strange Origanum Tragoriganum Roman Mother of Time Spicanardi and a peculiar sort of Coniza c. At the foot of the Mount they shew us first a great Church between the Rivolet Cedron and the Valley of Josaphat which was so covered with Earth that you could see nothing of it but the Entry and before it without a large place three steps deep This Church was built by Helena Mother of Constantine the Emperor and called the Sepulchre of our Lady the Mother of God to go into it you must go down 44 steps Within it toward the right there is a small Chapel where they say our Lady was Buried and therefore by the Benevolence of the Pope there is distributed and given to the Pilgrims full forgiveness of all Transgressions and Punishments for ever Some are of Opinion That this Church did formerly stand even with the Ground and that after the Devastation of Jerusalem when part of the Valley of Josaphat was filled up it was covered thus over This Church stands as Nicephorus saith in his 8th Book and the 30th Chapter on that place where the Village Gethsemane stood whereby the Garden was whither our dear Lord Christ did just before his Passion go with his Eleven Disciples after he had Eaten the Paschal Lamb with them and given Thanks according to his usual Custom over the Rivolet of Cedron to regain us that which was formerly lost by our Ancestors in the Garden There he left his Eight Disciples while he went to Pray as the Scripture telleth us when he took with him Peter James and John the two Sons of Zebedeus and began to mourn to quake and to tremble and said to them My soul is sorrowful unto death stay here watch with me and pray that you enter not into temptation and he withdrew from them about a Stones cast where he kneeled down fell three times on his face and prayed to his Heavenly Father where he wrestled with Death and Sweat a bloody Sweat so that an Angel must come down from Heaven at last to Comfort him This place is underneath a great Rock that hangeth over a great Cave just at the Entry of the Valley of Josaphat This Valley is still where it cometh down from the Mount of Olives pretty deep and is called by the holy Prophet Joel the Valley of Judgment as you may read in his 3d Chapter 14 Verse which words of Joel give us to understand that the Lord as he was when he came first upon Earth in this Valley taken Prisoner Bound and carried away to the place of his bitter Suffering Crucifixion and Dying so he shall in his second and glorious coming appear in this Valley of Judgment again to Judge all people of the whole Earth c. that then the Impious shall see whom they have pierced Zacharias speaks also of it in the above-mentioned place As you go from thence to the Mount of Olives you see below towards your left hand near unto the Bridge of the River Cedron an old square Building like unto a Steeple This altho it is believed to this day not only by Christians but also by the Turks and Moors to be the Grave of Absalom as you shall see them fling Stones into it as they go by to revenge his Undutifulness shewn to his Father King David yet notwithstanding he was not Buried there as we read in the 2d Book of Samuel the 18th Chapter Vers 17. And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood and laid a very great heap of stones upon him Yet for all this when Absalom was alive as you may farther read in the before-mention'd Chapter he erected a Column in the Kings Dale for he said I have no Son therefore this shall be for a remembrance of my Name and called this Pillar after his Name and it is still called to this day Absaloms Place Of this Pillar writes also Josephus in the 7th Book of his Antiquities and the 10th Chapter saying And Absalom did erect a Kingly Column of Marble in the Valley Genes chap. 14. it is called the Kings Valley that is two Furlongs from Jerusalem Just by this Pillar beginneth a very steep Foot-Path which parts a little above it into two one whereof goeth Southward at the bottom of the Mount of Olives towards Bethania and Jericho c. down through the Valley that is made by this and the other part of the Hill called Mashit in the 4th of the Kings Chap. 23. but the other goeth over the height of the Mount of Olives out by Bethania to the House of Mary and Martha A little higher on this Hill did our Saviour sit over against the Temple when he foretold his Disciples that shewed him the glorious Buildings thereof That not one Stone should remain upon another that should not be thrown down And did also tell them at length the terrible and prodigious Signs that should come to pass before the Desolation of Jerusalem and the end of the World To this day we still see into the Turkish Mosque with its large Paved Court-yard over the Walls thereof so perfectly that you may distinguish almost the Persons that walk there From thence when you go up to the Hill which is very steep and rough there is a large Plain from whence our dear Lord Jesus Christ was taken up and ascended into Heaven as you may see by the words of the Holy Evangelist St. Luke in his first Chapter of the Acts Verse 9. where he saith And he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight And Verse 12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath-days journey On this place as Nicephorus mentioneth did Queen Helena also afterward Build a stately Church which now is so decayed that there is no more to be seen of it but a New built Chapel in a large Yard surrounded with a Wall Just by it on a Hill of the Mount towards the North and Galilea there is an old decayed Building which was formerly as my Guide informed me an Inn for the Galileans where commonly did take up those that went to Jerusalem from Galilea Wherefore they are of opinion that some of them were there in the time of Christ that also were Spectators of his Glorious Ascension as it doth appear by the Words of the two Angels that spoke to them and said You men of Galilea why stand you here gazing up into Heaven c. But if you duly consider these words you will find as you read it in the Second Chapter of the Acts Verse 7. that the Apostles themselves were these Galileans where it is written Behold are not all those which speak Galileans and how hear we every man in our own tongue c. So did also the holy Angels speak to the Apostles after the same manner and called them Galileans rather to bring them as Elders of the Christian Church off their worldly thoughts
that some of them are down to the first Story and others lie quite in Ruines The case is the same with the Churches which for age look black and are so much decayed that you shall hardly find a whole one whereon are still several Old Arabian or rather Chaldean Inscriptions to be seen cut out in Stone by the means whereof many Antiquities of the Town might have been truly explained but I could not only not read them but could get no body that could interpet them to me There are some Buildings that are worth seeing as the Camp of the Turkish Bashaw and the great Batzar or Exchange beyond the River in the other Town and the Baths which are not to be compared with those of Aleppo and Tripoli for they are at the bottom and on the Walls done over with Pitch which maketh them so black and dark that even in the Day time you have but little Light There being two Towns one of them which lieth on this side is quite open so that you may go in and out by Night without any molestation wherefore it should rather be called a great Village than a Town but the other that lieth towards Persia on the Confines of Assyria is very well Fortified with Walls and Ditches chiefly towards the Tigris where there are also some Towers two whereof are within by the Gates that lead towards the Water-side to guard them and between them are the old high Walls of the Town whereon on the top are stately Writings with Golden Letters each whereof is about a Foot long to be seen the true meaning thereof I would fain have learned but for want of Understanding and Interpreters I could not obtain it but was forced to go without it Near unto it there is a Bridge made of Boats that reacheth over the Tigris into the other Town which in that place is about as broad as the Rhine is at Strasburg and because of its rapid Stream so dark and dull that it is a dismal sight to look upon it and may easily turn a Man's Head and make him giddy This River runneth not much below the Town into the Euphrates and so they run mixt together into the Persian Gulf by the Town Balsara which is six Days Journey distant from thence Eastward These two Towns as is said at the River Tigris were many Years agon built out of the ruinated City of Babylon whereof the one on the other side of the River is accompted to be the Town of Seleucia of Babylon and that on this side which is more like unto an open Village is believed to be the Town Ctesiphonta Strabo in his Book XV. doth testifie this when he writes thus of them That Babylon hath formerly been the Metropolis of Assyria and that after its devastation the Town of Seleucia situated upon the Tigris near which was a great Village wherein the King of the Parthians did keep his Residence for the Winter Pliny maketh also mention thereof in his Sixth Book and in the 26th and 27th Chapter viz. that the two Towns of Seleucia of Babylon and Ctesiphonta were built out of the Ruines of the Old City and that the River Tigris runs between them In the Town Seleucia stands in a large place the Castle which is without guarded neither with Walls nor Ditches nor is quite finished within Before it lie some Pieces of Ordnance in the Road which are so daubed with Dirt that they are almost quite covered In it dwelleth the Turkish Bashaw who when he understood that two Strangers were come into his Camp sent for us and had us before him by his Men along with us went freely an Armenian whom we had known formerly at Aleppo to assist us and to be our Interpreter to give the Bashaw a good and sufficient account of us When we came into the Room of the Bashaw which was but very ordinary yet spread with delicate Tapestry and well adorned and appeared with accustomed Reverences he asked us sitting in his Costly yellow-coloured long Gown by one of his Servants in French which he did not understand very well from what places we came what Merchandises we had brought with us and whither we intended to go After we had punctually answered him to each Question yet he was not satisfied but bid us to withdraw and stay until we heard his Answer We understood his meaning very well that it was only to scrue a Present out of us yet we would not understand it but shewed him our Pass subscribed both by the Bashaw and the Cadi of Aleppo to try whether that would give him Content So he took it and read it over and looked very diligently upon their Seals as they use to seal after they have dipped it first into Ink so that all but the Letters is black When he found them right and did not know any more to say to us he let us go then we made him his Reverence again and so we went backwards out of his Lodgings for if you turn your Back to any one although it be a far meaner Person they take it as a great uncivility rudeness and disparagement This Bashaw keeps a great Garrison in the Town of Bagdet because it lieth on the Confines of Susiana Media c. which are Provinces belonging to the King of Persia and the Grand Signior hath nothing more towards the East of it to command His greatest Dominions are the Wildernesses of the Desart Arabia whereof the Turk hath one Part but the other and the bigest belongs to the King of Arabia After the Bashaw had given us leave to go we went to our Lodgings again and bought by the way in the Batzar some Provision to eat and to boil for Supper for in these Countries are no Inns to be found whereinto one may go and find a Dinner ready prepared for Chance-Customers as in our Country is done except one would go into a Cook 's Shop whereof there are a great many in the Batzars but every one boileth for himself what he hath a mind to without Doors before his Lodgings where there is a Chimny for that purpose so that in the Morning and at Night when it is time to eat you see every where in the Allies of the Camp several Fires When we went to eat we were forced because in these Chambers is neither Table nor Stools nor Bench to sit down on the Ground and also lie upon it all Night so that our Cloaks were very useful to us to serve us instead of a Bed chiefly in the Winter to keep us warm yet the Winter is not very severe in those Countries which you may conclude for that our March-Flowers Narcissus's Hyacinths Violets c. were here full in Flowers in the Month of December and that the Farmers went to Plough at that time wherefore I judge that their Winter is like unto our Spring When we lived at Bagdet I found by our Catering that the Scarcity was still very considerable and it
Cross of Christ this we did soon leave and went over a small height through the Gate of Hebron again into Jerusalem and made our selves ready to return the next day again to Joppe towards our Ship And so we rewarded the Father Guardian their Interpreter and others that had conducted us for their Faithfulness and Services done us according to our Ability to their full content and satisfaction wherefore the Father Guardian did freely give to each of us a Certificate under his usual Seal that we had seen all the holy places which were named in it This done we went away and came the next day to Rama towards Joppe By the way I found some Lentiscus's from whence the Mastich cometh Arbutus Ilex and a strange sort of Willows by the Inhabitants called Sassaf but by Theophrastus Elaeagnus some Olive-Trees Palm-Trees White Mulberry-Trees Sumach-Trees and Styrax from which cometh a fweet smelling Gum called by the same Name that is brought from thence into our Country Spartium Lycium which is a strange Shrub and the Juice thereof retaineth the same Name and is found sometimes in our Apothecaries Shops the King and Prophet David maketh mention thereof under the Hebrew Name Hadhadd by which also the Arabians call it their Speech running much upon the Hebrew Hereabout grow also very many Fruits called Siliquae by the Latines and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Greeks but by the Inhabitants Charnubi whereof many are brought out to us and are very well known by the Name of St. John's Bread These are so common in these Countries that they esteem them less than we do the worst Fruit we have wherefore they give them to the Cattle to eat Wherefore it is probable that the prodigal Son desired to fill his Belly with these Fruits which as it appeareth by the Greek Text the Hogs did eat and yet could not have enough of them to satisfie his Hunger Besides these I found also by the way many Turpentine-Trees by the Inhabitants called Botin and Albotin which are very common in France chiefly about Montpelier they have small green Kernels that are of a reddish Colour and hollow within and are oftentimes basely sold and used by the Apothecaries for the true Carpabalsamum for these and others above-mentioned as we read in the Eighth Chapter of Nehem. the Israelites did take Bows and made themselves Tents of them to live in during their great Feast of Tabernacles I saw also chiefly between Rama and Joppa some white Barbery Trees which I took first for Paliurus the third kind of Rhamnus unto which they are very like except the Fruits whereby I did discern them first and besides they are much higher and their Branches covered with a white Bark Now although they are not to be taken for the same yet they are very like unto the second Paliurus whereof Theoprastus maketh mention in the Fourth Chapter and the Fourth Verse Among the Corn I did find a strange Origanum Serpillum Smilax aspera Triones of Theophrastus whereof I have made mention above After we had made our selves quite ready to sail for Tripolis whither we had about Forty German Miles we went aboard the Ship and set Sail with a fair Wind. But this did not last long for as soon as we were out at Sea there arose one that was so contrary to us that we hardly reached the Confines of Tirus and Sidon the Fourth Day where we arrived in our former Voyage at night as I have said before I saw nothing of any Buildings on the Shoar but some small Houses in the place where formerly the Town Sarepta did stand which as you may read in the Fourth Chapter of St. Luke and in the Third Book of Kings Chap. 17. was situated near unto Sidon or as Josephus writes in his Eighth Book of the Jewish Antiquities Chap. 13. between Tyrus and Sidon in the Country of Phaenicia wherein the holy Prophet Elias during the great scarcity did live a great while with a Widow and did restore her dead Son to life again Departing thence the night befel us before we gat over against Sidon but we went so near the Town that we could see the Houses and some Rocks butting upon them by Moon-light From thence the nearer we came to Tripolis the more the wind was for us so that we arrived there on the First of October in the year 1575 in very good health and condition Wherefore I give eternal Thanks Glory and Praise unto the Almighty God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Amen CHAP. XXIII How I took ship at Tripolis in Syria and sailed back from thence to Venice and travelled home again to my own Relations at Augspurg AT my Arrival at Tripolis when I hoped that something might have been done for the Good of Hans Vlrich Krafft whom I left in Prison behind as is above-mentioned towards his Deliverance that we seeing we came out together might have remained together a while longer and have ended our Journey to our content I found there was not only nothing done to the purpose but his Cause came to be worse and worse so that it was even or odd whether I should not have been cast into Prison also and beaten severely to boot When thus he was detained in Prison I received a Letter and Command as well from his Adversary as from my own Friends desiring me to take the Cause in hand earnestly to bring them both to an Accommodation and that if I would do so I should do him greater service than if I should stay a whole year longer at Tripoli expecting his Deliverance Now although many means were used after my Departure for his Liberty yet they proved all fruitless unsuccessful and vain so that he was forced to spend three intire years miserably in this severe Turkish Imprisonment untill at length he was miraculously delivered Wherefore I got every thing ready for my Departure and went aboard the Ship called the St. Matthew on the Day of St. Leonhard being the Sixth Day of November in the year 75 having first taken my leave of the above-mentioned my dear Friend Hans Vlrich Krafft whom I loved as my own Brother and the next day we put out having a very good wind So our Navigation proceeded in the beginning very successfully and we discovered on the Third Day early the great Island of Cyprus But when we approached unto it a Hurricane arose suddenly and blew so fiercely upon us that it wound our great Sail round about our main Mast so that it was a wonder to me that it did not bring it by the Board or as it would if the Seamen had not struck it down immediately turn the Ship over and sink her These Winds arise from a Wind that is called by the Greeks Typhon and Pliny calleth it Vertex and Vortex but as dangerous as they are as they arise suddenly so quickly they are laid again also The Seamen pretend that one shall
many foreign Countries to acquire the knowledge of their Government and Polity their Laws and Constitutions in order to the qualifying and enabling himself to accomplish his design of giving Laws to his own We read also in Diogenes Laertius that Plato did travel to Megara to visit Euclide to Cyrene to see Theodorus Mathematicus into Italy to encounter the Pythagorean Philosophers and also into Egypt to converse with the Priests and Sages there so mightily cried up in the World and to acquaint himself with their Learning and Mysteries Moreover that he intended a Journey into Asia had he not been hinder'd by a War then newly commenced After the same manner Galen writes of himself That he sailed to Lemnos Cyprus and Palestina of Syria on purpose to see foreign Plants and rare Oares and Minerals To relate what great Troubl◠and Dangers those that have written of Exotick Plants to this day have sustained and incurred in their foreign Peregrinations would not be grievous to me did I not fear that it would extend this Dedication to too disproportionate and tedious a length wherefore I will omit it and briefly touch what concerns my self mine own Inclinations to travel and proceedings in pursuance thereof Although I dare not compare my self with those Excellent and Incomparable Persons newly mentioned nor boast of any high Vnderstanding Experience or Learning so far as I know my self yet to confess the Truth I am forced to own that from my Infancy I alwaies had a great desire to Travel into foreign parts and to enquire out Learned and Famous Men that I might get something of them to encrease my Stock of Knowledge From whence it did proceed I having chiefly before all other Faculties a great inclination to the Study of Physick and finding that it required the assistance of a great many Sciences more and especially Skill in Botanicks that after serious and mature deliberation with the Consent of my Parents and Relations and at their Expences I did leave the German Universities and travelled into France and Italy where the Knowledge and Practise of Medicine doth chiefly flourish where also several rare Plants of great use in Physick do naturally grow to acquaint my self with which and to gain the knowledge of them I have taken abundance of pains and chiefly at Montpellier where in company with the highly learned Jeremias Martius Doctor of Physick I wander'd over several Hills and Valleys in many places but chiefly the high Mountain Ceti situate near Frontignan on the Sea-shore c. by which means I gathered several hundreds of Simples and kept them by me as a Treasure But when I began to consult Authors concerning them finding a great many others no less useful and advantageous in Physick that were said to grow in Greece Syria and Arabia c. I was highly therewith pleased chiefly when I found also those fruitful places of the Eastern Countries described which several Authors and above all the Holy Scriptures have mentioned and from thence I was enflamed with a vehement desire to search out and view such Plants growing spontaneously in their Native places and propounded also to my self to observe the Life Conversation Customs Manners and Religion of the Inhabitants of those Countries And although I did not then immediately put this my design in execution but delay'd for several years doing mean while what Service I could to my Native Country yet I embraced the first opportunity that offer'd it self of accomplishing it For when my deceased Brother-in-law Mr. Melchior Manlich wished me to take a Voyage into the Eastern Countries to find out their Drugs and Simples and other things convenient and profitable for his Trade and did promise me requisite Charges and a considerable Salary I immediately accepted his agreeable Offer and readily embraced so often-desir'd an opportunity and addressing my self instantly to the Magistrates of this City for I was then in their Service craved Leave to go which I had no sooner obtained but I began my Travels into the Levant What I saw learned and experienc'd during the space of Three years for so much time this Journey took me up not without great danger and trouble I consigned all in good order as it occurred daily in a Pocket-Journal to keep as a Memorial of my Life But after I returned home again being desir'd nay continually importun'd by several Gentlemen and others my very good Friends to communicate this my Itinerary to them and to make it publick At last after many Refusals not being able any longer to resist their Solicitations I was prevailed upon to comply with their Desires to publish it in Print Wherefore I looked my Itinerary over again and whatever Curiosities I had observed I did transcribe into a peculiar Diary which I divided into three parts according as I travelled into several Countries and committed it to the Press that I might communicate Copies thereof to my Friends It is not Vain-glory that hath prompted me to do this but rather the Profit and Pleasure it may afford the Reader that those who have no opportunity to visit foreign Countries may have it before their Eyes as a Map to contemplate and that others may be excited further to enquire into these things and induced by reading this Account to Travel themselves into those parts whereof I have written to observe that more narrowly and exactly wherein I have been too short But if any shall object and say That I might have spared this Labour and Trouble and employed it to better purposes and that the present State Condition Situation and Manners of the World have been so fully surveyed and described by others that there is hardly a corner of it left unsearched To this I answer That what others have written I have not transcribed into this Work but what I have seen experienc'd observ'd and handl'd my self is only mentioned here But if any one hath already out of the like Books printed before learned all these things so that nothing here propounded is new to him I confess this my Labour is of no use to such an one neither have I written it for him But he that by daily experience observeth how Wars Plagues Distempers and other Accidents may and do mightily alter Kingdoms Countries Cities and Towns so that what was praised formerly as glorious and beautiful lyeth now desolate and in Ashes and what then was accounted barren and waste may be now become fruitful and glorious he will confess that still in our times a great many things remain to be search'd and enquir'd into which others before us never did nor could observe treat of or publish Pursuant to this the wise Solon before mentioned said That he grew old continually learning many things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Julian the Law-giver was wont to say That if one of his Feet were in his Grave yet he should be desirous to learn If this my Work doth not make or improve Divines Lawyers or Physicians for which
protected from all assaults and dangers Such Superiors are by them called Sangiacks or Bashaws which we may render State-holders which have several hundred Horse-men under their Command more or less according to the Revenues of the Provinces that are committed to their care These are brave and experienced Souldiers that lead their Men out into the Fields several times in the Week to exercise them the Horse-men in Riding and the Foot in Shooting with Bows and Arrows which have their several Marks done upon high Poles to shoot at in their running that if there should be occasion they may be ready to take the Field presently to fight their Enemies These Sangiachi have other Captains and Commanders under them of which the Soubashaws or Judges are the Chief these are placed by him round about in the adjacent places to officiate for him where he cannot be present To such places are commonly called the Burgers or Citizens of the same places and they continue no longer then half a Year By them are examined all Criminal Matters and they have Power to examine and put to the Torture all Malefactors to make them confess their Crimes They also accompany the Malefactors that are Sentenced and Condemned by the Cady to the place of Execution to see the Sentence duly executed So I have seen them often to ride along but chiefly at one time with a poor Malefactor condemned to die who was carried on a Camel's back tied with his Back to a Cross with his Arms extended to the place of Execution and between the Cross and his Shoulders were put two burning Torches prepared with Bacon so that the Grease ran all over his Body and burnt it severely The Turks have also for several Crimes whereof there are a great many their several Punishments as for Thieves and Murtherers the Gallows for Traytors impaling and for them that kill a Man Beheading c. And so they keep a great many Servants which they send out every where to bring to them any that are suspected to have transgressed the Laws by beating or wounding one another which happens very seldom by Stealing or Murthering or Adultery For any other Transgressions besides these the Turks are brought before other Magistrates called Cadi which are to understand the Laws and to Judge and to pronounce Sentence after they have examin'd the Witnesses If it be for Debt they are immediately cast into Prison until they pay or find out any other means to make up the Debt But if it be for transgressing the Laws they are severely fined or else punished with blows Wherefore also their Cadi keep several Men and Spies which they daily send out to find out any that transgresseth the Laws in drinking of Wine in not going to Prayers frequently in not strictly observing their Fasts or in transgressing the Laws any other ways If they find any they summon them before their Cadi who punishes them according to the default with a pecuniary Mulct or if they have no Money to give he Sentences them to receive a certain number of Blows upon the Soals of their Feet and besides pay half a Penny for each blow Being that a great many of such Transgressors are daily brought before him whereof the greatest part receive Blows it causeth so miserable a howling and crying that we might plainly hear it in the French Fondique which is just over against it and although the Cadi is very much troubled with such Transgressors yet Matrimonial Causes take him up a great deal more time because all that will Marry must come to him and make their Agreements and Contracts which are consigned into his Books partly that they may have them to shew if any Differences should arise between them seeing that the Turks and Moors have several Wives and are divorced again for a small matter and partly that they may give them Copies of their Contracts upon their Marriages which they write for ordinary People upon smooth and plain Paper but for others that are rich upon a piece of white Sattin about a Yard long These their Contracts they comprehend in a few Words and draw them up so short that they scarce contain above eight or ten Lines apiece at least two Inches distant from one another For this purpose they keep several Clerks which oftener write upon their Knees then upon Desks or Tables These Sangiachs Soubashaws and Cadis of which I have made mention before and also their Wives go very richly cloathed with rich flower'd Silks artificially made and mix'd of several colours But these Cloaths are commonly given them by those that have Causes depending before them for they do not love to part with their own Money to promote their Cause and to be favourable to them for they are so very covetous that where there is nothing given them there they do but little for the Bashaws and Sangiachi which under the Grand Signior rule Kingdoms and Principalities know very well that they must rule but three Years in the same place For as soon as their Sultan commands them they must go to another place perhaps far distant from that place Wherefore they always strive after Honour and Riches that they may either by Gift or Favour be by the Court promoted to greater Authority and Office or else if that cannot be obtained they may at least lay up in the mean time such Riches that they may be able to maintain themselves after the same Greatness as they did before When I lived there a new Sangiach was promoted into the place of the old one who made his entrance followed by his Spahis and was honourably received by the Town his Train consisted most in Horse and Archers with Arms and Shields very well stored they also had Drums and Kettle-drums and other Musical Instruments c. their Sabers or Scymeters were for the most part tipp'd up a great way with some gilded Metal and very smooth and shining and so were their Stirups that at a distance they made a great glistering All these Officers love to be look'd upon as if they performed their Office with great Integrity and yet they are so addicted to Covetousness which is the root of all Evil that for Gifts or Bribes they let the false Depositions of those that out of Spite accuse the innocent pass for Good Therefore it is a very easie matter for any one that would be revenged of his Enemy by way of a small present to bring him into great trouble and costs The Soubashaws are of the same Stamp for they do not at all stick to punish for Lucre-sake the Innocent chiefly if they be Rich and Strangers their Men are very well skill'd in these Affairs to find one trifle or other against them and because their time is also but short therefore they make all possible speed to grow rich and this so much the bolder and opener as they need not to fear their Sangiach â— nor Bashaw for they wink at it as being
Office and began immediately to ring two Bells which made underneath the Rock such a resounding Noise that it stupified us and made us chiefly because some of us had heard none in two Years time and were full of Sleep and but half awake so dull that we did not for a good while know where we were until we came a little to our selves again Afterwards I heard them with Attention for a good while and did look into their Books which were written with Arabian Letters But what Religion they were of I shall tell you hereafter when I shall make mention of other Christians At break of the Day we made our selves ready to go further up the Hill to the Height thereof where the Cedars stand to see them so that we might come to the Monastery again Along with us went two Monks to shew us the way they conducted us back again to the rich Springs of Water to the Stairs which were very rough and so steep that we were often forced to hold our selves by the Bushes which we could reach at both Sides but chiefly when we turned on a sudden of which Turnings they had very many So we got up higher and higher with a great deal of Labour until we came to a little Chapel standing just at the Top of the Stairs on the Hill Near to this Chapel is a small Village which we went through and saw spacious Fields well cultivated so that the Inhabitants of these Mountains could have no want of Corn Wine Flesh or Oil c. although their Neighbours should not supply them for Years with any thing And besides their Lands are so well secured on the Height and so locked up as if they were surrounded with high Walls and deep Ditches And moreover they are very a stout and warlike-People very well provided with Bows and Guns c. so that their Neighbours cannot easily hurt nor do any Mischief to them and they are also soon alarmed which we found when these two Monks did immediately raise twelve Men well armed in the furthermost Village towards the snowy Hill to conduct us safe up to the Cedars of the highest Mount that their Neighbours the Trusci might not hurt us But as I understood afterwards the Trusci are in Confederacy with the Inhabitants of Mount Libanus so that they need not to fear any harm from them But they rather did it to frighten us to get a good Recompence from us that they might rejoice and treat us the better as Christians on our return So these Twelve went before us and conducted us up to another but very barren and rough Plain where we found our selves to be upon the highest point of the Mountain and saw nothing higher but onely a small Hill before us all covered over with Snow at the Bottom whereof the high Cedar-Trees were standing some whereof King Solomon ordered to be cut down to be employed for the use of the building of the Temple of Jerusalem And although this Hill hath in former Ages been quite covered over with Cedars yet they are since so decreased that I could tell no more but Twenty Four that stood round about in a Circle and Two others the Branches whereof are quite decayed for Age. I also went about in this place to look out for some young ones but could find none at all These Trees are green all the Year long have strong Stems that are several Fathoms about and are as high as our Firr-Trees They have very large Twigs that bend the Tree and make it lean that way which somewhat spoileth their Straightness Branches grow up streight as also do the Cones thereof which are large and round and extend themselves a great length in so delicate and pleasant Order and Evenness as if they were trim'd and made even with a great deal of Diligence so that at a Distance you may see the Tops of them very even to one another So that one may immediately see at a great Distance a great Difference between these and other Firr-Trees They are else very like unto the Larch-Trees chiefly in their Leaves which are small and all close together but stand further asunder upon small brown Shoots which in their Length and Bigness are like unto them of the Muscus terrestris After we had rested awhile underneath the Cedars and began to be coldish in this windy snowy and cold place we began to return to the Monastery again By the way I saw about the River three sorts of Tragacanth one whereof I took according to its Shape to be that of the learned Carolus Clusius which is very like unto the True Tragacantha The Second is somewhat lower than the First else it is very like unto it only it beareth Yellow Flowers each whereof groweth by its self in round yellowish bags and several of them stand one above the other on long Stalks The Third is almost of the same Height and hath more brown coloured strong Stalks with white woolly heads of Poterius whereon you see purple coloured Flowers I found also by them another Plant which to be brief considering its brown coloured flexible Twigs and longish fat Leaves is very like unto the Chamaelea of a very sharp Taste I think to be the first kind of Sanamuâ—da of Carolus Clusius Besides these I saw hereabout two thorny Shrubs one whereof was with its red coloured Grapes setting the Leaves aside as far as I remember very like unto our Oxyacantha The other which was full of Thorns and had small red purple coloured Flowers was like into the first kind of Scorpius of Carolus Clusius Among the Bushes I saw the Scorzonera with yellow Flowers and also a pretty sort of Tulips with yellow stripes and not far from it the true Ribes of the Arabians which I found in Autumn at an ill time without Flowers or Seeds only with two Leaves as if it was just sprung up The Leaves thereof are rough and round as big very near as those of Petasites called Butterburn in our Language which grow upon short yet thick Stalks which are also full of a pleasant sowrish Juice as well as their Stalks whereof chiefly the True Rob Ribes is prepared as I have seen it my self and Serapio testifieth This loveth moist Grounds hath a strong brown coloured Root which is pretty long wrinkly bended and of a very unpleasant Taste On the hight of the Mount I saw more Plants some whereof I had not time to mind and others that are not yet known wherefore I omit for shortness sake to say more of them The Mountain is very high so that it may be seen in Cyprus about 200 Italian Miles off wherefore the Day breaketh later at Tripoli and not until the Morning Sun appeareth before it And moreover you find there Snow all Summer long which they bring down from the Mountains into the Batzars or Exchanges to sell to cool their Drink with it chiefly in the Dog days and fling it in by handfuls Yet when
hours walking distant from it 2. The Old-Gate 3. The Prison Gate whereof Nehemiah maketh mention in his 12th Chapter through which our Saviour Christ carried his Cross 4. Rayn-Gate 5. The Gate of Ephraim before which St. Stephen was Stoned to Death as you may read in the 2d Book of the Ecclesiastical History in the 1st Chapter 6. The Gate of Benjamin where the holy Prophet Jeremiah was taken and Imprisoned as he saith himself in the 37th Chapter 7. Corner Gate 8. Horse-Gate 9. Valley-Gate through which they went into the Valley of Josaphat 10. Dung Gate through which the Water carried out all the Soil into the Valley of Josaphat and about this River is still to this day a great stink 11. Sheep-Gate 12. Fountain-Gate which is now Walled up The Prophet Nehemiah maketh mention of them in his 3d 8th and 12th Chapter so that it is not needful to say any more These Gates are so mightily decayed that there is not to be seen the least of the old Buildings The Turks have instead of them built others in the New raised Wall but yet not half so many in number whereof some according as the Town is enlarged in some places and contracted in others are displaced others are erected again in the same places according to the Old Streets viz. 1. The Fish-Gate which is still standing towards the West behind Mount Sion and over against Mount Gihon as you may conclude out of the words of the 2d Book of Chronicles in the 33d Chapter and 14th Verse Manasses built a Wall without the City of David on the West-side of Gihon in the Valley even to the entring in at the Fish-Gate This Gate hath its Name because they brought many Fishes from the Sea-side through this Gate into the City So is also still standing on the outside of the Valley Tiropaeon which distinguished the two Mounts Sion and the Temple Mount called Moriah the Gate of the Fountain which hath its Name because it leadeth towards the Fountain of Siloha which Nehemiah in his 2d Chapter Verse 14 calleth the Kings Pool Through this was our dear Lord Christ the true promised Siloha brought a Prisoner bound from the Mount of Olives over the Brook Kidron into the House of Hannas and Caiphas in the upper Town as we read in the 12th Chapter Verse 37. that by the Fountain-Gate they went up to the City of David The same way also the two Disciples Peter and John were sent to bespeak the Paschal Lamb by Christ where they met the Man with the Pitcher of Water The Sheep or Beast-Gate is also still standing by Moriah the Mountain of the Temple which the Turks have taken to themselves and have built on it a Turkish Mosque or Temple because that God Almighty hath done many and great Miracles on this Mount and besides Mahumet did find himself again on this Mount after he had been carried up as his lying Writings tell us through the Heavens before God by the Angel Gabriel Wherefore they take this Mount to be Holy so that none that is not Circumcised and so Unclean dare approach or come near it nor take the nearest way without over the height of the Mount as Nehemiah did as you may see in the before quoted place so that the Christians must take a further way about and from the Gate Siloha go below through the Valley of the Brook Cedron between this and the Mount of Olives to the Beast-Gate which hath its Name because the Beasts that were to be offer'd in the Temple were driven through it Near the Gate you see still the Sheep-pond which is large and deep yet hath but little Water in it wherein the Nathineens used to wash the Beasts and then to give them to the Priests And also immediately within towards the North a Conduit which was the Pool by St. John the Evangelist in the 2d Verse of his 5th Chapter called Bathesda erected by King Ezechia that had five Porches wherein lay a great multitude of impotent folk that waited for the moving of the Water Through this Gate is the straight way over the Brook Cedron by the Mount of Olives toward Bethania down to Jericho on the River Jordan into the Valley of Josaphat wherefore this also being nearer now in these days is called the Valley-gate There is also still the Corner-gate in its old place where the North and East Walls meet on large and high Rocks and 〈◊〉 called still by some the Gate of Naphthali This I thougâ— convenient to say of the City of Jerusalem in the gâ—nerâ— of its Buildings Fruitfulness and adjacent Countries what Famous and Holy Places are within and without the City thereof I intend to treat in particular CHAP. IV. Of Mount Sion and its Holy Places MOunt Sion very famous in holy Scripture hath round about it steep sides high Rocks deep Ditches and Valleys so that it is not easie to climb up to it only on one side towards the North where it buts upon the lower Town so that the Castle and Town of David situated on it was very strong and almost Invincible as you may read in the 48 Psalm vers 2. The joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion on the sides of the north the City of the great King God is known in her places for a refuge for the Kings were assembled c. Seeing then that the Castle and the upper Town Millo vvas so vvell fortified vvith Tovvers and Walls that it vvas not easily to be taken the Jebusites after that Canaan the vvhole Land of Promise together vvith the Tovvn of Jerusalem vvas taken did defend themselves in it against the vvhole force of Israel for a long time although they often attempted to take it and called the Tovvn of Jerusalem after their Name Jebus until the Kingly Prophet David came vvho took it by force and after he had rebuilt the upper Tovvn and joined the Castle vvith it into one Building and surrounded it vvith Walls he called it after his ovvn Name The City of David and kept his Court there and gave also Lodgings to his Hero's and Officers vvhereof Vriah vvas one vvho had his Lodgings near to the Kings Palace vvherein the King vvalking on the Roof of his House savv the fair Bathsheba his Wife and committed Adultery vvith her These their Habitations as they are still built in these Days have instead of Thatch or Tiles plaister'd Roofs so that one may walk on them as you may see here that King David walked on it And also in the Second Chapter of the Book of Joshua where is said That when the Two Spies sent into the Land of Promise to Jericho came into Rahab's House and the King sent to search after them they went at her request up to the Roof of the House where she hid them with the Stalks of Flax which she had laid in order upon the Roof But seeing there is nothing so strong in in this World that is not transitory
therefore is also this Worldly Mount Zion together with its strong Building and Fortification which was rather a Type of the true Rock in Zion Christ our Lord and his Heavenly Kingdom and Holy Church that was built thereon so ruined and desolated that the greatest and highest part thereof before the Town except a Turkish Mosche some Tile Houses and a few Acres of it lieth quite like a Desart covered with Rocks and Stones So it is come to pass what Micah in his Third Chapter and the Twelfth Verse predicted Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest And Jeremiah in his Lamentations Cap. 5. Verse 18. saith The mountain of Zion which is desolate the foxes walk upon it And Isaiah in his Thirty second Chapter Verse 14. The Palaces shall be forsaken the multitude of the City shall be left the forts and towers shall be dens for ever a joy of wild asses a pasture of flocks The great Castle of the Turks is situated at the top of the inward part of the Mount towards the West Side near the Fishgate which is also newly built and very well surrounded with Walls and Ditches under the Gate are several great Guns to frighten the Christians that come thither in great Flocks chiefly against great Feasts from all Nations Armenians Georgians Abyssins Latinists c. for they fear that else the Town might be taken from them again Within the Fort near the Fishgate is still a strong high Tower built up with great Free-stone which is quite black through Age wherefore some say that it did anciently belong to the Fort and was built by one of the Kings of Juda. So much I thought convenient to mention of Mount Zion concerning other famous places that are to be seen upon and about it I will only mention the chiefest thereof First as you go out of the New Gate of Mount Zion there is a long Street wherein on the Left Hand is an ancient Church of the holy Apostle James the Greater Brother of John which Helena the Mother of Constantine the Emperor as also many more did build on the Market Place of the upper City where he was beheaded The Armenians that have possession thereof did conduct us into it shewed us the Building and the place where the holy Apostle was beheaded with the Sword as you read in the Acts of the Apostles the 12th Chapter by Order of Herod Agrippa to whom he was delivered out of spite as a seditious person by the High Priest Abiathar Then we came to the place of the Habitation of Hannas whereto Christ our Lord was first of all brought a prisoner and bound or fetter'd wherein was nothing observable only a large Court and in it an old Chapel called the Angels which we soon left and went out of the Gate of Mount Zion to the Habitation of Cayaphas where we saw an Orange-tree planted in the place where the holy Apostle Peter did warm himself when he denied our Saviour the third time further within a Chapel called St. Salvators where in former Ages was the Place of the High Priest where Christ was severely accused by Cayaphas and by his Servants mocked spit upon and beaten wherein is an Altar whereon the great Stone of the Grave still lieth that stopped the Door of the Sepulchre which is very like unto the Rock of the Grave in its breaking That the Habitation of the High Priest was in the upper City Josephus does testifie in the Seventeenth Chapter of his Second Book of the Desolation of Jerusalem where he saith thus When the rebellious Jews that had the lower Town in possession with the Temple did undertake to possess themselves also of the upper Town they did assault it with all might and power and at last take it then they drove out the Soldiers which had the Chief Priests and Men in power with them out of the upper Town set the Habitation of Ananias the High Priest on fire and burnt it Before this on the top of the Mount stands on the Plain a large Church which the Franciscan Monks had not long ago in possession and lived in it wherefore their Father did call himself a Guardian of the holy Mount Zion But after that the Turks did about Twenty years agon possess themselves of it and kept it to themselves and made a Mahumetan Mosche of it the Monks were forced to flie and take the Habitation where they now live instead thereof Of this Church or Mosche we saw only the outside of the Habitation of Caiaphas for no Christian is allowed to go into it It was built many years agon by Helena Mother of Constantin the Emperor as Nicephorus testifieth in the Thirtieth Chapter of his Eighth Book wherein is also included the Habitation the Disciples were locked up in for fear of the Jews and also the paved Dining-Room or Hall wherein Christ with his Disciples did eat the Passover where he also washed their Feet and sent the Holy Ghost after his Ascension to them where also James the Lesser was Elected Overseer and first Bishop of Jerusalem In this Temple which is above a thousand paces distant from Golgotha or the place of a Scull was for some time kept the Stone-Pillar whereto Christ our Lord and Saviour was tied and whipped Near unto this in the place of the Palace of Caiaphas the same Queen Helena ordered a Church to be built for the Holy Apostle Peter and many more whereof mention is made at large in the above quoted place This Mount extendeth its self towards the South out before the City and hath on the other side where it is highest other higher ones about it distinguished with Ditches and Valleys viz. towards the West Mount Gihon at the bottom whereof Solomon was anointed King by the Priest Zadock and the Prophet Nathan as we read in the First Chapter of thr First Book of Kings upon this at the top towards the Road of Bethlehem lieth the Field of Blood in their Language called Hakeldemas that was bought for 30 Silver Pieces to bury the Pilgrims there where you see still to this day here and there large and deep holes and one among the rest very big one wherein are still to be seen several whole Bodies lying by one another A deep Valley separates this Mount from Mount Zion which beginneth at the Fish-gate and goeth down to the Brook Cedron in it is a Conduit by the upper Pool called Asuia in the Third Chapter of Nehemiah which is pretty large yet without any Water which receiveth its Water from the high Spring of Gihon this was covered by King Hezekias and laid down to the Town of David as we read in the Second Book of Chronicles Chap. 32. The holy Prophet Isaiah Chap. 7. Verse 3. mentioneth it when she Lord said to him Go forth now to meet Ahaz thou and Shear-jashub
thy son at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the path of the fullers field c. And in the Fourth Book of Kings in the Eighteenth Chapter Verse Seventeen The King of Assyria sent a great host against Jerusalem and when they were come up they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool which is in the high way of the fullers field Before Mount Zion towards the South at the other side of the Rivulet Kidron lieth the Mount of Transgression in the Fourth Book of Kings Chap. 23. called Mashith between this and Mount Olivet is a Valley through which goeth down the Road by Bethania to Jericho c. This is higher and steeper than any hereabout There you see still some old Walls of the Habitation wherein the Concubines of Solomon did live after whom the King ran in his old Age and they did so possess him that they turned his Heart from God Almighty after their Gods and so he did that that did not please the Lord God as you may read in the First Book of Kings Chap. 11. Verse 4. Underneath the Mount was the Valley Benhinnem wherein the Kings of Jerusalem did build a Temple to the Idol Moloch and did worship him viz. Solomon Achaz Manasseh c. whereof we read in several places in the Holy Scripture Levit. xviii 21. Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Moloch And also Jerem. vii 30. And they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name to pollute it And they have built the high places of Tophet which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire which I commanded them not neither came it into my heart therefore behold the days come saith the Lord that it shall no more be called Tophet nor the valley of the son of Hinnom but the valley of slaughter for they shall bury in Tophet till there be no place And also 2 Chron. xxviii 2. Ahaz made molten images for Baalim and burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnon and burnt his children in the fire after the abominations of the Heathen The holy Prophet Amos doth also make mention of these abominable Idolatries in his Fifth Chapter which Luke in the Seventh Chapter Verse Forty third of the Acts doth thus explain Ye took up the Tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan c. which the holy Prophet calleth Sicchuth and Chiun But the Heathen called them Jupiter and Saturn the Devourer of Children and so he is also painted This Statue was hollow within of cast Brass whereinto they did put the Children and burnt them alive and did believe they served God in it as Abraham when he would sacrifice his Son Isaac they had also Kettle Drums and other Musical Instruments which they played on that the Parents might not hear their Children cry wherefore Christ gave unto Hell it self and its perpetual flames the Name of the Valley Benhinnon calling it Gehenna to give us warning and exhortation that we hate false and abominable Idolatries introduced contrary to his Command worse than the Devil himself Besides this there is little else seen hereabout only above on the steepness and highest part of the Mount many little Tents and Habitations as if they hung at it which in these times are not inhabited either by Turks nor Moors in the Valley you see the Rivulet Kidron where over they brought our Lord Christ bound as a Prisoner from Mount Olivet this proceedeth only from Rain Water near to the place Gethsemane and runs without by the Town from South to West Beside this Brook did King Asa burn the Images of Priapus as Josias and Hezekiah the Idols of Baal all Incenses and Uncleannesses that are found in the Temple of the Lord. Further towards the East you see from the top of Mount Zion the Fountain and Pool of Siloah below in the Valley called by Josephus Tiropaean which divideth this and the Temple Mount and becometh to be very narrow between them and extendeth it self from the Rivulet Kidron towards the North to the place of Skulls where it groweth so large again that the lower Town of Jerusalem by Isaiah in his Tenth and Zacharias in his Ninth Chapter called The daughter of Zion and Jerusalem was situated therein Out of which near to the Gate of the Fountain of Siloha which is now walled up the way goeth up to the Gate of Zion into the upper Town through which two our Lord Christ was brought a Prisoner to the Houses of Hannas and Caiaphas This Valley hath been since the Desolation so filled up that no depth at all appeareth in our Days but only without the Fountain Gate by the Fountain Siloah that is very rich of water where is still the Pool wherein the Blind Man washed his Eyes that were anointed with Clay and Spittle St. John ix 6. according to the Command of our Lord and did see Just by it are still the two Hills whereof Josephus maketh mention with a very steep Cliff very rocky on both sides one whereof towards the East called the Rock of the Pidgeons hath a great Cave out of which the Fountain springs and runs off immediately below through a Channel that goeth so strait and smooth through the Rock as if it had been made on purpose Near to this Fountain and Gate of Siloha stood the Tower of Siloha that killed Eighteen Men as we read in St. Luke Chap. xiii Without between the Fountain and Stream of Kidron they shew a great Mulberry-Tree fenced in below this stands in the place where the holy Prophet Isaias was buried whom the King Manasse ordered to be cut in pieces with a wooden Saw as being an Heretick This may suffice of Mount Zion its situation and some adjacent places As we went about and came to one of the places the Monks did shew the Pilgrims in each of them the Number of the Years for the Pardon 's laid there by his Holiness as in some Seven Years and Seven Indulgences but in some others as in the place where the Holy Ghost was sent where Christ did eat the Passover with his Disciples and washed their Feet and where he at several times appeared when the Doors were shut and where also as Nicephorus saith the Virgin Mary after the Resurrection of Christ her dear Child did dwell for Fourteeen Years c. full Absolution and Indulgences from all Sins and Facts for ever Now that all those that come there may receive it more worthily the Monks exhort them to kneel down before every of such places and to pray the Lord's Prayer and Ave Maria with Devotion and that when they have done so they need not to doubt but that they have fully received the Absolution that was given for that place by his Holiness After they had thus prayed in several places some of our Company rejoiced mightily
and confessed that after it they were holy and so innocent that if they should die then they were secure that their Soul should go immediately out of their Mouth into Heaven and eternal life To this I answered them That I expected Remission of Sin no other ways but only in the Name and for the Merits of our Lord Jesus Christ and that I had not undertaken this Pilgrimage as they did to get any thing by it as by a good Work nor to visit Stone and Wood to obtain Indulgence or with opinion to come here nearer to Christ because all these things are directly contrary to Scripture As the Lord himself saith Time will come that you shall neither on this Mount nor at Jerusalem worship the Father And he also forewarneth us of these that say Lo Christ is here Christ is there lo he is in the desarts he is in the Chamber that we should not believe them nor go out but rather confide on his promise that he will be with us to the end of the World and where two or three are met together in his Name that he will be in the middle of them Wherefore our dear Lord Christ hath no need because he is himself present with them that believe in him of any Vicegerent that should on Earth usurp such Power and take such Honor and Glory to himself as to give Indulgence at his pleasure because all these things belong only to God When I saw that they did not much mind this my Discourse I let them alone in their Opinions but yet I saw here and there all these places and considered by my self what our Lord Christ had by his bitter Sufferings and Death by his Glorious Resurrection and Ascension procured us from his Heavenly Father When the Pilgrims came to one of the above-mentioned places of Mount Zion and had said their Prayers they went into it and contemplated it fell down again before it and kissed it with great Submission and Devotion pulled out several pieces viz. Beads and Rosaries turned of the Wood of the Trees of the Mount of Olives some wrought Points Laces c. tied together in Bundles to touch the holy place with it they also knocked off in some places where they might some small Pieces to take them along with them as consecrated Sanctuaries to distribute them amongst their Friends at their Return All the while that they were thus busie I considered rather standing behind what our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had suffered for us in these places how he had humbled himself and came down to us miserable Sinners to help us and to extol us that were fallen and to make us free of the heavy Burthen of our Sins how he was led before the Seat of Judicature of Caiaphas that we might not be led before the severe Judgment Seat of the Almighty God that he suffered himself to be led captive and bound to deliver us from the Bands of the Devil and Death and to save us from the Jaws of Hell and as Esaias saith in his 53d Chapter Verse 5. He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed But that our dear Lord Christ was delivered to the High Priest and Scribes c. for our sakes and that he was obedient to his Heavenly Father unto Death even the Death of the Cross to deliver us from the Curse of God and eternal Death And to make us certain that he had procured these his unspeakable Benefits and Heavenly Treasures for us and that we really should be partakers thereof before his passion he did institute his holy Supper upon the Mount in the large upper Room wherein he doth not only communicate them to us but giveth us also if we receive the holy broken Bread and the blessed Cup with true Faith according to the Institution his real Body and Blood to feed us to eternal Life where we then shall sit with our Lord Christ and all the elected ones after this life as Coheirs in the high upper Room of his Heavenly Father at his Table to eat and drink it with him anew And that we might heartily comfort our selves with these his unspeakable Benefits he also after his Ascension sent us on the Day of Pentecost his Holy Ghost the Spirit of Truth to incline our Hearts to believe stedfastly all that he hath promised us in his holy Word and Sacraments So the sending of the Holy Ghost which was long before predicted by the holy Prophets was fullfilled on this Mount whereof we read in several places of the holy Scripture viz. Joel ii 28. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh c. For on mount Zion and in Jerusalem must be a Deliverance according to the promise of the Lord. And Isaiah ii 3. Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord c. for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem So that the Preaching of Christ's holy Gospel and his Kingdom did begin from Zion and Jerusalem and was afterwards spread abroad by his holy Apostles throughout the whole World Grant then O our dear Lord Christ unto us thy Holy Ghost that he may keep us in the Knowledge of thy holy Word and that he may so strengthen and comfort us in it that we may freely and without any fear confess it before the Face of our Enemies and Adversaries and if they offend and prosecute us that we may overcome our Crosses and Persecutions with patience that thy Honor may be advanced and our Constancy appear Grant us also that he may plant these thy Graces in our Hearts that we may comfort our selves with the hope and expectation of those Treasures which thou hast by thy Death and Passion merited and purchased for us So that we may abide in thy Tabernacle and dwell in thy holy Hill for ever Amen Psalm xv 1. CHAP. V. Of the Mount Moria and the Glorious Temple of Solomon WIthin the City near to Mount Zion lieth another called Moria divided from it by the Valley of Tiropaeon which is now filled up and made even with the top as I have said before that hereabout is hardly any Depth or Unevenness to be seen This as well as the other meets with the Rivulet or Brook of Kidron towards the North and on both of them the Town lieth on the sides or descent This is very famous in the Holy Scripture as you read Genesis xxii That the pious Patriarch Abraham was ready to offer his Son Isaac on this Hill for a Burnt-Offering to the Lord whereon Melchisedec the first Founder and King of the Town Salem and Priest of the Almighty God did first build a Temple and therefore named the City Jerusalem So we read in the Second Book of Chronicles Chap. iii. That on the same holy Mount
Pastime chiefly the Janizaries which in great places erect Gibbets three Fathoms high to the top whereof they tye strong Ropes almost like as the Children do in our Country where they Swing others for a small recompence when any body sits in it two stand ready with a broad String one on each side which they fling before him and fling him backwards with it and so set him a Swinging Others run before the People that are walking and sprinkle them with sweet smelling Water to get a little spell of Money out of them chiefly the Christians which they will not easily leave before they have satisfied them wherefore they are necessitated to stay at home on these days Not long after they keep another peculiar Feast called Chairbairam where they also use all sorts of Gesticulations which were too long to relate here they do not Fast on those days but they Sacrifice young Steers and Wethers c. cut them into small pieces to distribute them among the People for the Honor of Abraham because he did obey God and would have Sacrified his Son Isaac to him At this abundance of Heathens congregate themselves in certain places before the Towns to go in Pilgrimage to Medina-Talnabi Mecha and Jerusalem for love to Mahomet Amongst them many are found that are recovered again from dangerous Distempers or delivered from great Dangers and then did make a Vow either to go on Pilgrimage to one of these places or else to kill such a number of Beasts to distribute among the Poor as an Alms. According to what I have said before that they compute their Months more by the Moon-light and so accompt Twelve of them to a Year they observe mightily the Change of the Moon chiefly the New Moon to see it again Wherefore at that time they go often in great Numbers out unto the next Hill to observe it the better after Sun set He that seeth it first sheweth it with great rejoycing to his Companions In their Prognostications they also mind the Moons Light and according to that they make their Accompt to know then if any thing shall happen They have also as some of them have told me a peculiar Book which they keep very close to themselves wherein is briefly Written what shall happen to them every year whether it be good or bad This beginneth in the same Year with their Prophet Mahomet and continueth for 1000 Year when this is at an End they have nothing more of that Nature worth any thing And being they go no further some will deduce or conclude from thence that their Reign will soon have an end when those years are passed Wherefore they fear the Christians very much and confess themselves that they expect to suffer a great blow from the Christians And this one may see or conclude from hence for on their Holidays in the Morning about 9 of the Clock they shut up the Gates of their Towns great Champs and other publick Habitations as I found at Aleppo so that many times I could not get either out or in until they opened them again for they fear at that time to be Assassinated by the Christians Being then that their Term of Years is near expired for when I lived in these Places in the year 1575. they Writ 982 of this same Term so that there was not quite 18 Years more to come Now if we compare these 1000 Years with those whereof John the Evangelist and Apostle maketh mention in the 20th Chapt. and 7th Verse of his Revelation saying When the 1000 Years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his Prison And shall go out to deceive theÌ„ Nations which are in the Four Quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to Battle as also is written in this same Book of Revelation in the 9th Chapter and by the Holy Prophet Ezekiel in his 38th and 39th Chapters the Number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea c. We find not only that they may also be interpreted and applied to the Turks and their Adherents but also that they have begun their Reign almost at the same time when Mahomet and the Antichrist should appear about the year 666 as we Read in the 13th Chapter and the last Verse of St. John in his Revelation And besides it looketh in these miserable times when it seems as if every thing would turn topsie turvy that these Years are passed and that Satan is loosed as if our dear Lord God would make an End of this malicious World Add that some Learned Mathematicians do Prognosticate that at these times but chiefly in the year 1588. great Alterations will be in all the parts of the World When we add to this Date the 42 Months or 1260 days or the 3½ years whereof the Prophet Daniel and also the Holy Evangelist and Apostle John in his Revelation make mention the Eighteen Years that are still wanting of the 1000 Years of their Mahomet as is above said will be compleated so that these two years Numbers do very well again agree together God the Almighty preserve us in all Adversities that we may persevere in the acknowledged Truth of his Holy Gospel and send us Penitent Hearts that we may be sensible of his merciful Visitations and also overcome the two last Wees that are not quite over with Patience Amen CHAP. VII Of Mount Bethzetha and the two Houses of Pilat and Herod FRom the Temple Mount towards the North you come presently towards the House of Judicature where Pontius Pilat did Live and condemn Innocent Lord Christ to that Heinous Death of the Cross But because the House hath been since surrounded with â—igh Walls we saw in the Court where the Soldiers 〈◊〉 cloath ouâ— Lord Christ with the Purple Cloke and 〈◊〉 â—pon his Head the Crown of Thorns and afterwards did spit upon him and Mock Beat and Whip him nothing Remarkable but only without a very Old and High Arch like unto an Arched Bridge This is almost black with Age and so Artificially Erected that one can hardly find any juncture where the Stones are put together This was the High Place as it is said before the Judgment Hall whereon the Condemned Men use to be exposed to the sight of the People because the Jews durst not go into the House of Judicature at their High Feasts as Easter and Whitsunday as you may Read in the 18th Chap. of St. John that they might not make themselves Unclean but Eat of the Paschal Lamb Wherefore Pilat did several times go out to the People to shew them our Lord Christ and sit down in the Judgment Seat in a place that is called the Pavement but in the Hebrew Gabbatha as you Read in the 19th Chap. of St. John Vers 13. This Arch is open at the Top in the Middle and hath two other small Arches about the widness of an ordinary door one by the other supported by a Marble Column in one of them
St. Paul That a Priest shall be a Husband of one Wife They give the Lords Supper to Young and Old alike in Leavened Bread in both kinds and they confess their Sins like unto the Jacobites to no body but only God The Portuguese that go to the Indies know them very well and love them for being good Soldiers and are glad if they will live among them and go out and in with them CHAP. XVIII Of the MARONITES BEsides all these there is also a sort of Christians who first after Maro the Heretick were called Maronites who believed that their is but one Nature Understanding and Work in Christ according to the Opinion of Macharius the Heretick whom he followeth diligently but since they have by degrees left this and are returned to the Popish Religion again And although they are still of it yet they give the Sacrament in both kinds to the Lay-men as almost all other Nations do according to the Words of the Institution of our Lord Christ In all other Points they follow the Roman Religion more than any other Nation Their Priests wear over their Clothes black hair Vestments They live for the most part in Syria but chiefly upon the Promontory of Mount Libanus where upon they have a Monastery within a days Journey of Tripoli called our Ladies which is situated underneath a large Rock wherein their Patriarch dwelleth whom they respect very much and kiss his Hands with their Knees bended c. whereof I have made mention here before The Patriarchs are still to this day chosen by the Commons and afterwards confirmed by the Pope and so this when he after the Decease of his Predecessor came into a Dispute with one of his Competitors concerning the Election did presently unknown to his Adversary go to Rome and so obtained in person the Patriarchal Seat from the Pope The Common People are in their Shape and Habits so like unto the Surians and their Neighbours the Arabians that except by their Turbants none can know them from each other They are a Couragious and War-like People very well provided with Guns and other Arms as well as their Confederates the Trusci And because they are not subject nor pay any Contribution unto the Turkish Sultan therefore they still keep their Bells and other Priviledges They speak the Arabian Language and their Books are also written as many as I could see of them in their Churches with Arabian Characters or Letters which they always kiss with great reverence when they take them up or lay them down according to the Custom of all other Eastern People or Nations as well Heathens as Christians They keep a very severe Order and never Eat Flesh and on their Fasts neither Butter nor Eggs but live upon Fruits as Beans Pease French-Beans and such other common Victuals But yet if any Merchants or Pilgrims come from Tripoli or any other places they let them want neither for Meat nor Drink nay they shew themselves to every body so benevolent as I have found it three several times and civil that one would wish to stay some time with them These live not continually in the Temple of Mount Calvaria but go often thither on Pilgrimages CHAP. XIX Of the Latinists or Papists THE Latinists or Papists living at Jerusalem in the often before-named Temple are Friers of the Order of the Lesser Franciscans they chiefly possess the Holy Sepulcher of our Lord Jesus Christ which they keep in very good order and read their Hora's diligently wherefore their Father stileth himself Guardian of the Holy Sepulcher and Mount Sion Besides this they are possessed of more Holy Places as at Bethlehem the Stable wherein our dear Lord Christ did lye in the Manger with the Ox and the Ass In the Mountains of Judea the Temple of St. John the Baptist In Bethania the Sepulcher wherein Lazarus had lain four days when Christ raised him from the Dead and here and there many others These as all know are dispersed in a great many places and Kingdoms nay almost through all the World Their Head is the Pope of Rome who pretends to be the Vicegerent of Christ and taketh upon himself so much Power as to prescribe to all Men Laws according to his own pleasure which Christendom finds every day to its great grief Wherefore in the mean while they are grown into so many Divisions Idolatry and Ceremonies that they out-do quite all the before-named Nations But being that they are in these our times so very well described that thanks to God they are very well known to every body therefore I forbear to write more of them and will only before I conclude make mention of these Brethren that live at Jerusalem only in a few Points and say that these that live in the Monastery at Jerusalem are about 20 in number more or less according as they go and come and among them are Spaniards Italians French-men and Germans c. that commonly are sent thither by Kings and Princes but being that they have more Churches and places in and without Jerusalem to provide for their Father Guardian distributeth them sends some to Bethlehem to look after the Manger of Christ others upon the Hills of Judea to the Mount of Olives and towards Bethania c. but before all others always two and two into the Temple of Mount Calvaria to stay there for 14 days together But being that the Temple is always Lock'd up that the Priests that are within it may not want for Food as well as others that are with them therefore three holes one bigger than the other are made in the great Door of the Church that through them all Necessaries of Meat and Drink may be conveyed to them These that are thus Locked up in the Temple do but look diligently after the Holy Sepulchre and Read their Hora's with Singing and Praying and to look after the Lamps but chiefly those that hang in the Sepulchre of Christ to illuminate it There are about twenty of these Lamps one better and clearer than the other they belong for the most part to great Persons as Kings and Princes whereof they have their Yearly Revenue that is sent them by their Brethren but chiefly from Italy and the Italian Princes and the most Catholick King of Spain But from Germany England and also now Cyprus the Isle since it hath been taken by the Turks they complain they have nothing as they had in former Ages and the Most Christian King of France doth also already begin to forget them which they have found some years since and the number of the Pilgrims doth also decrease which formerly used to flock thither in great numbers and sometimes to reward them besides Meat and Drink very Nobly which they find very prejudicial to them seeing they have no Revenues of any other Lands or the like They receive the Pilgrims that come in to them very kindly and treat them very well with Meat and Drink and shew
which they had conceived in their Hearts of the restoring of the worldly Regiment or Kingdom again which they should have left and instead thereof looked upon the Heavenly Kingdom whereinto Christ was ascended unto the Kingdom of God whereinto they were received as Members which is a more spiritual Kingdom that doth not consist in outward things Eating and Drinking c. but in a clean and faithful heart After this they ought to strive and to make it their only business that it may be notified to all men and be spread abroad all the World over From the top of the Mountain you have a prospect over all the holy Land towards the North over the Valley Josaphat which is just at the bottom of the Hill into the Country of Galilea towards the East over some naked Mountains down into a large Field which extends it self to the Dead Sea that is as Josephus mentioneth Twenty nine Leagues long and Fifteen broad whereof the Scripture maketh often mention chiefly in the Books of Macchabees and in the Second of Samuel Chap 15. where it is written That when King David did flie from his Son Absolon he tarried in the Plain Fields until he had intelligence of him In these is still remaining the Pillar of Salt that Lot's Wife was turn'd into when she against the Command of God turned to look back to the City The famous Historiographer Flavius Josephus did in his time see it in his own person and the Pilgrims visit it to this day and beat off of it some small pieces as they do every where chiefly in holy places and yet it is found still whole and without any defect which did put some Pilgrims that once went towards the Dead Sea into great admiration Now that they might be certain and assured of the Truth of the common Assertion That whatsoever was broken off of this Pillar was always found whole again they did chiefly one of them as I was informed by one that had had been there before knock a whole Hand off and took it away with them Now after they had been at the end of their Journey and came back again and went to look for it on purpose they found it whole again and exactly like unto the old one as it had been before Further beyond the Plain Fields at the other side of Jordan that runs through it there appear the Arabian Mountains that were inhabited by Ruben Gad and half the Tribe of Manasse they are very high and afford very good Pastures for the Cattle some among them were much noted and famous of old as the Mountain of Seir beyond the Dead Sea Mount Garizim and Ebal whereof is made mention in the Twenty seventh Chapter of Deuterenomy and also in the Thirty second Chapter of Mount Abarim Nebo and the point of Pisgah situated in the Land of the Moabites overgainst Jericho which together with all the adjacent places are very well seen as well as towards the West the Rivulet Cedron and the situation and largeness of the City of Jerusalem After we had looked about sufficiently we went down to the place of the Village Bethphage which is at the other side on the Ascent of Mount Olivet and belongeth to the Priests of Jerusalem this is so ruined that now adays there is nothing left of it save only a few Foundation-Walls Into this did Christ send his Disciples to loosen the She-ass and the Colt which was tied to the Door in the Road and to bring them to him whereon our Lord Christ also did ride to Jerusalem Five days before he suffered being the true Saviour Before it the Mount is pretty plain and is very rough and rocky wherein Bethania lieth on the Right Hand upon one ascent of the other part of Mount Olivet as is before said But the Village of Mary and Martha whereof you read in the Gospel of St. John Chapter XI is further out by the beginning of the Road towards Jericho which is still very dangerous because of the Arabian Vagabonds In these Habitations did our dear Saviour oftentimes take up his Lodgings with them and in the same did Mary the Sister of Lazarus and Martha anoint the Feet of our Lord Christ with a precious Ointment of Nard and dry them again with her hair in our days they are quite desolated and nothing left thereof but Ruins Near it as you come back again to Bethania in the Plain lieth a large Stone where also you may see the above-mentioned places very plain where they say that Martha did meet the Lord when he came up the Steps and rested on the Mount and talked with him of the Resurrection of her Brother before her Sister Mary did know any thing of the arrival of the Lord. Wherefore she went back again into their Village to call her Sister Mary secretly who when she heard that our Lord Christ was near at hand did hasten and went to him for he was not yet come into the Village and fell down at his Feet and said weeping Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died then he groaned in his spirit and enquired presently after the place where Lazarus his dear Friend was laid and went with them to it to Bethania that Village distant a League about an hours going or as the Scripture saith about fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem on an ascent wherein was a small Chapel and underneath it a deep covered Cave wherein Lazarus had lain Four Days as you may also see in the before quoted Chapter where it is in the Thirty eighth Verse said It was a cave and a stone lay upon it When the Franciscan Friars would go to the Grave of Lazarus they were forced to go through this Village and a great concourse of the poor Inhabitants used to flock about them and did surround them and detained them till they gave them something to be distributed amongst them that they might evade this Trouble and not be necessitated to go through his Village when they go to the Grave they have made behind at the other side on the heighth another Avenue but they do not escape the Mobile for all that for they meet them notwithstanding chiefly if they know or have intelligence that any Pilgrims came along with them to see the Grave So we did find it for they came and kept us locked up in it so long till we had given them so much as did satisfie them As you come out again from Bethania towards Jerusalem the Friars shew an old Building where Simon the Leper did dwell in which when Christ was at the Table Mary the Sister of Lazarus did come and did break again yet several days after a Glass of pretious Unguent of Nard over his Head which filled the whole House with a fragrant Scent which pleased Christ so well that he took her part against his Disciples and commended her proceedings so highly that it is recorded to her perpetual memory From thence if you come
Bethlehem there are some Valleys very well tilled with Corn and Wine and among the rest a very pleasant and fruitful one that beginneth immediately by the Church and Fountain and runs down towards Jericho and Jordan This is below pretty wide full of Olive and Fig-trees it also bringeth forth some comfortable Herbs viz. some strange Origanums Tragoriganum Roman Serpillum which the Arabians call Sathar Absintium Santonicum which groweth every where in the holy Land this hath small ash-coloured Leaves very like unto them of ours and many small Stalks full of small yellowish Seeds it is of an unpleasant Smell very bitter with a saltish sharpness wherefore it is reputed to be the Scheha of the Arabians from whence our Worm-seed cometh In this Valley were the Shepherds to whom the Angels of the Lord did appear and declared to them the saving Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ saying Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord c. and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men In that place which is about half a League below Bethlehem is still a Church which also Queen Helena did build as Nicephorus testifieth in the Thirtieth Chapter of his Eighth Book this is for the greatest part fallen in so that nothing more but a small Arch is to be seen of it Hard by it did stand the Tower Ader as St. Jerom writes whereby Israel did erect a Tent as you may read in Genesis and looked after the Sheep with his Twelve Sons This is in our time so demolished that it lieth quite in Ruins Beyond it in another Valley not far from Bethlehem they shew still to this day a large Orchard full of Citron Lemon Orange Pomegranate and Fig-trees and many others which King Solomon did plant in his Days with Ponds Canals and other Water-Works very pleasantly prepared as he saith himself in the Second Chapter of Ecclesiastes Verse 5. I made me gardens and orchards and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits I made me pools of water to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees This is still in our time full of good and fruitful Trees wherefore it is worthy to be seen for their sakes and also for the Ditches sake that are still there Wherefore I really believe it to be that same whereof Josephus maketh mention in his Eighth Book of the Jewish Antiquities and the Seventh Chapter saying And the King rode in a Chariot cloathed in white and it was his Custom to ride early in the morning to a place called Hetten a hundred Furlongs from Jerusalem where he had a Garden with Water-pools and Works very pleasant and rich Thither went the King for his pleasure and did always use great diligence and consideration in all things and took delight to see every thing neat and handsom c. After we had seen the chiefest places within and without near and a far off of Bethlehem we returned to Jerusalem again by another way that was near as far again about and went over the Mountains of Judea which have first as you come from thence very good and fruitful Valleys full of Vines and Corn but the nearer you come to Jerusalem the higher and rougher are the Mountains In this way half a League from Nebeleschol the Friars shewed us a Well very rich of Water just by the Road that goeth down to Gaza this runneth into a small Rivulet wherein the holy Apostle Philip did baptize Candaces Chamberlain to the Queen of Aethiopia by it is nothing else to be seen but a small Church and a Fish-pond From thence we came over high rough and steep Hills into the Deserts where St John the Baptist did lead his life in his young Age there is nothing to be seen but a very ancient Chapel and hard by it a delicate Spring on the top of the Hill where we went up to refresh our selves a little with eating and drinking of what we had taken along with us About the Roads grow many Trees by the Inhabitants called Charnubi the Fruit whereof is called St. John's Bread in our Country and is brought to us in great plenty From thence we had still a very rough and hilly way to the Church and Habitation of Zachary whither the Virgin Mary did come climbing over the Hills to give Elizabeth a Visit c. before it a League distance nearer to the Town at the end of the Valley Raphaim whereof the holy Scripture maketh often mention viz. in the Fifteenth and Eighteenth Chapters of Joshua and in the First of the Chronicles and the 12th Chapter stands in a very pleasant and fruitful place the Church of St. John the Baptist and by it before you come quite to it falleth down the Spring of Nephthaah that is very rich of Water This Church is very ancient but yet pretty well built and hath on the Left Hand as you go in a deep and hidden Cave wherein Elizabeth did hide her self with John her Child that it might not be slain with the Children of Bethlehem by the Servants of Herod whereof you may read more in the Proto-Evangelium of St. Jacob where it is thus written When Elizabeth did hear that among the rest of the Innocents which Herod had commanded to be killed her Son John was also searched for she did climb up the Hills and looked about her where she might hide him but when she saw no place there where she could do him she sighed and cried out with a loud voice saying O ye hills of Gad take both the Mother and the Child for she could not ascend them the Hill did open it self instantly and took them into it c. But how afterwards Herod did search for John and how he did threaten and exhort his Father Zachary to tell him where his Son was and also how his Servants did kill Zachary not being satisfied with his Answer for it in the Porch of the Temple is at length related in the Books of the Martyrs of the Learned and Reverend Ludowich Rabus As you come from the before-mentioned Church nearer to the Town of Jerusalem there is still seen a large Pillar that is of great Antiquity and lieth very high between the Mountains on a high Hill five Furlongs off of Jerusalem wherefore some take it to be Ruines of the Fortification of Betzura but as far as one can understand by the Books of Maccabees that is situated more towards the East behind Mount Olivet Just before it within stands in the Valley that is full of pleasant Olive Trees a very old yet well built Church called the Holy Cross whereof some Greek Friars are possessed they pretend that in that place the Tree did stand that was made use of for the
its quarter in the Heavens And the Roof is made of little Planks of Marble broad at bottom and which meet all in a point at top and make an obtuse Pyramid of some 32 or 36 sides There is a delicate Temple of the Conique Order in the Castle whether of Pandrosos or whom I cannot tell but the Work was most fine and all the Ornaments most accurately engraven The Length of this Temple was 67 Feet The Breadth 38 Feet These Pillars which remain of a Portico of the Emperor Adrian are very stately and noble They are of the Corinthian Order and above 52 feet in height and 19½ in circumference They are canellate and there are now standing seventeen of them with part of their Cornice on the top The Building to which they belonged I measur'd the Area of as near as I could conjecture and found it near a thousand feet in length and about six hundred and eighty in breadth Without the Town the Bridge over the Elissus hath three Arches of solid Stone-work the middlemost is near 20 feet broad There is the stadium yet to be seen whose length I measured and found it 630 feet near to what the precise measure of a stadium ought to be viz. 625. Towards the Southern Wall of the Castle there are the Remains of the Theatre of Bacchus with the Portico of Eumenes which is near it the semi-diameter which is the right Sine of the demi-circle which makes the Theatre is about 150 feet the whole Body of the Scene 256. Monsieur de la Guilliotiere in that Book he hath written of Athens hath made a Cut of a Theatre which he calls that of Bacchus which is a meer fancy and invention of his own nothing like the Natural one which by the Plan he has drawn of the Town I judge he did not know I give you this one hint that you may not be deceived by that Book which is wide from truth as will appear to any body who sees the reality though to one who hath not seen it it seems plausibly written I have dwelt long on Athens but yet have said nothing This town alone deserves a whole Book to discourse of it well which now I have neither time nor room to do but I have Memorials by me of all I saw which one day if it please God I may shew you Thebes is a large Town but I found few Antiquities in it excepting some Inscriptions and Fragments of the Old Wall and one Gate which they say was left by Alexander when he demolish'd the rest It is about some fifty miles distant from Athens as I judge Corinth is two days Journey distant the Castle or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is standing which is very large The main of the Town is demolish'd and the Houses which now are scatter'd and a great distance from one another So is Argos which to go round would be some four or five miles as the Houses now stand but if they stood together they would scarce exceed a good Village Napolo della Rumilia is a large town and full of Inhabitants and the Basâ—a of the Morea resides there It is but very few leagues distant from Argos Sparta is quite forsaken and Mestra is the Town which is inhabited four miles distant from it But one sees great Ruines thereabout almost all the Walls several Towers and Foundations of Temples with Pillars and Chapiters demolish'd A Theatre pretty entire It might have been anciently some five miles in compass and about a quarter of a mile distant from the River Eurotus The Plain of Sparta and of Laconia is very fruitful and long and well watered It will be about eighty miles in length as I judge The Mountains on the West side of it very high the highest I have yet seen in Greece the Maniotes inhabit them But the Plain of Calamatta which anciently was that of Messene seems rather richer Corone is very abundant in Olives Navarrino which is esteemed the ancient Pylos hath a very strong Castle fortified by the Turks and is the best Port in all the Morea Alpheus is much the best River and the deepest and with great reason extolled by all the ancient Poets and chosen for the Seat of the Olympick Games for it 's very pleasant The Plains of Elis are very goodly and large fit to breathe Horses in and for hunting but not so fruitful as that of Argos and Messene which are all Riches The best Woods I saw in Peloponnesus are those of Achaia abounding with Pines and wild Pear the Ilex and Esculus-trees and where there runs Water with Plane-trees Arcadia is a very goodly Champain and full of Cattel but is all encompass'd with Hills which are very rough and unhewn Lepanto is very pleasantly seated on the Gulf which runs up as far as Corinth and without the Town is one of the finest Fountains I saw in Greece very rich in Veins of Water and shaded with huge Plane-trees not inferiour in any thing to the Spring of Castalia on Mount Parnassus which runs through Delphos except in this that one was chosen by the Muses and the other not and Poetical Fancies have given Immortality to the one and never mentioned the other Delphos it self is very strangely situated on a rugged Hill to which you have an ascent of some two or three leagues and yet that is not a quarter of the way to come up to the Pique of Parnassus on the side of which Hill it stands It seems very barren to the Eye but the Fruits are very good where there are any The Wines are excellent and the Plants and Simples which are found there very fragrant and of great efficacy About Lebadia and all through Baeotia the Plains are very fertile and make amends for the barrenness of the Hills which encompass them But in Winter they are apt to be overflown for that reason and to be turn'd into Lakes which renders the Baeotian Air very thick and so were their Sculls too if the Ancients may be believed concerning them though Pindar who was one that sublimated Poetry to its highest exaltation and is much fancied and imitated in our Age as he was admired in his own was born there And Amphion who was said to be so divine in his Musick that he ravish'd the very Stones had skill enough to entice them to make up the Walls of Thebes So that not every thing that is born in a dull Air is dull These Vales I found much planted with Cotton and Sesamum and Cummin of which they make great profit and a great Trade at Thebes and Lebadia I went from Thebes into the Island of Eubaea or Negropont and saw the Euripus which ebbs and flows much after the nature of our Tides only the Moon and sometimes Winds make it irregular The Channel which runs between the Town and a Castle which stands in an Island over against it is some fifty feet broad and there are three Mills on it which shew