran The fifth Heaven of Diamond and in it Moses the sixth of Ruby and in it John Baptist in the seventh Heaven he saw the Throne of God supported by seven Angels each of them so great that a Faulcon with incessant flying could scarce in a thousand Years reach the distance of one Eye from another fourteen everlasting burning Candles hung about the Throne whose length according to Mahomet's measure was as much as a Horse could run in five hundred Years There saith this Blasphemer did he see the Almighty who bid him welcome and stroked him on the Face with his hand which was a thousand times colder than Ice Here Mahomet for shame of his own Baseness blush'd a thing he never did for lying and sweat six drops which he wiped from his Brow and threw into Paradise where one became a Rose another a Grain of Rice and the other four became four Learned Men viz. Armet Sembelin Almamed Moler-zed and Seh-nassin Then returning to his Elmparac or Mule he rode back to his house at Mecha all this was done in the tenth part of the Night but when he was requested to do thus much in the Peoples sight he answered Praised be God I am a man and an Apostle The Book Asear saith Bellonius telleth further That in his Journey Mahomet heard a Womans Voice crying Mahomet Mahomet but he held his Peace afterwards another called him but he gave no Answer Mahomet asked the Angel who they were He answered That the one was she which published the Jews Law and if he had answered her all his Disciples should have been Jews the other was she which delivered the Gospel whom if he had answered all his Followers had been Christians Now who would think People should be so credulous to believe such antick Stories but his other Opinions were full as ridiculous as concerning the Day of Judgment that he should paint it out by a great and fearful Duel betwixt him and Death who being overcome shall be so enraged that he shall destroy all the World presently and being armed in flaming Brass shall sound his Trumpet to each Quarter of the World whose affrighting Noise shall make all Creatures to give up the Ghost yea the very Angels also shall die as also Adriel who wrapping his iron Wings about him shall strangle himself with such a hideous Noise as is not to be imagined Then shall ensue a terrible Earth-quake and a violent shower of parching Brimstone which shall turn the World into a disordered Chaos in which Condition it shall remain the space of forty days when God shall take it in his Fist and say Where are now the Haughty Princes the Cruel Tyrants Lascivious Wantons and Covetous Muck-worms of the Earth Then will he rain down Mercy for forty Days and Nights together incessantly which shall reduce the World again into a flourishing Condition Then shall the Angel Seraphiel take a Golden Trumpet in his hand of length five hundred Years Travel from one end to another with which he shall give such a Sound as shall revive again both Angels and Men who shall re-assume their former Estate after this Michael the Arch-Angel comes with a mighty Ballance and poises every man's Actions in either Scale those whose good Deeds out-weigh their evil are put on the right hand the other on the left then is every man loaden with his Sins in a Satchel and hung about his Neck with which they pass on a narrow weak Bridge over the Mouth of Hell now those that be heavy laden break the Bridge and fall therein but such as have but few Sins pass over securely On the other side of the Bridge stands Mahomet who shall be transformed into the shape of a mighty Ram full of Locks and long Fleeces of Wool in which all his Sectaries like Fleas shall shroud themselves then will he jump into Paradise and so convey them all thither Paradise he described to be as many miles about as there be Attomes in the Sun and that it is enclosed with a Wall of ninety times refined Gold ten thousand miles high and three thousand thick having seven Gates to enter in at and is divided into seven spacious Gardens and those sub-divided into seventy times seven several places of Delight In this place he promises to his Mussel-men or true Believers all sensual Pleasures and Delights imaginable namely That they should have Garments of Silk with all sorts of Colours Bracelets of Gold and Amber Parlours and Banquetting-houses upon Floods and Rivers Vessels of Gold and Silver Angels serving them bringing in Gold and Silver Flaggons Milk and Wine curious Lodgings rarely furnished Cushions Pillows and Down-beds most beautiful Women to accompany them Maidens and Virgins with twinkling Eyes Gardens and Orchards with Arbors Fountains Springs and all manner of pleasant Fruit Rivers of Milk Honey and spiced Wine all manner of sweet Odours Perfumes and fragrant Scents yea whatsoever the Flesh shall desire to have In this Paradise saith Mahomet there is a Table of Diamond seven hundred thousand days Journey long does not he think you deserve the Whetstone this is for men to feast upon sitting on Chairs of Gold and Pearl Gabriel the Porter of Paradise hath seventy thousand Keys which belong to his Office and every Key is seven thousand miles long questionless he must be very strong or else those Keys must needs tire him Here saith the Alcoran men shall tumble in all manner of Pleasure reposing upon fair Beds lined with Crimson there shall they gather the Fruits of the Garden to their Contentment there shall they enjoy the Company of fair and beautiful Damsels
Historical Rarities c. 2 A Costermongers Daughter y e cometh be Sultanes to y e grand Seigiuar p 65 1 Andri Battels delivernce in his voyage to y e River of plate P 1 3 The history of a famous Woman Captain viz Ioan of arc p 177 4 Almansor a pleasant story of a Spanish Doh p 185. 5 A Notable Combate between a K t. Esq in K. Richard 2 time P. 264. 6 The fiery Irruption of mount Aetna p. 287. HISTORICAL RARITIES AND CURIOUS Observations DOMESTICK FOREIGN Containing Fifty three several Remarks viz. 1. The miraculous and strange Adventures and Deliverances of one Andrew Battel of Leigh in Essex 2. A strange Deliverance of an English-man from a Desolate Island near Scotland wherein he had long continued in extream Penury and Misery 3. A strange Adventure of some English-men in the recovery of their own Freedom and a Ship called the Exchange of Bristol from the Turkish Pirates of Algiers 4. A notable Story of Edgar King of England and how he was revenged on him that circumvented him 5. The Story of Mackbeth King of Scotland 6. Of a Costermongers Daughter that came to be Sultaness to the Grand Seignior of Constantinople 7. Historical Observations out of several Authors 8. A Description of Greenland and the Inhabitants thereof 9. Several Varieties of the West Indies 10. Several Rarities of divers Countries 11. Of a mirthful Custom used at Dunmow in Essex 12. Of what we find in credible Authors concerning Guy Earl of Warwick 13. The Life of St. Patrick the Irish Apostle 14. The Murther of Duffe King of Scotland and how miraculously it came to be discovered 15. The Cruelty of Albovine King of Lombardy to his Queen Rosamond and how she was revenged of him 16. The Miseries of enforced Marriage exemplified in a Story of a Knight in Warwick-shire who was murdered by his own Lady With Thirty seven more several Histories very pleasant and delightful Collected out of Approved Authors By William Winstanley Author of England's Worthies London Printed for Rowland Reynolds next door to the Middle Exchange in the Strand 1684. To the Noble and Generous THE Pattern and Patron of Laudable Endeavours Sir THOMAS MIDDLETON Of Stansted Montfichet Knight Honoured Sir TWO things have emboldened me to dedicate this Book unto you the one is your known Abilities to approve or reject what is good or bad in Histories wherein your Judgment appears as sound and clear as the Sun is perspicuous in a serene day so that we may say of you as the Romanists in other things of their Arch-Priest that you are therein infallible The other drift of my ambition in this Dedication is to make a publick expression of the Love and Service I bear to your self and Noble Family which for many Ages hath flourished in honour and best repute and which caused you to be chosen one of the Senators of this flourishing Kingdom To these I might add a third that under your worthy Patronage others might be profited thereby especially two sorts of People First those who have not money to buy great Volumes and by that means are destitute of helps from such Books which should conduce to a general knowledge of History and then most Volumes treating onely of one continued subject without the help of a great many they cannot attain to a perfection in the general Secondly for those who have not time to peruse such voluminous Authors herein may they he instructed with the marrow and quintessence of what others more largely treat of like a little Watch shewing the time of the day as well as a great Clock I suppose it needless to treat of the benefit and pleasure of these miscellaneous Histories since variety gives the greatest pleasure to most sorts of People When doth the Earth appear in its greatest glory but in the month of May when Lady Flora hath diaper'd the Meads with variety of flowers Our Comedies would not give such general content were they composed of one continued Subject and not intermixed with several Humours History is the mirrour for us to look in which represents to us things past as if they were present and enables us to make a rational conjecture of things to come In brief there is nothing compleats a Gentleman so much as the knowledge of History nor no kind of History so much as these miscellaneous Discourses Deign Sir to accept hereof as a mite of accknowledgment of the respests born to your worthy self by Your humbly devoted Servant William Winstanley The PREFACE TO THE READER ONE calls History the Work-mistress of Experience and Mother of Prudence It is the general Treasury of times past present and a lively pattern of things to come It is that which reinforces Antiquity from her ruines and makes the gray head of Time white again History says Sir Walter Raleigh makes us acquainted with our dead Ancestors delivering us their Memory and Fame out of it we gather a Policy no less otherwise than Eternal by the comparison and application of other mens fore-past Miseries with our own like Errors and ill Deservings Skill in History makes a Young Man to be Ancient without Wrinkles or gray Hairs when ignorant Age is contemned and despised Learning is such a precious Jewel that it was highly honoured even among the Heathens themselves Polybius that wrote the Roman History and their Wars with the Carthaginians was honoured with a Statue on a high Pillar at Megalopolis Pompey the Great honoured Theophanes the Historian with the Priviledges of the City of Rome The Emperour Tacitus commanded the History of Tacitus to be placed in all Libraries and lest it should perish he caused it every Year to be written ten times over Titus Vespasian bestowed great Wealth and Honours on Josephus the Jewish Historian notwithstanding he had before been his deadly Enemy and caused his Statue to be erected at Rome Nay that Enemy to all Goodness even Julian the Apostate had a Statue made for Aurelius Victor the Roman Historiographer Thus you see what a high esteem the Heathens had for their Historians and shall we that have more Knowledge be more barbarous We read of Alphonsus King of Arragon that he commanded the Musicians from his presence saying He heard a better Harmony out of Livy And what greater delight can any man have than sitting in safety to read of the dangers of other men of vvhich in this Volume you have an example of Tom Coriat what indefatigable pains did he take vvhat miseries undergo vvhat extream vvants sustain for the viewing Foreign Countries and their Rarities of vvhich he might have had as good a description at home Is it not therefore better and at a far cheaper rate to buy the Experience of others then to try them our selves for they that travel for to veiw Curiosities pay dearly for their Experience but they who read Histories enjoy the experience of all that lived before vvhich is far greater and much cheaper It is
History that gives us a veiw of all Places and Times by that we see with other mens eyes and hear with their ears But in your reading have a great care in the choice of your Authors avoiding such as be either false or impertinent which to a judicious eye is easily discernable for some I have known othervvise ingenious enough apt to believe idle Romances and Poetical Fictions for Historical Varieties Not but that ingenious Romances and and vvitty Fables may be read and profitably too but to avoid such rude ones as Huon of Bourdeaux Four Sons of Amon Fortunatus Chimon of England and such like lest you be brought into the belief of Don Quixot which that Satyrical Romance doth sufficiently whip Indeed it were to be wished that such rude depraved Books were utterly abolished or restrained at least from Youth of both kinds for preventing of fantastical Impressions they being as deep taking as either the Juyce of Malt or the Vine of the effects of the which last I shall here insert a short Story A Gentleman being soundly doz'd had the Charity of his Conquerors to buttress him up from the Inn to his Chamber where laying him on his Bed he took quiet Repose for two or three hours after he awakes intolerable dry and inflamed i' th Throat roar'd out and knocks supposing he had been at the Inn not in his Chamber for the Tapster whom loudly and often he call'd for crying I burn I burn Cans you Rogue and impatient of delay threatens to fetch him with another Allarum which suddenly he puts in Execution and storms his own glass Windows so furiously with Bedstaves old Shooes and the like Weapons that he made a Breach big enough out of which he might have thrown the Room after In like manner what Impressions Books of that nature have made upon some much studious in them is sufficiently known who will believe no otherwise but that they are true and for this only reason Because they are Printed As for my own Undertakings in this following Work I shall neither extenuate nor extoll in the Composure thereof I have endeavoured to collect nothing but what is rare and not vulgarly known nor made use of any Authors for my Authority but what I take to be of unquestionable Credit and Estimation Indeed it was designed and drawn out for a far larger Volume had not the Bookseller's Interest overswayed me to publish no more at this time however your kind Acceptance of this will engage us very suddenly to contrive the rest in a Second Part it being already fitted and prepared for the Press I hope this will not pass without a general Acceptance I having in my time writ above seven score Books some of them very considerable and all which excepting one passing with a general Approbation and that one also how ever sold with some Gain I must confess I have had my Juvenile Excursions and my Loyal Intentions by writing in defence of the Old King's Cause is sufficiently known I am now by some time past the Meridian of my Years and shall for the future write nothing but what may be for the Benefit of my Country and that they may be known as I am A True Lover of Ingenuity W. WINSTANLEY THE TABLE THE miraculous and strange Adventures and Deliverances of one Andrew Battel of Leigh in Essex Page 1. A strange Deliverance of an English-man from a desolate Island near to Scotland wherein he had long continued in extreme penury and misery 16. A strange Adventure of some English-men in the recovery of their own Freedom and a Ship called the Exchange of Bristol from the Turkish Pirates of Argier published by John Rawlins A remarkable Story of eight men left in Greenland Anno Christi 1630. with a relation of their strange preservation 43. A notable Story of Edgar King of England and how he was revenged on him that circumvented him 54. The Story of Mackbeth King of Scotland 59. Of a Costermongers Daughter that came to be Sultaness to the Grand Seignior of Constantinople Historical Observations out of several Authors 71. How they baptize marry and bury in Russia 82. The Life Manners and Customs of the Samoits a People inhabiting Nova Zembla 89. A Description of Groenland and the Inhabitants thereof 92. Several Varieties of the West-Indies 96. Of the Tortoises in the West-Indies 103. Several Rarities of divers Countries 105. Of a mirthful Custom formerly used at Dunmow in Essex 109. Of what we find in credible Authors concerning Guy Earl of Warwick 111. The Life of St. Patrick the Irish Apostle 120. A marvellous preservation of the Protestants in Ireland in the time of Queen Mary by a merry accident 126. The murther of Duffe King of Scotland and how miraculously it came to be discover'd 127. The Cruelty of Albovine King of Lombardy to his Queen Rosamond and how she was revenged of him 134. The miseries of insorced Marriage exemplified in a story of a Knight in Warwickshire murdered by his own Lady 138. A remarkable story of the occasion of the Danes invading England and of their murdering St. Edmund 141. Histories of Parents crossing the affections of their Children and the sad effects thereof 149. Observations upon Kings of several Nations 153. A strange change of Religion of the two Dr. Reynolds 160. Why the Fish called Tunny is not sold in Venice 161. Of Machamut a Moorish King of a poisonous nature 163. A notable Imposture of Margaret Ulmer 164. Of People long lived who have had their Teeth and excrements of Hair renewed 167. An Example of Divine Vengeance pursuing sinners 170. Of two famous Virago 's Joan of Arc and Catarina d' Arcuso 177. That the Italians are very revengeful an Example 183. Spanish pride exemplified in a story 185. A mirthful conceit of Philip Duke of Burgundy 188. Memorials of Thomas Coriat 189. The reason inducing Mahometans to often prayer exemplified by a story 208. A strange murther in the time of K. James 210. The Custom of Lapland for the marrying their Daughters 213. Of Spirits or Devils and that they have had Carnal knowledge of people 214. The Life and Actions of the Impostor Mahomet according to their Saracenical opinion of him 223. The Talmud of the Jews their Dreams c. 239. The opinion of the Chineses concerning the people of the World after the Flood 244. A strange Relation of Ferdinand Mendes Pinto a Portugal which he saw in his Journey in China 245. The Letter of Agbarus Prince of the Edesseans to our Saviour with his Answer taken out of Eusebius 249. The conversion of a Thief by St. John the Apostle taken out of the same Eusebius 254. The Conspiracy of Earl Gowry to have murdered King James in Scotland An. 1600. 257. A notable Combat betwixt a Knight and an Esquire in the time of King Richard the Second 264. Of such another Combat fought in France 269. A remarkable piece of Justice done by the Emperour Rodulphus 270.
be subject to such Dangers and still to enrich other Men and maintain their voluptuous Filthiness and Lives returning themselves as Slaves and living worse than their Dogs amongst them Whereupon he burst out into these or such like abrupt Speeches O hellish Slavery to be thus subject to Dogs Oh! God strengthen my Heart and Hand and something shall be done to ease us of these Mischiefs and deliver us from these cruel Mahumetan Dogs The other Slaves pitying his Distraction as they thought bad him speak softly lest they should all fare the worse for his Distemperature the worse quoth Rawlins what can be worse I will either attempt my Deliverance at one time or another or perish in the Enterprize but if you would be contented to hearken after a Release and joyn with me in the Action I would not doubt of facilitating the same and shew you a way to make your Credits thrive by some work of Amazement and augment your Glory in purchasing your Liberty I prethee be quiet said they again and think not of Impossibilities yet if you can but open such a door of Reason and Probability that we be not condemned for desperate and distracted Persons in pulling the Sun as it were out of the Firmament we can but sacrifice our Lives and you may be sure of Secrecy and Taciturnity The fifteenth of January the morning Water brought us near Cape de Gatt hard by the Shore we having in our Company a small Turkish Ship of War that followed us out of Argier the next day and now joyning with us gave us notice of seven small Vessels six of them being Sattees and one Pollack who very quickly appeared in sight and so we made toward them but having more advantage of the Pollack than the rest and loth to lose all we both fetch'd her up and brought her past hope of Recovery which when she perceived rather than she would voluntarily come into the Slavery of these Mahumetans she ran her self a shore and so all the men forsook her we still followed as near as we durst and for fear of splitting let fall our Anchors making out both our Boats wherein were many Musqueteers and some English and Dutch Renegadoes who came aboard home at their Conge and found three Pieces of Ordnance and four Murtherers but they strait-way threw them all over-board to lighten the Ship and so they got her off being laden with Hides and Logwood for dying and presently sent her to Argier taking nine Turks and one English Slave out of one Ship and six out of the less which we thought sufficient to man her In the rifling of this Catelaynia our Turks fell at variance one with another and in such a manner that we divided our selves the less Ship returned to Argier and our Exchange took the opportunity of the Wind and plyed out of the Streights which rejoyced John Rawlins very much as resolving on some Stratagem when opportunity should serve in the mean while the Turks began to murmur and would not willingly go into the Marr Granada as the Phrase is amongst them notwithstanding the Moors being very superstitious were contented to be directed by their Hoshea who with us signifieth a Witch and is of great Account and Reputation amongst them as not going in any great Vessel to Sea without one and observing whatsoever he concludeth out of his Divination The Ceremonies he useth are many and when they come into the Ocean every second or third Night he maketh his Conjuration he beginneth and endeth with Prayer using many Characters and calling upon God by divers Names yet at this time all that he did consisted in these Particulars Upon the sight of two great Ships and as we were afraid chasing us being supposed to be Spanish men of War a great silence is commanded in the Ship and when all is done the Company giveth as great a Shreik the Captain still coming to John Rawlins and sometimes making him take in all his Sails and sometimes causing him to hoyse them all out as the Witch findeth by his Book and Presages then have they two Arrows and a Curtle-axe lying upon a Pillow naked the Arrows are one for the Turks and the other for the Christians then the Witch readeth and the Captain or some other taketh the Arrows in their hand by the Heads and if the Arrow for the Christians cometh over the head of the Arrow for the Turks then do they advance their Sails and will not endure the Fight whatsoever they see but if the Arrow of the Turks is found in the opening of the hand upon the Arrow of the Christians then will they stay and encounter with any Ship whatsoever the Curtle-axe is taken up by some Child that is innocent or rather ignorant of the Ceremony and so laid down again then do they observe whether the same side is uppermost which lay before and so proceed accordingly They also observe Lunaticks and Changelings and the Conjurer writeth down their Sayings in a Book groveling on the Ground as if he whisper'd to the Devil to tell him the Truth and so expoundeth the Letter as it were by Inspiration Many other foolish Rites they have whereon they do dote as foolishly Whilst he was busied and made Demonstration that all was finished the People in the Ship gave a great Shout and cryed out a Sail a Sail which at last was discovered to be another Man of War of Turks for he made towards us and sent his Boat aboard us to whom our Captain complained that being becalmed by the Southern Cape and having made no Voyage the Turks denied to go any farther Northwards but the Captain resolved not to return to Argier except he could obtain some prize worthy his endurances but rather to go to Salle and sell his Christians to victual his Ship which the other Captain apprehended for his honour and so perswaded the Turks to be obedient unto him whereupon followed a Pacification amongst us and so that Turk took his course for the Streights and we put up Northward expecting the good hour of some beneficial Booty All this while our Slavery continued and the Turks with insulting Tyranny set us still on work in all base and servile actions adding stripes and inhumane revilings even in our greatest labour whereupon John Rawlins resolved to obtain his Liberty and surprize the Ship providing Ropes with broad spikes of Iron and all the Iron Crows with which he knew a way upon consent of the rest to ram up or tye fast their Scuttles Gratings and Cabbins yea to shut up the Captain himself with all his Consorts and so to handle the matter that upon the Watch-word given the English being Masters of the Gun-room Ordnance and Powder they would either blow them into the Air or kill them as they adventured to come down one by one if they should by any chance open their Cabbins But because he would proceed the better in his Enterprize as he had somewhat
small Turrets which are made open with Lights every way that a man in them may be easily seen and heard Now their Moolaas or devout Priests do five times every day ascend unto the tops of those high Turrets whence they proclaim as loudly as they can possibly speak their Prophet Mahomet thus in Arabian La alla illa alla Mahomet Resul-alla that is There is no God but one God and Mahomet the Messenger from God Upon a time Tom Coriat when their Moolaa was to cry as aforesaid he got upon an high place directly opposite to one of those Priests and contradicted him thus La alla illa alla Hasaret Eesa Benalla that is No God but one God and the Lord Christ the Son of God and farther added that Mahomet was an Impostor and all this he spake in their own Language as loud as possibly he could in the ears of many Mahometans that heard it But whether Circumstances considered the zeal or discretion of our Pilgrim were more here to be commended I leave to the judgment of the Reader No doubt but had this bold attempt of his been acted in many other places of Asia it would have cost him his Life with as much torture as cruelty could have invented But he was here taken for a Mad-man and so let alone Haply the rather because every one there hath liberty to profess his own Religion freely and if he please may argue against theirs without fear of an Inquisition as this our Pilgrim did at another time with a Moolaa who had called him Giaur that is Infidel or false Believer which Mr. Coriat took in such Dudgeon that he made a Speech to him as followeth Mr. Coriat's Speech to a Mahometan But I pray thee tell me thou Mahometan dost thou in sadness call me Giaur That I do quoth he Then quoth I in very sober sadness I retort that shameful word in thy Throat and tell thee plainly that I am a Musulman and thou art a Giaur for by that Arab word Musulman thou dost understand that which cannot properly be applyed to a Mahometan but only to a Christian so that I do consequently infer that there are two kinds of Musulmen the one an Ortho-musulman that is a true Musulman which is a Christian and the other a Pseudo-musulman that is a false Musulman which is a Mahometan What thy Mahomet was from whom thou dost derive thy Religion assure thy self I know better than any one of the Mahometans amongst many Millions yea all the particular Circumstances of his Life and Death his Nation his Parentage his driving Camels thorough Aegypt Syria and Palestina the marriage of his Mistress by whose Death he raised himself from a very base and contemptible Estate to great Honour and Riches his manner of cozening the sottish People of Arabia partly by a tame Pidgeon that did fly to his Ear for meat and partly by a tame Bull that he fed by hand every day with the rest of his Actions both in Peace and War I know as well as if I had lived in his time or had been one of his Neighbours in Mecha the Truth whereof if thou didst know as well I am persuaded thou would'st spit in the face of thy Alcoran and trample it under thy Feet and bury it under a Jakes a Book of that strange and weak matter that I my self as meanly as thou dost see me attired now have already written two better Books God be thanked and will hereafter this by God's gracious Permission write another better and truer yea I would have thee know thou Mahometan that in that renowned Kingdom of England where I was born Learning doth so flourish that there are many thousand Boys of sixteen years of Age that are able to make a more learned Book than thy Alcoran neither was it as thou and the rest of you Mahometans do generally believe composed wholly by Mahomet for he was of so dull a Wit he was not able to make it without the help of another namely a certain Renegado Monk of Constantinople called Sergis so that his Alcoran was like an Arrow drawn out of the Quiver of another man I perceive thou dost wonder to see me so much inflamed with Anger but I would have thee consider it is not without great cause I am so moved for what greater Indignity can there be offered to a Christian which is an Artho-musulman than to be called Giaur by a Giaur c. By this which hath been said you may perceive our Coriat thus distinguished that himself was the Orthodox Musulman or true Believer The Moolaa the Pseudo-Musulman or false true Believer a distinction which must needs make an Intelligent Reader to smile It also shews what an opinion he had of his former writings and how if he had returned what a bustle he would have made in the World with another Volume but death prevented him for having left it Thomas Rowe the English Ambassador at Mandoa he went to Surat where he was over-kindly used by some of the English who gave him Sack which they had brought from England he calling for it as soon as he first heard of it and crying Sack Sack is there such a thing as Sack I pray you give me some Sack and drinking of it though moderately for he was a very temperate man it increased his Flux which he had then upon him and this caused him within a few days after his very tedious and troublesome Travels for he went most on foot at this place to come to his journeys end for here he overtook Death December 1617. and was buried under a little Monument like one of those usually made in our Church-yards upon whom a joking Wit made this Epitaph Here lies the Wonder of the English Nation Within the bosome of old Tellus maw For fruitless Travel and for strange Relation He past and repast all thy eyes e're saw Odcomb produc'd him many Nations fed him And worlds of Writers through the World have spread him The reason inducing the Mahometans to often Prayer exemplified by a Story IN a great City where Mahomet was zealously professed there lived say they a devout Musulman who for many years together spent his whole day in the Mosquit or Church in the mean time he minding not the World at all became so poor that he had nothing left to buy bread for his Family yet notwithstanding his poor condition he was resolved still to ply his Devotions and in a morning when he perceived that there was nothing at all left for the further subsistence of himself and houshold took a solemn leave of his Wife and Children resolving for his part to go and pray and dye in the Mosquit leaving his Family if no relief came to famish at home But that very day he put on this resolution there came to his house in his absence a very beautiful young Man as he appeared to be who brought and gave unto his Wife a very good quantity of
whose Hairs be Threds of Gold their Eyes of Diamonds as big as the Moon their Lips of Cherries their Teeth of Pearl their Tongues of Rubies their Cheeks of Coral their Noses of Jaspar very rich Girls their Fore-heads of Saphyr their Eyes exceeding black and Bodies exceeding white round fac'd sweet as Musk amorous and very beautiful all over there shall they spend the time with these Virgins in pleasant Arbors who being enjoyed shall have their Virginities again renewed as often as lost In the midst of this delightful place saith he is a very high spreading Tree higher than all the Mountains in the World were they heap'd one upon another and so broad that it shadeth all Paradise The Trunk of this extraordinary rare Tree is all of Diamond the leaves of Ophirian Gold and the Boughs of Jett each Leaf hath an Antick Shape having on one side growing the Name of God and on the other that of Mahomet Nor were his ridiculous Fopperies of Hell less than the other namely that it was the Navel of the World compassed with a large high Wall of attractive Adamant having seven Gates of flaming Brass to enter in at that it was divided into several Cells or Dungeons whereof some were more loathsom and fuller of Torments than others which are prepared for those Souls who have highest transgressed Some of these Caves saith he are so deep that a Mill-stone in a thousand years cannot attain to the bottom and other places are without Bottom In the descent of these deep Caves or Dungeons are placed sharp Pikes and Swords to wound and torment the Souls that move there These Dungeons are full of flaming Oyl and Brimstone which striketh such a Terror that the very Devils themselves do howl screetch and rage there beyond measure other Dungeons be full of Serpents Toads and all manner of venemous and noisome Creatures that can be imagined Here shall the Wicked eat of the Fruit of the Tree Zacon which being in their guts shall flame like Sulphur they shall drink boyling water and every day of new Torments shall have alteration Some Rivers saith he be full of Crocodiles others so cold as makes them gnash and chatter others boyl with violence of heat yet saith the Alcoran shall not these pains endure for ever for after so many thousand years when each Soul hath suffer'd according to the demerits of the Sins which he hath committed then shall they be delivered by Mahomet yea his Charity is so great that he will deliver the Devils also first changing their affrighting shapes into others more tollerable and then by washing them in a River flowing out of Paradise called Alcanser they shall become whiter than the driven Snow and from thence forward Sing Lala Hillulaes unto Mahomet And this is that he delivers of Hell whose description he might the better give as being the place of his proper residence His Doctrine of Angels was that they were either good or bad yet both subject to death the good as consisting of Flame because Lucifer an Angel by Ambition was cast out of Paradise the bad Angels are imprisoned in Dogs Swine Toads Wolves Bears Tygers c. After the Judgment-day they must be tormented in Hell some Millions of years and afterwards be delivered by Mahomet and received into Paradise but as for the Women poor Souls be they never so good they have the Gates shut against them yet are consigned to a Mansion without where they shall live happily as wicked Women to another place repleat with all dolour and misery As absurd and ridiculous were his opinions concerning our Saviour Christ as that the Virgin Mary conceived him by smelling to a Rose presented to her by the Angel Gabriel and that he was born out of her Breasts also that she was free from Original Sin and the Temptations of the Devil Christ is called in the Alcoran the Breath and Word of God said to know the Secrets of Hearts to raise the dead to life cure diseases restore sight to the Blind and speech to the Dumb and that his Disciples wrought Miracles by his Vertue Yet visit they not his Sepulchre in their Pilgrimages not thinking him to have died as generally bruted for being as they say led towards the Place of Execution God not permitting so base a People to put to death so holy a Prophet did assume him into Heaven when mist and sought by the Souldiers in the throng they laid hold of one of the Judges that had condemned him who resembled him much in favour and proportion telling him that he should not escape from them again and so not believing whatsoever he said did Execute him in his Room They sharply punish all such as blaspheme him and say that he shall return to Judgment about forty years before the Worlds ending and that at the last day the Righteous shall enter into Heaven the Jews under the Banner of Moses the Christians under the Banner of Christ and the Saracens under his Banner Having with these and the like odd whimzies patched up his Alcoran to give it the better credit that the People might imagine it to come from Heaven he devised this cunning way He secretly caused a wild Ass to be taken and bound his Alcoran being fairly written about his Neck then as he preached unto the People he pretended a sudden Rapture of some extraordinary thing that was revealed to him from above and with a loud voice spake to the People Ye have desired a Law behold God hath sent you a Law from Heaven go to such a Desart there shall ye find an Ass and a Book tyed about his Neck which will direct you in the ways which God hath commanded Thereupon the People run in great haste and as they could do no other found it according as he had said so with great Pomp they bring back the Ass with the Book about his neck suitable to the Bearer and now as thoroughly convinced they give great Honour to this their new Prophet Thus were these silly Souls deluded by this cunning Impostor to imbrace a bruitish sensual Religion but fleshly People will have a fleshly Religion and a fleshly Paradise to inhabit But like Prophet like People and like Religion for Mahomet himself was such a fleshly Fellow that in glorying of his Strength he boasted that he had known his eleven Wives successively in one hour and permitting by his impure Law to his followers to take unto them four Wives though they be nigh of Kin yea five marrying them Virgins and to take besides as many of them which they have bought and taken Captives as their ability will serve to maintain These were his sensual bruitish baits to catch the credulous inconsiderate Multitude but his devices are so ridiculous that a wise man cannot chuse but smile at his conceits in Pleasure this indeed hath made many of the most serious of them to mislike his inventions and sensual delights Amongst the rest hear Avicena one
them with fire from Heaven whereupon all the Townsmen went unto the House of a poor Weaver where he lodged and killing the Weaver with his Sons and two Sons in law of his that would have defended him the Holy man came forth to hâ—em and reprehending them for this uproar he old them amongst other things That the God of the Law whereby they were to be saved was called Jesus Christ who came down from Heaven to the Earth for to become a man and that it was needful he should dye for men and that with the price of his precious bloud which he shed for sinners upon the Cross God was satisfied in his Justice and that giving him the charge of Heaven and Earth he had promised him that whosoever professed his Law with faith and good works should be saved and have everlasting life and withal that the Gods whom the Bonzes served and adored with sacrifices of bloud were false and Idols wherewith the Devils deceived them Hereat the Priests entered into so great a fury that they called unto the People saying Cursed be he that brings not wood and fire for to burn him which was presently put in execution by them and the fire beginning exceedingly to rage the Holy man said certain Prayers by vertue whereof the fire incontinently went out wherewith the People being amazed cryed out saying Doubtless the God of this man is most mighty and worthy to be adored throughout the whole world which one of the Bonzes hearing who was Ring-leader of this mutiny and seeing the Townsmen retire avvay in consideration of that they had beheld he threw a stone at the Holy man saying They which do not as I do may the Serpent of the night ingulf them into Hell fire At these vvords all the other Bonzes did the like so that he vvas presently knock'd dovvn dead vvith the stones they flung at him vvhereupon they cast him into the River which most prodgiously staid his course from running down and so continued for the space of five days together that the Body lay in it by means of this wonder many embraced the Law of that Holy man whereof there are a great number yet remaining in that Country Whilst the Chinesses saith he were relating this story to us we arriv'd at a point of Land where going to double the Cape we descried a little place environed with Trees in the midst whereof was a great Cross of stone very well made to which we going prostrated our selves before it with Tears in our Eyes The People of the Village beholding us in this posture came to us and kneeling down also with their hands lift up to Heaven they said Christo Jesu Jesu Christo Maria micamuidan late impone model which in our Tongue signifieth Jesus Christ Jesus Christ Mary always a Virgin conceived him brought him forth and a Virgin still remained whereto we weeping answered that they spake the very truth Then they asked us if we were Christians we told them we were which as soon as they understood they carried us home to their houses where they entertained us with great affection Now all these were Christians and descended of the Weaver in whose House the Holy Man was lodged of whom demanding whether that which the Chinesses had told us was true they shewed us a Book that contained the whole History thereof at large with many other wonders wrought by that holy man who they say was named Matthew Escandel and that he was an Hermit of Mount Sinai being an Hungarian by Nation and born in a place called Buda The same Book also related that nine days after this Saint was buried the said Town of Cohilonza where he was murthered began to tremble in such sort as all the People thereof in a mighty fright ran out into the Fields and there continued in their Tents not daring to return unto their Houses for they cryed out all with one common consent The Blood of this Stranger craves Vengeance for the unjust death the Bonzes have given him because he preached the Truth unto us But the Bonzes rebuked and told them that they committed a great Sin in saying so nevertheless they willed them to be of good cheer for they would go all to Quiay Tiguarem God of the Night and request him to command the Earth to be quiet otherwise they would offer him no more Sacrifices Immediately whereupon all the Bonzes went accordingly in procession to the said Idol which was the chiefest in the Town but none of the People durst follow them for fear of some Earth-quake which the very next night about eleven of the Clock as these devillish Monsters were making their Sacrifices with odoriferous Perfumes and other Ceremonies accustomed amongst them increased so terribly that by the Lord's permission and for a just punishment of their wickedness it quite overthrew all the Temples Houses and other Edifices of the Town to the ground wherewith all the Bonzes were killed not so much as one escaped alive being in number 4000 as the Book delivereth Wherein it is further said that afterwards the Earth opening such abundance of Water came forth as it clean overwhelmed and drowned the whole Town so that it became a great Lake above a hundred fathom deep moreover they recounted many other very strange particulars unto us and also how ever since that time the place was named Fiunganorsee that is the Chastisement of Heaven whereas before it was called Cohilonzaa which signifies the Flower of the Field as we have declared before The History of Agbarus Prince of the Edesseans his Epistle to our Saviour with our Saviour's Answer taken out of Eusebius lib. 1. cap. 14. AFter that the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was made manifest unto all men thorough the working of Miracles he drew unto him an innumerable sort of Strangers far distant from Judaea afflicted with sundry diseases and every sort of Malady hoping to recover their Health of which number King Agbarus Governour of the famous Nations inhabiting beyond the River Euphrates grievously diseased in Body incurable by the cunning of Men hearing the renowned fame of Jesus and the wonderful Works which he wrought agreeable unto the same published of all men made petition unto him by Letters requiring deliverance from this disease Jesus though not presently yielding unto his Petition vouchsafed to answer him by an Epistle that shortly he would send one of his Disciples which should cure his Disease promising withal that he should not only cure his Disease but as many as belonged unto him which promise not long after he performed for after his Resurrection from the dead and Ascension into Heaven Thomas one of the twelve Apostles sent his Brother Thaddaeus accounted among the seventy Disciples of Christ by Divine inspiration unto the City Edessa to be a Preacher and Evangelist of the Doctrine of Christ by whom all things which concerned the promise of our Saviour were performed The Reader hath an approved
with Child and after to Ismael and God told him That the Soul of Mahomet in the beginning of the Creation was mingled with his and that his Name in Heaven though he were never like to come there should be Asmet in Earth Mahomet in Paradise Abualtrazim At this Sarah grieved until three Angels comforted her with the Promise of Isaac From Ismael it removed to Keidar his Son who was endued with seven gifts viz. Sound Couragious Fair Swift Just a Hunter and an Archer This Keidar married Nulia of the Land of Isaac but being warned by an Oracle he took to wife Algadira an Arabian and after by Divine warning carried the chest of this Light to Jacob. Then was Hamel born to him and received the same Light in which succeeded Thebicht Hamiessa Adeth Adnue Adue Machat Nizar Musar Aliez Madraca Horeima Knieua Anofra Melic Falhrem Luie Galiben Rab Murran Cudai Abdamenef Hesim a man by Divine testimony free of all uncleanness and that was more than Mahomet was himself To him did all Kings offer their Daughters in marriage and among the rest Constantine which he refused and married Seline the Daughter of Zeit and had by her Abdulmatalib whose Light caused Rain in drought To him an Elephant prostrated himself and said with man's voice thou canst not O Reader but believe it Salvation be on you and on the Light that shineth out of your Reins Dignity Fame Honour and Victory be on you and that there should proceed from him a King greater than all the Kings of the Earth Another time as he slept on the stone which was placed by Abraham in his Oratory at Mecca he dreamed of a Chain reaching East and West and to Heaven and to the Depth which was presently converted into a flourishing Herb. Noah and Abraham presented themselves Interpreters of this Dream Abdalla his Son the Father of Mahomet had a Tutor given unto him to defend him from his Enemies who seemed a man but was none He was preserved from the lying in wait of the Jews by threescore and ten Angels which seemed men He wedded Ermina and therefore two hundred Women perished for his Love some hanging some burning themselves But if this be the effects of Love Heavens send that I may dote on nothing but upon Canary powder'd Beef and Mustard When the prescribed time was come in the Month Dulheia on a Fryday night God bad Aridunan to open the Gates of Paradise that the innermost of his Secrets might be manifested for it pleaseth me saith he this Night to transport the Light of my Prophet from the reins of Abdalla into the Womb of Ermina and that it come into the World This being done as Abdalla the Judge and Lord of the Arabians went into the House of Prayer he perceived a great Light to lighten from his House up toward Heaven and presently died On the twelfth day of Rab on a Tuesday Mahomet was born circumcised and all Frolick And then all Idols fell and became Black All Kingdoms were destroyed and not one stood upright Lucifer was cast into the bottom of the Sea and in forty days could not get out 't was wonder he was not drowned in all that while but then he called to his Fellows and told them that Mahomet was born with the Power of the Sword who would take away all their Power The same also God caused to be proclaimed in Heaven and Earth His Mother said that she was delivered of him without pain and Angelical Birds came to nourish the Child and a man clothed in white presented him with three Keys like to Pearls which he took and these forsooth were the Key of Victory the Key of the Law and the Key of Prophecy and with these Keys he did pick-lock the Hearts of all his Followers After came three Persons with shining Faces presenting him a Cauldron of Emeralds with four handles which Mahomet accepted can you blame him as a sign of his Rule over all the World The Birds Clouds Winds Angels contended for the Nourishment of the Child there was old striving for a thing of nothing but the cause was determined by Heavenly Voice affirming that he should not be taken from the hands of men An Ass also almost famished worshipped him and since many more Asses have done the like and receiving him on her back became Herald to this new Prophet with mans voice proclaiming the worthiness of her carriage Three men carried him up into a Mountain of which one opened him from the Breast unto the Navel and washed his Entrails with Snow the second cleaved his heart in the midst and took out of it a black grain saying that it was the Portion of the Devil The third made him whole again Seraphin nourished him three years and Gabriel nine and twenty who gave unto him in the fortieth year of his Age the Law and carried him to Heaven you cannot chuse but believe it for this his Journey is related by Fryar Richard sometimes a Student in the University of Baldach Chap. 14. and is as true a story as that of the Fryar and the Boy Now as concerning his going up to Heaven there is several relations of it and all alike true In La vita Mahometi it is said that Mahomet went up to Heaven with the Angel Gabriel in a shining ladder where the Stairs hung by Chains of Gold as big as Mount Notho by Medina Another saith that Gabriel with threescore and ten pair of Wings came to Mahomet in the Chamber of Aissa his best beloved Wife and said that God would have him to visit him where he is and brought with him the Beast Elmparac or Alborach of nature between a Mule and an Ass This Beast told Mahomet for Asses then could speak as well as those that believed in Mahomet that he would not take him on his back till he had prayed to God for him His steps were so far as one could see for he was swister by half then Paccolet or Pegasus so that in the twinkling of an eye he had brought Mahomet to Jerusalem Then Gabriel with his Girdle tyed the Beast to a Rock and carried Mahomet on his shoulders into Heaven where he knocked and the Porter opened Others say that it was not Gabriel but another Angel that carried him up to Heaven and that Gabriel being Porter there let him in so that varying so much in their reports you may well conclude he never came thither But as their story lyes we will go on with it In the first Heaven say they he saw Angels of the shape of all Creatures praying for the Creatures of their shapes and a Cock so great that standing upon the Moon his Coxcomb reach'd into the Imperial Heaven many millions of miles Altitude and when this mighty Chanticleer crowed all the Cocks upon earth re-ecchoed him Then he brought him to the second Heaven which was a Journey of five hundred years wherein was Noah and this Heaven was of Gold The