Shewing the reason why the Sunne without the Tropicks causeth greatest quantitie of waters when it is farthest off and contrariwise within them it breedeth most when it is neerest l. 2. chap. 7. Exceptions to generall rules The Authors experience Various and diuersified tempers of the Torrid Zone Causes of temperatenâ—sse vnder the Line and within the Tropicks Second cause That there bee other reasons besides the former mentioned which shew that the burning Zone is temperate especially alongst the Ocean Chap. 11. Arist. 〈◊〉 Dionys. c. 15. 〈◊〉 câ—â—l â—ierar That the cold windes bee the principal cause to make the burning Zone temperate Chap. 13. It is noted by trauellers that there is a hot winde sometimes neere to Balsara and Ormus which swalloweth mens breath and suddenly kils them Linschoten obserue at Goa the wind to blow twelue houres from the Sea and other twelue constantly from the land Temper of the Indies Of the windes their differences properties and causes in generall lib. 3. cap. 2. * We haue abbreuiated and to preuent tediousnesse cut off a great part of Acostas obseruations in the two former bookes as hauing handled the same in our Pilgrimage l. 8. where we haue shewed whence men and beasts might come thither and that the opinion of the worlds vnhabitablenesse betwixt the Tropicks is false for the daily raines when the Sunne is neerest the long nights therein great dewes the breezes and constant course of the windes the great Lakes Riuers height of Hills c. make those parts not onely habitable but more temperate then others and fitter for mans life there being more heat at and on this side the Tropicks then vnder the Line We here doe but cull ouâ— choise things for better vnderstanding the naturall historie of those parts for other things referring the Reader to the Authour himselfe Occasionally our notes shall elucidate those things also which are in the Text omitted * Vulcans as Aetâ—â— Hecla c. sulphurous earth whence â—â—re issueth Generall windes Monsoâ—â— Windes receiue their qualities from the places by which they passe Psalme 134. Ieremie 10. Herera hath shewed the height of the Hills to bee the cause of the windes constancy and raines raritie Eastern winde raineth betwixt the Tropicks That the burning Zone the Brises or Easterly windes doe continually blow and without the Zone the Westerne and that the Easterly are ordinarie alwayes there Chap. 4. Iuan de Gacos in Decade 1. lib. 4. cap. 6. They goe one way to the Indies and return another why Sayling 2700. leagues without sight of Land in two moneths See Candishes voyage Cause of the Brises Motion of the Primum Mobile carrieth the inferiour aire with it The Comet 1577. seene eight dayes sooner in Peru then in Spaine The Brize or motion of the air with the heauens is a winde Why withouâ— the Zone in a greater altâ—tude we finde alwaies Westerly windes Chap. 7. 〈◊〉 windes Of the exceptions to the foresaid Rules of the winds and calmes both at Land and at Sea Chap. 8. Cause of the variety of windes Simile Note Of some maruellous effects of the windes which are in some parts of the Indies Chap. 9. Silkewormes killed with South-west windes Exo. c. 10. 14. Iob 17. Ioan 4. Osâ—e 13. Dan. 3. The like Linschoten obserueth in the Terceras Sea sicknesse whence Agitation and Sea ayre Strange passion at Pariacaca by the ayre there Height of Pariacaca 〈◊〉 too subtile for mens bodies So we see Horses to beate the water with their feete to make it more grosse and thereby more agreeable to their bodies Vicunos Great Desart Punas ayre kilâ—ing Strange Story The same confirmed by a Iesuites report and a Dominicans Such effects of cold wâ— haue obserued in Russia and other Northern parts and the like Master Kniuet will tell vs at the Maggelan Straits No Mediterranean Sea of great note in America Terra firme Straight of land but eight leag betwixt North South Seas Herodotus Iouius Experience in Drakes and Maires voyage haue found them no straights but broken Ilands to the South contrary to our Author here See of this Sir Francis Drakes Voyage to 1. l. 2 I haue omitted Sarmientoes voiage c. The supposed Straight in Florida Of the ebbing and flowing of the Indian Ocean Chap. 14. The Philosophers in searching the cause of ebbing and flowing haue easily erred following the Greekes and Latines which knew not the Ocean and could not therfore know the cause * Hernando Alonso which with Sarmiento had gone to the Straights to seeke Captaine Drake At the Downes on our coast two tides meet one from the Westerne Sea or slewe the other from the North which there cause much varietie Of sundry Fishers and their manner of fishing at the Indies The Manati a strange fish The Whales also bring forth their yong aliue and nourish them with their brests being in that huge creature scarce twice so big as the breasts of a woman and farre lesse then those of many women Their foode is also Sea weedes Sharking sharkes They haue rough heads whereby they cleaue and sticke fast to the Sharke which thus are forced to caâ—ry them with their swift motion of whose off all also they liue Crocodiles * Yet so as euer and anon hee dips it in the water his tongue being so short that otherwise he could not swallow it Tigre kils a Crocodile Indians exploit on a Crocodile Whale killed by the Sauages Of Lakes and Pooles that be at the Indies Chap. 16. Thicke water Fishes and fishing Originall of Lakes Greatest riuers flow from Lakes Hot Lake and many wonders thereof Lakes of Mexico salt and fresh Râ—ch Lake Of many and diuers Springs and Fountains Chap. 17. Hot Spring turning into Stone Fountaine of Pitch Cold and hot Springs together Salt Spring which yeeldes Salâ— without boiling Pocke-â—pring Smoak Spring Inke c. Of Riuers Chap. 18. Maragnon or Amazons Water-fall Golden thirst Riuer of Plata increasing as Nilus How they passe their Riuers Haire and Straw Bridges L. 3. C. 19 Decay of people in the Indies by the Spaniards Corn groundâ— The Indies mountainous and thereby temperate Of the properties of the land of Peru. Chap. 20 One winde onely The Plaines the hils and the Andes See sup in Herera Raine almost euer and almost neuer Diuers Beasts Their bread The reason why it raines on the Lanos along the Sea coast Chap. 21. Of the propertie of new Spaine of the Ilands and of other Lands Chap. 22. Peru wine Sugar workes and Hides Indians wasted Of the vnknowne Land and the diuersitie of a whole day betwixt them of the East and the West Chap. 23. Of the Volcans or Vents of fire Chap. 24. Terrible earthquake at Guatimala Couetous Priest Causes of this burning Basil. Psal. 28. in exaâ— Of Earthquakes Cap. 26. Great earthquakes Noyse before the earthquake Why the Sea coast is subiect to earthquakes Earthquake at Ferrara terrible Aâ— Angoango Metals grow as
Imperiall Dignitie which Commandement they obserued and from thenceforth vntill this day haue euer continued to call on the Immortall God in all their occasions Secondly Hee willed that all the men that were able to beare Armes should be numbred and that ouer euery ten should be one appointed and ouer euery ten thousand a great Commander and that also ouer euery thousand should bee a Colonell or Conducter of a Regiment and he called an Armie of ten thousand Souldiers a Regiment He commanded also the seuen Rulers ouer the Nations of the Tartarians that they should forthwith dismisse themselues of their former dignities which they relinquished immediatly But another of his Ordinances was very strange and admirable in which he commanded those seuen chiefe Rulers to bring euery of them his eldest sonne and each with his owne hand to cut off his head Which Commandement appearing to bee most cruell and vniust yet was there none that would any way gainsay it because they knew him to be set ouer them by Gods prouidence and therefore they presently fulfilled it When Changius Can had seene that they were readie to obey him euen vnto death he appointed them all a certaine day in which they should be readie to fight And then they rode against them which bordered next vnto them and subdued them Whereby they which had beene Lords ouer them were brought into subiection vnder them After hee inuaded diuers other Nations which hee conquered with great celeritie For hee did all his exploits with a small troupe of men and was successefull in his enterprises Yet one day it fell out that being accompanied with a small number he was encountred with a great troupe of his Enemies in such sort that the fight being begun betweene them whiles he valiantly defended himselfe his Horse was slaine vnder him And the Tartarians seeing their Lord ouerthrowne betooke themselues to flight so that the Enemies being all busied in pursuing of those that fled and hauing no knowledge of the Emperour whom they had vnhorsed and ouerthrowne he runne and hid himselfe among certaine shrubs for safety of his life Whither when the Enemies were returned with purpose to spoile the dead Carkasses and to seeke out such as were hidden it happened that an Owle came and sate vpon those little trees or shrubs which he had chosen for his couert which when they perceiued they sought no further in that place supposing that the said Bird would not haue sate there if any man had beene hidden vnderneath By which meanes in the dead time of the night he found meanes to escape thence and came by diuers vnfrequented wayes vnto his owne people and discoursed vnto them what had befallen him For which the Tartarians rendred thankes vnto the Immortall God And that Bird which vnder God was held to be the meanes of his escaped hath euer since beene held in such reuerence amongst them that happie is he that can get but a Feather of an Owle which they weare in their heads with great reuerence Which I thought fit to set downe in this Booke that the cause might be knowne for which the Tartarians vse commonly to weare Feathers on their heads But their Emperour Changius Can hauing giuen great thankes to God for his deliuerance out of so great a danger gathered his Armie together and fiercely assaulted his former Enemies againe and brought them all vnder subiection and so became Emperor of all the Countries lying on that side of the Mountaine Belgian and possessed them quietly without disturbance vntill it happened him to haue another Vision as shall after be declared Neither is it any maruell that in these Histories I haue not set downe the certaine time because albeit I haue sought of many to know the certaintie thereof yet could I neuer finde any to instruct me fully therein the reason thereof I take to be because the Tartarians at the first were ignorant of all Learning and knew no letters and so passed ouer the times and memorable accidents without any Record or Register thereof kept whereby they came afterwards to be forgotten §. II. Of CHANGIVS Can his second Vision and Conquests Of HOCCOTA and his three Sonnes expeditions of GINO Can of MANGV Can who was visited by the King of Armenia and baptised of the expedition of his Brother HALOON 17. AFter that Changius Can had subdued all the Kingdomes and Countries on that side of the Mountaine Belgian he saw another Vision in the night For the selfe-same Horsman armed in white Armour appeared vnto him againe saying Changius Can it is the pleasure of the Immortall God that thou passe ouer the Mountaine Belgian and direct thy course Westwards where thou shalt possesse Kingdomes and Countries and subdue many Nations And that thou mayest be assured that the words which I speake vnto thee are from the Immortall God Arise and goe with thy people to the Mountaine Belgian to that part thereof which ioyneth to the Sea there thou shalt alight from thy Horse and kneeling downe nine times towards the East thou shalt worship nine times the Immortall God and he which is Almightie will shew thee the way by which thou mayest easily passe ouer the Mountaine At this Vision Changius reioyced exceedingly and arose without farther doubt or delay because the trueth which he had found in the first Vision gaue him assurance of the other in such sort that he forthwith speedily assembled his people and commanded them to follow him with their wiues and children and all that they had And so they went forwards vntill they came to the place where the great and deepe Sea did beate against the Mountaine so that there appeared no way nor passage for them There presently Changius Can as had beene commanded him by God alighted from his Horse and all his followers in like manner worshipping nine times on their bended knees towards the East they beseeched the Almightie and euerliuing God that of his infinite mercy and grace he would vouchsafe to shew them the way and passage thence where they continued in prayer all that night And in the morning arising they saw that the Sea was departed from the Mountaine and had left them a way of nine feet in bredth to passe Whereat they being all astonished exceedingly and rendring thankes to the Immortall God most deuoutly they passed on the way which they saw before them and directed their steps towards the West But as the Histories of the Tartarians doe mention after they had passed ouer those Mountaines they indured some hunger and thirst for certaine dayes because the land was Desart and the waters were bitter and salt which they could not by any meanes drinke vntill at length they came where they had all necessaries aboundantly In which place they abode many dayes And there it happened by the will of God that Changius Can grew dangerously sicke in such sort that the Physicians despaired of his recouerie By reason
name which among vs signifieth some small matter The Chinois doe not distinguish them by great or small and so their Villages are bigger then others which wee call Townes All the Cities and Townes are very well enclosed with high walls And because as I said I deferre this vntill another time I will only speake of Nanquin whereof I had some sight This Citie standeth in two and thirtie degrees and an halfe eight or ten leagues from the Sea vnto which it hath a mouth and a mightie Riuer It hath three walls of Bricke very high and faire with very great and beautifull gates which they shut vp very timely before night This Citie of old time two hundred yeeres past was the habitation of the Kings of China and so it continueth in very good condition The streets are very broad and all paued with very great square stones or set with brickes It hath exceeding long streets of two leagues and two leagues and an halfe and in the middest of the Citie are the Kings Palaces which are very great The Chinois declare the circuit of this Citie that two Horsemen going in the morning both out of the same gate and one going on the one side and the other on the other going all the day they meet at night in the gate opposite to that which they went out at The very truth is that it is at least eleuen or twelue leagues in circuit and seemeth to haue aboue two hundred thousand houses of people It seemed to all of vs that were there that Nanquin and this Citie of Paquin each of them haue as many people or more then foure of the most famous and populous Cities of all our Europe as Rome Lisbon and others of the greater sort For whereas these two whereof I speake are in themselues so great Cities not one nor two streets but the greater part of the Citie euery day doth swarme with people There are about this Citie many others within one or two dayes iourney and very famous for greatnesse and trafficke among which there are two one named Hancheo the other Sucheo and this is very great and like to Venice whose streets are halfe water and halfe land The Chinois call these Cities Paradise to expresse the goodnesse abundance and cheapnesse of all things that are in this Kingdome and come from other places And Sucheo is so full of people merchandise and trafficke that a Booke which is printed wherein all things are set downe which the Prouinces and Cities pay to the King saith that this only payeth one yeere with another in Siluer Gold Rice and Silke and other things wherewith it doth greatly abound twelue millions so that there be whole Prouinces that amount not to so much by a great deale which though it seeme an incredible thing yet they write it for a certaintie and hee which knoweth what these Cities are will beleeue it Yet for all this these Cities haue no notable things neither sumptuous Temples nor buildings which are wont to be those things which doe beautifie a Citie for the houses are not beautifull outwardly nor they vse no great Porches as they doe in our Countrey And he that hath seene the things of our Countrey and is skilfull in architecture shal find it here very little For the houses are low and without galleries lofts windowes or sight into the street yet they haue faire yards and are very neate within and painted with diuers colours with that Charan or liquid Gumme whereof I made mention before And that which I speake of Nanquin touching the abundance of people trafficke and manner of houses is after the same manner in the other Cities which we saw For the Chinois are so like and so vniforme in all naturall and artificiall things that he that hath seene one of the principall Cities findeth no new thing to bee seene in the others And albeit that other Cities are not comparable to these in bignesse yet in multitude of people proportionally there is little difference This Kingdome is commonly very fertile of all things that are necessarie for the vse of man and a great cause of the fertilitie and abundance thereof proceedeth of the great number of exceeding great Riuers which it hath which besides the profit that the Riuers yeeld by the fishing and besides the profit in watering of the grounds wherein they stand the Chinois in great stead they are occasion of great trafficke and communication of one Prouince with another with great ease by water which is an enriching to them that vse it and of great plentie in euery Citie of all things that are in the Kingdome From our departure from Macao till within a little of Paquin which is as I said sixe hundred leagues wee trauelled not past one day by Land because wee would not fetch too great a compasse about by water wee trauelled a great part of this way vnto Nanquin by the greatest Riuer that euer I saw in my life which in some parts is aboue three leagues broad and very deepe which the Chinois for the greatnesse thereof doe call The little Sea and that with good reason For though it were an hundred leagues from the Sea where I entred into it yet there is great abundance of fish of those kindes which breed in the Sea as Porposies fishes with sharpe beakes and others which I haue seene I saw in this Riuer neere the bankes thereof men fish with certaine Fowles as bigge as small Geeâ—e like vnto Rauens with a long beake and bending downeward like a crooked hooke which the Chinois teach to fish They haue a very long necke which they binde in such sort that the fishes cannot goe downe into their stomacke but they fill their throat with them if they be small fishes and when they come out of the water they make them cast them out and if the fish bee great hee fighteth with him and beateth him with pecking assaulting him with his bill vntill hee driue him vp that the Fisher may see him which commeth quickly with a small Net like a Wheele vpon a staffe and hee taketh him vnder the water And after this sort wee saw this Fowle take Fishes sometimes of a pound and a pound and halfe weight and they say they take bigger And because this fishing is so gainfull and so certaine they pay a certaine Tribute to the King for euery one of these Rauens or Cormorants Wee met with another Riuer as great as this which seemed to bee rather of mudde then water because the water was alwaies mingled with earth which whence it should come for so many yeeres I wot not They cannot drinke the water without they clarifie it which they doe with Alume Besides these two Riuers all the rest is made by hand for vessels to passe to Paquin The Vessels which we saw in all the Cities which we passed is one of the greatest things
see no speciall matter at the Indies which is not in other Regions vnlesse some will say that the manner to strike fire in rubbing two stones one against another as some Indians vse or to boile any thing in gourds casting a burning stone into it other such like things are remarkable whereof I haue written what might bee spoken But of those which are in the Vulcans and Mouthes of fire at the Indies worthy doubtlesse to be obserued I will speake in their order treating of the diuersitie of grounds whereas they finde these fires or Vulcans Therefore to begin with the windes I say that with good reason Salomon in the great iudgement which God had giuen him esteemes much the knowledge of the windes and their properties being very admirable for that some are moist others drie some vnwholsome others sound some hot others cold some calme and pleasant others rough and tempestuous some barren and others fertile with infinite other differences There are some windes which blow in certaine Regions and are as it were Lords thereof not admitting any entrie or communication of their contraries In some parts they blow in that sort as sometimes they are Conquerors sometimes conquered often there are diuers and contrarie windes which doe runne together at one instant diuiding the way betwixt them somtimes one blowing aboue of one sort and another below of an other sort somtimes they incounter violently one with another which puts them at Sea in great danger there are some windes which helpe to the generation of Creatures and others that hinder and are opposite There is a certaine winde of such a qualitie as when it blowes in some Countrie it causeth it to raine Fleas and in so great abundance as they trouble and darken the aire and couer all the Sea-shoare and in other places it raines Frogs These diuersities and others which are sufficiently knowne are commonly attributed to the place by the which these windes passe For they say that from these places they take their qualities to be cold hot drie or moist sickly or sound and so of the rest the which is partly true and cannot be denyed for that in a small distance you shall see in one winde many diuersities For example the Solaâ—â—â— or Easterne winde is commonly hot and troublesome in Spaine and in Murria it is the coolest and healthfullest that is for that it passeth by the Orchards and that large champaine which wee see very fresh In Carthageâ—e which is not farre from thence the same winde is troublesome and vnwholsome The Meridionall which they of the Ocean call South and those of the Mediterranean Sea Mezo giorâ—o commonly is raynie and boysterous and in the same Citie whereof I speake it is wholesome and pleasant Plinie reports that in Africke it raines with a Northerne winde and that the Southerne winde is cleere He then that shall well consider what I haue spoken of these windes he may conceiue that in a small distance of Land or Sea one winde hath many and diuers qualities yea sometimes quite contrarie whereby wee may inferre that hee draweth his propertie from the place where it passeth the which is in such sort true although we may not say infallibly as it is the onely and principall cause of the diuersitie of the windes It is a thing we easily find that in a Riuer contayning fiftie leagues in circuit I put it thus for an example that the winde which blowes of the one part is hot and moist and that which blowes on the other is cold and drie Notwithstanding this diuersitie is not found in places by which it passeth the which makes me rather to say that the windes bring these qualities with them whereby they giue vnto them the names of these qualities For example we attribute to the Northerne winde otherwise called Cierco the propertie to be cold and drie and to dissolue mists to the Southerne winde his contrarie called Leuasche we attribute the contrarie qualitie which is moist and hot and ingenders mists But it is needfull to seeke further to know the true and originall cause of these so strange differences which we see in the windes I cannot conceiue any other but that the same efficient cause which bringeth forth and maketh the winds to grow doth withall giue them this originall qualitie for in truth the matter whereon the winds are made which is no other thing according to Aristotle but the exhalation of the interior Elements may well cause in effect a great part of this diuersitie being more grosse more subtill more drie and more moist But yet this is no pertinent reason seeing that we see in one Region where the vapours and exhalations are of one sort and qualitie that there rise windes and effects quite contrarie We must therefore referre the cause to the higher and celestiall Efficient which must be the Sunne and to the motion and influence of the Heauens the which by their contrarie motions giue and cause diuers influences But the beginnings of these motions and influences are so obscure and hidden from men and on the other part so mightie and of so great force as the holy Prophet Dauid in his propheticall Spirit and the Prophet Ieremie admiring the greatnesse of the Lord speake thus Qui profert ventos de thesauris suis. Hee that drawes the windes out of his Treasures In truth these principles and beginnings are rich and hidden treasures for the Author of all things holds them in his hand and in his power and when it pleaseth him sendeth them forth for the good or chastisement of men and sends forth such windes as he pleaseth not as that Eolus whom the Poets doe foolishly feigne to haue charge of the windes keeping them in a Caue like vnto wilde beasts We see not the beginning of these windes neither doe we know how long they shall continue or whither they shall goe But wee see and know well the diuerse effects and operations they haue euen as the supreme Truth the Author of all things hath taught vs saying Spiritus vbi vult spirat vocem eius audis neseis vnde venit aut quò vadit It is true that the Northerne winde is not vsually cold and cleere there as here In some parts of Peru as at Lima and on the Playnes they finde the Northerne windes troublesome and vnwholsome and all along the Coast which runnes aboue fiue hundred leagues they hold the Southerne windes for healthfull and coole and which is more most cleere and pleasant yea it neuer raines contrarie to that wee see in Europe and of this side the Line Yet that which chanceth vpon the coast of Peru is no generall rule but rather an exception and a wonder of Nature neuer to raine vpon that coast and euer to haue one winde without giuing place to his contrarie whereof we will hereafter speake our minde It is no generall rule there that the Northerne winde is neither hot nor
PVRCHAS HIS PILGRIMES IN FIVE BOOKES The first Containing Peregrinations and Discoueries in the remotest North and East parts of ASIA called TARTARIA and CHINA The second Peregrinations Voyages Discoueries of CHINA TARTARIA RVSSIA and other the North and East parts of the World by English-men and others The third Voyages and Discoueries of the North parts of the World by Land and Sea in ASIA EVROPE the Polare Regions and in the North-west of AMERICA The fourth English Northerne Nauigations and Discoueries Relations of Greenland Greenland the North-west passage and other Arctike Regions with later RVSSIAN OCCVRRENTS The fifth Voyages and Trauels to and in the New World called AMERICA Relations of their Pagan Antiquities and of the Regions and Plantations in the North and South parts thereof and of the Seas and Ilands adiacent The Third Part. Vnus Deus Vna Veritas LONDON Printed by William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Rose 1625. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD IOHN Lord Bishop of LINCOLNE Lord Keeper of the GREAT SEALE OF ENGLAND c. Right Reuerend and Honourable THese PILGRIMS deliuering a Historie of the World in their owne Trauels by Sea and Land not onely needed authoritie from the Admiraltie but fearing suspition of Riot without warrantable assemblie become humble Sutors for your Lordships fauour So shall they in the approbation of both to apply by a warrant of Ego dixi dij estis the Patriarchs mysticall Dreame to our Historicall purpose finde a Scala Coeli to ascend from the ground where they are prostrate Petitioners to the Princes Highnesse whence authorised they may againe descend and become the Commons of Common Readers Order requires a Medium betwixt Princely Height and his Lowlinesse whose function is also tearmed Holy Orders as further tying him to that equall inequalitie wherein hee beseecheth your Lordship as by speciall Office and in Proprietie to owne that which hee hath presumed to offer to the Prince in Capite Quemadmodum sub optimo rege omnia Rex imperio possidet Domini dominio Ad reges protestas pertinet ad singulos proprietas Many are the reasons which moued the Author to obtrude his PILGRIMS on your Lordship because he is deeply obliged Yours former fauours euen then when you were initiated in the Mysteries of Honour learning by seruice to Command in the Discipline of that Honorable Worthy Lord Chancellor EGERTON because some conceptions of this Worke were in your Honourable Iurisdiction of Westminster whither lest some traduce Trauellers for Vagrants they returne in hope of Sanctuarie not so much trusting to the ancient Liberties as to your Lordships liberall respect to literate endeauours because these Trauellers aduenturing the world seeke like Iacob at his going and returne a Reuerend Fathers Blessing and Confirmation The Author likewise being called on for his promised Europe submits himselfe to your Lordships Order heere tendring of that debt what hee is able in readie payment The worke it selfe also being a Librarie in this kind presents it selfe to your Honour the Founder of two famous Libraries one in Westminster where the Stones renued Fabrikes speake your Magnificence the other in that famous Nurserie of Arts and Vertue Saint IOHNS Colledge in Cambridge which sometime knew you a hopefull Sonne but now acknowledgeth your Lordship a happie Father where also the Author first conceiued with this Trauelling Genius whereof without trauelling he hath trauelled euer since Learning the Aduancer of your Honour hath secured her welwillers not to bee reiected in whatsoeuer indeauours Scribimus indocti doctique to aduance Learning The greatnesse of Nature to goodnesse of Nature varietie of Estates to a prime Pillar of State the Historie of Religions to a Religious Prelate of Antiquities to an Antiquarie cannot bee altogether vnwelcome that I mention not the dependance of London Ministers Liuings fined by the Times iniquitie on your Lordships equall Sentence These Causes haue moued One hath inforced these PILGRIMES are your Seruants fitly so called à Seruando saued by your Lordships hand when they were giuing vp the ghost despairing through a fatall stroke of euer seeing light Most humbly therefore sue vnto your Honour these PILGRIMES for acknowledgement esteeming your Lordships Name in fore-front a cognisance of blest Libertie and best Seruice Now when Ianus sends many with gratefull emulations to present their acclamations of a New Yeere presenting a wordie rather then worthy Present a World yea a New world in great part one Age younger to mens knowledge then America sometimes stiled by that Name I had written others Causes of my addresse to your Honour but dare not proceed to interrupt Others more weightie In all humble earnestnesse beseecheth now in this Festiuall time the Author with his PILGRIMES to finde Hospitall entertainment not at your Honours table where Great affaires of Church and State are feasted except some recreation some times permit but with Schollers and Gentlemen in the Hall which will welcome such Guests as your Lordship shall Countenance So shall you encourage euer to pray for the increase of your Lordships happinesse in the Happie Seruice of his MAIESTIE Your Lordships most bounden SAMVEL PVRCHAS THE CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS AND PARAGRAPHS IN THE SECOND BOOKE OF THE SECOND PART OF PVRCHAS HIS PILGRIMS CHAP. I. THe Iournall of Friar William de Rubruquis a French-man of the Order of the Minorite Friars vnto the East parts of the World Anno Dom. 1253. H. pag. 1. CHAP. II. Tartarian and Northerne Relations written in Latin by the famous Friar Roger Bacon H. p. 52 Relations of Vincentius Beluacensis the most of which he receiued from Friar Simon de Sancto Quintino one of the foure Friars sent by Pope Innocent the fourth to the Tartars seruing to the illustration of the former pag. 58. CHAP. III. Relations touching the Tartars taken out of the Historie of R. Wendouer and Mat. Paris with certaine Epistles of the same subiect pag. 60. CHAP. IIII. The first booke of Marcus Paulus Venetus or of Master Marco Polo a Gentleman of Venice his Voyages pag. 65. § 1. The voyages of Master Nicolo and M. Maffio from Constantinople to the Great Can and their comming home to Venice their second voyage with the Authour and returne ibid. § 2. Obseruations of M. Polo of Armenia Turkie Zorzania Baldach Persia Chirmain Cobniam Ormus Knaue-fooles paradise and other Easterne parts in Asia and Armenia the lesse pag. 69. § 3. Of Sapurgan Balac Thaican Scassem Balaxiam Bascia Chesmur Vochan Samarchan Carchan Peym the dreadfull Desart of Lop and Tanguth pag. 73. § 4. Of Carchoran the originall proceedings and exploits of the Tartars of Priest Iohn and his discendants Customes of the Tartars Of Bargu Erginul Xandu the Cans Citie and Palace of Muske of strange Sorcerers and anstere Monkes pag. 77. § 5. Of Cublai Can his Raigne and Acts Magnificent feasts and
Idol-temple I found the Priests of the said Idols there For alwaies at the Kalends they set open their Temples and the Priests adorne themselues and offer vp the peoples Oblations of Bread and Fruits First therefore I will describe vnto you those rites and ceremonies which are common vnto all their Idol-temples and then the superstitions of the foresaid Iugures which be as it were a sect distinguished from the rest They doe all of them worship towards the North clapping their hands together and prostrating themselues on their knees vpon the earth holding also their foreheads in their hands Whereupon the Nestorians of those parts will in no case ioyne their hands together in time of prayer but they pray displaying their hands before their breasts They extend their Temples in length East and West and vpon the North side they build a Chamber in manner of a Vestrie for them selues to goe forth into Or sometimes it is otherwise If it be a foure square Temple in the midst of the Temple towards the North side thereof they take in one Chamber in that place where the Quire should stand And within the said Chamber they place a Chest long and broade like vnto a Table and behind the said Chest towards the South stands their principall Idoll which I saw at Caracarum and it was as big as the Idoll of Saint Christopher Also a certaine Nestorian Priest which had beene in Catay said that in that Countrey there is an Idoll of so huge a bignesse that it may be seene two daies iourney before a man come at it And so they place other Idols round about the foresaid principall Idoll being all of them finely gilt ouer with pure gold and vpon the said Chest which is in manner of a Table they set Candles and Oblations The doores of their Temples are alwaies open towards the South contrary to the customes of the Saracens They haue also great Bels like vnto vs. And that is the cause as I thinke why the Christians of the East will in no case vse great Bells Notwithstanding they are common among the Russians and Graecians of Gasaria ALl their Priests had their heads and beards shauen quite ouer and they are clad in Saffron coloured garments and being once shauen they leade an vnmarried life from that time forward and they liue an hundred or two hundred of them together in one Cloister or Couent Vpon those daies when they enter into their Temples they place two long Formes therein and so sitting vpon the said Formes like Singing-men in a Quire namely the one halfe of them directly ouer against the other they haue certaine bookes in their hands which sometimes they lay downe by them vpon the Formes and their heads are bare so long as they remaine in the Temple And there they reade softly vnto themselues not vttering any voice at all Whereupon comming in amongst them at the time of their superstitious deuotions and finding them all sitting mute in manner aforesaid I attempted diuers waies to prouoke them vnto speech and yet could not by any meanes possible They haue with them also whithersoeuer they goe a certaine string with an hundred or two hundred Nut-shels thereupon much like to our bead-roll which wee carrie about with vs. And they doe alwaies vtter these words Ou mam Hactani God thou knowest as one of them expounded it vnto me And so often doe they expect a reward at Gods hands as they pronounce these words in remembrance of God Round about their Temple they doe alwaies make a faire Court like vnto a Church-yard which they enuiron with a good wall and vpon the South part thereof they build a great Portall wherein they sit and conferre together And vpon the top of the said Portall they pitch a long Pole right vp exalting it if they can aboue all the whole Towne besides And by the same Pole all men may know that there stands the Temple of their Idols These rites and ceremonies aforesaid be common vnto all Idolaters in those parts Going vpon a time towards the foresaid Idoll-temple I found certaine Priests sitting in the outward Portall And those which I saw seemed vnto mee by their shauen beards as if they had beene French men They wore certaine ornaments vpon their heads made of Paper The Priests of the foresaid Iugures doe vse such attire whithersoeuer they goe They are alwaies in their Saffron coloured Iackets which bee very straight being laced or buttened from the bosome right downe after the French fashion and they haue a Cloake vpon their left shoulder descending before and behind vnder their right arme like vnto a Deacon carrying the houssel-box in time of Lent Their letters or kind of writing the Tartars did receiue They begin to write at the top of their paper drawing their lines right downe and so they reade and multiply their lines from the left hand to the right They doe vse certaine papers and characters in their Magicall practices Whereupon their Temples are full of such short scrolls hanged round about them Also Mangu-Can hath sent letters vnto your Maiestie written in the language of the Moals or Tartars and in the foresaid hand or letter of the Iugures They burne their dead according to the ancient custome and lay vp the ashes in the top of a Pyramis Now after I had sate a while by the foresaid Priests and entred into their Temple and seene many of their Images both great and small I demanded of them what they beleeued concerning God And they answered Wee beleeue that theâ—e is onely one God And I demanded farther Whether doe you beleeue that he is a Spirit or some bodily substance They said Wee beleeue that hee is a Spirit Then said I Doe you beleeue that God euer tooke mans nature vpon him Then they answered No. And againe I said Sithence yee beleeue that hee is a Spirit to what end doe you make so many bodily Images to represent him Sithence also you beleeue not that hee was made man why doe you resemble him rather vnto the Image of a man then of any other creature Then they answered saying we frame not those Images whereby to represent God But when any rich man amongst vs or his sonne or his wife or any of his friends deceaseth he causeth the Image of the dead partie to be made and to be placed here and we in remembrance of him doe reuerence thereunto Then I replyed You doe these things onely for the friendship and flatterie of men No said they but for their memorie Then they demanded of mee as it were in scoffing wise Where is God To whom I answered Where is your soule they said In our bodies Then said I Is it not in euery part of your bodie ruling and guiding the whole bodie and yet notwithstanding is not seene or perceiued Euen so God is euery where and ruleth all things and yet is he inuisible being vnderstanding and wisedome it selfe Then being desirous to
it and aske of God that he do that for you which is contained in this written Prayer because with his owne mouth he taught it his friends and I hope he will saue you I could not doe any thing else because it was very dangerous to speake the words of doctrine by such an Interpreter nay almost impossible because he was ignorant AFter this wee entred into that plaine where the Court of Ken-Cham was which was wont to be the Countrey of the Naymans who were the peculiar Subiects of Presbyter Iohn but at that time I saw not that Court but in my returne Yet heere I declare vnto you what befell his Ancestry his Soone and Wiues Ken-Cham being dead Baatu desired that Mangu should be Chan. But I could vnderstand in certaintie of the death of Ken. Frier Andrew said that he dyed by a certaine medicine giuen him and it was suspected that Baatu caused it to be made Yet I heard otherwise for he summoned Baatu to come and doe him homage And Baatu tooke his iourney speedily with great preparation but he and his Seruants were much afraid and sent one of his Brothers before called Stichin who when he came to Ken and should waite vpon his Cup contention arising betweene them they slue one another The Widow of Stichin kept vs a whole day to goe into her house and blesse her that is pray for her Therefore Ken being dead Mangu was chosen by the consent of Baatu And was then chosen when Frier Andrew was there Ken had a certaine Brother called Siremon who by the counsell of Kens Wife and her Vassals went with great preparation towards Mangu as if he meant to doe him homage and yet in truth he purposed to kill him and destroy his whole Court. And when he was neere Mangu within one or two daies iourney one of his Wagons remained broken in the way While the Wagoner laboured to mend it in the meane space came one of the Seruants of Mangu who helped him he was so inquisitiue of their iourney that the Wagoner reuealed vnto him what Siremon purposed to doe Then turning out of the way as if hee little regarding it went vnto the herd of Horses and tooke the best Horse hee could choose and posting night and day came speedily to the Court of Mangu reporting vnto him what he had heard Then Mangu quickly assembling all his subiects caused foure rings of Armed men to compasse his Court that none might goe in or out the rest he sent against Siremon who tooke him not suspecting his purpose had beene discouered and brought him to the Court with all his followers Who when Mangu lay the matter to his charge strait-way confessed it Then he and his eldest Sonne Ken Chan were slaine and three hundred of the Nobilitie of the Tartars with them The Noble Women also were sent for who were all beaten with burning fire-brands to make them confesse and hauing confessed were put to death His youngest sonne Ken who could not be capable or guiltie of the conspiracy was left aliue And his Fathers Palace was left vnto him with all belonging vnto it as well Men as Chattels and we passed by it in our returne Nor durst my Guides turne in vnto it neither going nor comming For the Lady of the Nations sate there in heauinesse and there was none to comfort her THen went wee vp againe into the high Countries going alwaies towards the North. At length on Saint Stephens day we entred into a great Plaine like the Sea where there was not so much as a Mole-hill And the next day on the feast of S. Iohn the Euangelist we came vnto the Palace of that great Lord. But when we were neere it within fiue daies iourney our Host where we lay would haue directed vs a way farre about so that wee should yet trauaile more then fifteene daies And this was the reason as I vnderstood that wee might goe by Onam Kerule their proper Countrey where the Court of Chingis-Chan is Others said that he did it for this purpose that he might make the way longer and might shew his power the more For so they are wont to deale with men comming from Countries not subiect to them And our Guide obtained with great difficultie that we might go the right way For they held vs vpon this from the morning till three of the clocke In that way also the Secretarie whom we expected at Cailac told me that it was contained in the Letters which Baatu sent to Mangu-Chan that wee required an Army and ayde of Sartach against the Saracens Then I began to wonder much and to be greatly troubled for I knew the Tenor of the Letters and that no mention therof was made therein saue that yee aduised him to be a friend to all Christians and should exalt the Crosse and be an enemy to all the enemies of the Crosse and because also the Interpreters were Armenians of the greater Armenia who greatly hated the Saracens lest perhaps they had interpreted any thing in euill part to make the Saracens more odious and hatefull at their pleasure I therefore held my peace not speaking a word with them or against them for I feared to gainsay the words of Baatu least I should incurre some false accusation without reasonable cause We came therefore the foresaid day vnto the said Court. Our Guide had a great house appointed him and we three a little Cottage wherein wee could scarse lay our stuffe make our beds and haue a little fire Many came to visit our Guide and brought him drinke made of Rice in long strait mouthed bottles in the which I could discerne no difference from the best Antissiodorensian Wine saue that it had not the sent of Wine We were called and straightly examined vpon what businesse we came I answered that we heard of Sartach that he was a Christian we came therefore vnto him the French King sent him a Packet by vs he sent vs to Baatu his Father his Father hath sent vs hither hee should haue written the cause wherevpon they demanded whether we would make peace with them I answered he hath sent Letters vnto Sarâ—ach as a Christian and if he had knowne he were not a Christian hee would neuer haue sent him Letters to treate of peace I say he hath done you no wrong if he had done any why should you warre vpon him or his people he willingly as a iust man would reforme himselfe and desire peace If yee without cause will make warre with him or his Nation we hope that God who is iust will helpe them And they wondred alwayes repeating why came yee seeing yee came not to make peace For they are now so puffed vp with pride that they thinke the whole World should desire to make peace with them And truly if I might bee suffered I would preach Warre against them to the vttermost of my power throughout the whole World But I would
not plainly deliuer the cause of my comming lest I should speake any thing against that which Baatu commanded I told them therefore the whole cause of my comming thither was because he sent me The day following we were brought vnto the Court and I thought I could goe bare-foot as I did in our Countrey whereupon I layd aside my shooes But such as come to the Court alight farre from the house where the Great Chan is as it were a Bow-shot off where the Horses abide and a Boy to keepe them Whereupon when wee alighted there and our Guide went with vs to the house of the Great Chan a Hungarian Boy was present there who knew vs to wit our Order And when the men came about vs and beheld vs as Monsters especially because we were bare-footed and demanded whether we did not lacke our feet because they supposed we should strait-way haue lost them that Hungarian told them the reason shewing them the condition of our Order Then the chiefe Secretary who was a Nestorian and a Christian by whose counsell and aduice almost all is done came vnto vs to see vs and looked earnestly vpon vs and called the Hungarian vnto him of whom he demanded many Questions Then we were willed to returne vnto our Lodging ANd when we returned at the end of the Court towards the East farre from the Court as much as a Crosse-bow could shoot at twice I saw a house vpon the which there was a little Crosse then I reioyced much supposing there was some Christianitie there I went in boldly and found an Altar very well furnished for there in a Golden cloth were the Images of Christ and the blessed Virgin and Saint Iohn Baptist and two Angels the lineaments of their bodies and garments distinguished with Pearle and a great siluer Crosse hauing precious stones in the corners and the middle thereof and many other Embroyderings and a Candle burning with Oyle before the Altar hauing eight Lights And there sate an Armenian Monke some-what blacke and leane clad with a rough hairen Coate to the middle legge hauing vpon it a blacke Cloke of bristles furred with spotted Skinnes girt with Iron vnder his haire-cloth Presently after wee entred in before we saluted the Monke falling flat vpon the ground we sang Aue Regina Coelorum c. and he rising prayed with vs. Then saluting him we sate by him hauing a little fire before him in a Pan. Therefore we told him the cause of our comming And he began to comfort vs much saying that we should boldly speake because we were the Messengers of God who is greater then all men Afterwards he told vs of his comming saying he came thither a moneth before vs and that he was a Heremite of the Territorie of Hierusalem and that the Lord appeared to him three times commanding him to goe to the Prince of the Tartars And when he deferred to goe the third time God threatned him and ouerthrew him vpon the ground saying he should dye vnlesse he went and that he told Mangu Chan that if he would become a Christian the whole World should be obedient vnto him and the French and the Great Pope should obay him and he aduised me to say the like vnto him Then I answered brother I will willingly perswade him to become a Christian For I came for this purpose to preach thus vnto all I will promise him also that the French and the Pope will much reioyce thereat and account him for a brother and a friend but I will neuer promise that they shall become his Seruants and pay him Tribute as these other Nations because in so doing I should speake against my conscience then he held his peace We went therefore together to our Lodging which I found a cold Harbour and we had eaten nothing that day so we boyled a little flesh and Millet in the broth of flesh to sup Our Guide and his companions were drunken at the Court and little care was had of vs. At that time the Messengers of Vastace were there hard by vs which wee knew not And the men of the Court made vs rise in great haste at the dawning of the day And I went bare-foot with them a little way vnto the house of the said Messengers And they demanded of them whether they knew vs. Then that Grecian Souldier calling our Order and my companion to remembrance because he had seene him in the Court of Vastace with Frier Thomas our Minister and all his fellowes gaue great testimony of vs. Then they demanded whether wee had peace or war with Vastace we haue said I nor war nor peace And they demanded how that might be Because said I their Countries are far remoued one from the otherâ— and meddle not together Then the Messenger of Vastace said wee had peace giuing mee a caueat so I held my tongue That morning my toes ends were frozen so that I could no longer goe bare-foot for in those Countreyes the cold is extreame sharpe and from the time when it beginneth to freeze it neuer ceaseth vntill May nay in the moneth of May it freezed euery morning but in the day time it thawed through the heate of the Sunne but in the Winter it neuer thawes but the Ice continues with euery winde And if there were any winde there in the Winter as it is with vs nothing could liue there but it is alwaies milde weather vntill Aprill and then the winds arise and at that time when wee were there about Easter the cold arising with the winde killed infinite creatures In the Winter little snow fell there but about Easter which was in the latter end of Aprill there fell so great a snow that all the streets of Caracarum were full that they were fayne to carrie it out with their Carts Then they first brought vs from the Court Ramskin Coats and Breeches of the same and Shooes which my Companion and Interpreter receiued But I thought I had no need of them because I supposed my Pelt-garment which I brought from Baatu was sufficient for me Then the fift of Ianuarie we were brought vnto the Court and there came Nestorian Priests vnto me I not knowing they were Christians demanding which way we worshipped I said vnto the East And this they demanded because wee had shauen our beards by the aduice of our Guide that wee might appeare before Chan according to the fashion of our Countrey whereupon they thought wee had beene Tuinians to wit Idolaters They made vs also expound out of the Bible Then they demanded what reuerence wee would doe to Chan whether after our owne fashion or theirs To whom I made answere Wee are Priests giuen to the seruice of God Noblemen in our Countrey will not suffer Priests to bow their knees before them for the honour of God neuerthelesse wee will humble our selues to all men for the Lords sake Wee came from a farre Countrey If yee please wee
of their Iewels and seeing they pleased him freely bestowed them on him He loth to be exceeded in liberalitie caused twice the value to bee giuen them and besides great and rich gifts Hauing stayed one yeare in the Countrey of the said Prince whiles they thought to returne to Venice there suddenly arose Warre betwixt the said Barcha and another named Alau Lord of the Easterne Tartars These Armies fighting together Alau had the Victorie and the Armie of Barcha receiued a great ouerthrow By reason whereof the wayes beeing not secure they were not able to returne that way which they came And hauing consulted how to returne to Constantinople they were aduised to goe so farre to the East that they might compasse the Realme of Barcha by vnknowne wayes and so they came to a Citie called Ouchacha which is in the Confines of the Kingdome of this Lord of the Tartars on the West and passing further they went ouer Tigris one of the foure Riuers of Paradise and after that a Desart of seuenteene dayes Iourney without Citie Castle or Fort finding only Tartars which liue in the fields in certayne Tents with their beasts Beeing past the Desart they came to a good Citie called Bocara the name also of the Prouince in the Region of Persia which was subiect to a King called Barach in which place they stayed three yeares before they could goe forward or backward by reason of great warres betwixt the Tartars At that time a certayne Wiseman was sent Ambassador from the said Prince Alau to the Great Can who is the greatest King of all the Tartars residing in the Confines of the Earth betwixt the North-east and the East called Cublai Can who being comne to Bocara and finding there the said two brethren which had now well learned the Tartarian Language he reioyced aboue measure and perswadeth these Westerne men or Latines to goe with him to the presence of the Great Emperour of the Tartars knowing that hee should gratifie him in this and the men notwithstanding should be entertayned with great honour and rewarded with large gifts especially seeing through the manifold conference had with them he now perceiued their pleasing behauiour Those men therefore considering that they could not easily returne home without danger consulting together ioyne with the said Ambassadour and iourney with him to the Emperour of the Tartars hauing certayne other Christians in their Company whom they brought with them from Venice and departing towards the North-east and the North were a whole yeare in going to the Court of the said chiefe King of the Tartars The cause of their long time in this Iourney was the Snowes and Riuer Waters much increased so that they were forced in their trauell to stay the wasting of the Snow and decreasing of the flouds Being therefore brought before the presence of the Great Can they were most courteously receiued of him He questioned them concerning many things as of the Countries of the West the Romane Emperour and other Kings and Princes how they carried themselues in Gouernment and in Warlike affaires how Peace Iustice and Concord continued among them also what manner of life and customes were obserued with the Latines and especially of the Pope of the Christians of the things of the Church and the Religion of the Christian Faith And M. Nicolo and M. Maffeo as Wisemen told him the truth alway speaking well to him and orderly in the Tartarian Tongue Insomuch that hee often commanded they should bee brought to his presence and they were very acceptable in his sight Hauing well vnderstood the Affaires of the Latines and resting satisfied with their answers the Great Can intending to send them his Ambassadours to the Pope first consulted with his Barons and then calling to him the two Brethren desired them for his loue to goe to the Pope of the Romans with one of his Barons called Chogatall to pray him to send an hundred Wisemen and learned in the Christian Religion vnto him who might shew his Wisemen that the Faith of the Christians was to bee preferred before all other Sects and was the only way of saluation and that the Gods of the Tartars were Deuils and that they and others the people of the East were deceiued in the worship of their Gods Hee gaue them also in charge to bring in their returne from Ierusalem of the Oyle of the Lampe which burneth before the Sepulchre of our Lord Iesus Christ to whom hee had great deuotion and held him to bee true God They therefore yeelding due reuerence to the Great Can promise that they will faithfully execute the charge commited vnto them and present the Letters which they receiued from him written in the Tartarian to be deliuered to the Bishop of Rome He according to the custome of his Kingdome commanded a Golden Tablet to bee giuen them ingrauen and signed with the Kings marke carrying the which with them throughout his whole Empire in stead of a Passe-port they might bee euery-where safely conueyed through dangerous places by the Gouernours of Prouinces and Cities and receiue expenses from them and lastly how long soeuer they would stay in any place whatsoeuer they needed to them or theirs should be ministred vnto them Taking their leaue therefore of the Emperour they take their Iourney carrying the Letters and Golden Tablet with them And when they had rid twentie dayes Iourney the Baron aforesaid associated vnto them began to fall grieuously sicke Whereupon consulting and leauing him there they prosecute their intended Iourney beeing euery-where courteously receiued by reason of the Emperours Tablet Yet in very many places they were compelled to stay by occasion of the ouer-flowing of Riuers so that they spent three yeares before they came vnto the Port of the Citie of the Armenians named Giazza From Giazza they goe to Acre to wit in the yeere of our Lord 1269. in the moneth of Aprill But hauing entred into the Citie of Acre they heard that Pope Clement the fourth was lately dead and that no other was substituted in his place for the which they were not a little grieued At that time there was a certaine Legate of the Apostolicall Sea at Acre to wit Master Tibaldo de Vesconti di Piacenza to whom they declared all they had in commission from the Great Can and he aduised them to expect the Creation of a new Pope In the meane space therefore departing to Venice to visit their Friends purposing to remayne there vntill another Pope were created Master Nicolo found that his wife was dead whom at his departure hee had left great with child but had left a sonne named Marco who was now nineteene yeeres of age This is that Marco which ordayned this Booke who will manifest therein all those things which he hath seene Moreouer the Election of the Pope of Rome was deferred two yeeres They fearing the discontentment and disquieting of the Emperour of the Tartars who they knew expected
Inhabitants haue a peculiar Language and are Merchants and Artificers who are so couetous that they eate that which is bad and drinke worse Some Nestorian Christians are found there who also haue their Churches The Countrey inlargeth it selfe fiue dayes Iourney Samarchan is a great and famous Citie in that Countrey where are goodly Gardens and a fertile Plaine It is subiect to the Nephew of the Great Cham. In it the Christians dwell with the Saracens whence little agreement is betwixt them It is reported that in this manner a Miracle hapned the brother of Great Cham named Zagatai gouerned that Countrey about one hundred yeares agoe being perswaded to become a Christian the Christians through his fauour built a Church in honour of Saint Iohn Baptist with such cunning that the whole Roofe thereof was supported by one Pillar in the midst vnder which was set a square stone which by fauour of their Lord was taken from a building of the Saracens Zagathais Sonne succeeded after his death in the Kingdome but not in the faith from whom the Saracens obtayned that the Christians should be compelled to restore that stone And when they offered a sufficient valuable price the Saracens refused to receiue any other composition then the stone But the Pillar lifted vp it selfe that the Saracens might take away their stone and so continueth Departing againe from this Citie you come into the Prouince Charchan about fiue dayes Iourney in length This Prouince hath plentie of all victuals beeing subiect to the Dominion of the Nephew of Great Cham. The Inhabitants worship Mahumet yet among them certaine Nestorian Christians dwell They are great Artificers and haue most of them great legges and a great Wenne or Bunch in the throat by reason of the waters which they drinke The Prouince Cotam followeth betweene the East and the North-east It is subiect to the Dominion of the Nephew of Great Cham and hath many Cities and Townes The chiefe Citie thereof is called Cotam The Prouince is extended eight dayes Iourney in length There is no want therein of any thing appertayning to the maintenance of life It hath plentie of Cotton Flaxe Hempe Corne and Wine But the people are not warlike yet good Artificers and Merchants They acknowledge Mahumet Proceeding further through the same Countrey you meet with the Prouince Peim extended fiue dayes Iourney in length It is subiect to Great Can and hath many Cities and Castles The chiefe Citie thereof is called Peim neere which runneth a Riuer wherein precious stones are found to wit Iasper stones and Chalcedonie The Inhabitants of the Countrey worship Mahumet and are Artificers and Merchants There is a custome in this Prouince that when any marryed man goeth into another place and returneth not home within twentie dayes it shall be lawfull for the Wife to marrie another Husband and the men also wheresoeuer they goe doe the like All those Prouinces aforesaid to wit Caschar Cotam Peim to the Citie of Lop are in the bounds of Great Turkie Ciarcian is subiect to the Tartars the name of the Prouince and chiefe Citie it hath many Cities and Castles Many precious stones are found there in the Riuers especially Iaspers and Chalcedonies which Merchants carrie euen to Ouchach to sel and make great gain From Peim to this Prouince and quite thorow it also it is al Sand with many bad waters and few good When any Armie passeth through this Prouince all the Inhabitants thereof with their Wiues Children Cattel and all their houshold stuffe flie two dayes Iourny into the sands where they know good waters are and stay there and carrie their Corne thither also to hide it in the sands after Haruest for like feares The wind doth so deface their steps in the sand that their Enemies cannot find out their way Departing from this Prouince you are to trauell fiue dayes Iourney thorow the sand where no other water almost then that which is bitter is to be found vntill you come vnto the Citie named Lop. Lop is a great Citie from whence is the entrance of a great Desart called also Lop seated betweene the East and the North-east The Inhabitants are Mahumetans subiect to the Great Can. In it Merchants who desire to passe ouer the Desart cause all necessaries to be prouided for them And when victuals beginne to faile in the Desart they kill the Asses and Camels and eate them They most willingly vse Camels because they are sustayned with little meate and beare great burthens They must prouide victuals for a moneth to crosse it ouer-thwart for to goe thorow the length would aske a yeares time They goe thorow the sands and barren Mountaines and daily find water yet is it sometimes so little that it can scarsly suffice fiftie or one hundred men with their beasts and in three or foure places the water is salt and bitter the rest which are eight and twentie good In it are neither beasts nor birds They say that there dwell many spirits which cause great and meruailous Illusions to Trauellers to make them perish For if any stay behind that he cannot see his company he shall be called by name and so going out of the way is lost In the night they heare the noyse as it were of a company which taking to bee theirs they perish likewise Other apparances as of their companions or of enemies haue caused some to miscarrie Consorts of Musicall Instruments are sometimes heard in the Ayre likewise Drummes and noyses of Armes They goe therefore neere together hang Bels on their beasts neckes and set markes if any stay Hauing passed ouer the Desart you come vnto the Citie Sachion betwixt the East and North-east subiect to the Great Can in the Prouince of Tanguth where among the Worshippers of Mahumet a few Nestorian Christians are found Many Idolaters are also there who haue their proper Language The Inhabitants of this Citie liue not of Merchandize but the fruits of the Earth This Citie hath many Monasteries consecrated to diuers Idols in the which many Sacrifices are offered and great reuerence And when a Sonne is borne vnto a man hee presently commendeth him to some Idoll and in honour thereof nourisheth a sheepe that yeere in his house which he presenteth before it together with his Sonne the next Festiuall Day of that Idoll with many Ceremonies and great reuerence Afterward the flesh of the sheepe is boyled and left so long before the Idoll while their Prayers are finished which they make for the conseruation of their Sonne and the Idoll hath sucked out the sauour of the meate after which their fancie all his kindred being gathered together eate that flesh at home with great deuotion and ioy but orderly keepe the bones in certayne vessels The Priests haue the feete head inwards skinne and some part of the flesh for their share In celebrating the Funerals of such as were of esteeme the dead bodies are burned
another circuit of sixe mile square with three Gates on the South square and three on the North that which is in the midst being in both the greater and kept shut except when the Can passeth that way the other alway open to others In each corner of this Wall and in the midst is a faire Palace eight in all very large in which are kept the Cans munitions and furnitures of all sorts for Horses in one in another Bowes and shooting Artillerie in a third Costlets Curasses and leather Armours and so in the rest Within this circuit is another wall-circuit very thicke and ten paces high all the battlements white the wall square each square a mile in length with sixe gates as the former and eight Palaces also very great wherein are the Cans prouision Betwixt these two last walls are many faire trees and medowes in which are Deere Muske beasts with other game and store of grasse the paths being heigthned two cubits to spare it no durt nor plashes of water being therein Within this last wall is the Palace of the great Can the greatest that hath beene seene abutting with the wall on the North and South and open spaced where the Barons and Souldiers passe It hath no seeling but a very high roofe the foundation of the pauement ten palms high with a wall of marble round about it two paces wide as it were a walke In the end of the wall without is a faire Turret with Pillars In the walls of the Halls and Chambers are carued Dragons Souldiers Birds Beasts of diuers kinds histories of Warres gilded The roofe is so made that nothing is seene but Gold and Imagery In euery square of the Palace is a great Hall of marble capable of great multitudes The Chambers are disposed the best that may be deuised the roofe is red greene azure and of all coloures Behind the Palace are great Roomes and priuate store-houses for his treasures and Iewels for his women and other secret employments Ouer against the said Palace of the Can is another for Cingis his sonne whose Court was in all things like his Fathers Neere this Palace towards the North is a Mount made by hand a mile in compasse one hundred paces high beset with trees that are alwaies greene Vnto this mountaine the king commandeth all the best trees to be brought from remote parts lading Elephants with them for they are taken vp with the roots and are transplanted in this Mountaine And because this Mountaine is alwaies greene it is called The greene Mountaine And where the earth of that Mount was taken away are two Lakes answering each other with a pretie Riuer filling them stored with fish and so grated that the fish cannot get forth The Citie of Cambalu in the Prouince of Cathai seated on a great Riuer was famous and regall from antiquitie And this name Cambalu signifieth The Citie of the Lord or Prince This Citie the great Can remoued vnto the other side of the Riuer where the Palaces are for he vnderstood by the Astrologers that it should rebell against the Empire This new built Citie is called Taidu and he made all the Catayans to goe out of the old Citie into the new which contayneth in compasse foure and twentie miles euery side of the square contayning sixe miles It hath walls of earth ten paces thicke at the bottome and at the top but three by little and little ascending thinner the batlements are white Euery square of the wall hath three principall Gates which are twelue in all hauing sumptuous Palaces built ouer each of them There are also excellent Palaces in the angles of the walls where the Armes of the Garrison which are one thousand at each Gate are kept The buildings are squared out the streets laid very straight by line throughout this Citie so that from one Gate a free prospect openeth thorow the Citie to the opposite Gate hauing very goodly houses built on both sides like Palaces with Gardens and Courts diuided to the Heads of Families In the middle of the Citie a certaine sumptuous house is built wherein hangeth a very great Bell after the third knolling whereof in the night no man may goe out of his house vntill the beginning of the day following except it be for speciall cause as for a woman in trauell c. And they are compelled to carrie a light with them Without the Citie of Cambalu are twelue great Suburbs three or foure miles long ioyning vpon each of the twelue Gates more inhabiting the Suburbs then the Citie heere Marchants and Strangers keepe each Nation hauing a seuerall Store-house or Burse in which they lodge No dead corps of any man is buryed within this Citie but the bodies of Idolaters are burned without the Suburbs where the dead bodies of other sects are buryed And because an huge multitude of Sorcerers conuerse alwayes there they haue about twentie fiue thousand Harlots in the Suburbs and in the Citie and these haue a Captaine appointed ouer euery hundreth and thousand and one Generall whose office is that when Embassadours come or such as haue businesse with the Can whose charges he findeth this Captaine giueth euery Embassadour and euery man of his family change of women nightly at free cost for this is the Queanes tribute The Guards euery night cast those in prison which they finde walking late and if they be found guiltie they are beaten with Cudgels for the Bachsi tell them that it is not good to shed mans blood But many dye of those beatings The great Can hath in his Court twelue thousand Horse-men which they call Casitan faithfull Souldiers of their Lord who guard his person more for state then feare And foure Captaines haue the charge of these whereof euery one commandeth three thousand When one Captaine with three thousand Souldiers within the Palace hath guarded the King for three dayes and nights another Captaine with his Souldiers againe succeedeth and so throughout the whole yeeare this course of watching by course is obserued When through occasion of any feastiuall day hee keepeth a solemne Court his Table being higher then the rest of the Tables is set at the North part of the Hall and his face is to the South hauing the greatest Queene on his left hand to wit his principall wife and his Sonnes and nephews and they of the blood royall on his right Yet their table is in a lower place so that they scarce touch the Kings feet with their heads the seat of the eldest being higher then the rest The Barons and Princes sit in a lower place then that Their wiues also keepe the like order first the Cans sonnes wiues and his kinsmens sits lower on the left hand and after those of the Lords and of euery Captaine and Noble-man each in her degree and order And the Emperour himselfe while he sitteth at his table may cast his eyes vpon all that
may be taken by men The great Can hath in his Court two which are brethren one called Bayan the other Mingan called in the Tartar language Ciuici that is Masters of the Game whereof either hath the charge of ten thousand men they which are vnder one of them are clothed in red the other in skie-colour alway when they hunt These keepe diuers sorts of Dogs to the number of fiue thousand Mastiues and other In hunting they goe with their people one on the right and the other on the left hand of the King and they take vp so great a length of the Playne that from one end to the other is a dayes iourney so that no beast can escape them and it is great pleasure when the Can goes in the midst to see the Dogs follow Harts Beares and other kinds And these Brethren are bound by coueâ—ant from the beginning of October to the end of March to bring to the Court one thousand heads of â—easts and birds besides Quailes and fishes the best they can in great proportion The moneth of March comming in great Can departeth from the Citie of Cambalu and proceedeth North-eastward towards the Ocean distant thence two dayes iourneyes bringing with him about ten thousand Falconers who haue Falcons Hawkes Gerfalcons and other kinds of Fowles of prey fit for hawking These Falconers disperse themselues by an hundred or two hundred in a Companie and the birds that are taken for the most part are brought vnto the King who by reason of his Gout sitteth in a woodden house which two Elephants carrie couered with the skins of Lions and within hanged with cloth of Gold hauing with him for his recreation twelue choice Hawkes and twelâ—e fauoured Courtiers many Noblemen and Souldiers ride by who guard the Kings person Who when they see Phesants or Cranes or other birds flying in the aire declare it to the Falconers which are neere vnto the King and they signifying the same vnto the King vncouer the Kings House and let their Falcons and Hawkes flie and the King sitting on his Bed beholdeth the pastime of the birds Other ten thousand men also goe with the King who in that hawking â—unne hither and thither by two and two and marâ—e whither the Falcons and Hawkes flie that are cast from the fist that if need bee they may helpe them And these in the Tartars Language are called Toscaol that is to say Watch-men or Markes-men being skilfull in a certaine kind of whistle wherewith they call in the Hawkes that are flowen Nor is it needfull that the Falconer who let the Hawkes flie should follow her seeing they of whom I now speake are busily imployed in taking vp the Hawkes and are carefull that by no meanes they bee hurt or lost And euery flying Hawke carrieth a little table of siluer on her foot signed with the marke of her Master or Falconer that if shee bee lost shee may bee restored to her owner But if the marke cannot be knowne the Hawke is deliuered to a certaine Baron who for this cause is called Bulangazi to whom are brought all lost things otherwise the Finder would be counted a Thiefe and to him Losers resort to inquire of things lost He hath a most eminent place noted by his Ensigne that in so great an assembly of people he may be knowne Whiles they are thus busied in sporting and hawking they come vnto a certaine great Plaine called Caczarmodin where the Tents of the King and all the Courtiers are prepared about ten thousand in number The first and chiefe is the Cans Pauilion vnder which ten thousand Souldiers stand besides Barons and Noble-men with the doore to the South sustayned with three Pillars wrought with diuers curious and excellent carued workes and couered with the skinnes of Lions and strakes of diuers colours which keepe out rayne But within the walls of the Pauilions are couered with most costly skinnes of Armelines and Sables although in those Countries these skinnes are accounted most precious that sometimes skinnes worth two thousand Sultanines of gold are scarce sufficient for one paire of Vests The Tartars call the Sable the Queene of Furres The Cordes wherewith these Pauilions are supported are of silke There are also other Pauilions erected wherein the Wiues Sonnes and Hand-maides of the King remaine Further also the Falcons Hawkes Owles Garfalcons and other Birds which serue for Hawking haue their Tents wherein they are contayned For there is so great a multitude of Tents that to them that come thither a farre off it seemeth that a famous Citie is built there The King remayneth all March in that Plaine and taketh innumerable Beasts and infinite multitudes of Fowle For no man may else hunt in all the Prouinces of that Kingdome at the least within fiue dayes iourney one way ten another and fifteene a third way of the Cans Court nor keepe an hunting Dogge or an Hawke and specially from the beginning of March vntill the moneth of October no man is permitted to vse any deuice or engine whatsoeuer to take Stagges Deere Roe-bucks Hares lest he should hinder their breede and herevpon it is that there are such store It is incredible what multitudes of People Merchants and merchandises of all sorts are seene in Cambalu The Money of the Great Can is not made of gold or siluer or other metall but they take the middle barke from the Mulberrie Tree and this they make firme and cut it into diuers and round pieces great and little and imprint the Kings marke thereon Of this matter therefore the Emperour causeth an huge masse of money to bee made in the Citie of Cambalu which sufficeth for the whole Empire and no man vnder paine of death may lawfully coine any other or spend any other money or refuse it in all his Kingdomes and Countries Nor any comming from another Kingdome dare spend any other money in the Empire of Great Can. Whereby it commeth to passe that Merchants often comming from farre remote Countries and Regions vnto the Citie of Cambalu bring with them gold siluer pearle and precious stones and receiue the Kings money for them And because this money is not receiued in their Countries they change it againe in the Empire of Great Can for merchandise which they carrie away with them He also payeth stipends to his Officers and Armies of the mentioned money and lastly whatsoeuer thing he needeth in his Court he buyeth with this money Wherefore there is not a King to be found in the World who exceedeth him in Treasure not expended on the Mint as elsewhere The Great Can hath twelue Barons as is said before which are his Counsell of Warre and dispose of martiall affaires and the exalting or disgracing of Captaines and Souldiers Their office is called Thai that is The high Court because they haue none aboue them but the Can. Other twelue Barons are appointed Counsellors for the foure and
excellent Spices but the poorer sort shred it and lay it in Garlicke sawce and eate it as wee doe boyled meate Departing from the Citie of Iaci hauing trauailed ten dayes iourney westward yee come to the Prouince named as is the chiefe Citie Carazan which Cogatin sonne of Cublai gouerneth The Riuers there yeeld very much gold di paiola and also that which is more solid and the Mountaines gold of the veine and they giue one stone of gold for six of siluer They spend Porcelanes for money brought thither from India The Inhabitants are Idolaters very great Serpents are bred in this Countrey whereof some contayne ten paces in length and in thicknesse ten spannes They haue two little feet before nigh the head with three talons or clawes like Lions and the eyes bigger then a Groat loafe very shining They haue their mouthes and jawes so wide that they are able to swallow a man great and sharpe teeth nor is there any man or other liuing Creature which may behold those Serpents without terror there are found lesse of eight sixe or fiue paces long which are taken after this manner In the day time they vse to lie hid by reason of the heat in holes out of the which they goe by night to seeke their prey and deuoure whatsoeuer they get Lions Wolues or others and then goe to seeke water leauing such a tract with their weight in the sands as if some piece of timber had beene drawne there Whereupon the Hunters fasten vnder the sands sharpe Iron prickes in their vsuall tracts whereon they are wounded and slayne The Crowes presenâ—ly ring his knell and by their craing cries inuite the Hunters which come and slay him taking forth his gall profitable for diuers Medecines amongst other things for the biting of mad Dogs a penie weight giuen in Wine and far women in trauell for carbuncles and pushes and they sell the flâ—sh deare as being exceeding delicate There are bred great Horses in this Prouince which by Merchants are carried into India They vse to take one bone out of the tayle lest he should bend his tayle hither and thither and esteeme it more comely that it hang downe right They vse long Stirrups as the Frenchmen which the Tartars and other Nations 〈◊〉 their shooting vse short because when they shoot they rise vp They vse Targets and Armour in the Warres made of the hides of Buffals they haue Lances and Crosse-bowes and poyson all their Arrowes Some of them which are ill minded are said to carrie poyson about them contiâ—ually that if they be taken they may suddenly swallow it and death together to preuent tâ—râ—ure For which cause the great Lords haue Dogs dung ready which they force them to swallow and that forceth them to vomit the poyson Before the great Can subiected them they vsed that when any Stranger which seemed of good presence and parts lodged with them they slue him by night supposing that those good parts of that man might abide afterwards in that house and this was the death of many Going from the Prouince Carazan after fiue dayes iourney Westward is the Prouince Cardandan which also is subiect to great Can. The chiefe Citie thereof is called Vociam The Inhabitants thereof vse Porcelanes and weighed pieces of Gold in stead of money for in that Countrey and many other lying round about Siluer mines are not found and they giue one ounce of Gold for fiue ounces of Siluer and great gayne is made by the change The men and women of that Countrey couer their teeth with thinne plates of Gold which they so fit vnto them that the teeth themselues seeme as it were to be set in the plates The men about their armes and legs make lists pricking the places with Needles and putting thereon a blacke indelible tincture And these lists or markes are esteemed with them a great galantrie They giue their minds to nothing but riding hunting hawking and exercises of Armes leauing the houshold cares to the women who are helped therein by slaues which they buy or take in Warre When a woman is brought to bed shee forsakes the bed washeth the child and dresseth it and then the husband lieth downe and keepes the child with him fortie dayes not suffering it to depart is visited meane while of friends and neighbours to cheare and comfort him The woman lookes to the house carrie the husband his brâ—ths to his bed and giues sucke to the child by him Their Wine is made of Rice and Spice their meat Rice and raw flesh dressed as is before mentioned In this Prouince there are no other Idols saue that euery familie adoreth the oldest man in the house of whom they say come themselues and all they haue They dwell for the most part in wilde and mountainous places But Forrainers come not to those Mountaines because the ayre would kill them being in Summer very corrupt They â—aue no letters but make their Contracts and Obligations by tallies of wood the halfe whereof the one keepeth and the other the other which being afterward payd the tallie is rendred There are no Physicians in this Prouince nor in Caindu Vociam and Caraian but when any is sicke they call the Magicians or Idoll Priests together and he sicke partie declareth his disease vnto them then the Magicians dance and sound certaine instruments and bellow forth songs in honour of their Gods while at length the Deuill entreth into one of them skipping and playing in the dance Then leauing the dance they consult with him that is possessed for what cause that disease hapned vnto him and what is to be done for his recouerie The Deuill answereth by him because he hath done this or that or because he hath offended this or that God therefore he fell into this disease Then the Magicians intreat that God to pardon him that offence promising that if the sicke partie recouer he shall offer a Sacrifice of his owne bloud But if the Deuill thinke the weake partie to be sicke of such a disease that he cannot be freed from the same he vseth to answere This man hath so grieuously offended that God that he cannot by any sacrifices bee appeased But if he thinke he shall recouer he commandeth to offer so many Rammes hauing blacke heads and to prepare so many Magicians with their wiues by them to offer Sacrifices and that God may then bee appeased towards him Which being heard his kinsmen quickly cause those things to be done which the Deuill commanded they kill Rammes and sprinckle their bloud in the ayre and the Magicians assembled with their Witches light great Candles and perfume the whole house with incense making fume of Lignum Aloes and sprinckle the broth of the flesh in the ayre together with the potion made of Spices all which being duely performed they skip about againe in a dance in honour of that Idoll which is supposed to haue beene fauourable to
in circuit and of old encompassed three thousand and sixe hundred miles as is seene in the Maps of the Mariners of those parts but the North winds haue made a great part of it Sea It is the best Iland of the World The King is named Sendernaz The men and women are Idolaters goe naked saue that they couer their priuities with a cloth haue no Corne but Rice and Oyle of Sesamino Milke Flesh Wine of trees abundance of Brasill the best Rubies in the World Saphires Topazes Amathists and other Gems The King is said to haue the best Rubie in the World one palme long and as big as a mans arme without spot shining like a fire not to be bought for money Cublai Can sent and offered the value of a Citie for it but the King answered he would not giue it for the treasure of the world nor part with it hauing beene his Ancestours The men are vnfit for warres and hire others when they haue occasion §. X. Of the firme Land of the Greater India FRom Zeilan sayling sixtie miles to the West is the great Prouince of Malabar which is not an Iland but firme Continent called India the greater the richest Prouince in the World There are in it foure Kings the chiefe of which is Senderbandi in whose Kingdome they fish for Pearles to wit betwixt Malabar and Zeilan in a Bay where the Sea is not aboue ten or twelue fathome in which diuers descend and in bags or nets tyed to their bodies bring vp the Oysters in which they are And because there are great fishes which kill the Fishermen they hire certaine Bramines to charme them being skilfull to charme all sorts of beasts also and birds and these haue the twentieth the King the tenth These Oysters are found all Aprill and till the midst of May and not else in September they finde them in a place aboue three hundred miles off and till the midst of October The King goeth as naked as the rest saue that he weareth some honorable Ensignes as a Coller of precious stones about his necke and a threed of Silke to his breast with one hundred and foure faire Pearles as Beads to number his Prayers of which he must daily say so many to his Idols like Bracelets he weareth on three places of his armes and likewise on his legs and on his fingers also and toes The prayers which he sayth are Pacauca pacauca pacauca one hundred and foure times This King hath one thousand women and if any please his sense he takes her as one he did from his brother whence warres had followed but the mother threatning to cut off her breasts which had nourished them if they proceeded stayed the broyle He hath many Horsemen for his Guard which alway accompanie him who when the King dies throw themselues voluntarily into the fire wherein he is burned to doe him seruice in the next World This and his brethren the Kings of Malabar buy their Horses from Ormus and other parts The Countrey breeds none and if it happens sometimes yet are they there bred ill-fauoured and naught Condemned persons will offer themselues to die in honour of such an Idoll which is performed with twelue Kniues and twelue wounds in diuers parts of the bodie at euery blow saying I kill my selfe in honour of that Idol and the last he thrusts in his heart and then is burned by his kindred The wiues also cast themselues into the fire with their husbands they being disreputed which refuse it They worship Idols and most of them Beeues and would not eat of so holy flesh as Beefe for all the World There are some called Gaui which eate those Beeues which dye alone may not kill them and dawbe ouer their houses with Oxe dung These Gaui are of the Posteritie of those which slue Saint Thomas and cannot enter the place where his bodie is if ten men should carrie them They sit on Carpets on the ground in this Kingdome they haue no Corne but Rice are no Warriours kill no beasts but when they will eat any get the Saracens to doe it or other people wash twice a day morning and euening both men and women and will not otherwise eate which they which obserue not are accounted Heretikes They touch not their meat with the left hand but vse that hand only to wipe and other vncleane offices They drinke each in his owne pot and will not touch another mans pot nor suffer their owne to touch their mouth but hold it ouer and powre it in To strangers which haue no pot they powre drinke into his hands to drinke with them Iustice is seuerely executed for Crimes and Creditors may encompasse their Debtors with a Circle which he dares not passe till hee hath paid or giuen securitie if he doth he is to be put to death and M. Marco once saw the King himselfe on Horse-backe thus encircled by a Merchant whom he had long delayed and frustrated neither would the King goe out of the Circle which the Merchant had drawne till he had satisfied him the people applauding the Kings Iustice. They are very scrupulous in drinking Wine of the Grape and they which doe it are not admitted to be Witnesse a thing denyed also to him which sayles by Sea for they say such men are desperate They thinke Leachery no sinne It is very hote and they haue no raine but in Iune Iuly and August without which refreshing of the Ayre they could not liue They haue many Physiognomers and Sooth-sayers which obserue beasts and Birds and haue an vnluckie houre euery day of the weeke called Choiach as on Munday betwixt two and three on Tuesday the third houre on Wednesday the ninth c. thorow all the yeare set downe in their Bookes They curiously obserue Natiuities at thirteene yeares old they put the Boyes to get their owne liuings which runne vp and down to buy and sell hauing a little stocke giuen them to begin and in Pearle-season they buy a few Pearles and sell them againe to the Merchants which cannot well endure the Sunne for little gaine What they get they bring to their Mothers to dresse for them but may not eate at their Fathers cost They haue Idols Males and Females to which they offer their Daughters which when the Monkes or Priests appoint sing and dance to cheere the Idols and diuers times set victuals before them saying that they eat leauing it the space of a meale singing the while and then they fall to eating in deed after which they returne home The cause of these solaces is the household quarrels betwixt the God and his Goddesse which if they should not thus appease they should lose their blessing The great men haue Litters of large Canes which they can fasten artificially to some vpper place to preuent Tarantulas byting and Fleas and other Vermine and for fresh Aire The place of Saint Thomas his Sepulchre is a small
thing is remarkable that the Author and the next who in many Geographicall Notes agrees with him diuide Asia into two parts one called profound or deepe the other the greater and diuided in the midst by the Caspian Sea and Caucasus which our Armenian cals Cocas which Alexander passed not nor was euer well knowne to the Ancients who called all beyond that Hill Scythia as wee now call the most of it by a generall name Tartaria Strabo hath made like diuision of Asia into the inner and vtter Taurus being the Vmpire which Hill with diuers Appellations beginning at Pamphylia runnes Eastwards thorow the midst of Asia to the Indies that part to the North beeing called Asia within Taurus and that to the South Asia without Some ancient Geographers as Dionysius mentions extended Europe to the Caspian Sea which most of the Ancients thought to concurre with the Ocean as the Mediterranean Arabian and Persian doe Dionysius his Verses are worth obseruation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. They called it Taurus as there followes of the Bull-forme c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hereof we are the more curious to giue to the more curious a reason of our method in this Worke who in our former Tome haue first encompassed the shoares of Asia from the West to the East and then in the In-land parts haue in the eight and ninth Bookes principally as Voyages gaue leaue viewed Asia without Taurus and to the South of the Caspian but this Profound or Inner more vnknowne part we suruay here where we handle the Voyages and Discoueries of those parts of the World which the Ancients knew very little or not at all And indeed how little was Mangi Cataio or Tartaria knowne till the Tartars obtruded vpon the World a terrible knowledge of themselues in manner as Rubruquius and the former Friers with these Gentlemen Polo and Haiton describe Yea how were they by ignorance of following times buried againe till Portugall English and other moderne Voyages haue reuiued them as it were in a resurrection and that often in new names as if they had suffered that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so often here rehearsed and so much credited in many Religions of those Easterne Asians whence it comes that they are hardly knowne to be the same The Reader must pardon me or go to the Author himselfe if I haue here omitted some pieces of Haiton which you haue had in Polo and others before specially not so pertinent to our present Tartarian subiect The figures note the Chapters after the Latine from which Ramusios Diuision is much diuided and we therefore from both CHAP. V. The Historie of AYTON or ANTHONIE the Armenian of Asia and specially touching the Tartars §. I. Of the Kingdome of Cathay and diuers other Prouinces of Asia and of the first habitation of the Tartars and of CANGIVS or CINGIS his beginnings THe Kingdome of Cathay is the greatest that is to be found in the World and is replenished with people and infinite riches beeing situated on the shoare of the Ocean Sea In the which there are so many Ilands that their number can no wayes be knowne For neuer was there any man that could say he had seene all those Ilands But those of them which haue beene frequented are found to abound with innumerable wealth and treasures and that which is there most esteemed and deerest sould is Oyle of Oliues which the Kings and Commanders there cause to be kept with great diligence as a Souereigne Medicinable thing And moreouer in the Kingdome of Cathay are many maruellous and monstrous things which I forbeare to mention The Inhabitants of those parts are exceeding wise and subtill replenished with all kind of skill and cunning insomuch that they disdaine the endeauours of all other Nations in all kind of Arts and Sciences saying that they only see with two Eyes the Latines but with one eye and that all other Nations are blind And albeit they are exceeding sharpe-sighted in the exercise of all bodily workes and labours yet is there not amongst them any knowledge of spirituall things the men of that Countrey are not bold or couragious but more fearefull of death then befitteth such as beare Armes yet are they very ingenious and haue oftner had victorie of their enemies by Sea then by Land the money vsed in those parts is of square peeces of Paper signed with the Kings signe according to which signe or marke the pieces are of greater or smaller value and if they begin by age to be wasted or worne out hee that bringeth them to the Kings Court shall haue new for them of Gold and other Metals they make Vessels and other ornaments Of this Kingdome of Cathay it is said that it is in the beginning of the World because the head thereof is in the East and there is not knowne any other Nation to inhabit more Easterly thereabouts on the West it confineth on the Kingdome of Tarsa on the North with the Desert of Belgian And on the South-side are the Ilands of the Ocean afore mentioned 2. In the Kingdom of Tarsa are three Prouinces whose Rulers are also called Kings the men of that Countrie are called Iogour they haue alwayes worshipped Idols and yet doe except the ten Kindreds of those Kings who by the guiding of a Starre came to worship the Natiuitie in Bethleem Iuda And there are yet found many great and noble among the Tartarians of that Race which hold firmely the Faith of Christ. But the rest which are Idolaters in those parts are of no estimation in matter of Armes yet are they of a piercing wit for the learning of all Arts and Sciences They haue peculiar Letters or Characters of their owne And almost all the Inhabitants of those parts abstayne from eating of flesh and drinking of Wine neither would they by any meanes bee brought to kill ought that hath life Their Cities are very pleasant and they haue great Temples in which they worship their Idols Corne groweth there abundantly and all good kind of Graine But they are without Wine and hold it a sinne to drinke it as doe also the Agarens This Kingdome of Tarsa on the East-side confineth with the Kingdome of Cathay as aforesaid on the West it bordereth on the Kingdome of Turquestan on the North on a certayne Desert and on the South-side it adioyneth to a very rich Prouince called Sym which is situate betweene the Kingdome of India and Cathaia and in that Prouince are found Diamonds 3. The Kingdome of Turquestan on the East side is confined with the Kingdome of Tarsa on the West side with the Kingdome of the Persians on the North side with the Kingdome of the Corasmians and on the South it reacheth out to the Desart of India In this Kingdome are but few good Cities but there are large Plaines and good feeding
season of the yeere for hee perceiueth that our Armie which is there is not sufficient for offence but onely for defence You shall receiue double pay the better to furnish you against the iniurie of cold and as wee shall bee clothed with double garments I hope wee shall bee also apparelled with double glorie Let vs march on merrily I my selfe will goe with you and bee companion of your glorie After hee had thus spoken vnto his Souldiers they all cryed One God in Heauen and one Emperour on the Earth and bowing downe all their heads in token of humilitie they shewed how agreeable they were to obey that which he commanded Thus euery one returned into his Tent where they abode yet eight dayes more The Prince sent back againe Zamai vnto Sachetay with some fiue and twentie thousand Horse and fiftie thousand Foot-men for the safetie of his estate in those parts Thus after prayers were said all the Armie being assembled together in the presence of the Prince according to the custome of our Emperours our Armie began to march forward Hee forgat not likewise to dispatch one vnto the Emperour his Vncle to giue him vnderstanding of all this resolution the which hee very well liked of The Prince by the same Messenger did beseech him to send vnto him in the Spring of the yeere some fiftie thousand men to repayre his Armie and certayne money also for the payment of his men of Warre which hee granted him Moreouer the conducting of good store of warlike munition and plentie of victuals for to renew ours for this warre was principally enterprised for the profit and greatnesse of the Tartarians and for the importance which the losse of the Lordships of Paguin and Quifu was vnto them whereby the King of China had greatly strengthened and assured his estate in so much as hee might at his pleasure enter vpon the Tartarians and the Tartarians could not enterprise against him without great forces for that hee had caused a wall to bee made betweene the spaces of the Mountaynes which was fortie leagues long so as they were defended hereby from the ordinarie incursions the which continually did greatly enrich them because they brought much Cattell through the same wherein the Countrey of China doth greatly abound by reason it is situated in a temperate ayre being neither too hot nor cold This was the cause that made the Emperour his Vncle to desire this warre whom our Prince according to his dutie would to the vttermost of his power gratifie as also his new Subiects So wee began to march and in thirtie eight dayes wee arriued at Cipribit the Armie hauing found great discommodities there had wee newes of Calibes who was very glad to vnderstand how the affaires had passed hee came to visit the Prince who shewed vnto him a very good countenance and gaue him particular vnderstanding of his determination and vnderstood at large of Calibes all that had passed within the Kingdome of China The next day the Prince mounted on horse-back and came vnto Pazanfou where the forces commanded by Calibes were aâ— that present the which had often fought with and tryed the forces of the Chinois but found them much interiour vnto their owne The Emperour caused a generall reuiew to bee made of all the forces which were vnder Calibes and after he beheld the countenances of these Souldiers throughout all their rankes he caused them to muster and to receiue money euery one crying God saue the victorious and inuincible Emperour according to their custome The Prince of Thanais who commanded the Armie in Calibes absence going to meet Tamerlan with great diligence had marked the Wall and the places by the which hee might enter by force and sent many Spyes into the Country of China by certayne little wayes that were within the Mountaynes who aduertised him of all Hee had also gayned through his courtesie a Lord of the same Mountaynes called the Lord of Vauchefu who ruled a great Countrey with whom he had so well profited that he made him desirous of a new Master and to submit himselfe vnto the Emperour receiuing daily great discommoditie by the warres which the Tartarians and Chinois made so as he comming to visit the Prince of Thanais hee assured him of his desire to doe the Prince seruice and to helpe him in the warre against the Chinois the which the Prince of Thanais had wisely concealed from Calibes But as soone as the Prince was arriued he imparted the same vnto him the which made Tamerlan desirous to haue some speech with him so that as soone as the Prince had receiued commandement from the Emperour hee sent vnto Vauchefu to aduertise him of the Princes arriuall and of the commandement which hee had receiued whereof the other was very glad and hauing appointed a day the Prince tooke his iourney without stirring of the Armie into the campe of the Prince of Thanais which was neere vnto the Riuer of Languenne whither hee had caused this foresaid Lord to come who met him there Then the Prince after he had heaped vpon him gifts of faire Horses rich Furres and other rare things he willed him to vtter that which he had to say vnto him This Lord spake then in this manner Know my Lord that it is but losse of time to thinke that with your Armes you should bee able to force the Wall which the Chinois haue built against the incursions of your subiects the Defendants haue too much aduantage therein I doubt not of your Souldiers stoutnesse and of their courage I know you haue conquered many Nations with them and that whatsoeuer you command them they will die or doe the same I know you haue great and wise Captaines with you that your Person is onely of all the World worthy to command them but all this will bee but in vaine against the Wall of the Chinois where I assure you there are fiftie thousand men to keepe it and you cannot stay there so short a time but there will come thither fiftie thousand more led by the Xianxi who hath such a commandement The King of China will himselfe march forward also who will giue you battell with two hundred thousand Horse and as many Footmen After you haue fought I beleeue that the fortune and valour of your men may obtayne the victorie the which will cost you deare but for to shew vnto you how much the reputation and mildnesse of your men hath bound mee vnto them I will shew you a meanes by the which you may cause fiftie thousand men to enter into the Kingdome of China whom I my selfe will conduct and they shall bee on them which keepe the Wall in a manner as soone as they shall perceiue it In the meane time you shall cause your men to goe vnto a place that I will tell you which will bee very discommodious vnto the Chinois by reason of a Mountayne ouer against them which you must cause
Wolues and Sheepe if they be poore the richer with Sables and Marterns of great price They weare black Bonets sharpe like a Sugar-loafe the men rather small then great wearing beards as we doe specially a certayne time of the yeere Their houses are of stone like ours with two or three lofts slope-roofed and diuersly painted and they haue one street onely of painters The great men for magnificence make a great Loft or Pageant and thereon erect two Tents of silke embroydered with gold siluer pearles and jewels and there stand with their friends This they cause to bee carried by fortie or fiftie Slaues and so goe thorow the Citie in solace The Gentlemen are carried on a simple Pageant by foure or six men without other furniture There Temples are made like our Churches so great that they may contayne foure or fiue thousand persons and haue in them two Statues of a Man and a Woman each fortie foot long all of one peece stretched on the ground and all gilded They haue excellent stone cutters They bring quarry stones two or three moneths iourney on shod Carts of fortie wheeles very high drawne by fiue or six hundred Horses and Mules There are also small Images with six or seuen heads and ten hands all holding diuers things one a Serpent another a Bird a third a Flower c. There are some Monasteries in which liue men of holy life immured within their houses that they cannot goe out whiles they liue and haue victuals euery day brought them There are innumerable like our Friars which goe vp and downe the Citie They haue a custome when one of their kindred dyes to clothe themselues in white many dayes made of Cotton their garments are made long to the ground with wide sleeues They vse Printing of their Books which he thought somewhat like those I shewed him at M. Thomas Giuntos printing house Their Citie is fortified with a thick wall within filled with earth able to carry fâ—ure Carts abrest with Towres and Artillery as thick as those of the great Turke The Ditch is wide and drie but they can make it runne with water at their pleasure They haue a kind of very great Oxen with long thin and with hayre The Cataians and Idolaters are forbidden to goe out of their Countries to goe on merchandise thorow the World Beyond the Desart aboue Corassam to Samarcand and till the Idolatrous Cities the 〈◊〉 rule which are Tartars Musulmans wearing greene sharpe Turbants of felt so making a difference betwixt them and the Persians which weare them red and betwixt them two for diuersitie of opinions in Religion are continual warres and disagreement about their Confines Bocara and Samarcand are two Cities of these Green-heads each a Signorie of it selfe They haue three particular sciences Chimia in the same sense as here Limia to make and cause loue and Simia to make men see that which is not The moneys which they haue are not Coyned but euery Gentleman and Merchant makes thin rods of gold and siluer as is before said of Campion and Succuir In the market place of Campion are euery day many Mountebankes which haue that science of Simia which compassed with a great multitude present strange sights as to cause a man to cut off his arme or thrust himselfe thorow with a sword and seeme to bee all bloudy with other like CHAP. X. A Treatise of China and the adioyning Regions written by GASPAR DA CRVZ a Dominican Friar and dedicated to SEBASTIAN King of Portugall here abbreuiated §. I. Of Camboia and the Bramenes there the cause of his going to China Of China and the neighbouring Regions I Being in Malaca building an house of my Order and preaching was informed that in the Kingdome of Camboia which is subiect to the King of Siam and lyeth toward the parts of China and doth confine with Champa whence commeth the most precious Calambach was great oportunitie to preach the Gospell and to reape some fruit Hauing leaue of my Prelate I tooke the iourney in hand And after the passing many troubles and hunger in the iourney with dangers and sicknesses I came a land and after I had reasonably informed my selfe by a third person conuersing with the People and with the Fathers euen before I knew it I found all to the contrary of that which they had told and that all were deceits of the simple Laytie which of light matters were mooued to presume of the people that which was not in them And besides this I found many hinderances for the obtayning of my desires and intent for first the King is a Bramene and the Bramenes are his principall men and his fauourites and most familiar because they are Witches for they are much giuen to bee pleased with witchcrafts and they doe nothing without consulting the Witches and Bramenes that are in the Kingdome for by this meanes they thriue by the Deuill And so the first thing that the King asked me was if I were a Witch The Bramenes doe worship among others one God which they call Probar missur which they said made the Heauens and the Earth and another God which they call Pralocussar this also hauing obtayned power of another which they call Praissur for to giue this licence to Probar missur and I shewed them that not onely he had not made the Heauen and the Earth but that hee had beene a very wicked man and a great sinner wherefore these Priests said that they would worship him no more hauing worshipped him thitherto with their God Praput prasar metri whereupon the hatred of the Bramenes increased towards me and from thence forward I had disfauours of the King which was mooued for the zeale of his God and the God of his Bramenes There met about these matters the Priests of the Idols and all of their troupe which goe for Priests and hold themselues for religious men and in their conuersation and life they are separated from all other people which to my thinking is the third part of the people of the Land the King thereof setting an hundred thousand men in the field This religious people or that holds it selfe for such are exceedingly proud and vaine and aliue they are worshipped for gods in sort that the inferiour among them doe worship the superiour like gods praying vnto them and prostrating themselues before them and so the common people haue a great confidence in them with a great reuerence and worship in sort that there is no person that dare contradict them in any thing and their wordes among them are held for so sacred that in no wise they will endure to be gainsayed Insomuch that it hapned sometimes whiles I was preaching many round about me hearing me very well and satisfying themselues of that which I said vnto them if there came any of these Priests and said this is good
marrieth and at such time as he marrieth them they are lodged in some of the Cities that he best liketh where they are well prouided of all things necessarie for their maintenance as sonnes to the King But they neuer see the Kings face any more after they are married All the Embassadours that come to China with Embassages from Kings or Princss receiue of the King great rewards and fauours and they giue him Cap and signes of Lothia whereby he hath great priuiledges in the Countrey They may whip and punish the Chinaes themselues so that they touch not any Louthia small or great for to meddle with these would breed great inconueniences This was the cause that Fernando Perez of Adrade going for Embassadour to China that the Chinaes did rise against him and hee escaped with his hands on his head losing some ships because hauing done vnaccustomed Iustice in China and vpon the Chinaes and they forbearing him he would stretch his hand to the Louthias The goods of the Embassadour and of his is free from customes and to him and to his they giue lodgings to dwell in and all things necessarie while they are in the Countrie No man no not a Louthia may disturbe him in any thing nor any thing of his One Lothia would haue whipped one of Siam for hauing carried a message to the Prison to certaine Portugals that were in Prison One of the Officers said vnto him that was present that he was of Siam of the Embassage wherefore being satisfied therewith he let him goe in peace desiring him he would not doe so againe With the Chinaes being so great as at the beginning we said and declared the King hath such meanes and industrie in the gouernement thereof that euery moneth he knoweth all that passeth through all the Realme and he knoweth it in this manner All matters of Iustice and of Warre and all annuities with all that is worth the knowing in euery one of the Prouinces is referred by the Louthias and by other persons to the Ponchasi and the Ponchasi maketh a relation of all by writing to the Tutan The Tutan is bound to send a Post euery moneth to the Court which carrieth the information in writing to the King of all things that passed in that moneth They count their moneths by the Moones and they are to be dispatched in such sort that at the beginning of euery Moone the Posts from all the Prouinces are to bee at the Court that the first day of the Moone it may be presented to the King as relations of all things happened in euery Prouince And although some Prouinces are farre distant from the Court that the Posts cannot come within a moneth to the Court notwithstanding in such manner they agree that euery Moone the King is to haue the relation of euery Prouince though the one be of more time then another because of the one Prouince being farre and the other neere The manner of the Posts is as among vs they carrie a Horne which they winde when they come neere to any Towne that they may haue a Horse ready in euery Towne within a certaine distance They are bound when they heare the Horne to haue a Horse ready for him which is done with such diligence as all the other seruices of the Officers And where hee is to passe a Foord as soone as he windeth his Horne with great speed they carrie him a Boat as I saw once going to the Citie of Cantan in a Towne that was in the way called Caaman Sometimes it hapneth by the malice of some Louthias when they haue any interest in it to keepe some things concealed that the King knoweth not but woe to them if the King come to know it for they are grieuously punished as wee shall see in a case hereafter following Being in India and also in China I was enformed that sometimes the King of China doth send some men of great confidence disguised through diuers parts of China that they might see how his Officers did serue him And if there were any nouelties or changes whereof they made him not priuie or some things that were necessarie to prouide § V. Of the Portugall commerce with the Chinois of the seuere Iustice executed vpon certaine Magistrates for wrongs done to the Portugals BEcause we spake many times before of Portugals captiues in China it will bee a conuenient thing that the causes of their Captiuitie be knowne where many notable things will be shewed Yee are to know that from the yeere 1554. hitherto the businesses in China are done very quietly and without danger and since that time till this day there hath not one ship beene lost but by some mischance hauing lost in times past many Because as the Portugals and the Chinaes were almost at warres when the Armies came vpon them they weighed anchor and put for the Sea and lay in places vnsheltered from tempests whereby the stormes comming many were lost vpon the coast or vpon some shelues But from the yeere 1554. hitherto Lionell of Sosa borne in Algarue being chiefe Captaine and married in Chaull made a couenant with the Chinaes that they would pay their duties and that they should suffer them to doe their businesses in their Ports And since that time they doe them in Cantan which is the first part of China and thither the Chinaes doe resort with their Silkes and Muske which are the principall goods the Portugals doe buy in China There they haue sure Hauens where they are quiet without danger or any one disquieting them and so the Chinaes doe now make their merchandise well and now both great and small are glad with the trafficke of the Portugals and the fame of them runneth through all China Whereby some of the principall of the Court came to Cantan onely to see them hauing heard the fame of them Before the time aforesaid and after the rising which Fernando Perez of Andrade did cause the businesses were done with great trouble they suffered not a Portugall in the Countrey and for great hatred and loathing called them Facui that is to say Men of the Deuill Now they hold not commerce with them vnder the name of Portugals neither went this name to the Court when they agreed to pay customes but vnder the name of Fangin which is to say People of another Coast. Note also that the law in China is that no man of China doe sayle out of the Realme in paine of death Onely it is lawfull for him to sayle along the coast of the same China And yet along the coast nor from one place to another in China it selfe it is lawfull to goe without a certificate of the Louthias of the Countrey whence they depart in which is set downe whither they goe and wherefore and the markes of his person and his age If he carrieth not this certificate he is banished to the Frontiers The Merchant that carrieth goods carrieth a
Kings of Malaca he perswaded them in the end because hee promised to vse them better then the rest and therewith he prouoked them And finding among the cloathes that hee tooke a Gowne and a Cap and asking of one of those Chinaes that were taken with the Portugals what habit that was they put in his head that it was the habit of the Kings of Malaca wherefore he commanded presently to make three Gownes by that patterne and three Caps and so he apparelled them all foure in one sort to make his fayning true and his victory more glorious To this was joyned the couetousnesse of the Luthissi to see if hee could detayne the many goods that hee had taken in ships And to doe this more safely not to be taken in a lye he did great executions vpon the Chinaes which he tooke with the Portugals and killing some of them determined to kill the rest These things comming to the eares of the Aitao which was his superior he disliked greatly that which hee had done and sent to him presently that hee should kill no more of those which remayned but that he should come to him presently bringing with him all the prize as well of the men that were yet aliue as of the goods The Luthissi ordering his Iourney for to goe to the Aitao as he was commanded he commanded foure Chaires to be giuen to them to whom hee had giuen title of Kings to be carried in them with more honour And the other Portugals were carried in Coopes with their heads out fast by the neckes betweene the boards that they could not pull them in but hauing some wounds in their heads they went bare headed to the Sunne and to the Dew and were carried on mens shoulders The Luthissi went with this Prize through the Countrey with great Majestie he carried before him foure Banners displayed on the which were written the names of the foure Kings of Malaca And when he entred into the Townes he entred with great noyse and Majestie with sound of Trumpets and with Cryers which went crying the great victorie the Luthisi naming him had gotten of the foure great Kings of Malaca And all the great men of the Townes went to receiue him with great Feasts and Honours all the Townes running to see the new Victorie When the Luthisi came with all his pompe and glory where the Aitao was after the giuing him particular account of all things passed and of his victory he manifested to him his pretence and agreed with him to diuide the goods betweene them both and that he should continue the fayning of the Kings of Malaca that both might receiue of the King Honours and Rewards This being set downe they both agreed that to keepe this in secret the Luthisi should go forward in that which he had begun to wit he should slay all 〈◊〉 Chinas that came there captiue And presently they commanded presently to put it in effect and so they slue ninetie and odde Chinas among whom were some young youths slaine They left notwithstanding three or foure youthes and one man that by them bringing them to their owne hand they might certifie the King all that they would that was to make of the Portugals Theeues and conceale the goods which they tooke certifying also by these that those foure were Kings of Malaca And the Portugals not hauing the Language of the Countrey neither had any person to intreate for or fauour them would perish and they being mightie would make their owne Tale good following the end by them intended And for this cause they slue not the Portugals but left them aliue for the greater triumph of the victorie These Lothias could not doe this so secretly but many of those which they slue had kindred in the Countrey which did grieue at the death of theirs Whereby as well by these as by some Louthias that were zealous of Iustice and would not giue consent in so great euils and fraudulent dealings this matter came to the Kings eares and hee was informed how the Portugals were Merchants which came to traffique with their Merchandize to China and they were no theeues and how they had falsly giuen the Title of Kings to foure of them to the end the King should shew great fauours and doe them great honours and how they had vsurped great store of goods and that for to conceale these euils they killed men and children without fault As soone as the King was informed of all aboue said hee dispatched present from the Court a Quinchay of whom we spake before that is to say plate of Gold And with him he sent other two men of great authoritie also of the which the one had beene Panchasi the other Anchasi these two as Inquisitors and Examiners of this matter Commanding and commending to the Chaen which that yeare went to visit the Prouince of Fuquen and to the Panchasi and Anchasi of the same Prouince their ayde and assistance to the Quinchay and the two Inquisitors in all things necessary for them in these businesses The two that came with the Quinchay as Inquisitors went presently to certayne great Houses which had in the middest a great Court and on the one side of the Court were certayne great and faire Lodgings and on the other side others in the same sort Each of the Inquisitors entred in one of these Houses aforesaid The Prisoners were presently brought and were presented to the one of them who for courtesie remitted them to the other that he should examine them first with many words of courtesie The other sent them againe with great thankfulnesse So they were sundry times carried from one to another each of them willing to giue the hand to the other of beginning first till that one of them yeelded and began And as the matter was of great import and much commended to them all that the guiltie and the accusers did speake these Officers did write with their owne hands The Portugals had for a great Enemy a China man and Pilot of one of the shippes that were taken and a China youth which was a Christian which from a childe was brought vp among the Portugals for they were both made of the part of the contrarie Louthias mooued by gifts and promises the Louthias being alreadie deposed of their Offices and held for guiltie for the which they were accused before the King But though they were thus handled they were so mightie and so fauoured that they could take from the Portugals a China youth that serued them for an Interpreter which vpon their Petition was againe deliuered them They examined them in this order the accused were first brought and examined by one of these Officers and they carried them to the other to bee examined againe And while the other was re-examining the accused the accusers were brought to him that examined first And as well the accused as the Accusers were all examined by both the Officers
before whom are brought all matters of the inferiour Townes throughout the whole Realme Diuers other Louteas haue the managing of Iustice and receiuing of Rents bound to yeeld an account thereof vnto the greater Officers Other doe see that there be no euill rule kept in the Citie each one as it behoueth him Generally all these doe imprison Malefactors cause them to be whipped and racked hoysing them vp and downe by the armes with a cord a thing very vsuall there and accounted no shame These Louteas doe vse great diligence in the apprehending of the Theeues so that it is a wonder to see a Thiefe escape away in any Towne Citie or Village Vpon the Sea neere vnto the shoare many are taken and looke euen as they are taken so be they first whipped and afterward laid in Prison where shortly after they all dye for hunger and cold At that time when we were in Prison there dyed of them aboue threescore and ten Their whips be certaine pieces of Canes cleft in the middle in such sort that they seeme rather plaine then sharpe He that is to bee whipped lyeth groueling on the ground Vpon his thighes the Hangman layeth on blowes mightily with these Canes that the standers by tremble at their crueltie Tenne stripes draw a great deale of bloud twentie or thirtie spoyle the flesh altogether fiftie or threescore will require long time to be healed and if they come to the number of one hundred then are they incurable The Louteas obserue moreouer this when any man is brought before them to bee examined they aske him openly in the hearing of as many as be present be the offence neuer so great Thus did they also behaue themselus with vs. For this cause amongst them can there be no false witnes as daily amongst vs it falleth out This good commeth thereof that many being alwayes about the Iudge to heare the Euidence and beare witnesse the Processe cannot be falsified as it hapneth sometimes with vs. The Moores Gentiles and Iewes haue all their sundry Oathes the Moores doe sweare by their Mossafos the Brachmans by their Fili the rest likewise by the things they doe worship The Chineans though they be wont to sweare by Heauen by the Moone by the Sunne and by all their Idols in judgement neuerthelesse they sweare not at all If for some offence an Oath be vsed of any one by and by with the least euidence hee is tormented so be the Witnesses he bringeth if they tell not the truth or doe in any point disagree except they bee men of worship and credit who are beleeued without any farther matter the rest are made to confesse the truth by force of Torments and Whips Besides this order obserued of them in Examinations they doe feare so much their King and he where he maketh his abode keepeth them so low that they dare not once stirre Againe these Louteas as great as they bee notwithstanding the multitude of Notaries they haue not trusting any others doe write all great Processes and matters of importance themselues Moreouer one vertue they haue worthy of great praise and that is being men so well regarded and accounted of as though they were Princes they bee patient aboue measure in giuing audience Wee poore strangers brought before them might say what we would as all to be Lyes and Falaces that they did write nor did we stand before them with the vsuall Ceremonies of that Countrey yet did they beare with vs so patiently that they caused vs to wonder knowing specially how little any Aduocate or Iudge is wont in our Countrey to beare with vs. For wheresoeuer in any Towne of Christendome should bee accused vnknowne men as we were I know not what end the very Innocents cause would haue but wee in a Heathen Countrey hauing our great Enemies two of the chiefest men in a whole Towne wanting an Interpreter ignorant of that Countrey Language did in the end see our great Aduersaries cast into Prison for our sake and depriued of their Offices and Honour for not doing Iustice yea not to escape death for as the rumour goeth they shall bee beheaded Somewhat is now to be said of the Lawes that I haue beene able to know in this Countrey and first no Theft or Murther is at any time pardoned Adulterers are put in Prison and the fact once proued condemned to dye the womans Husband must accuse them this order is kept with men and women found in that fault but Theeues and Murtherers are imprisoned as I haue said where they shortly dye for hunger and cold If any one haply escape by bribing the Iaylor to giue him meate his Processe goeth farther and commeth to the Court where hee is condemned to dye Sentence being giuen the Prisoner is brought in publike with a terrible band of men that lay him in Irons hand and foot with a board at his necke one handfull broad in length reaching downe to his knees cleft in two parts and with a hole one handfull downe-ward in the Table fit for his necke the which they enclose vp therein nayling the board fast together one handfull of the board standeth vp behind in the necke the sentence and cause wherefore the fellon was condemned to dye is written in that part of the Table that standeth before This Ceremonie ended he is laid in a great Prison in the company of some other condemned persons the which are found by the King as long as they doe liue The board aforesaid so made tormenteth the Prisoners very much keeping them both from the rest and eke letting them to eate commodiously their hands being manicled in Irons vnder that board so that in fine there is no remedie but death In the chiefe Cities of euery shire as we haue beforesaid there be foure principall Houses in each of them a Prisoner but in one of them where the Taissu maketh his abode there a greater and a more principall Prison then in any of the rest and although in euery Citie there be many neuerthelesse in three of them remayne onely such as bee condemned to dye Their death is much prolonged for that ordinarily there is no execution done but once a yeere though many dye for hunger and cold as we haue seene in this Prison Execution is done in this manner The Chian to wit the high Commissioner or Lord Chiefe Iustice at the yeares end goeth to the head Citie where hee heareth againe the causes of such as bee condemned Many times he deliuereth some of them declaring that board to haue beene wrongfully put about their neckes the visitation ended he chooseth out seuen or eight not many more or lesse of the greatest Malefactors the which to feare and keepe in awe the people are brought into a great Market place where all the great Louteas meete together and after many Ceremonies and Superstitions as the vse of the Countrey is are beheaded This is done once a yeare who
sell. In like manner euery Artizan painteth out his craft the Market places be large great abundance of all things there be to be sold. The Citie standeth vpon water many streames runne through it the bankes pitched and so broad that they serue for streets to the Cities vse Ouer the streames are sundry Bridges both of Timber and Stone that being made leuell with the streets hinder not the passage of the Barges to and fro the Chanels are so deepe Where the streames come in and goe out of the Citie be certayne Arches in the Wall there goe in and out their Parai that is a kind of Barges they haue and this onely in the day time at night these Arches are closed vp with gates so doe they shut vp all the gates of the Citie These streames and Barges doe embellish much the Citie and make it as it were to seeme another Venice The buildings are euen well made high not lofted except it be some wherein Merchandize is laid It is a World to see how great these Cities are and the cause is for that the houses are built euen as I haue said and doe take a great deale of roome One thing we saw in this Citie that made vs all to wonder and is worthy to be noted Namely ouer a Porch at the comming into one of the afore-said foure Houses the which the King hath in euery share for his Gouernours as I haue before said standeth a Towre built vpon fortie Pillars each one whereof is but one stone each one fortie handfuls or spans long in breadth or compasse twelue as many of vs did measure them Besides this their greatnesse such in one piece that it might seeme impossible to worke them they bee moreouer couered and in colour length and breath so like that the one nothing differeth from the other Wee are wont to call this Countrey China and the people Chineans but as long as wee were Prisoners not hearing amongst them at any time that name I determined to learne how they were called and asked sometimes by them thereof for that they vnderstood vs not when wee called them Chineans I answered them that all the Inhabitants of India named them Chineans wherefore I prayed them that they would tell me for what occasion they are so called whither peraduenture any Citie of theirs bare that name Hereunto they alwayes answered me to haue no such name nor euer to haue had Then did I aske them what name the whole Countrey beareth and what they would answer being asked of other Nations what Countrey-men they were It was told me that of ancient time in this Countrey had beene many Kings and though presently it were all vnder one each Kingdome neuerthelesse enioyed that name it first had these Kingdomes are the Prouinces I spake of before In conclusion they sayd that the whole Countrey is called Tamen and the Inhabitants Tamegines so that this name China or Chineans is not heard of in that Countrey I doe thinke that the nearenesse of another Prouince thereabout called Cochinchina and the inhabitants thereof Cochinesses first discouered before that China was lying not farre from Malacca did giue occasion both to the one Nation and to the other of that name Chineans as also the whole Countrey to bee named China But their proper name is that aforesaid I haue heard moreouer that in the Citie Nanquim remayneth a Table of gold and in it written a Kings name as a memorie of that residence the Kings were wont to keepe there This table standeth in a great Palace couered alwayes except it bee in some of their festiuall dayes at what time they are wont to let it bee seene couered neuerthelesse as it is all the Nobilitie of the Citie goeth of dutie to doe it euery day reuerence The like is done in the head Cities of all the other Shires in the Palaces of the Ponchiassini wherein these aforesaid tables doe stand with the Kings name written in them although no reuerence bee done thereunto but in solemne Feasts I haue likewise vnderstood that the Citie Pachin where the King maketh his abode is so great that to goe from one side to the other besides the Suburbs which are greater then the Citie it selfe it requireth one whole day a horsebacke going hackney pace In the Suburbs bee many wealthy Merchants of all sorts They told me furthermore that it was Moted about and in the Motes great store of Fish whereof the King maketh great gaynes It was also told mee that the King of China had no King to wage battell withall besides the Tartars with whom hee had concluded a peace more then fourescore yeeres agoe There bee Hospitals in all their Cities alwayes full of people wee neuer saw any poore bodie beg We therefore asked the cause of this answered it was that in euery Citie there is a great circuit wherein bee many houses for poore people for Blinde Lame Old folke not able to trauell for age nor hauing any other meanes to liue These folke haue in the aforesaid houses euer plentie of Rice during their liues but nothing else Such as bee receiued into these houses come in after this manner When one is sicke blinde or lame hee maketh a supplication to the Ponchiassi and prouing that to bee true he writeth hee remaineth in the aforesaid great lodging as long as he liueth besides this they keepe in these places Swine and Hennes whereby the poore bee releeued without going a begging I sayd before that China was full of Riuers but now I minde to confirme the same anew for the farther wee went into the Countrey the greater we found the riuers Sometimes we were so farre off from the Sea that where wee came no Sea-fish had beene seene and Salt was there very deare of fresh-water Fish yet was there great abundance and that fish very good they keepe it good after this manner Where the Riuers doe meete and so passe into the Sea there lyeth great store of Boates specially where no salt-water commeth and that in March and Aprill These Boates are so many that it seemeth wonderfull neither serue they for other then to take small fish By the riuers sides they make leyres of fine and strong Nets that lye three handfuls vnder water and one aboue to keepe and nourish their Fish in vntill such time as other fishers doe come with Boates bringing for that purpose certaine great Chests lyned with paper able to hold water wherein they carrie their fish vp and downe the riuer euery day renewing the chest with fresh-water and selling their fish in euery Citie Towne and Village where they passe vnto the people as they need it most of them haue Net-leyres to keepe Fish in alwayes for their prouision Where the greater Boates cannot passe any farther forward they take lesser and because the whole Countrey is very well watred there is so great plentie of diuers sorts of Fish that it is
wonderfull to see assuredly wee were amazed to behold the manner of their prouision Their Fish is chiefly nourished with the dung of Bufles and Oxen that greatly fatteth it Although I sayd their fishing to bee in March and Aprill at what time wee saw them doe it neuerthelesse they told vs that they fished at all times for that vsually they doe feed on Fish wherefore it behooueth them to make their prouision continually When wee had passed Fuquien we went into Quicen-shire where the fine Clay vessell is made as I sayd before and we came to a Citie the one side whereof is built vpon the foote of a hill whereby passeth a Riuer nauigable there we tooke Boate and went by water toward the Sea on each side of the Riuer we found many Cities Townes and Villages wherein we saw great store of Merchandise but specially of fine clay there did we land by the way to buy victuals and other necessaries Going downe this riuer Southward wee were glad that we drew neere vnto a warmer Countrey from whence we had beene farre distant this Countrey wee passed through in eight dayes for our iourney lay downe the streame Before that I doe say any thing of that Shire wee came into I will first speake of the great Citie of Quicin wherein alwayes remayneth a Tutan that is a Gouernour as you haue seene though some Tutans doe gouerne two or three Shires That Tutan that was condemned for our cause of whom I spake before was borne in this Countrey but hee gouerned Fuquien-Shire nothing it auayled him to bee so great an Officer This Countrey is so great that in many places where wee went there had beene as yet no talke of his death although he were executed a whole yeere before At the Citie Quanche whither wee came the riuer was so great that it seemed a sea though it were so little where we tooke water that wee needed small Boates. One day about nine of the clocke beginning to row neare the walls with the streame wee came at noone to a bridge made of many Barges ouer-linked all together with two mightie chaynes There stayed we vntill it was late but wee saw not one goe either vp thereon or downe except two Louthia's that about the going downe of the Sunne came and set them downe there the one in one side the other on the other side Then was the bridge opened in many places and Barges both great and small to the number of sixe hundred began to passe those that went vp the streame at one place such as came downe at an other When all had thus shot the Bridge then was it shut vp againe Wee heard say that euery day they take this order in all principall places of Merchandise for paying of the custome vnto the King specially for Salt whereof the greatest reuenues are made that the King hath in this Countrey The passages of the bridge where it is opened bee so neere the shore that nothing can passe without touching the same To stay the Barges at their pleasure that they goe no farther forward are vsed certaine yron instruments The Bridge consisteth of one hundred and twelue Barges there stayed we vntill the Eeuening that they were opened lothsomly oppressed by the multitude of people that came to see vs so many in number that we were enforced to goe aside from the banke vntill such time as the bridge was opened howbeit wee were neuerthelesse thronged about with many Boates full of people And though in other Cities and places where we went the people came so importunate vpon vs that it was needfull to withdraw our selues yet were wee heere much more molested for the number of people and this bridge the principall way out of the Citie vnto another place so well inhabited that were it walled about it might bee compared to the Citie When we had shot the bridge we kept along the Citie vntill that it was night then met wee with another riuer that ioyned with this we rowed vp that by the walls vntill we came to another bridge gallantly made of Barges but lesser a great deale then that other bridge ouer the greater streame heere stayed we that night and other two dayes with more quiet being out of the prease of the people These riuers doe meete without at one corner-point of the Citie In either of them were so many Barges great and small that wee all thought them at the least to bee aboue three thousand the greater number thereof was in the lesser riuer where we were Amongst the rest heere lay certaine greater vessels called in their language Parai that serue for the Tutan when hee taketh his voyage by other riuers that ioyne with this towards Pachin where the King maketh his abode Desirous to see those Parai we got into some of them where we found some chambers set foorth with gilded Beds very richly other furnished with tables and seates and all other things so neate and in perfection that it was wonderfull Quiacim-Shire as farre as I can perceiue lyeth vpon the South On that side we kept at our first entrie thereinto trauelling not farre from the high mountaines we saw there Asking what people dwelleth beyond those mountaines it was told me that they bee Theeues and men of a strange language And because that vnto sundry places neere this Riuer the mountaines doe approach whence the people issuing downe doe many times great harme this order is taken at the entrie into Quiacim-Shire To guard this Riuer whereon continually goe to and fro Parai great and small fraught with Salt Fish powdered with pepper and other necessaries for that Countrey they doe lay in diuers places certaine Parai and great Barges armed wherein watch and ward is kept day and night in both sides of the Riuer for the safetie of the passage and securitie of such Parai as doe remayne there though the trauellers neuer goe but many in company In euery rode there bee at the least thirtie in some two hundred men as the passage requireth This guard is kept vsually vntill you come to the Citie Onchio where continually the Tutan of this Shire and eke of Cantan maketh his abode From that Citie vpward where the riuer waxeth more narrow and the passage more dangerous there be alwayes armed one hundred and fiftie Parai to accompany other vessels fraught with merchandise and all this at the Kings charges This seemed vnto me one of the strangest things I did see in this Countrey When wee lay at Fuquien we did see certaine Moores who knew so little of their sect that they could say nothing else but that Mahomet was a Moore my father was a Moore and I am a Moore with some other words of their Alcoran wherewithall in abstinence from Swines flesh they liue vntill the Deuill take them all This when I saw and being sure that in many Chinish Cities the reliques of Mahomet are kept as soone as wee came to the
Citie where these fellowes bee I informed my selfe of them and learned the truth These Moores as they told me in times past came in great Ships fraught with merchandise from Pachin ward to a Port granted vnto them by the King as hee is wont to all them that trafficke into this Countrey where they being arriued at a little Towne standing in the hauens mouth in time conuerted vnto their Sect the greatest Loutea there When that Loutea with all his family was become Moorish the rest began likewise to doe the same In this part of China the people bee at libertie euery one to worship and follow what him liketh best Wherefore no bodie tooke heed thereto vntill such time as the Moores perceiuing that many followed them in superstition and that the Loutea fauoured them they began to forbid wholly the eating of Swines-flesh But all this Countrey men and women choosing rather to forsake Father and Mother then to leaue off eating of Porke by no meanes would yeeld to that proclamation For besides the great desire they all haue to eate that kind of meate many of them doe hue thereby and therefore the people complained vnto the Magistrates accusing the Moores of a conspiracie pretended betwixt them and the Loutea against their King In this Countrey as no suspition no not one trayterous word is long borne withall so was the King speedily aduertised thereof who gaue commandement out of hand that the aforesaid Loutea should bee put to death and with him the Moores of most importance the other to be layd first in Prison and afterward to bee sent abroad into certaine Cities where they remayned perpetuall slaues vnto the King To this Citie came by hap men and women threescore and odde who at this day are brought to fiue men and foure women for it is now twentie yeeres agoe this happened Their off-spring passeth the number of two hundred and they in this Citie as the rest in other Cities whither they were sent haue their Moscheas whereunto they all resort euery Friday to keepe their Holiday But as I thinke that will no longer endure then whiles they doe liue that came from thence for their posteritie is so confused that they haue nothing of a Moore in them but abstinence from Swines-flesh and yet many of them doe eate thereof priuily They tell me that their natiue Countrey hath name Camarian a firme land wherein bee many Kings and the Indish Countrey well knowne vnto them It may so be for as soone as they did see our seruants our seruants were Preuzaretes they iudged them to bee Indians many of their words sounded vpon the Persicke tongue but none of vs could vnderstand them I asked them whither they conuerted any of the Chinish Nation vnto their Sect they answered me that with much adoe they conuerted the women with whom they doe marrie yeelding me no other cause thereof but the difficultie they finde in them to bee brought from eating Swines-flesh and drinking of Wine I haue learned morâ—ouer that the Sea whereby these Moores that came to China were wont to trauell is a very great gulfe that falleth into this Countrey out from Tartaria and Persia leauing on the other side all the Countrey of China and land of the Mogorites drawing alwayes toward the South and of all likelyhood it is euen so because that these Moores the which wee haue seene bee rather browne then white whereby they shew themselues to come from some warmer Countrey then China is neere to Pachin where the Riuers are frozen in the winter for cold and many of them so vehemently that Carts may passe oâ—er them Wee did see in this Citie many Tartars Mogorites Bremes and Laoynes both men and women The Tartars are men very white good Horse-men and Archers confining with China on that side where Pachin standeth separated from thence by great Mountaines that are betwixt these Kingdomes Ouer them bee certaine wayes to passe and for both sides Castles continually kâ—pt with Souldiers in time past the Tartars were wont alwayes to haue warres with the Chineans but these fourescore yeeres past they were quiet vntill the second yeere of our Imprisonment The Mogores bee in like manner white and Heathen wee are aduertised that of one side they border vpon these Tartars and confine with the Persicke Tartares on the other side whereof wee saw in them some tokens as their manner of cloathes and that kinde of Hat the Saracens doe weare The Mooresâ—ffirmed â—ffirmed that where the King lyeth there bee many Tartars and Mogorites â—hat brought into China certaine Blewes of great value As for the Bremes wee haue seene â—n this Citie Chenchi certaine men and women amongst whom there was one that came not long since hauing as yet her hayre tyed vp after the Pegues fashion this woman and other moe with whom a blacke Moore damosell in our company had conference and did vnderstand them well enough had dwelt in Peghu This new come woman imagining that wee meant to make our abode in that Citie bid vs to bee of good comfort for that her Countrey was not distant from thence aboue fiue dayes iourney and that out of her Countrey there lay a high way for vs home into our owne Being asked the way shee answered that the first three dayes the way lyeth ouer certaine great mountaines and wildernesse afterward people to bee met withall againe Thence two dayes iourney more to the Bremes Countrey Wherefore I doe conclude that Chenchi is one of the confines of this Kingdome separated by certaine huge Mountaines as it hath beene already sayd that lye out towards the South In the residue of these mountaines standeth the Prouince Sian the Laoyns Countrey Cambaia Chinapa and Cochinchina This Citie chiefe of other sixteene is situated in a pleasant Playne abounding in things necessarie Sea-fish onely excepted for it standeth farre from the Sea of fresh Fish so much store that the Market-places are neuer emptie The walls of this Citie are very strong and high one day did I see the Louteas thereof goe vpon the walls to take the view thereof borne in their seates I spake of before accompanied with a troupe of Horse-men that went two and two It was told me they might haue gone three and three Wee haue seene moreouer that within this aforesaid Citie the King hath more than a thousand of his kindred lodged in great Palaces in diuers parts of the Citie their gates bee red and the entrie into their houses that they may be knowne for that is the Kings colour These Gentlemen according to their nearnesse in bloud vnto the King as soone as they bee married receiue their place in Honour this place neither encreaseth nor diminisheth in any respect as long as the King liueth the King appointeth them their Wiues and Familie allowing them by the moneth all things necessarie abundantly as hee doth to his Gouernours of Shires and Cities howbeit
Mare Caspium and on the North side there is a base Towne the which hath also a Bricke wall about it and so it ioyneth with the Castle wall The Emperour lieth in the Castle wherein are nine faire Churches and therein are Religious men Also there is a Metropolitan with diuers Bishops I will not stand in description of their buildings nor of the strength thereof because we haue better in all points in England They be well furnished with Ordnance of all sorts The Emperours or Dukes house neither in building nor in the outward shew nor yet within the house is so sumptuous as I haue seene It is very lowe built in eight square much like the old building of England with small windowes and so in other points Now to declare my comming before his Maiestie After I had remayned twelue dayes the Secretarie which hath the hearing of strangers did send for mee aduertising me that the Dukes pleasure was to haue me to come before his Maiestie with the King my Masters Letters whereof I was right glad and so I gaue mine attendance And when the Duke was in his place appointed the Interpreter came for mee into the outer Chamber where sate one hundred or moe Gentlemen all in cloth of Gold very sumptuous and from thence I came into the Counsell-chamber where sate the Duke himselfe with his Nobles which were a faire companie they sate round about the Chamber on high yet so that he himselfe sate much higher then any of his Nobles in a Chaire gilt and in a long garment of beaten Gold with an Imperiall Crowne vpon his head and a Staffe of Crystall and Gold in his right hand and his other hand halfe leâ—ning on his Chaire The Chancellour stood vp with the Secretarie before the Duke After my dutie done and my Letter deliuered he bade me welcome and enquired of mee the health of the King my Master and I answered that he was in good health at my departure from his Court and that my trust was that he was now in the same Vpon the which he bade me to dinner The Chancellor presented my Present vnto his Grace bare-headed for before they were all couered and when his Grace had receiued my Letter I was required to depart for I had charge not to speake to the Duke but when he spake to mee So I departed vnto the Secretaries Chamber where I remayned two houres and then I was sent for againe vnto another Palace which is called The golden Palace but I saw no cause why it should be so called for I haue seene many fairer then it in all points and so I came into the Hall which was small and not great as is the Kings Maiesties of England and the Table was couered with a Table-cloth and the Marshall sate at the end of the Table with a little white rod in his hand which Boord was full of vessell of Gold and on the other side of the Hall did stand a faire Cupboord of Plate From thence I came into the dining Chamber where the Duke himselfe sate at his Table without Cloth of estate in a Gowne of Siluer with a Crowne Imperiall vpon his head he sate in a Chaire somewhat high there sate none neere him by a great way There were long tables set round about the chamber which were full set with such as the Duke had at dinner they were all in white Also the places where the tables stood were higher by two steps then the rest of the house In the middest of the chamber stood a Table or Cupboord to set Plate on which stood full of Cups of Gold and amongst all the rest there stood foure maruellous great Pots or Crudences as they call them of Gold and Siluer I thinke they were a good yard and a halfe high By the Cupboard stood two Gentlemen with Napkins on their shoulders and in their hands each of them had a Cup of Gold set with Pearles and Precious Stones which were the Dukes owne drinking Cups when hee was disposed hee drunke them off at a draught And for his seruice at meate it came in without order yet it was very rich seruice for all were serued in Gold not onely be himselfe but also all the rest of vs and it was very massie the Cups also were of Gold and very massie The number that dined there that day was two hundred persons and all were serued in Golden Vessell The Gentlemen that wayted were all in Cloth of Gold and they serued him with their Caps on their heads Before the seruice came in the Duke sent to euery man a great shiuer of Bread and the Bearer called the party so sent to by his name aloude and said Iohn Basiliuich Emperour of Russia and great Duke of Moscouia doth reward thee with Bread then must all men stand vp and doe at all times when those words are spoken And then last of all hee giueth the Marshall Bread whereof he eateth before the Dukes Grace and so doth reuerence and departeth Then commeth the Dukes seruice of the Swans all in pieces and euery one in a seuerall dish the which the Duke sendeth as he did the Bread and the Bearer saith the same words as hee said before And as I said before the seruice of his meate is in no order but commeth in Dish by Dish and then after that the Duke sendeth drinke with the like saying as before is told Also before Dinner he changed his Crowne and in Dinner time two Crownes so that I saw three seuerall Crownes vpon his head in one day And thus when his seruice was all come in hee gaue to euery one of his Gentlemen Wayters meate with his owne hand and so likewise drinke His intent thereby is as I haue heard that euery man shall know perfectly his seruants Thus when Dinner is done hee calleth his Nobles before him name by name that it is wonder to heare how he could name them hauing so many as hee hath Thus when Dinner was done I departed to my Lodging which was an houre within night I will leaue this and speake no more of him nor his Houshold but I will somewhat declare of his Land and people with their nature and power in the Warres This Duke is Lord and Emperour of many Countries and his power is maruellous great For hee is able to bring into the field two or three hundred thousand men he neuer goeth into the field himselfe with vnder two hundred thousand men And when hee goeth himselfe hee furnisheth his Borders all with men of Warre which are no small number He leaueth on the Borders of Liefland fortie thousand men and vpon the borders of Letto sixtie thousand men and toward the Nagayan Tartars sixtie thousand which is wonder to heare of yet doth hee neuer take to his Warres neither Husbandman nor Merchant All his men are Horse-men hee vseth no Foot-men but such as goe with the Ordnance and Labourers which are thirtie
determining either to bring that to passe which was intended or else to dye the death And as for them which were with Master Chancelor in his Ship although they had great cause of discomfort by the losse of their companie whom the foresaid tempest had separated from them and were not a little troubled with cogitations and perturbations of minde in respect of their doubtfull course yet notwithstanding they were of such consent and agreement of minde with Master Chancelor that they were resolute and prepared vnder his direction and gouernment to make proofe and tryall of all aduentures without all feare or mistrust of future dangers Which constancie of minde in all the companie did exceedingly increase their Captaines carefulnesse for hee being swallowed vp with like good will and loue towards them feared left through any errour of his the safetie of the companie should bee indangered To conclude when they saw their desire and hope of the arriuall of the rest of the Ships to bee euery day more and more frustrated they prouided to Sea againe and Master Chancelor held on his course towards that vnknowne part of the world and sayled so farre that hee came at last to the place where hee found no night at all but a continuall light and brightnesse of the Sunne shining cleerely vpon the huge and mightie Sea And hauing the benefite of this perpetuall light for certaine dayes at the length it pleased God to bring them into a certaine great Bay which was of one hundreth miles or there about ouer Whereinto they entred and somewhat farre within it cast anchor and looking euery way about them it hapned that they espyed a farre off a certaine Fisher-boate which Master Chancelor accompanied with a few of his men went towards to common with the Fishermen that were in it and to know of them what Countrey it was and what people and of what manner of liuing they were but they being amazed with the strange greatnesse of his ship for in those parts before that time they had neuer seene the like began presently to auoyd and to flee but hee still following them at last ouertooke them and being come to them they being in great feare as men halfe dead prostrated themselues before him offering to kisse his feete but hee according to his great and singular courtesie looked pleasantly vpon them comforting them by signes and gestures refusing those duties and reuerences of theirs and taking them vp in all louing sort from the ground And it is strange to consider how much fauour afterwards in that place this humanitie of his did purchase to himselfe For they being dismissed spread by and by a report abroad of the arriuall of a strange Nation of a singular gentlenesse and courtesie whereupon the common people came together offering to these new-come ghests victuals freely and not refusing to traffâ—que with them except they had beene bound by a certaine religious vse and custome not to buy any forraine commodities without the knowledge and consent of the King By this time our men had learned that this Countrey was called Russia or Muscouie and that Iuan Vasiliwich which was at that time their Kings name ruled and gouerned farre and wide in those places And the barbarous Russes asked likewise of our men whence they were and what they came for whereunto answer was made that they were English-men sent into those coasts from the most excellent King Edward the sixt hauing from him in commandement certaine things to deliuer to their King and seeking nothing else but his amitie and friendship and traffâ—que with his people whereby they doubted not but that great commoditie and profit would grow to the subiects of both Kingdomes The Barbarians heard these things very gladly and promised their ayde and furtherance to acquaint their King out of hand with so honest and a reasonable a request In the meane time Master Chancelor intreated victuals for his money of the Gouernour of that place who together with others came aboord him and required hostages of them likewise for the more assurance of safetie to himselfe and his companie To whom the Gouernours answered that they knew not in that case the will of their King but yet were willing in such things as they might lawfully doe to pleasure him which was as then to affoord him the benefit of victuals Now while these things were a doing they secretly sent a messenger vnto the Emperour to certifie him of the arriuall of a strange Nation and withall to know his pleasure concerning them Which message was very welcome vnto him insomuch that voluntarily he inuited them to come to his Court But if by reason of the tediousnesse of so long a iourney they thought it not best so to doe then hee granted libertie to his Subiects to bargaine and to traffique with them and further promised that if it would please them to come to him hee himselfe would beare the whole charges of poste Horses In the meane time the Gouernours of the place differred the matter from day to day pretending diuers excuses and saying one while that the consent of all the Gouernours and another while that the great and weightie affaires of the Kindome compelled them to differ their answer and this they did of purpose so long to protract the time vntill the messenger sent before to the King did returne with relation of his will and pleasure But Master Chancelor seeing himselfe held in this suspense with long and vaine expectation and thinking that of intention to delude him they posted the matter off so often was very instant with them to performe their promise Which if they would not doe hee told them that he would depart and proceed in his voyage So that the Muscouites although as yet they knew not the minde of their King yet fearing the departure indeed of our men who had such wares and commodities as they greatly desired they at last resolued to furnish our people with all things necessarie and to conduct them by land to the presence of their King And so Master Chancelor began his iourney which was very long and most troublesome wherein he had the vse of certaine sleds which in that Countrey are very common for they are carried themselues vpon sleds and all their carriages are in the same sort the people almost not knowing any other manner of carriage the cause whereof is the exceeding hardnesse of the ground congealed in the Winter time by the force of the cold which in those places is very extreame and horrible whereof hereafter wee will say something But now they hauing passed the greater part of their iourney met at last with the Sled-man of whom I spake before sent to the King secretly from the Iustices or Gouernours who by some ill hap had lost his way and had gone to the Sea-side which is neere to the Countrey of the Tartars thinking there to haue found our ship But hauing long erred and wandered out
at our being there and his predecessour by the meanes of the said Metropolitan for hee betrayed him and in the night slew him in his chamber who was a Prince that loued all Christians well This Countrey of Boghar was somtime subiect to the Persians and doe now speake the Persian tongue but yet now it is a Kingdome of it selfe and hath most cruell warres continually with the said Persians about their Religion although they bee all Mahometists One occasion of their warres is for that the Persians will not cut the hayre of their vpper lips as the Bogharians and all other Tartars doe which they account great sinne and call them Caphars that is vnbeleeuers as they doe the Christians The King of Boghar hath no great power or riches his reuenues are but small and hee is most maintained by the Citie for he taketh the tenth penie of all things that are there sold as well by the Craftsmen as by the Merchants to the great impouerishment of the people whom hee keepeth in great subiection and when hee lacketh money he sendeth his officers to the Shops of the said Merchants to take their wares to pay his debts and will haue credit of force as the like hee did to pay me certaine money that he owed me for nineteene pieces of Kersey Their money is siluer and copper for gold their is none currant they haue but one piece of siluer and that is worth twelue-pence English and the copper money are called Pooles and one hundred and twentie of them goeth to the value of the said twelue-pence and is more common payment then the siluer which the King causeth to rise and fall to his most aduantage euery other moneth and somtimes twise a moneth not caring to oppresse his people for that he looketh not to raigne aboue two or three yeeres before he bee either slaine or driuen away to the great destruction of the Countrey and Merchants The twentie sixth day of the moneth I was commanded to goe before the said King to whom I presented the Emperour of Russia his letters who entertained vs most gently and caused vs to eate in his presence and dâ—uers times hee sent for me and deuised with me familiarly in his secret chamber as well of the power of the Emperour and the great Turke as also of our Countries Lawes and Religion and caused vs to shoote in hand-guns before him and did himselfe practise the vse thereof But after all this great entertainment before my departure hee shewed himselfe a very Tartar for he went to the warres owing me money and saw me not payed before his departure And although indeed hee gaue order for the same yet waâ— I very ill satisfied and forced to rebate part and to take wares as payment for the rest contrary to my expectation but of a begger better payment I could not haue glad I was so to be payd and dispatched But yet I must needs praise and commend this barbarous King who immediately after my arriuall at Boghar hauing vnderstood our trouble with the Theeues sent one hundred men well armed and gaue them great charge not to returne before they had either slaine or taken the sayd theeues Who according to their commission ranged the wildernesse in such sort that they met with the said companie of Theeues and slew part and part fled and foure they tooke and brought vnto the King and two of them were sore wounded in our skirmish with our Guns And after the King had sent for me to come to see them hee caused them all foure to bee hanged at his Palace gâ—te because they were Gentlemen to the example of others And of such goods as were gotten againe I had part restored me and this good Iustice I found at his hands There is yeerely great resort of Merchants to this Citie of Boghar which trauell in great Caraâ—ans from the Countries thereabout adioyning as India Persia Balgh Russia with diuers others and in times past from Cathay when there was passage but these Merchants are so beggerly and poore and bring so little quantitie of wares lying two or three yeeres to sell the same that there is no hope of any good trade there to be had worthy the following The chiefe commodities that are brought thither out of these foresaid Countries are these following The Indians doe bring fine Whites which the Tartars doe all roll about their heads and all other kindes of Whites which serue for apparell made of Cotton-wooll and Crasca but Gold Siluer precious Stones and Spices they bring none I enquired and perceiued that all such trade passeth to the Ocean sea and the veynes where all such things are gotten are in the subiection of the Portugals The Indians carrie from Boghar againe wrought Silkes red Hides Slaues and Horses with such like but of Kerseis and other cloath they make little account I offered to bartar with Merchants of those Countries which came from the furthest parts of India euen from the Countrey of Bengala and the riuer Ganges to giue them Kerseis for their commodities but they would not barter for such commoditie as Cloath The Persians doe bring thither Craska Woollen-cloath Linnen-cloath diuers kindes of wrought pide Silkes Argomacks with such like and doe carrie from thence red hydes with other Russe wares and Slaues which are of diuers Countries but cloath they will buy none for that they bring thither themselues and is brought vnto them as I haue inquired from Aleppo in Syria and the parts of Turkie The Russes doe carrie vnto Boghar red hydes sâ—eepe skinnes woollen cloath of diuers sorts woodden vessels brydles saddles with such like and doe carrie away from thence diuers kindes of wares made of cotten-wooll diuers kindes of silkes Crasca with other things but there is but small vtterance From the Countries of Cathay are brought thither in time of peace and when the way is open Muske Rubarbe Satten Damaske with diuers others things At my being at Boghar there came Carauans out of all these foresaid Countries except from Cathay and the cause why there came none from thence was the great warres that had dured three yeeres before my comming thither and yet dured betwixt two great Countries and Cities of Tartars that are directly in the way betwixt the said Boghar and the said Cathay and certaine barbarous field people as well Gentiles as Mahometists bordering to the said Cities The Cities are called Taskent and Caskar and the people that warre against Taskent are called Cossacks of the law of Mahomet and they which warre with the said Countrey of Caskar are called Kings Gentiles and Idolaters These two barbarous Nations are of great force liuing in the fields without House or Towne and haue almost subdued the foresaid Cities and so stopped vp the way that it is impossible for any Carauan to passe vnspoyled so that three yeeres before our being there no Carauan had gone or vsed
Chist wherein were Dollers and Gold which they had receiued for the commodities of the Companie which they sold at Bachu which at the taking out of the Busse fell by the Barkes side into the water amongst the Rockes and so was lost The packes of Cloth which they could not well take out of the Busse were also lost other things that were more profitable they saued The third day of October all things were brought from the shoare aboord the ship and that day the Factors went to the Basha to take their leaue of him vnto whom they recommended those the Companies seruants c. which they had sent to Bachu making account to leaue them behind in the Countrey who caused their names to be written and promised they should want nothing nor be iniured of any After this leaue taken the Factors went aboord purposing presently to haue set sayle and departed towards Astracan the winde seruing well for that purpose at South South-east And as they were readie to set sayle there came against the ship a man who weued whereupon the Boat was sent ashoare to him who was an Armenian sent from William Wincoll with his writing tables wherein the said Wincoll had written briefly the mis-hap of the losse of the Busse and that they were comming from Bildih towards Derbent they and such things as they saued with a small Boat forced to put ashoare in a place by the Sea side called the Armenian Village Whereupon the Factors caused the ship to stay hoping that with the Southerly winde that then blew they would come from the place they were at to the ship but if they could not come with that winde they meant to sayle with the ship with the next wind that would serue them against the place where they were and take them in if they could which stay and losse of those Southerly winds was a cause of great troubles that they afterwards sustayned through Ice c. entring the Volga as shall be declared The latitude of Derbent by diuers Obseruations exactly there made is fortie one degrees fiftie two minutes The variation of the Compasse at that place about eleuen degreâ—s from North to West From Derbent to Bildih by Land fortie sixe leagues From Derbent to Shamaky by Land fortie fiue leagues From Shamaky to Bachu about ten leagues which may bee thirtie miles From Bachu to Bildih fiue or sixe leagues by Land but by water about twelue leagues From the Castle Derbent East-wards there reach two stone wals to the border of the Caspian Sea which is distant one English mile Those wals are nine foot thicke and eight and twentie or thirtie foot high and the space betweene them is one hundred and sixtie Geometricall paces that is eight hundred foot There are yet to bee perceiued of the ruine of those wals which doe now extend into the Sea about halfe a mile also from the Castle West-ward into the Land they did perceiue the ruines of a stone wall to extend which wal as it is reported did passe from thence to Pontus Euxinus was built by Alexand. the great when the castle Derbent was made The fift of October about noone the winde North North-east they weighed Anchor and set sayle from Derbent being alongst the Coast to the South-wards to seeke their men but as they had sailed about foure leagues the winde scanted Easterly so that they were forced to Anchor in three fathome water The seuenth day about seuen of the clocke in the morning they set sayle the wind South-west They considered the time of the yeare was farre spent the ship weake leake and rotten and therefore determining not to tarry any longer for Wincoll and his fellowes but to leaue them behind bent themselues directly towards Astracan and sayling North North-east vntill midnight about sixteene leagues the wind then came to the North North-west and blew much a very storme which caused them to take in all their Sayles sauing the fore Corse with which they were forced to steere before the Sea South by West and South South-west And on the eight day about two of the clocke in the morning their great Boat sunke at the ships sterne which they were forced to cut from the ship to their great griefe and discomfort for in her they hoped to saue their liues if the ship should haue miscarried About ten of the clocke before noone they had sight of the Land about fiue leagues to the South of Derbent and bare alongst the Coast to the South-east-wards vnto Nezauoo where they came at Anchor in three fathomes and blacke Ozie good Anchor hold whereof they were glad as also that the winde was shifted to the North-west and but a meane gale Wincoll and the rest of his fellowes being in the Armenian Village which is about eighteene Versts to the West-wards of Nezauoo the place where against they rode at Anchor saw the ship as she passed by that place and sent a man in the night following alongst the Coast after her who came against the ship where shee rode and with a fire-brand in the top of a Tree made signes which was perceiued by them in the ship wherevpon they boysed out their Skiffe and sent her ashoare to learne what was meant by the fire which returned a Letter from Wincoll wherein he wrote that they were with such goods as they had at the Armenian Village and prayed that there they might with the same goods bee taken into the ships The tenth day they sent their Skiffe to the Armenian Village to fetch those men and the goods they had with order that if the winde serued that they could not returne to fetch the ship they of the ship promised to come for them against the said Village But in their want God sent them two Couies of Partridges that came from the shoare and lighted in and about their ships whereby they were comforted and one that lay sicke of whose life was small hope recouered his health Pauoses were sent from Astracan in which they laded the ships goods leauing her at Anchor with Russes to keepe her The thirteenth of Nouember they departed also in those Lighters with the goods towards the Chetera Bougori leauing the ship at Anchor and in her two Russes which with three more that went in the Pauoses to prouide victuals for themselues and the rest and therewith promised to returne backe to the ship with all speed had offered to vndertake for twentie Rubbles in Money to carrie the ship into some Harbour where shee might safely winter or else to keepe her where she rode all Winter which was promised to bee giuen them if they did it and the same day when with those Lighters they had gotten sight of the foure Ilands being about eight Verstes South-west from them the wind then at North-east did freese the Sea so as they could not row guide stirre or remoue the said Lighters but as the wind and Ice did force them And
so they continued driuing with the Ice South-east into the Sea by the space of fortie houres and then being the sixteenth day the Ice stood Whiles they droue with the Ice the dangers which they incurred were great for oftentimes when the Ice with force of wind and Sea did breake pieces of it were tossed and driuen one vpon another with great force terrible to behold and the same happened at sometimes so neere vnto the Lighters that they expected it would haue ouer-whelmed them to their vtter destruction but God who had preserued them from many perils before did also saue and deliuer them then Within three or foure dayes after the first standing of the Ice when it was firme and strong they tooke out all their goods being fortie and eight Bales or Packes of Raw Silke c. laid it on the Ice and couered the same with such prouisions as they had Then for want of victuals c. they agreed to leaue all the goods there vpon the Ice and to goe to the shoare and therevpon brake vp their Chests and Corobias wherewith and with such other things as they could get they made Sleds for euery of them to draw vpon the Ice whereon they layed their clothes to keepe them warme and such victuals as they had and such other things as they might conueniently carrie and so they departed from the said goods and Pauoses very early about one of the clocke in the morning and trauelling on the Ice directed their way North as neere as they could judge and the same day about two of the clocke in the after-noone they had sight of the Chetera Babbas foure Hillocks of Ilands so called vnto the same they directed themselues and there remayned that night The goods and Pauoses which they left on the Ice they judged to be from those Chetera Babbas about twentie Versts And the next morning departed thence East-wards and came to the Chetera Bougories or foure Ilands before spoken of before noone the distance betweene those places is about fifteene Versts where they remained all that night departing thence towards Astracan the next morning very early they lost their way through the perswasion of the Russes which were with them taking to much towards the left hand contrary to the opinion of Master Hudson whereby wandering vpon the Ice foure or fiue dayes not knowing whether they were entred into the Crimme Tartars Land or not at length it fortuned they met with a way that had beene trauelled which crost back-wards towards the Sea that way they tooke and following the same within two dayes trauell it brought them to a place called the Crasnoyare that is to say in the English Tongue Red Cliffe which diuers of the company knew There they remayned that night hauing nothing to eate but one Loafe of Bread which they happened to find with the two Russes that were left in the ship to keepe her all the Winter as is aforesaid whom they chanced to meet going towards Astracan about fiue miles before they came to the said Crasnoyare who certified them that the ship was cut in pieces with the Ice and that they had hard scaping with their liues In the morning they departed early from Grasnoyare towards the Ouchooge and about nine of the clocke before noone being within ten Versts of the Vchooge they met Amos Riall with the Carpenter which he found at Ouchooge and a Gunner newly come out of England and also sixtie fiue Horses with so many Cassacks to guide them and fiftie Gunners for guard which brought prouision of victuals c. and were sent by the Duke to fetch the goods to Astracan The meeting of that company was much joy vnto them The Factors sent backe with Amos Riall and the said company to fetch the goods Thomas Hudson the Master Tobias Paris his Mate and so they the said Factors and their company marched on to the Vchooge where they refreshed themselues that day and the night following And from thence proceeded on towards Astracan where they arriued the last day of Nouember These that went for the goods after their departure from the Factors trauelled the same day vntill they came within ten Versts of the Chetera Babbas where they rested that night The next morning by the breake of the day they departed thence and before noone were at the Chetera Babbas where they stayed all night but presently departed thence Thomas Hudson with the Carpenter and Gunner to seeeke where the goods lay who found the same and the next day they returned backe to their company at the Chetera Babbas and declared vnto them in what sort they had found the said goods The third day early in the morning they departed all from the foure Babbas towards the said goods and the same day did lade all the goods they could finde vpon the said sleds and withall conuenient speed returned backe towards Astracan And when they came to the Chetera Bougori where they rested the night in the morning very early before the breake of day they were assaulted by a great company of the Nagays Tartars Horse-men which came shouting and hallowing with a great noyse but our people were so inuironed with the sleds that they durst not enter vpon them but ranne by and shot their Arrowes amongst them and hurt but one man in the head who was a Russe and so departed presently Yet when it was day they shewed themselues a good distance off from our men being a very great troope of them but did not assault them any more The same day our men with those carriages departed from thence towards Astracan where they arriued in safetie the fourth of December about three of the clock in the after-noone where our people greatly rejoyced of their great good hap to haue escaped so many hard euents troubles and miseries as they did in that Voyage and had great cause therefore to prayse the Almightie who had so mercifully preserued and deliuered them They remayned the Winter at Astracan where they found great fauour and friendship of the Duke Captaine and other chiefe Officers of that place but that Winter there hapned no great matter worth the noting In the Spring of the yeere 1581. about the midst of March the Ice was broken vp and cleare gone before Astracan A Letter of Master HENRIE LANE to the worshipfull Master WILLIAM SANDERSON containing a briefe discourse of that which passed in the North-east discouerie for the space of three and thirtie yeeres MAster Sanderson as you lately requested me so haue I sought and though I cannot finde some things that heretofore I kept in writing and lent out to others yet perusing at London copies of mine old Letters to content one that meaneth to pleasure many I haue briefly and as truely as I may drawne out as followeth The rough hewing may bee planed at your leasure or as pleaseth him that shall take the paines First the honourable attempt
here with that Trade others are laden with skuls of dead men they dreaming that all the Almes of those men whose skuls these haue beene shall belong to their soules and that the Porter of Heauen seeing them come with thus many attending will open to him as an honourable person Others haue Cages of Birds and call to men to set free those Captiues which are the creatures of God with their Almes which they which doe let loose the Bird and bid him tell God what he hath done in his Seruice others do the like with liuing fishes offering their freedome to the charitable Redeemers which themselues will not giue them much like the sale of Indulgences saying they are Innocents which neuer sinned which freed by Almes are let goe in the Riuer with commendations of this their Redeemers Seruice to the Creator Other Barkes carry Fidlers and Musicians to offer their Seruice Others the Priests sell Hornes of sacrificâ—d Beasts with promise of I know not what Feasts in Heauen others had Tents of sorrow Tombes and all Funerall appurtenances with Women-mourners to be let out for Burials others laden with Books of all sorts of Historie and these also haue Scriueners and Proctors others haue such as offer their seruice to fight in defence of their honour others haue Mid-wiues others Nurses others carry graue men and women to comfort those that haue lost Husbands Wiues Children and the like disconsolate persons others Boyes and Girles for seruice others offer Counsellors in Cases of Law or Learning others Physicians and to conclude nothing is to bee sought on the Land which is not here to be found in this Water-citie Once the cause of the greatnesse of this Kingdome of China is this easie concourse of all parts by water and Riuers some of which in narrow places haue bridges of stone like ours and some made of one only stone laid ouer sometimes of eightie ninetie or one hundred spannes long and fifteene or twentie broad All the High-wayes haue large Causies made of good stone with Pillers and Arches fairely wrought inscribed with the Founders names and prayses in golden Letters In many places they haue Wels to refresh the Trauellers And in more barren and lesse inhabited places are single women which giue free entertainment to such as haue no monie which abuse and abomination they call a worke of Mercie and is prouided by the deceased for good of their soules with Rents and mayntenance Others haue also bequeathed in the like places houses with Lights to see the way and fires for Trauellers water and Lodging I haue in one and twentie yeares vnfortunate trauels seene a great part of Asia and the riches of Europe but if my testimonie be worthy credit all together is not comparable to China alone such are the endowments of nature in a wholsome Ayre Soyle Riuers and Seas with their Policie Iustice Riches and State that they obscure all the lustres of other parts Yet such is their bestiall and Deuillish Idolatry and filthy Sodomitry publikly permitted committed taught by their Priests as a vertue that I cannot but grieue at their vngratitude Departing from this admirable Citie we sailed vp the Riuer till on the ninth of October on Tuesday we came to the great Citie of Pequim whither wee were sent by Appeale Wee went three and three as Prisoners and were put in a Prison called Gofania serca where for an entrance they gaue each of vs thirtie stripes Chifu which brought vs presented to the Aitao our Processe signed with twelue seales from Nanquiu The twelue Conchalis which are Criminall Iudges sent one of their company with two Notaries and sixe or seuen Officers to the Prison where wee were and examined vs to whom we answered as before and hee appointed vs to make petition to the Tanigores of the holy Office by our Proctors and gaue vs a Taell for almes with a caueat to beware of the Prisoners that they robbed vs not and then went into another great Roome where he heard many Prisoners Causes three houres together and then caused execution to be done on seuen and twentie men sentenced two dayes before which all dyed with the blowes to our great terrour And the next day wee were collared and manicled being much afraid that our Calempluys businesse would come to light After seuen dayes the Tanigores of the Hospitall of that Prison came in to whom we with pitifull lamentation gaue the Certificate which wee brought from Nanquin By their meanes the Conchalis petitioned the Chaem to reuoke the Sentence of cutting off our thumbs seeing there was no testimonie of theft by vs committed but only our pouertie we more needed pitie then rogour He heard the pleading for and against vs for diuers daies the Prometor or Fiscall laying hard against vs that wee were theeues but being able to proue nothing the Chaem suspended him from his Office and condemned him in twentie Taeis to vs which was brought vs. And at last we were brought into a great Hall painted with diuers representations of execution of Iustice for seuerall crimes there written very fearefull to behold and at the end a fairer gilded roome crossed the same where was a Tribunall with seuen steps compassed with three rewes of grates Iron Latten and blacke Wood inlayed with Mother of pearle hauing a Canopie of Damaske fringed with Gold and greene Silke and vnderneath a Chaire of Siluer for the Chaem and a little Table before him with three Boyes attending on their knees richly attired with chaines of gold on their neckes the middlemost to giue him his Penne the other two to receiue Petitions and to present them on the Table two other Boyes standing at his side in exceeding rich aray the one representing Iustice the other on the right hand Mercy without which conioyned the Iudge they say becomes a Tyrant The rest of the state and ceremonie I omit wee kneeling on our knees with our hands lifted vp and our eyes cast downe to the ground heard gladly our Sentence of absolution Only we were for one yeere banished to the workes of Quansy and eight moneths of that yeere ended to haue free pasport to goe home or whither we would After the Sentence pronounced one of the Conchalys stood vp and fiue times demanded aloud if any could take exception against the Sentence and all being silent the two Boyes representing Iustice and Mercy touched each others Ensignes which they had in their hands and said aloud let them be free according to the Sentence and presently two Chumbims tooke off our Collars and Manicles and all our bonds The foure moneths the Tanigores told vs were taken off the yeere as the Kings almes in regard of our pouertie for had wee beene rich wee must haue serued the whole yeere They gaue vs foure Taeis of almes and went to the Captaine which was to goe for Quansy to commend vs to his charitie which vsed vs accordingly PEquin
DE MENDOSA MAgalianes was the first that discouered these Ilands hauing passed the straight which vnto this day beareth the tytle of his name and came vnto the Iland of Zubu whereas they did Baptise certaine of the Inhabitants and afterwards in a banquet the same Ilanders did kill him and other fortie of his companions which was the occasion that Sebastian de Guetaria a naturall Biskin borne for to escape with his life did put himselfe in a ship that remayned of the voyage which afterwards was named the Victorie and in her and with a few people that helped him with the fauour of God hee came vnto Siuill hauing compassed the whole world from the Orient vnto the Ponent a thing which caused vnto all men great admiration but in particular vnto the Emperour Charles the fift of famous memorie who after he had giuen many gifts and fauours vnto the sayd Sebastian de Guetaria he gaue order that a new Armie should bee made readie and to returne againe in demand of the sayd Ilands and to discouer that new world So when all things were in a readinesse for to depart on their Voyage the which was done with great breuitie they ordayned for Generall of all that fleete one Villa Lobos commanding him to goe by the Nuoua Espania The Villa Lobos arriued at the Ilands of Malucas and at those of Terrenate and at other Ilands joyning vnto them the which Ilands were layd to gage by the aforesayd Emperour vnto the Crowne of Portugall In these Ilands they had great warres by meanes of the Portugals and seeing themselues with little helpe and small resistance for to goe forwards with their conquest they left it off and went to the most part of them with the aforesayd Portugals vnto the India of Portugall from whence afterwards they sent them as prisoners vnto the sayd King of Portugall as offenders that had entred his Ilands without his licence who did not onely leaue to doe them any harme but did intreate them very well and sent them vnto their owne Countrey of Spaine and gaue them all things necessarie for their iourney and that in abundance Then certaine yeeres after Don Philip King of Spaine being very willing that the discouering should goe forwards which the Emperour his father had so earnestly procured sent and commanded Don Luys de Velasco who was his Vice-roy of the Nuoua Espania that hee would ordayne an armie and people for to returne and discouer the sayd Ilands and to send in the sayd fleete for Gouernour of all that should bee discouered Miguel Lopez de Legaspi who did accompilsh all that his Maiestie had commanded and made the discouerie thereof as followeth to bee declared When the Spaniards came vnto them they were without Lord or head or any other to whom they should shew dutie but hee which had most power and people did most command so that this and that there were so many of equall power was the occasion that ciuill warres continued without any resqect of nature kindred or any other dutie but like vnto bruite Beasts killing spoyling and captiuing one another the which was a great helpe vnto the Spaniards for to subiect that Country with so great ease vnto the King and called them the Ilands Philippinas in respect of his name They did vse amongst them to make Captiues and Slaues such as they did take in vnlawfull warres and for trifling matters the which God did remedie by the going thither of the Spaniards for you should haue a man with fortie or fiftie friends in his companie or seruants that vpon a sodaine would goe and set vpon a small Village of poore people and vnprouided and take and binde them all and carrie them away for Slaues without any occasion or reason and make them to serue them all the dayes of their life or else sell them to other Ilands And if it so chanced that one did lend vnto another a basket or two of Rice the which might bee worth a Ryall of plate with condition to returne it againe within ten dayes if the debtor did not pay it the same day the next day following hee should pay it double and afterward to double it euery day so long as he did keepe it which in conclusion would grow to bee so great that to pay the same hee is forced to yeeld himselfe for Captiue and Slaue But vnto all such as were captiued in this order or in such like the King of Spaine hath commanded to giue libertie yet this iust commandement is not in euery point fulfilled and accomplished because such as should execute the same haue interest therein All these Ilands were Gentiles and Idolaters but now there is amongst them many thousands Baptised vnto whom the King hath shewed great mercie in sending vnto them the remedie for their soules in so good time for if the Spaniards had stayed any more yeares they had beene all Moores at this day for that there were come vnto the Iland of Burneo some of that Sect that did teach them and lacked little for to worship that false Prophet Mahomet whose false peruerse and corrupt memory was with the Gospel of Christ easily rooted out In all these Ilands they did worship the Sunne and Moone and other second causes figures of men and women which are called in their Language Maganitos at whose Feasts which they doe make very sumptuous with great Ceremonies and Superstition they doe call Magaduras But amongst them all they haue in most veneration an Idoll whom they called Batala the which reuerence they had for a Tradition yet can they not say what should be the occasion that he should deserue more then any of the rest to be had in so great estimation In certayne Ilands not farre off called the Illocos they did worship the Deuill and made vnto him many Sacrifices in recompence of a great quantitie of Gold he had giuen vnto them but now by the goodnesse of God and the great diligence put and done by the Fathers of the Order of Saint Austin who were the first that passed into those parts and liued worthily and also by the Friers of Saint Francis which went thither ten yeares after all these Ilands or the most part of them are baptized and vnder the Ensigne of Iesus Christ and the rest which doe remayne and are not is more for lacke of Ministers and Preachers then for any obstinacie of their parts There is now gone thither certayne Fathers of the Order called Iesuits who will be a helpe vnto them with their accustomed zeale and labour And now goeth thither many other Religious men very well learned and Apostolike of the Order of Saint Dominicke who will doe their endeuour to conuert them vnto Christ as it behooueth Christians to doe They of these Ilands were accustomed to celerate their Feasts aforesaid and to make Sacrifices vnto their Idols by the order of certayne women which were Witches whom they doe cal in their
two Spanish Souldiers went foorth into the streets to walke abroad and left the two Friars within their lodging vnto whom afterwards they did giue intelligence of all things that they had seene which did cause great admiration the wall of the Towne was very broad and wrought with lyme and stone full of loope-holes and watch-towers And as they passed through the streets there came foorth of a house a very honest man as it seemed who was very well apparelled and stayed them for that in the same house there were certayne Dames principall personages that did see them a farre off and not content therewith they did request them with great curtesie for to enter into the house that they might the better see them the which they did straight-wayes accomplish and entring in they were brought into a court whereas was set Chayres for them to sit downe and the Ladies were there a little from them beholding them with great honestie and grauitie Then a little after they set them a banquet with March-panes and sweet meats made of Sugar which they did eate without any curiâ—sitie and drunke after the same The banquet being done they made signes and tokens vnto them that they receiued great content with their sight and that they might depart when that their pleasure was the which they did after that they had made great curtesies with thankes for their friendship receiued of both parts So after they had taken their leaue they went to see a House of pleasure that was hard by the Towne-wall wrought vpon the water with very faire galleries and open lodges to banquet in made of Masons worke and therein many Tables finely painted and round about it Cisterns of water wherin was store of Fish and joyning vnto them Tables of very faire Alabaster all of one stone and the least of them was of eight spannes long and round about them were brookes of running water that gaue a pleasant sound in the meane time they were banquetting and nigh thereunto many Gardens full of all sorts of Flowers And a little from that place they saw a Bridge all of Masons worke and the stones very well wrought and of a mightie bignesse they measured some of them that were twentie and two and twentie foote long and fiue foot broad and seemed vnto them that it was a thing impossible to bee layd there by mans hands Of this bignesse yea and bigger they did see layd vpon many other Bridges in the discourse of their voyage going to Chincheo and Aucheo The next day in the morning when they were vp and readie they found in the house all things in a readinesse and in very good order for their departure as well their little Chayres and Horse as for men to carrie their stuffe and apparell which did not a litle make them to maruell how that euery one of them with a waster vpon their shoulders did diuide their burthen in two parts sixe roues before and sixe roues behinde and did trauell with the same with so great ease and swiftnesse that the Horse could not indure with them They went vnto the Ticoan his house They found him with great Maiestie but yet gaue them great and good entertaynment Hee did likewise put vpon each of them two pieces of Silke in the same order as the Gouernour of Tansuso did From this Towne of Tangoa vnto Chincheo is thirteene leagues and so playne way that it giueth great content to trauell it in all the way they could not see one spanne of ground but was tilled and occupied The like they doe say is of all the ground that is in the whole Kingdome it is full of people and the Townes one so neere to another that almost you can not iudge them to bee many Townes but one for that there was but a quarter of a league distant one Towne from another and it was told vnto them that in all the Prouinces of the Kingdome it is peopled in the same order All their ground they till is watred which is the occasion of the fruitfulnesse therof so that they doe gather fruit all the yeere long and our Spaniards did see in all places whereas they came that they were gathering of Rice some new sprung vp some with eares and some ripe They doe plough and till their ground with Kine Bufalos and Bulls which are very tame and although they bee very great yet be their hornes but of a spanne long and turning backwards to the tayle in such sort that they cannot doe any hurt or harme with them they doe gouerne them with a coard that is made fast to a ring that is in their nose and in like sort doe they gouerne the Bufalos They doe feed them commonly in the fields of Rice for that they haue no other grasings and all the time that they are feeding a Boy doth ride on euery one of them to disturbe them that they doe no harme therein But to eate the weedes and grasse that doe grow in the Rice All the high-wayes are couered with the shadow of very faire Orchards which doe garnish it very much and they are planted in very good order and amongst them there are Shops whereas is sold all manner of Fruits to the comfort of all such as doe trauell by the way which is an infinite number some on foote some on horse-backe and others in little chayres Their waters by the high-wayes are very good and light The same day when they had trauelled halfe way they saw a farre off comming marching towards them in very good order a squadron of Souldiers which at the first caused them to maruell and to bee afrayd till such time as they drew nigher it was told vnto them that it was the Captayne of the guard vnto the Insuanto or Gouernour of Chincheo who came by his order to receiue them with foure hundred Souldiers very well armed with Pikes and Harquebusses and well apparelled So soone as the Captayne came vnto them hee was mounted on a bay Horse but of small stature as they for the most part bee in all that Prouince hee alighted and came vnto the Fathers and his companions who likewise did alight from their little Chayres and did salute the one the other with great courtesie The Captayne came very well apparelled with a Chayne of gold about his necke a man of a good audacitie and vnderstanding Hard vnto his stirrop hee had a Page that went with him and carryed a great Tira sol made of Silke that did shadow him all ouer Hee had before him great musicke of Trumpets and Hoybuckes whereon they played in great concord This Captayne with his foure hundreth Souldiers did continually guard them for pompe not necessitie for the people may not weare weapons but the Souldiers In this high-way continually there went and came many packe-Horses laden with Merchandise and other things but the most part of them were Mules The high-wayes are very broad
publike audience the cause of their comming and being heard to giue them their answer according as they had determined for the which vpon a day appointed they met all together but not the Vice-roy in the house of the Cagontoc and commanded to come before the Castillos who did accomplish their request with a great good-will for that they vnderstood that they were called to entreat of their matter either to tarrie or depart So when they came thither they were commanded to enter into a mightie Hall whereas they were all set in verie rich Chayres with great grauitie and maiestie The Insuanto seemed to bee the chiefest amongst them but whether it was for that hee was the principallest next vnto the Vice-roy or as it was told them for that it was hee that sent Omoncon in the chase of the Rouer Limahon they knew not but so soone as they were entred into the Hall they were commanded to draw nigh there whereas they were all placed without bidding them to sit downe neither did they vse any particular circumstances or courtesie The Insuanto tooke vpon him the charge and demanded of the Spaniards by meanes of the Interpreters what was the occasion of their comming into that Countrey The Spaniards answered as they thought and supposed that at that time it could not bee but that Limahon was either taken prisoner or slaine Then did the Insuanto conclude his speech in saying vnto them that they should returne vnto their owne Countrey to the Ilands and at such time as they did bring Limahon they would conclude all things touching the friendship they requested and also for the Preaching of the Gospell So from that day forwards they did procure with all haste for to depart and gaue the Vice-roy to vnderstand thereof who answered them and sayd that they should comfort themselues and receiue joy and pleasure and that hee would dispatch them so soone as the Visitor of that Prouince was come to Aucheo which would bee within ten dayes for that hee had written vnto him that he should not dispatch them vntill his comming for that he would see them From that day forwards he commanded that sometimes they should let them goe foorth abroad to recreate themselues and that they should shew vnto them some particular pleasure or friendship So one of them was carryed to see the Mustering of their men of warre which they haue in a common custome throughout all the Kingdome to doe it the first day of the New-moone and is sure a thing to bee seene and they doe it in the field which is joyning vnto the walls of the Citie in this manner following There were joyned together little more or lesse then twentie thousand Souldiers Pike-men and Harquebusse shot who were so expert that at the sound of the Drum or Trumpet they straight-wayes put themselues in battle aray and at another sound in a squadron and at another the shot doe diuide themselues from the rest and discharge their Pieces with very gallant and good order and with a trice put themselues againe into their places or standings this being done the Pike-men came foorth and gaue the assault all together with so good order and consort that it seemed vnto the Spaniards that they did exceed all the warlike orders vsed in all the world and if it were so that their stomacks and hardinesse were equall vnto their dexteritie and number of people it were an easie thing for them to conquer the dominion of all the world If it so chance that any Souldier should lacke in his Office and not repayre to his place appointed hee is straight-wayes punished very cruelly which is the occasion that euery one of them hath a care vnto his charge This their Muster indured foure houres and it was certified vnto the Spaniards that the same day and houre it is done in all Cities and Townes throughout the whole Kingdome although they are without suspection of enemies Fiue and twentie dayes after that the Insuanto had giuen the resolute answer vnto the Spaniards came the Visitor thither and the whole Citie went foorth to receiue him who entred in with so great Maiestie that if they had not knowne who hee was they could not haue beene perswaded but that he had beene the King The next day following the Spaniards went to visite him for duties sake as also for that hee had a desire to see them They found him in his lodging where he began to make visitation of the Citie In their Courts were an infinite number of people which came thither with Petitions and complaynts but in the Halls within there was none but his Seruants and Sergeants When that any came for to present his Petition the Porter that was at the entrie made a great noyse in manner of an Oâ—est for that it was a good way from the place whereas the Visitor did sit then commeth foorth straight-wayes one of his Pages and taketh the Petition and carryeth it vnto him At this time it was told him how that the Castillas were there hee commanded that they should enter and talked with them a few words but with great courtesie and all was touching the Imprisonment of Limahon without making any mention of their departure or tarrying So after a while that hee had beheld them and their apparell he tooke his leaue of them saying that by reason of the great businesse hee had in that visitation he could not shew them any courtesie neither to vnderstand of them what their request and desire was but gaue them great thankes for their courtesie shewed in that they would come to visite him Three dayes after the Visitor was come thither the Insuanto departed for his owne house with order that with all speed possible hee should ordayne Ships wherein the Castillas should returne vnto the Philippinas Likewise the same day all those that were there assembled by the order of the Vice-roy departed vnto their owne houses And the Spaniards were commanded for to stay vntill the full of the Moone which should bee the twentieth of August and that day they should take their leaue of them for on that day amongst them it is holden for good to begin any thing whatsoeuer Wherein they doe vse great superstition and doe make many banquets as vpon New-yeeres day The day before the departure of the Spaniards there came some in behalfe of the Vice-roy to inuite them and made them banquet in the order and fashion as at the first although this for that it was at their departure was more sumptuous wherein was represented a Comedie which was very excellent and good whose argument was first declared vnto them All the which they did represent so naturally and with so good apparell and personages that it seemed a thing to passe in Act. There was not in this banquet the Vice-roy but those Captaynes which were there the first time and another Captayne vnto whom was giuen the charge to
that vnto that time it remained dispeopled and full of wilde Swine of the brood that remained there at such time as they were slaine and carried away as you haue heard This Iland and the rest adjoyning thereunto which are very many haue very excellent and sure Ports and Hauens with great store of fish These Ilands endured vntill they came vnto a little Gulfe which is fiue and fortie leagues ouer and is sayled in one day and at the end thereof is the Port of Cabite which is neere vnto Manilla So when that winde and weather serued their turne they departed from the Iland of Ancon and sailed till they came vnto another Iland called Plon where they vnderstood by a ship that was there a fishing how that the Rouer Limahon was escaped in certaine Barkes which he caused to bee made very secretly within his Fort of such Timber and Boards as remained of his ships that were burnt the which was brought in by night by his Souldiers on that side of the Fort which was next vnto the Riuer and were not discouered by the Castillas which were put there with all care and diligence to keepe the mouth that come in to helpe them And towards the Land there whereas he might escape they were without all suspection they were so strong and did not mistrust that any such thing should be put in vre as afterwards did fall out the which was executed with so great policie and craft that when they came to vnderstand it the Rouer was cleane gone and in safeguard calking his Barkes at the Iland of Tocaotican the better for to escape and saue himselfe and they said that it was but eight dayes past that he fled With this newes they all receiued great alteration but in especiall Omoncon and Sinsay After they had remained three weeks in that Harbour detayned with a mighty North-wind that neuer calmed night nor day in all that time The eleuenth day of October two houres before day they set sayle and went to Sea Sixteene leagues from the Port sailing towards the South they discouered a mightie Iland very high Land which was called Tangarruan and was of three score leagues about all inhabited with people like vnto those of the Ilands Philippinas Vpon Sunday in the morning being the seuenteenth day of October they discouered the Iland of Manilla of them greatly desired they sayled towards the Iland that they so long desired to see and came thither the twentie eight day of October as aforesaid So that from the Port of Tansuso which is the first Port of China till they came vnto the Iland of Manilla they were fiue and fortie dayes and is not in all ful two hundred leagues which may be made with reasonable weather in ten dayes at the most I could haue here added two other Voyages of Franciscans to China the one by Peter de Alfaro and other three of his Order 1579. the other 1582. by Ignatio c. both written at large by Mendoza But I hasten to our Iesuites exacter Relations Only I will conclude this Storie with Alfaros returne from China to the Philippinas and his Relation of their Witch-crafts vsed in a Tempest then happening after that two Letters mentioning English ships on that Coast. But it so fell out as they were going alongst the Coast of the Iland for to enter into the Port of Manilla and being within fiue leagues of the entry thereof vpon a sudden there arose the North-wind with so great furie and caused so great a Sea that they found themselues in a great deale more danger then in the other storme past in such sort that they sponed before the winde with their fore-sayle halfe Mast high shaking it selfe all to pieces and in euery minute of an houre readie to be drowned The Chinois for that they are Superstitious and Witches beganne to inuocate and call vpon the Deuill for to bring them out of that trouble which is a thing commonly vsed amongst them at all times when they find themselues in the like perplexitie also they doe request of him to shew them what they should do to bring themselues out of trouble But when the Spaniards vnderstood their dealings they did disturbe them that they should not perseuer in their Lots and Inuocations and beganne to conjure the Deuils which was the occasion that they would not answere vnto the Inuocation of the Chinois who did call them after diuers manners yet they heard a Deuill say that they should not blame them because they did not answere vnto their demand for they could not doe it for that they were disturbed by the conjuration of those Spanish Fathers which they carried with them in their ship So presently when the night was come God was so pleased that the storme ceased and became in few houres very calme although it endured but a while for as they began to set sayle to nauigate towards the Port and almost at the point to enter into the same a new storme seized on them and with so great force that they were constrayned to returne vnto the Sea for feare to bee broken in pieces vpon the shoare The Chinos began anew to inuocate the Deuils by writing which is a way that they neuer let but doe answere them as they did at this instant and were not disturbed by the coniurations of the Fathers yet notwithstanding they lyed in their answer for that they said that within three dayes they should be within the Citie of Manilla and after it was more then foure dayes In conclusion hauing by the fauour of almightie God ouercome all their trauels by the Sea and the necessitie of the lacke of water and victuals they arriued at the desired Port the second day of February Anno 1580. whereas they were receiued by the Gouernour and of all the rest with great ioy c. Two Letters taken out of BARTOLOME LEONARDO DE ARGENSOLA his Treatise called Conquista de las Islas Malucas Printed at Madrid 1609. pagg. 336.337 mentioning the comming of two English ships to China which seeme to bee two ships of the fleet of BENIAMIN WOOD The former written by the Visitor of Chincheo in China vnto the Gouernor of the Philippinas Don PEDRO DE ACVNNA TO the grand Captaine of Luzon Because wee haue vnderstood that the Chineses which went to trade and trafficke into the Kingdome of Luzon haue beene slaine by the Spaniards wee haue made inquisition of the cause of these slaughters and haue besought the King to doe iustice on him that hath beene the cause of so great mischiefe to procure a remedie for the time to come and that the Merchants may liue in peace and safety In the yeeres past before I came hither to be Visitour a certaine Sangley called Tioneg with three Mandarines or Iudges hauing the Kings Passe came to Cabit in Luzon to seeke Gold and Siluer which was all lyes because he found neither Gold
nor Siluer And therefore I besought the King that he would punish this deceiuer Tioneg that the good iustice that is vsed in China might be knowne In the time of the former Vice-roy and Capado Tioneg and his companion Yanlion deliuered this vntruth I afterward besought the King that hee would cause all the Papers of the cause of Tioneg to be coppied out and that he would send for the said Tioneg with his processes before himselfe And I my selfe saw the said Papers and caused it to appeare that all was but lyes which the said Tioneg had said I wrote vnto the King saying That by reason of the lyes which Tioneg had made the Castillians suspected that wee sought to make warre vpon them and that therefore they had slayne aboue thirtie thousand Chineses in Luzon The King did that which I besought him And so he chastised the said Yanlion commanding him to bee put to death And hee commanded Tionegs head to be cut off and to be put in a Cage The people of China which were slayne in Luzon were in no fault And I with others negotiated this businesse with the King that I might know his pleasure in this affaire and in another matter which was this That there came two English ships to these coasts of Chincheo a thing very dangerous for China That the King might consider what was to bee done in these two matters of so great importance Likewise wee wrote vnto the King that he would command the two Sangleys to be punished which shewed the Hauen to the Englishmen And after wee had written these things aforesaid to the King he answered vs thâ—t wee should learne wherefore the English ships came vnto China whether they came to robbe or no That they should dispatch from thence a Messenger immediatly to Luzon and that they should signifie to them of Luzon that they should not giue credite to the base and lying people of China And that forthwith they should put to death those two Sangleyes which shewed the Hauen to the Englishmen And touching the rest that wee wrote vnto him wee should doe as wee thought best After wee had receiued this order the Vice-roy the Capado and I sent this message to the Gouernour of Luzon That his Lordship might know the greatnesse of the King of China Seeing hee is so mightie that hee gouerneth all that the Moone and Sunne doe shine vpon And also that the Gouernour of Luzon may know the great wisedome wherewith this mighty Kingdome is gouerned Which Kingdome this long while none durst attempt to offend And albeit the Iaponians haue pretended to disquiet Corea which is vnder the Gouernment of China yet they could not obtayne their purpose but they were driuen out of it And Corea hath remayned in great peace and safety as at this day they of Luzon doe well vnderstand The Answer of Don PEDRO DE ACANNA Gouernour of the Philippinas to the Visitour of Chincheo in China THe Gouernour answered these Letters by the same Messengers that brought them vsing termes full of courtesie and authoritie Hee rehearsed the rebellion of the Sangleyes from the beginning Hee iustified the defense of the Spaniards and the punishment that was executed vpon the Offenders Hee said that no Common-wealth can be gouerned without chastising the bad nor without rewarding the good And therefore that he did not repent him of that execution because it was done for repressing of them that thought to destroy vs. That the Visitour should bee Iudge what hee would doe if the like case should happen in China That the griefe that he had was that he could not saue certaine Sangleyes Merchants Anhayes which died among the offenders But that this was vnpossible to be remedied because the furie of warre doth not giue leaue to kill some and to saue others especially being not knowne of the Souldiers in the heate of battell That vsing mercy to those that remayned aliue condemned them to rowe in the Galleyes which is the punishment which is ordayned among the Castillians for those that haue deserued death Yet if it seeme in China that it ought to be moderated hee would grant them libertie But let it be considered said Don Pedro that this may be a cause that in not chastising so great an offence they may hereafter fall againe into the same A thing that would shut vp all accesse vnto fauour That the goods of the Chineses that were slayne are in safe custodie And that it may be seene that no other affection moueth mee then that of iustice I will shortly send them to be deliuered to the right Heires or vnto such persons as of right they belong vnto None other respect moueth mee to any of these things but that of reason Whereas you tell mee That if I will not set at libertie those prisoners licence will be granted in China to the kinsfolke of those which died in the Rebellion to come with an Armie to Manila it breedeth no feare in mee For I hold the Chineses to be so wise that they will not be moued to such things vpon so weake a ground especially none occasion thereof being giuen them on our part And in case they should be of another minde wee Spaniards are a People which know very well how to defend our Right Religion and Territories And let not the Chineses thinke that they are Lords of all the World as they would haue vs thinke For wee Castillians which haue measured the World with spannes know perfectly the Countreyes of China Wherefore they shall doe well to take knowledge that the King of Spaine hath continuall warres with as mighty Kings as theirs is and doth suppresse them and putteth them to great troubles And it is no new case that when our enemies thinke that they haue vanquished vs they finde vs marching and destroying the Confines of their Land and not to cease vntill wee haue cast them out of their Thrones and taken their Scepters from them I would be much grieued with the change of the commerce But I beleeue also that the Chineses would not willingly lose it since that thereby they obtayne so great profit carrying to their Kingdome our Siluer which neuer faileth in trucke of their merchandise which are slight things and soone worne out The ships of the Englishmen which arriued on the coast of China it was determined not to receiue because they be no Spaniards but rather their enemies and Pirats Wherefore if they come to Manila they shall be punished Finally bâ—causâ— wee Spaniards doe alwaies iustifie our causes and doe boast our selues that it cannot bee said in the world that wee vsurpe other mens possessions nor inuade our friends that shall be fulfilled which is here promised And from hence forward let them know in China that wee neuer doe any thing for feare nor for threats of our enemies Don Pedro concludeth offering continuance of amitie by new bonds of peace with the Kingdomes of
Edict set vp by Co the new Vice-roy blaming the China Interpreters which had put into the heads of Stranger-priests to learne the China language and Characters and to desire some place for to erect a sacred and priuate house threatning those interpreters if they persisted In this dispayre of proceeding they had not beene a weeke gone when from Sciauquin the seate of the Vice-roy one of his guard came to Amacao and brought the Ci-fu so they call the Gouernour of that Prouince his Letters Patents by the Vice-royes authoritie inuiting the Fathers to Sciauquin there to receiue a piece of ground for a Church and dwelling house The cause hereof was an offer made by the Fathers when they were sent away from Sciauchin by the deposed Vice-roy to Canton of a summe of money to any which should procure of the New Vice-roy license for their returne One of the meanest Souldiers in name of Interpreter to the Societie had put vp a Petition to the Vice-roy who sent it to the Gouernour of the Region called Guam-puon of Cequion Prouince to bee dispatched who gaue the former Letters Patents to the Souldier which brought them himselfe to Macao They with great ioy as seeing the Diuine hand herein made ready for the iourney which the former expenses and late Ship-wrackes especially of the Iapon Ship in the I le Leuquiceo which alone hath most of the wealth of the Citie in it made difficult but Gaspar Viegas charitably bestowed the expense seconded also by others Thus full of hope they set sayle and in Canton both now and when before they were dismissed from Sciauquin they found Spaniards Then a Ship which from the Philippinas was bound for New Spaine was wracked at the I le Nan-tau on the Canton coast the men which escaped were kept in durance And now seuen or eight Franciscan Friars which had gone from the same Philippinas for Cauchinchina hearing the King was become a Christian and in their returne were wracked on the I le Hainan and taken and spoyled and presented to the Magistrates for Pirats whose libertie these Iesuites procured promising all recompence at Amacao Hence they had set foorth in the beginning of September 1583. and in the same moneth came to Sciauquin in that Souldiers companie by whom they were conueyed to the Gouernours Palace and kneeling before him made request as in the Souldiers mentioned Petition had beene contayned and were kindly answered that they should goe about the Citie and spye out some conuenient place for their purpose which hee doubted not to procure of the Vice-roy for them At the same time at Sciauquin they were erecting by the common charge of the Eleuen Cities of that Iurisdiction a Tower whereof one floore was now raysed to which they intended to adde nine others aboue it in a pleasant place by the Riuers side a myle and more from the Citie the Suburbes continuing further then it In the same place they set foorth a Temple and therein erected a Statue to the Gouernour whose sixe yeeres gouernment had well deserued of the learned and of the vulgar A piece of that field in which the flourishing Tower so they called it was building they desired which hee liked well and promised to further them with the Vice-roy The Iesuites at their former departure had left an Altar with one Ciu Nico who had placed the same in a conuenient place for want of Images inscribing aboue it Thien Chu in Cubicall letters that is To the Lord of Heauen Hee made also thereunto diuers Incenses and at set times yeelded diuine honors before it which much reioyced the Fathers seeing that there was one found which inuoked the true God And this man gaue them entertaynment till they had receiued the Vice-royes answer appâ—ouing their request and the next day the Gouernour set foorth a plot of ground for them with straight caution to obserue the Lawes of China and to admit no Strangers companions to dwell with them which they promised Much was the concourse and admiration of people much the wonder at their triangle Glasse the Image of our Ladie a wrought Handkerchiffe with which they presented the Gouernour but hee returned all afterward fearefull of Bribe-imputation Much trouble arose about that place and another was assigned them where they began to build and were forced to pawne their precious triangle Glasse to fit it for their vse they obtayned also an ample Charter from the Vice-roy and two Patents from the Gouernour which protected them from wrongs In these beginnings they made little mention of the Gospell but imployed their spare time in learning the Language and Characters by a Holy life seeking to insinuate themselues into the peoples good liking Their habite was like the modestest of the Chinois a long Gowne with large sleeues Their house had two Cells and betwixt them a Hall with an Altar in the midst on which they set the Image of the Blessed Virgin carrying her Sonne They called their God Thien-cui Lord of Heauen for the Chinois want the D. which caused that they could not giue any name more fit and this name continueth to this day although they vse others also as Highest Ruler of all First beginning of all and the like The blessed Virgin is called the Great Mother of God This Image on the Altar all which visited them both Magistrates Students Priests and common people did religiously worship kneeling and after their rite knocking lightly the ground with their fore-heads They admired the excellencie of the Picture and colours without ceasing But when it began to bee rumoured that they worshipped a Woman for God they tooke away that Picture and substituted the Image of Christ. After this they painted the ten Commandements in the China language which many approued Some brought them Incense for holy vses and some bestowed their Almes others also Oyle for the Lampe which burned before the Altar and the Fathers commended their Law as agreeing to the light of Nature The first which was Baptised was a poore diseased man cast foorth by his parents whom they instructed and a little before his death baptised The reliefe which they bestowed on him before caused a rumour amongst the vulgar that those Strangers knew by the mans complexion that hee had a precious stone in his head the cause of all that benificence The Chinois much admired the Bookes of which the Fathers had store the artificiall binding gilding cost goodlinesse of the Print and their studiousnesse in the China bookes and receiued with great applause a Booke of Christian learning which they printed Yea the Gouernour after the China rite would needs doe them publike honour which is done by sending a goodly Table with Cubitall letters in praise of them with the Magistrates name and the date inscribed in lesse letters Two of these with great pompe hee sent vnto them the one to bee set ouer the entrance with inscription
spoken of the situation and heigth of China I will note for their sakes which would bee glad to learne and also it may serue to mend two notable errours which our newest Maps haue The one is That they make China a third part bigger then it is placing this Citie of Paquin in fifty degrees being in very deed but in forty onely as we saw which twice tooke the heigth thereof with a very good Astrolabe And the limits and end of this Kingdome which are three dayes iourney or lesse distant from this City of Paquin are at the most but two degrees more And so those great walls so famous in our Europe are in two and forty degrees and this is the greatest heigth of the Kingdome of China The second errour is that our Maps make a Kingdome aboue China which they call Catayo whereas indeed it is none other but this selfe same Kingdome of China and the Citie of Cambalu which they put for the head thereof is this Citie of Paquin wherein wee are Wee finde this here to be true very plainely by occasion of certaine newes which lately were spred ouer diuers parts by the way of Mogor which gaue out many things and great matters of Catayo which seemed to be so peculiar and proper to this Kingdome of China that they made vs doubt that it was not a seuerall Kingdome After wee were come to this Citie of Paquin wee met with two Cafilas or Carauans one of Moores of certaine small Kingdomes bordering vpon China another of Turkes with their Turbants of the Countries of Mogâ—r and of the great Ismael Sophi for with this very name they call him and of other parts which had knowledge by fame of Spaine Italie Venice India and Portugall These Turkes and Moores are wont to come hither euery fiue yeeres by Land in the name of their King to acknowledge and pay Tribute to the King of China for which purpose they counterfeit certaine Letters wherewith they easily deceiue the Chinois which thinke and hold that all the Kings of the World doe acknowledge obedience vnto theirs But the trueth is that they come to vse their trafficke and merchandise and therefore the Chinois admit them willingly howbeit many now doe know that their paying of Tribute is a fayned thing In which their trafficke they speed very well For the King doth maintayne them very plentifully from the time that they come into his Kingdome vntill their departure and they tooke all their Chists of them whereof this yeere they brought a thousand The King tooke of them at an easie price a great part of the merchandise which they brought and afterward hee gaue them rewards The thing of greatest bulke of merchandise are a kinde of stones which themselues call Iasper stones which is white yet somewhat duskish so that it enclineth to grey which seemeth to bee that Iasper which so often times in the holy Scriptures is called Precious stone It commeth in pieces vnhewen but whole like peeble stones which stone for many ornaments the Chinois esteeme much especially the King and they buy euery pound of the best at eightie Duckets and of that which is worse at fiftie or sixtie Duckets whereby they gaine greatly I haue seene these stones of other colours in our Countrey but not of this which the Chinois esteeme When these men come to this Citie of Paquin they put them into a great house which there is for this purpose wherein wee were two moneths and suffer them not to come forth Wee asked these men certaine questions and one was this of Catayo enquiring of them How they called this Kingdome of China in their Countrey They answered Catayo and that in all the Countries of Mogor Persia and other parts it had none other name and that they knew none other Kingdome that was called so Wee asked them how they called this Citie of Paquin They said Cambalu which as I haue said is that which our men set downe for the head Citie of Catayo Whereby it appeareth that there can no doubt bee made but that wee are heere resident in the Countrey which must bee Catayo if there were no fault in the Maps and wee know that there is no such Countrey nor Cities but a few contemptible Moores and Gentiles Wee vnderstood also of their Ciuet or Muske whereof they brought some which is as it were the maw or stomacke of a Beast somewhat bigger then a Cat which they kill to cut away this maw They breed wilde in the field and in a Countrey very neere to China though not of this Kingdome I had read when I departed out of Spaine a Booke which is printed of the things of China which writeth of this Ciuet and of other things which I haue seene with mine eyes it reporteth many errours by halfe informations which hee which wrote it should haue beene better informed in although in many things hee tell the trueth They brought also great store of very good Rhubarbe which heere wee bought of them of the choice at ten Marauedis the pound it is a wilde root like vnto Nauewes whereof they say the fields are full These men say That there is a Sea of sand which our Maps doe place in Arabia neere vnto China which diuideth it from Mogor and other Kingdomes And this should seeme to bee the cause why these Kings which heare great fame of this Kingdome of the greatnesse thereof and of the weakenesse of the people doe not seeke to inuade the same being not very farre off because it would bee very difficult to passe ouer the same sandie Sea with a great Armie The Chinois diuide this Kingdome into thirteene Prouinces and two Courts which are as it were two Prouinces Euery one of them haue their Metropolitane Citie and euery Citie her diuision of so many Townes It is knowne very particularly by Chinish Bookes which are written of this argument how many Cities Townes and places there are in all the Kingdome how many houses euery one hath and commonly what numbers of people what euery Countrey seuerally yeeldeth and how much Tribute it payeth to the King and many other things but I doe not set it downe here because I could not get those Bookes these few dayes past to take a view thereof At some other time God granting mee life I will doe it more at large Onely I say in generall that all the way which wee trauelled wee met with so many Cities Townes and Villages that to beleeue their greatnesse it was necessarie to see them For your Worship will hardly beleeue that wee spent two or three houres in sayling still by the walls of one Citie After which there still followed many Townes and Villages one within sight of another And after this manner all this way continueth euen to Paquin Yea the Villages are very great and full of people and of much trafficke For though wee giue them this
grieuous punishment besides the losing of their Offices for that was certayn neuerthelesse there were many men of courage which wrote vnto him among whom there was one very renowned The letter which he wrote to the King began thus That although hee were assured that he were to be hanged and that the Fire were kindled to burne him yet hee would reprehend his vices and lewdnesses and the euill example that hee gaue to all his Kingdome And so hee did and spake verie freely and put him in great feare And it seemeth that for his sinceritie and courage the King had some regard of him and though hee punished him yet it was verie moderately There fell out another accident in this kinde within these few yeeres which because it is notable I will heere set it downe This King hath many women besides his lawfull wife which among themselues keepe the order of first and second Hee hath no Sonnes by his lawfull Wife but he hath one which is the eldest of the third or fourth and others yonger of the second The Eldest by the custome or lawes of the Kingdome is the lawfull inheritour although he bee of the fourth wife but hee bare more affection to the other and to her Sonne and desired by her perswasion to aduance him to bee Prince and would not haue aduanced the lawfull Heire The time being passed to performe the same many Mandarins lost their Offices for reprehending him of this disorder and for seeking to make him aduance the Eldest But the principall Mandarins of the Court perceiuing that hee proceeded on and would not doe that which they requested and which was reason consulted together and published a Proclamation which commanded all the Mandarins which are in the Court which are aboue some thousands that vnder paine of losing their Office they should all meete at such a day and such an houre in such a place of the Kings Palaces When they were all assembled at the day appointed with their Ensignes of Mandarins they put vp a Petition vnto the King saying That since so often they had aduised him of a thing so Iust and that hee made none account of them not seeking to aduance the true Prince that hee should seeke those that would serue him that all of them would there giue ouer their Ensignes of Mandarins and would no longer serue It seemeth the King was afraid of so great a resolution of the chiefest men of his Kingdome And so hee commanded an Eunuch to goe foorth vnto them and answer them that they should resume their Offices in Gods name and that hee would fulfill their request Finally they did effect so much that they caused him to doe that which was reason and so this yeere 1602. hee aduanced the true Prince of whom hereafter I will speake somewhat §. VI. Of the Gouernment of China Of the Mandarins the China Complements and manifold nicities NOw I haue touched the state of the Mandarins it offereth it selfe to speake of the manner of Gouernment in particular But I confesse vnto your Worship that the multitude of Offices which they haue is so great a frame that I was not able to vnderstand it to reduce it into order Onely I will say in generall that they haue many good things belonging vnto Gouernment but not the execution finally it is a Gouernment of Gentiles with a thousand faults There are no great store of Lawes but commonly they decide Controuersies of their owne heads and make Lawes in their Iurisdiction after their pleasure euery one diuerse And heere your Worship may imagine that the Gouernment in the practise cannot bee very iust since euery one that can tell how to make a good theame or exercise are not sufficient to bee Law-makers And it is very ordinarie among them to direct all things to their owne profit whereby of necessitie they commit many absurdities and wrongs and take all that they can get Bribes are vsuall and men vse these more then any thing else And though one of them know this fault in another they all dissemble as being in the same fault that others may winke at them And though they seeke to hide it one from another yet it is like the secret of Anchuelus The Mandarins are many in all Cities but very extraordinarie in the Courts of Nanquin and Paquin For in this Citie of Paquin besides the Mandarins of Armes whereof no great account is made and are more in number then the rest and besides those which alwayes repaire thither vpon the businesses of all the Prouinces Those that properly belong to this Citie and Court are aboue two thousand and fiue hundred who all or the most part heare Causes ordinarily twice a day so that wee cannot imagine what businesses occupie so many Mandarins nor what is the Iurisdiction of euerie one The most principall which are in all the Kingdome and heere are sixe Presidents of sixe Councels being the chiefest of the Kingdome There is one which is the greatest to whom belongeth the gouernment of all the Mandarins of the Kingdome to aduance them to higher Offices that doe deserue it and as much as they deserue to chastise and to degrade those which badly performe their Office which because it is a place so great and honourable the Chinois call him The Mandarin of Heauen who proposeth all these things to the King as to promote to aduance to disgrade the Mandarins and the King confirmeth them So that all the Mandarins how small soeuer they bee that are in all the Kingdome are appointed by the King The second hath the charge of all things belonging vnto Ceremonies as well humane of Courtesies and ceremonies in all royall Acts as in making the King the Prince and in marrying of them c. And all that which belongeth to the worship of the Sacrifices of the Dead and others which the Kings offer to Heauen and Earth There is another chiefe of the Councell of Warre another of the Kings Treasure which taketh the account of the Kings rents another Councell is of the Workes as of the Kings houses prouision for all things necessarie for the Walls of the Cities c. There is another of Chastisement whereunto causes criminall and sentences of Death doe belong Aboue these sixe there is onely one Degree which are absolutely the greatest before whom whatsouer the King doth in any thing is consulted of Although it bee true that these be rich and opulent in the conceit of the Chinois yet none of them in any thing may compare with any of the meanest Lord of title of our Countrey The wages which they haue of the King is small the attendance which they haue is of base people and of small countenance yet they are much respected and obeyed And the common people kneeleth vnto them as to the Mandarins The common chastisement which all the Mandarins doe giue is to whip them with peeces
the Kings Palace and offered vp their Magistracies if he persisted to breake the Law Lately also when the chiefe of the Colai did not obserue the Law in two moneths space about one hundred Libels were put vp notwithstanding they knew him a great Fauourite and hee dyed within a while after as was thought of griefe There are also besides Magistrates not a few Colledges instituted for diuers purposes but the most eminent is that called Han lin Yuen into which none are chosen but choice Doctors after due Examinations They which liue in that Royall Colledge meddle not with Gouernment yet are of higher dignitie then the Gouernours Their Office is to order the Kings Writing to make Annals of the Kingdome to write Lawes and Statutes Of these are chosen the Masters of the Kings and Princes They wholly addict themselues to their studies and in the Colledge haue their degrees of honours which they attayne by writing Thence they are preferred to great dignities but not out of the Court. Neither is any chosen to bee a Colao but out of this Colledge They gaine much also by Writings for their Friends Epitaphs Inscriptions and the like which all seeke to haue of them their name giuing credit and reputation of Elegance These are the chiefe for Examinations of Licentiates and Doctors who hold them for Masters and send them Presents All these Pequin Magistrates are found also at Nanquin but obscured by the Kings absence Hum vu had fixed his Seat at Nanquin but after his death Yun lo one of his Nephewes who in the Northerne Prouinces defended with an Armie those Borders against the Tartars perceiuing Hum-vâ—â— Sonne but weake thought to depriue him of the Kingdome which hee effected by helpe of the Northerne Prouinces and with force fraud and largesse obtayned his Vncles Throne And because he was strongest in the North parts and most feare was from the Tartars there he there fixed his Residence where the Tartar Kings had wonted to abide and called that Citie Pequin that is the Northerne Court as Nanquin signifieth the Southerne leauing to this the former Offices and Immunities The Gouernment of the other thirteene Prouinces depends on two Magistrates the one Pucinsu the other Naganzasu the former judging Ciuill Causes the later Criminall both residing with great Pompe in the Mother Citie of the Prouince In both Courts are diuers Colleagues and they also chiefe Magistrates called Tauli which gouerning other Cities often reside in them The Prouinces are all distributed into diuers Regions which they call Fu each of which hath a peculiar Gouernour called Cifu These Regions are subdiuided into Ceu and Hien that is the greater or more eminent Townes and those which are more vulgar which are not lesse then our Cities if you except our greatest These haue their speciall Gouernours called Ciceu and Cihien The Gouernours of Cities and Regions haue their foure Assistants and Colleagues as Auditors and Iudges to helpe them As for the opinion of some that thinke those only to bee Cities which are called Fu and Ceu and Hien to bee Townes it is an errour for the City wherein the Gouernour of the Region resides is also called Hien and hath its peculiar Gouernour called Cihien and Assistants and the Cifu hath no more power there then in other places of his Iurisdiction which is the first Appeale to him as Superiour from the Cihien or Ciceu The second Appeale is to the Pucimfu and Naganzosu and their Colleagues in the Metropolitane Cities which Cities likewise haue their Cihien and Cifu aswell as the Subordinate all in incredible Symmetrie And because the whole Prouinciall Gouernment hath reference to Pequin therefore in euery Prouince besides these are other two superiour to them sent from the Royall Citie the one fixing his Residence in the Prouince called Tutam which may bee compared to our Vice-roy hauing command ouer other Magistrates and in Martiall affaires the other is yeerely sent from the Court and is called Cia-yuen as a Commissioner or Visitor which reuiewes all the Causes of the Prouince the Cities also and Castles inquireth of the Magistrates and punisheth some of the meaner sort acquainting the King touching the rest how euery one demeaneth himselfe and he onely executeth Capitall punishments Besides these are many others in Cities Townes and Villages and beside them many which haue command of Souldiers especially in the Confines and on the Coasts in supinest Peace watching and warding in Ports Walls Bridges Castles as in the hottest Warres with Musters and Martiall exercises All the Magistrates of the Kingdome are reduced to nine Orders whether you respect the Philosophicall or Militarie Senate to all which out of the Treasury is proportionably distributed monethly pay Money or Rice yet little answerable to that their Magnificence the highest Order not hauing one thousand Duckets yeerely and equall to all of the same ranke the supreame in matters of Warre hauing as much as the supreame in the literate Order if you looke to that which the Law alloweth But much more accrueth extraordinarie then this fee or stipend besides what any mans industrie couetise fortune bribing addeth by which they oft attayne to great wealth All the Magistrates vse the same Caps both Mercuriall and Martiall of blacke Cloath with two Eares or wings of Ouall figure which may easily fall off which being a disgrace causeth the more modestie and steadinesse in carriage of their heads They all weare like Vest and like blacke leather Bootes of peculiar fashion also a Girdle wider then the body about foure fingers broad adorned with circular and square Figures On the breast and backe they weare two square Cloathes Embroidered in which and the Girdles is great varietie according to their diuers Degrees by which the skilfull know their ranke and place The cloathes intimate it by the figures of Flowers Fowles Beasts the girdles by the matter of Wood Horne Sweet wood Gold or Siluer and the best of all of that Iasper before mentioned called Tu ce brought from Cascar Their shadowes or Sumbreros by their Colours and numbers intimate like difference They haue other Ornaments Banners Chaynes Censors Guards with Cryes to make way that in most frequent streetes no man appeareth more or lesse according to the Magistrates Dignitie The Chinois hauing plentie of all things care not for subduing the neighbour-Nations better keeping their owne lesse caring for others Countries then our Europeans their Chronicles of foure thousand yeeres not mentioning any care of enlarging their Empire And if any China impressions or foot-prints bee it is from men voluntarily going to other Countries not from the Kings ambition sending them It is also remarkeable that Philosopers beare all the sway the Souldiers and Captaynes being subject to them and sometimes beaten of them as Schoole-boyes by their Master euen in Militarie matters the King more vsing the aduise of Philosohpers then Captaynes whereupon
King and fiue thousand others standing for their Doctorship of which about three hundred onely are chosen Wearyed with his Ecclesiasticall Fasts also and labour of building a Church hee fell sicke and dyed May 11. 1610. hauing much propagated the Gospell by his writings and furthered it by his Mathematickes For all Sects haue beene there more encreased by Writing then Preaching Hee dyed leauing much sorrow to his friends and care also in that China scrupulositie how and where to interre him It was the counsell of their friends to put vp a Petition to the King whereupon they resolued and Pantogia by Doctor Leos helpe thus Petitioned in behalfe of Ricius his Corps I Iames Pantogia subiect of the Kingdomes of the great West Offer a Supplication in behalfe of another Forrainer now deceased I humbly beseech your great Clemencie for a place of Buriall that your Royall beneficence may extend to all euen Strangers of remotest Regions I Iames Pantogia am a Stranger of a most remote Kingdome but mooued with the vertue and fame of your most Noble Kingdome haue in three yeeres sayle with much trouble passed hither aboue sixe thousand leagues In the eight and twentieth yeere of Vanlie for so as wee they account their yeeres by the Kings raigne in the twelfth Moone I with Matthew Ricius came into your Court where wee presented some gifts and haue since beene sustayned at the Kings charge The nine and twentieth yeere of Vanlie in the first Moone we Petitioned your Maiestie for a place of residence and haue many yeeres enioyed the Royall bountie In the eight and thirtieth yeere of Vanlie the eighteenth day of the third Moone Ricius dyed I a Client of the Kingdome of the great West remaine a fit subiect of pitie The returne into our Countrey is long c. And I now after so many yeares stay suppose that wee may bee numbred to the people which followeth your Royall Chariot that your Clemencie like that of Yao may not contayne it selfe in the Kingdome of China alone c. So proceeds he to set foorth the good parts of Ricius and with a long supplication to begge a place of Buryall some Field or part of a Temple and hee with his fellowes should obserue their wonted Prayers to the Lord of Heauen for thousands of yeeres to him and his Mother This Libell was written with peculiar forme Characters Seales many Rites herein necessarily obserued Before any bee offered to the King it must bee viewed of some Magistrate and they got this to bee allowed by one which is Master of Requests which sent it presently to the King They must also haue many Copies thereof to shew to those Magistrates to whom it appertaines which they did one of them affirming That Ricius deserued a Temple also with his Image to bee there set vp This message hee sent them by another for when they fauour a cause they shew great strangenesse The King commonly answers the third day except hee mislike for then he suppresseth and sends it to the Magistrate that had presented it who shewes which of the sixe is the peculiar Court which iudgeth of these things This being sent to the Rituall Tribunall Their answer is sent to the King within a Moneth which there is a short space and repeating the Petition verbatim and the Kings command to the peculiar Office answers what the Law sayth in that case and concludes the Petition to bee agreeing to Iustice and earnestly pleades and sues for confirmation The King sends this answers to the Colao which subscribed his approbation which being sent againe to the King hee subscribed with his owne hand Xi that is Fiat or bee it done which the third day after was deliuered them The Iesuites hauing so speedie and prosperous successe bethought of gratifying their friends which had furthered this designe with Dyals especially to the Colao which vsed Pantogia very kindly and writ to the Gouernour of Pequin to looke out a place fitting Three or foure were offered to their choyse one of which much pleased them It was aboue a quarter of a myle from one of the Citie gates built by an Eunuch who now was condemned for some crime and left his Palace which hee had heere builded with the expence of aboue foureteene thousand Duckats which in China is a great summe in that cheapnesse of all things farre beyond European computation should fall into the hands of spoylers the goods of Eunuches in this Kingdome vsually becomming his which first can catch them hee consecrated his Palace and made it a Temple maintayning therein one Priest Such Palaces many of the Magistrates haue neere to the Cities as retyring places and Tusculanes for their Muses The portraiture of this whole House with the Garden and other appurtenances Trigautius hath set foorth in Picture being after the China building with the doore Southwards and so running a great length into the North with foure great Halls one beyond another in the middle parts and on each side Chambers and other Roomes beyond all the Garden the pillars of Timber bearing vp the roofe the walls and pauement of Bricke The outmost of these Halls was conuerted into a Temple or Idoll-Chappell in which was a great Altar of Stone and Bricke cunningly fretted paynted red a colour forbidden to priuate Houses and vpon the middest thereof sate a huge Monster of Earth gilded from top to toe of massie quantitie The Chinois call it Ti cam the God as they fable of the Earth Treasures as Pluto in the Poets In his hand was a Scepter on his head a Crowne not vnlike those vsed by our Kings On each side stood foure ministers of the same matter on both sides of the Roome two great Tables and on each of them fiue Kings or great Officers of Hell On both the wals were painted the same Officers or Iudges sitting on their seuerall Tribunals giuing sentence on wicked men euery one according to the condition of his Court. Before them stood many Deuils more terribly formed then with vs. The paines of Hell also were so deciphered that could not but strike terrour to the beholders some rosted in yron Beds some fryed in scalding Oyle some cut in pieces or diuided in the middle or torne of Dogges or otherwise tortured The first those Iudges examined the faults which they said hee saw in a certayne Glasse Those which hee found guiltie were sent to the other Iudges according to the qualitie of the crimes One of these was Iudge in Cases of Transmigration which sent the soules of cruell men into Tygres of vncleane persons into Swine and the like or if their crimes were smaller into the poorer sort There was a great Ballance in one of the Scales a man laden with sinnes in the other one of their Hypocriticall Prayer-bookes which counterpoysed the other Scale and freed the Sinner There ranne through the midst of Hell a discoloured Riuer which carried away many For
oppression of their Subiects being themselues of a Christian profession By this it appeareth how hard a matter it were to alter the state of the Russe Gouernment as now it standeth THe Emperours of Russia giue the name of Counsellour to diuers of their chiefe Nobilitie rather for honours sake then for any vse they make of them about their matters of State These are called Boiarens without any addition and may be called Counsellours at large For they are seldome or neuer called to any publike consultation They which are of his speciall and priuie Counsell indeed whom he vseth daily and ordinarily for all publike matters pertayning to the State haue the addition of Dumnoy and are named Dumnoy boiaren or Lords of the Counsell their Office or Sitting Boarstua dumâ—a Their names at this present are these in their order First Knez Feoder Ioanowich Methisloskey 2. Knez Iuan Michailowich Glinskoy 3. Knez Vasilie Iuanowich Suskoy Scopin These three are accounted to be of greater birth then wisedome taken in as may seeme for that end rather to furnish the place with their honours and presence then with their aduice or counsell 4. Knez Vasilie Iuanowich Suskoy thought to be more wise then the other of his name 5. Knez Feoder Michailowich 6. Knez Michata Romanowich Trowbetskoy 7. Knez Timophey Romanowich Trowbetskoy 8. Knez Andriew Gregoriwich Curakine 9. Knez Demetrie Iuanowich Forestine 10. Knez Feoder Iuanowich Forestine 11. Bodan Iuanowich Sabaroue 12. Knez Iuan Vasilowich 13. Knez Feoder Demetriwich Shestinoue 14. Knez Feoder Michailowich Troyconioue 15. Iuan Buterlyney 16. Demetrie Iuanowich Godonoe 17. Borrise Federowich Godonoe brother to the Empresse 18. Stephan Vasilowich Godonoe 19. Gregorie Vasilowich Godonoe 20. Iuan Vasilowich Godonoe 21. Feoder Sheremitoue 22. Andrew Petrowich Cleshenina 23. Ignatiâ— Petrowich Tatisloue 24. Romain Michailowich Peua 25. Demenshoy Iuanowich Cheremissen 26. Romain Vasilowich Alferioue 27. Andriew Shalcaloue 28. Vasilie Shalcaloue 29. Eleazar Wellusgin 30. Drezheen Penteleoue 31. Zapon Abramoue The foure last of these are called Dumnoy deiakey or Lord-Secretaries These are all of the Emperours priuie Counsell though but few of them are called to any consultation for that all matters are aduised and determined vpon by Borris Federowich Godonoe brother to the Empresse with some fiue or sixe more whom it pleaseth him to call If they come they are rather to heare then to giue counsell and doe so demeane themselues The matters occurrent which are of State done within the Realme are informed them at their â—ittings by the Lords of the foure Chetfirds or Tetrarchies Whereof mention is made in the Chapter concerning the Gouernment of their Prouinces Who bring in all such Letters as they receiue from the Dukes Dyacks Captaines and other Officers of the Citie and Castles pertayning to their seuerall Quarter or Chetfird with other aduertisements and informe the Counsell of them The like is done by the chiefe Officer of euery seuerall Office of Record who may come into the Counsell-chamber and informe them as occasion incident to his Office doth require Besides matters of State they consider of many priuate Causes informed by the way of supplication in very great numbers Whereof some they entertayne and determine as the Cause or meanes can procure fauour Some they send to the Offices whereto they pertayne by common course of Law Their ordinary dayes for their sitting are Mondayes Wednesdayes and Fridayes Their time of meeting is commonly seuen of the clocke in the morning If there bee any extraordinary occasion that requireth consultation on some other day they haue warning by the Clerke of of the Counsell called Dorofey Bushew who receiueth order from the Roserad or High Constable of the Realme to call them together at the time appointed FOr the receiuing of Customes and other Rents belonging to the Crowne there are appointed diuers Vnder-officers which deliuer ouer the same into the head Treasurie The first is the Office of Dwoertsoua or Steward of the houshold The second is the Office of the Chetfirds which I comprehend vnder one though it be diuided into foure seuerall parts as was said before The third is called Bulsha Prechode or the great Income As touching the first which is the Office of the Steward it receiueth all the Rents of the Emperours Inheritance or Crowne-land which they call Vochin The Vochin or Crown-land contayneth in it sixe and thirtie Townes with the Territories or Hundreds belonging vnto them Whereof the chiefe that yeeld the greatest Rents are these Alexandrisca Corelska Otfer Slobodey Danielska Moisalskoy Chara Sametska Strararouse Bransoue c. The Inhabitants or Tenants of these and the other Townes pay some Rent money some other Rent duties called Obrâ—key as certaine Chetfirds or measures of Graine Wheat Rye Barley Oats c. or of other victuall as Oxen Sheepe Swannes Geese Hares Hennes wilde Fowle Fish Hay Wood Honey c. Some are bound to sowe for the Emperours prouision certaine acres of ground and to make the Corne ready for his vse hauing for it an allowance of certaine acres of ground for their owne proper vse This prouision for the houshold specially of Graine serued in by the Tenants is a great deale more then is spent in his house or in other allowance serued out in liuery or for the Emperours honour called Schalouaney for which vse there is bestowed very much both in Graine and other Victuall This surplus of prouision is sold by the Steward to the best hand and runneth into the Emperours Treasurie In the time of Iuan Vasilowich father to this Emperour who kept a more Princely and bountifull house then the Emperour now doth this ouerplus of Graine and other incomes into the Stewards Office yeelded to his Treasurie not past 60000. Rubbels yeerely but riseth now by good husbanding of the Steward Gregory Vasilowich Godonoe to 230000. Rubbels a yeere And this by the meanes of the Empresse and her kindred specially Borris Fedorowich Godonoe that account it all their owne that runneth into the Emperors Treasure Much of this surplusage that riseth out of the Rent prouision is employed to the payment of the wages of his houshold Officers which are very many attending at home and purueying abroad The second Office of Receit is called the Chetfirds being diuided into foure seuerall parts as before was said hath foure head Officers which besides the ordering and gouernment of the Shires contayned within their seuerall Chetfirds haue this also as a part of their Office to receiue the Tagla and Podat belonging to the Emperour that riseth out of the foure Chetfirds or Quarters The Tagla is a yeerly Rent or Imposition raised vpon euery Wiâ—e or measure of Graine that groweth within the Land gathered by sworne men and brought into the Office The Wite contayneth sixtie Chetfirds Euery Chetfird is three Bushels English or little lesse The Podat is an ordinary Rent of money imposed vpon euery Soake or Hundred within the whole
the punishment that is inflicted vpon them If a man kill his owne seruant little or nothing is said vnto him for the same reason because hee is accounted to be his Kolophey or Bond-slaue and so to haue right ouer his very head The most is some small mulct to the Emperour if the partie bee rich and so the quarrell is made rather against the purse then against the iniustice They haue no written Law saue onely a small Booke that contayneth the time and manner of their sitting order in proceeding and such other Iudiciall formes and circumstances but nothing to direct them to giue Sentence vpon right or wrong Their onely Law is their Speaking Law that is the pleasure of the Prince and of his Magistrates and Officers THe Souldiers of Russia are called Sinaboiarskey or the Sonnes of Gentlemen because they are all of that degree by vertue of their military profession For euery Souldier in Russia is a Gentleman and none are Gentlemen but onely the Souldiers that take it by discent from their Ancestors so that the sonne of a Gentleman which is borne a Souldier is euer a Gentleman and a Souldier withall and professeth nothing else but military matters When they are of yeeres able to beare Armes they come to the Office of Roserade or Great Constable and there present themselues who entreth their names and allotteth them certaine Lands to maintaine their charges for the most part of the same that their fathers enioyed For the Lands assigned to maintayne the Armie are euer certaine annexed to this Office without improuing or detracting one foot But that if the Emperour haue sufficient in wages the roomes being full so farre as the Land doeth extend already they are many times deferred and haue nothing allowed them except some one portion of the Land be diuided into two Which is a cause of great disorder within that Countrey When a Souldier that hath many children shall haue sometimes but one entertayned in the Emperours pay So that the rest hauing nothing are forced to liue by vniust and wicked shifts that tend to the hurt and oppression of the Mousicke or common sort of people This inconuenience groweth by maintayning his forces in a continuall succession The whole number of his Souldiers in continuall pay is this First he hath of his Dworaney that is Pensioners or Guard of his person to the number of 15000. Horsemen with their Captaines and other Officers that are alwaies in a readinesse Of these fifteene thousand Horsemen there are three sorts or degrees which differ as well in estimation as in wages one degree from another The first sort of them is called Dworaney Bulshey or the companie of head Pensioners that haue some 100. some 80. Rubbels a yeere and none vnder 70. The second sort are called Seredney Dworaney or the middle ranke of Pensioners these haue 60. or 50. Rubbels by the yeere none vnder 40. The third and lowest sort are the Dyta Boiarskey that is the lowe Pensioners their salarie is 30. Rubbels a yeere for him that hath most some haue but 25. some 20. none vnder 12. Whereof the halfe part is payd them at the Mosko the other halfe in the field by the General when they haue any warres and are employed in seruice When they receiue their whole pay it amounteth to 55000. Rubb by the yeere And this is their wages besides lands allotted to euery one of them both to the greater and the lesse according to their degrees Whereof he that hath least hath to yeeld him 20. Rubbels or Markes by the yeere Besides these 15000. Horsemen that are of better choise as being the Emperours owne Guard when himselfe goeth to the warres not vnlike the Roman Souldiers called Pretoriani are 110. men of speciall account for their Nobilitie and trust which are chosen by the Emperour and haue their names registred that find among them for the Emperours warres to the number of 65000. Horsemen with all necessaries meet for the warres of the Russe manner To this end they haue yeerely allowance made by the Emperour for themselues and their Companies to the summe of 40000. Rubbels And these 65000. are to repaire to the field euery yeere on the borders towards the Chrim Tartar except they bee appointed for some other seruice whether there bee warres with the Tartars or not This might seeme peraduenture somewhat dangerous for some State to haue so great forces vnder the command of Noblemen to assemble euery yeere to one certaine place But the matter is so vsed as that no danger can grow to the Emperour or his State by this meanes First Because these Noblemen are many to wit 110. in all and changed by the Emperour so oft as hee thinketh good Secondly Because they haue their liuings of the Emperour being otherwise but of very small Reuenue and receiue this yeerely pay of 40000. Rubbels when it is presently to be paid forth againe to the Souldiers that are vnder them Thirdly Because for the most part they are about the Emperors person being of his Counsell either speciall or at large Fourthly They are rather as Pay-masters then Captaines to their Companies themselues not going forth ordinarily to the warres saue when some of them are appointed by speciall order from the Emperour himselfe So the whole number of Horsemen that are euer in a readinesse and in continuall pay are 80000. a few more or lesse If he haue need of a greater number which seldome falleth out then hee entertayneth of those Sinaboiarskey that are out of pay so many as he needeth and if yet he want of his number hee giueth charge to his Noblemen that hold Lands of him to bring into the field euery man a proportionable number of his seruants called Kolophey such as till his Lands with their furniture according to the iust number that hee intendeth to make Which the seruice being done presently lay in their weapons and returne to their seruile occupations againe Of Footmen that are in continuall pay he hath to the number of 12000. all Gunners called Strelsey Whereof 5000. are to attend about the Citie of Mosko or any other place where the Emperour shall abide and 2000. which are called Stremaney Stresley or Gunners at the Stirrop about his owne person at the very Court or house where himselfe lodgeth The rest are placed in his garrison Townes till there be occasion to haue them in the field and receiue for their salarie or stipend euery man seuen Rubbels a yeere besides twelue measures a piece of Rye and Oats Of mercenary Souldiers that are strangers whom they call Nimscoy they haue at this time 4300. of Polonians of Chirchasses that are vnder the Polonians about 4000. whereof 3500. are abroad in his Garrisons of Dutches and Scots about 150 of Greekes Turkes Danes and Sweadens all in one band 100. or thereabouts But these they vse only vpon the Tartar side and against the Siberians as they doe
vnlawfull for all the Clergie men except the Priests onely and for them also after the first Wife as was sayd before Neither doe they well allow of it in Lay-men after the second marriage Which is a pretence now vsed against the Emperours onely Brother a childe of sixe yeeres old who therefore is not Prayed for in their Churches as their manner is otherwise for the Princes bloud because hee was borne of the sixt marriage and so not legitimate This charge was giuen to the Priests by the Emperour himselfe by procurement of the Godones who make him beleeue that it is a good policie to turne away the liking of the people from the next successour Many other false opinions they haue in matter of Religion But these are the chiefe which they hold partly by meanes of their traditions which they haue receiued from the Greeke Church but specially by ignorance of the holy Scriptures Which notwithstanding they haue in the Polonian tongue that is all one with theirs some few words excepted yet few of them reade them with that godly care which they ought to doe neither haue they if they would Bookes sufficient of the old and new Testament for the common people but of their Lyturgie onely or Booke of common seruice whereof there are great numbers Which notwithstanding it is not to bee doubted but that hauing the Word of God in some sort though without the ordinarie meanes to attaine to a true sense and vnderstanding of it God hath also his number among them As may partly appeare by that which a Russe at Mosko sayd in secret to one of my Seruants speaking against their Images and other superstitions That God had giuen vnto England light to day and might giue it to morrow if hee pleased to them As for any Inquisition or proceeding against men for matter of Religion I could heare of none saue a few yeeres since against one man and his wife who were kept in a close Prison the space of eight and twentie yeeres till they were ouer-growne into a deformed fashion for their hayre nayles colour of countenance and such like and in the end were burned at Mosko in a small House set on fire The cause was kept secret but like it was for some part of truth in matter of Religion though the people were made to beleeue by the Priests and Friers that they held some great and damnable Heresie THe manner of making and solemnizing their Marriages is different from the manner of other Countries The man though hee neuer saw the woman before is not permitted to haue any sight of her all the time of his wooing which hee doth not by himselfe but by his Mother or some other ancient woman of his kinne or acquaintance When the liking is taken as well by the Parents as by the parties themselues for without the knowledge and consent of the Parents the contract is not lawfull the Fathers on both sides or such as are to them in stead of Fathers with their other chiefe friends haue a meeting and conference about the dowrie which is commonly very large after the abilitie of the parents so that you shall haue a Market man as they call them giue a thousand Rubbels or more with his Daughter As for the man it is neuer required of him nor standeth with their custome to make any joynter in recompence of the dowrie But in case hee haue a Child by his Wife shee enioyeth a third deale after his decease If he haue two Children by her or more she is to haue a courtesie more at the discretion of the husband If the husband depart without issue by his wife shee is returned home to her friends without any thing at all saue onely her dowrie if the husband leaue so much behind him in goods When the agreement is made concerning the dowrie they signe Bonds one to the other as well for the payment of the dowrie as the performing of the Marriage by a certayne day If the woman were neuer married before her Father and friends are bound besides to assure her a Maiden Which breedeth many brabbles and quarrels at Law if the man take any conceit concerning the behauiour and honestie of his wife Thus the contract being made the parties begin to send tokens the one to the other the Woman first then afterwards the Man but yet see not one another till the Marriage bee solemnized On the Eue before the marriage day the Bride is carryed in a Collimago or Coach or in a Sled if it bee winter to the Bridegroomes house with her marriage Apparell and Bed-stead with her which they are to lye in For this is euer prouided by the Bride and is commonly verie faire with much cost bestowed vpon it Heere she is accompanied all that night by her Mother and other women but not welcommed nor once seene by the Bridegroome himselfe When the time is come to haue the marriage solemnized the Bride hath put vpon her a kinde of Hood made of fine Knit-worke or Lawne that couereth her head and all her body downe to the middle And so accompanied with her friends and the Bridegroome with his they goe to Church all on Horsebacke though the Church be neare hand and themselues but of very meane degree The words of contract and other ceremonies in solemnizing the Marriage are much after the order and with the same words that are vsed with vs with a Ring also giuen to the Bride Which being put on and the words of contract pronounced the Brides hand is deliuered into the hand of the Bridegroome which standeth all this while on the one side of the Altar or Table and the Bride on the other So the marriage knot being knit by the Priest the Bride commeth to the Bridegroome standing at the end of the altar or table and falleth downe at his feet knocking her Head vpon his Shooe in token of her subjection and obedience And the Bridegroome againe casteth the lappe of his Gowne or vpper garment ouer the Bride in token of his dutie to protect and cherish her Then the Bridegroome and Bride standing both together at the Tables end commeth first the Father and the other friends of the Bride and how themselues downe low to the Bridegroome and so likewise his friends bow themselues to the Bride in token of affinitie and loue euer after betwixt the two kindreds And withall the Father of the Bridegroome offereth to the Priest a loafe of Bread who deliuereth it straight againe to the Father and other friends of the Bride with attestation before God and their Idols that hee deliuer the dowrie wholly and truely at the day appointed and hold loue euer after one kindred with another Whereupon they breake the Loafe into pieces and eate of it to testifie their true and sincere meanings for performing of that charge and thenceforth to become as graines of one Loafe or men of one Table These ceremonies
He is of thirtie foure yeeres old or thereabouts and hath reigned almost the space of six yeeres THe chiefe Officers of the Emperours houshold are these which follow The first is the Office of the Boiaren Conesheua or Master of the Horse Which contayneth no more then is expressed by the name that is to be Ouer-seer of the Horse and not Magister Equitum or Master of the Horsemen For he appointeth other for that Seruice as occasion doth require as before was said He that beareth that Office at this time is Borris Federowich Godonoe Brother to the Empresse Of Horse for Seruice in his Warres besides other for his ordinary vses he hath to the number of 10000. which are kept about Mosko The next is the Lord Steward of his houshold at this time one Gregorie Vasilowich Godonoe The third is his Treasurer that keepeth all his Moneyes Iewels Plate c. now called Stepan Vasilowich Godonoe The fourth his Comptroller now Andreas Petrowich Clesinine The fift his Chamberlaine He that attendeth that Office at this time is called Estoma Bisabroza Pastelnischay The sixt his Tasters now Theodore Alexandrowich and Iuan Vasilowich Godonoe The seuenth his Harbengers which are three Noblemen no diuers other Gentlemen that do the Office vnder them These are his ordinary Officers and Offices of the chiefest account Of Gentlemen beside that wait about his Chamber and Person called Shilsey Strapsey there are two hundred all Noblemens Sonnes His ordinary Guard is two thousand Hagbutters ready with their Peeces charged and their Match lighted with other necessary Furniture continually day and night which come not within the house but waite without in the Court or Yard where the Emperour is abiding In night time there lodgeth next to his Bed-chamber the chiefe Chamberlaine with one or two more of best trust about him A second chamber off there lodge six other of like account for their trust and faithfulnesse In the third chamber lye certayne young Gentlemen of these two hundred called Shilsey Strapsey that take their turne by forties euery night There are Groomes besides that watch in their course and lye at euery gate and doore of the Court called Estopnick The Hag-butters or Gunners whereof there are two thousand as was said before watch about the Emperours Lodging or Bed-chamber by course two hundred and fiftie euery night and two hundred and fiftie more in the Court-yard and about the Treasure-house His Court or house at the Mosko is made Castle-wise walled about with great store of faire Ordnance planted vpon the wall and contayneth a great breadth of ground within it with many dwelling houses Which are appointed for such as are knowne to be sure and trustie to the Emperour THe priuate behauiour and qualitie of the Russe people may partly be vnderstood by that which hath beene sayd concerning the publike State and vsage of the Countrey As touching the naturall habit of their bodies they are for the most part of a large size and of very fleshly bodies accounting it a grace to be somewhat grosse and burley and therefore they nourish and spread their Beards to haue them long and broad But for the most part they are very vnweldy and vnactiue withall Which may bee thought to come partly of the Climate and the numbnesse which they get by the cold in Winter and partly of their Dyet that standeth most of Roots Onions Garlike Cabbage and such like things that breed grosse humours which they vse to eate alone and with their other meates Their Dyet is rather much then curious At their Meales they beginne commonly with a Chark or small cup of Aqua-vitae which they call Russe Wine and then drinke not till towards the end of their Meales taking it in largely and all together with kissing one another at euery pledge And therefore after Dinner there is no talking with them but euery man goeth to his bench to take his after-noones sleepe which is as ordinary with them as their nights rest When they exceed and haue varietie of Dishes the first are their baked meates for roast meats they vse little and then their Broaths or Pottage To drinke drunke is an ordinary matter with them euery day in the Weeke Their common Drinke is Mead the poorer sort vse water and a thin Drinke called Quasse which is nothing else as wee say but water turned out of his wits with a little Bran meashed with it This Dyet would breed in them many Diseases but that they vse Bath-stoues or Hot-houses in stead of all Physicke commonly twice or thrice euery Weeke All the Winter time and almost the whole Summer they heate their Peaches which are made like the Germane Bath-stoues and their Potlads like Ouens that so warme the House that a stranger at the first shall hardly like of it These two extremities specially in the Winter of heate within their Houses and of extreame cold without together with their Dyet maketh them of a darke and sallow complexion their skinnes being tanned and parched both with cold and with heat specially the women that for the greater part are of farre worse complexions then the men Whereof the cause I take to be their keeping within the Hot-houses and busying themselues about the heating and vsing of their Bath-stoues and Peaches The Russe because that he is vsed to both these extremities of heate and of cold can beare them both a great deale more patiently then strangers can doe You shall see them sometimes to season their bodies come out of their Bath-stoues all on a froth and fuming as hote almost as a Pigge at a Spit and presently to leape into the Riuer starke naked or to powre cold water all ouer their bodies and that in the coldest of all the Winter time The women to mend the bad hue of their skinnes vse to paint their faces with white and redde colours so visibly that euery man may perceiue it Which is made no matter because it is common and liked well by their Husbands who make their Wiues and Daughters an ordinary allowance to buy them colours to paint their faces withall and delight themselues much to see them of foule women to become such faire Images This parcheth the skinne and helpeth to deforme them when their painting is of They apparell themselues after the Greeke manner The Noblemans attyre is on this fashion First a Taffia or little night cap on his head that couereth little more then his crowne commonly very rich wrought of Silke and Gold Thread and set with Pearle and Precious Stone His head he keepeth shauen close to the very skin except he be in some displeasure with the Emperour Then he suffereth his haire to grow and hang downe vpon his shoulders couering his face as vgly and deformedly as he can Ouer the Taffia he weareth a wide Cap of blacke Foxe which they account for the best Furre with a Tiara or long Bonnet put within
Dutch Northerne Voyages and the English North-easterne after which wee will take a more complementall leaue of that Continent and from thence visite the Northerly and North-westerne Discoueries at once hunting for a New World and a New passage to This. CHAP. II. A briefe Discouerie of the Northerne Discoueries of Seas Coasts and Countries deliuered in order as they were hopefully begunne and haue euer since happily beene continued by the singular industrie and charge of the Worshipfull Society of Muscouia Merchants of London with the ten seuerall Voyages of Captaine THOMAS EDGE the Authour §. I. Greenland first discouered by Sir HVOH WILLOVGHEIE the Voyages of FROBISHER PET and IACKMAN DAVIS the Dutch First Morse and Whale-killing with further Discoueries THe Northerne parts of the World haue euer beene held to be Officina Gentium velut Vagina Nationum Natures Shop and Store-house of Men better furnished then any other part of the Earth and from whence those notable Inundations came first of the Cymbrians and Teutons in the time of the antient Romans and secondly of the Gothes and Vandals vnder Attila to the confusion of things both Diuine and Humane in all the Southerne parts of Europe as farre as Barbarisme could preuaile against Ciuilitie and Religion For remedie whereof the Townes alongst the Baltick Sea entred into a confederacy vnder the names of the Hans Townes and vndertooke the keeping of those Northerne people and the securing of these Southerne Kingdomes from any the like ouerflowings vpon such Priuiledges and Immunities as were granted and agreed vnto them by all the Southerne Princes and according to such Lawes as were made and prouided for the maintenance and strength of the said Hans Townes amongst which the supreme and fundamentall Lawe was that none of these Nations so secured should haue trade or commerce in any parts beyond the Baltike Seas to the end the barbarous people might not bee enabled thereby to practise or moue against the Hans Townes which was the cause together also with the extremitie of cold that those Northerne Seas were neuer looked vnto vntill the yeere 1553. At which time the trade of this Kingdome waxing cold and in decay and the Merchants incited with the fame of the great masse of riches which the Portugals and Spaniards brought home yeerely from both the Indies entred into a resolution notwithstanding the prohibition of the Hans Law to discouer the Northerne Seas which so long had beene frozen and shut vp and to see whether they could not affoord a passage to Cathay and the East Indies and accordingly prouided three ships and sent them forth vnder the command of Sir Hugh Willoughbie Knight who embarqued himselfe in a ship called the Bona Esperança Admirall of that Voyage with Richard Chancellor Captaine of the Edward Bonauenture together with a third ship called the Bona Confidentia These three ships falling downe from Ratcliffe the tenth of May in the foresaid yeere went on their Voyage and proceeding as farre as the Cape of Norway they were seuered by a tempest Chancellor after he had stayed at Ward-house seuen dayes expecting the Admirall and the other ships according to a former appointment vpon any such casualtie and hearing nothing of them went on and discouered the Bay of Saint Nicolas and setled a trade there which hath continued to these times Sir Hugh Willoughbie was driuen to the height of 72. where hee fell vpon an Iland now knowne by the name of Willoughbie Land and lieth from Sinam vpon the Continent of Norway East and by North an hundred and sixtie leagues or thereabouts from thence he went North and North-west and within eight dayes after he fell vpon a Land which lay West South-west and East North-east betweene 74. and 75. degrees of latitude and plying Westward along by the Land he was driuen by the wind to put to Sea againe vntill the wind came about Then they made towards the Land againe and bare with it but finding that place vnfit for landing they haled out againe running along the Land sixteene leagues North-west where they found a faire Bay went on Land and found the place inhabited From thence they put to Sea againe runne alongst the coast for fortie leagues together till at length they came to an anchor within two leagues of the shoare where they landed and found two or three good Harbours Afterwards they entred into the Hauen which ranne vp into the Maine about two leagues where they remained for the space of a weeke vpon the maine Land They found Beares great Deere Foxes and other beasts They sent out three men three dayes iourney to the South-West and three others also full West all which returned after diuers dayes trauelling and found no people nor any likelihood of habitation And this is that Land which now is called Greenland or King Iames his New-land and is knowne to the Hollanders by the name of Spitsbergen Sir Hugh Willoughbie returned into Lapland where he and his companie were frozen to death in the Hauen called Arzina neere Kegor The Muscouia Merchants hauing thus setled a trade in Russia and being incorporated by the name of The Merchants of England for the discouerie of new trades pursued their first resolutions for finding a way to Cathay by the North-east and in the yeere 1556. sent out Stephen Burrough for discouerie of the Riuer Obb who proceeding forwards in that Voyage discouered the Riuer Pechora the Streights of Vaigats and Nouazembla went on shoare vpon the Iland of Vaigats and vpon the North Continent of Russia met with the Samoeds obserued their manner of life their Religion their Sacrifices to their rude and ill shaped Idols and the yeere being spent returned into Russia The Companie hauing sought for the North-east passage and finding such difficulties as are mentioned in their particular Iournals resolued to make triall if the North-west part could not affoord a passage to the Indies which was the first and maine scope of their Northerne Discoueries And in the yeere 1576. they sent forth Sir Martin Frobisher with two Barkes who comming into the heights of 62. or thereabouts found a great Inlet now knowne by the name of Frobishers Streights into which he put himselfe and sayled sixtie leagues with a mayne Land on each side and so for that yeere returned The next yeere following he made a second Voyage to that place purposely to lade himselfe with a kind of Oare which the yeere before he had found there and gaue hope by the colour to yeeld Gold and being laden with some quantitie returned The yeere following being 1578. hauing made tryall here of that Oare and finding it not to fall out according to his expectation hee was furnished out to proceed in the further discouerie of those Streights and entring into the same made way so farre as hee thought fit and then returned backe hauing first taken possession thereof in the name of Queene Elizabeth of famous
brought to an end To the which end Cicero wisely saith God hath giuen vs some things and not all things that our Successors also might haue some-what to doe Therefore we must not leaue off nor stay our pretence in the middle of our proceedings as long as there is any commoditie to be hoped and in time to bee obtayned for that the greatest and richest Treasures are hardliest to be found I thought good to set downe in regard that I haue vndertaken to describe the three Voyages made into the North Seas in three yeeres one after the other behind Norwary and along and about Muscouia towards the Kingdome of Cathaia and China whereof the two last I my selfe holpe to effect and yet brought them not to the desired end that we well hoped First to shew our diligent and most toylesome labour and paines taken to find out the right course which we could not bring to passe as wee well hoped wished and desired and possible might haue found it by crossing the Seas if we had taken the right course if the Ice the shortnesse of time and bad crosses had not hindered vs. We haue assuredly found that the onely and most hinderance to our Voyage was the Ice that we found about Noua Zembla vnder 73.74.75 and 76. degrees and not so much vpon the Sea betweene both the Lands whereby it appeareth that not the neerenesse of the North-pole but the Ice that commeth in and out from the Tartarian Sea about Noua Zembla caused vs to feele the greatest cold Therefore in regard that the neerenesse of the Pole was not the cause of the great cold that wee felt if wee had had the meanes to haue held our appointed and intended course into the North-east we had peraduenture found some entrance which course wee could not hold from Noua Zembla because that there we entred amongst great store of Ice and how it was about Noua Zembla we could not tel before we had sought it and when we had sought it we could not then alter our course although also it is vncertayn what we should haue done if we had continued in our North-east course because it is not yet found out But it is true that in the Countrey lying vnder 80. degrees which we esteeme to be Greenland there is both Leaues and Grasse to be seene Wherein such Beasts as feed of Leaues and Grasse as Harts Hinds and such like beasts liue whereas to the contrary in Noua Zembla there groweth neyther Leaues nor Grasse and there are no beasts therein but such as eate flesh as Beares and Foxes c. Although Noua Zembla lyeth 4.5 and 6. degrees more Southerly from the Pole then the other Land aforesaid It is also manifest that vpon the South and North-side of the Line of the Sunne on both sides betweene both the Tropicks vnder 23. degrees and an halfe yet it is as hot as it is right vnder the Line What wonder then should it be that about the North-pole also and as many degrees on both sides it should not be colder then right vnder the Pole It was not the Sea nor the neerenesse vnto the Pole but the Ice about the Land that let and hindered vs as I said before for that assoone as we made from the Land and put more into the Sea although it was much further Northward presently we felt more warmth and in that opinion our Pilot William Barents dyed who notwithstanding the fearefull and intolerable cold that he indured yet he was not discouraged but offered to lay wagers with diuers of vs that by Gods helpe hee would bring that pretended Voyage to an end if he held his course North-east from the North Cape But I will leaue that and shew you of the three Voyages aforesaid begunne and set forth by the permission and furtherance of the Generall States of the vnited Prouinces and of Prince Maurice as Admirall of the Sea and the rich Towne of Amsterdam First you must vnderstand that in Anno 1594. there was foure ships set forth out of the vnited Prouinces whereof two were of Amsterdam one of Zelandt and one of Enckhuysen that were appointed to sayle into the North Seas to discouer the Kingdomes of Cathaia and China Northward from Norway Muscouia and about Tartaria whereof William Barents a notable skilfull and wise Pilot was Commander ouer the ships of Amsterdam and with them vpon Whit-sunday departed from Amsterdam and went to the Texell Vpon the fifth of Iune they sayled out of the Texel and hauing a good wind and faire weather vpon the three and twentieth of Iune they arriued at Rilduin in Muscouia which for that it is a place well knowne and a common Voyage I will make no further description thereof The nine and twentieth of Iune at foure of the clocke in the after-noone they set sayle out of Kilduin The fourth of Iuly they saw Noua Zembla lying South-east and by East six or seuen miles from them where they had blacke durtie ground at one hundred and fiue fathome William Barents tooke the height of the Sunne with his Crosse-staffe when it was at the lowest that is betweene North North-east and East and by North and found it to be eleuated aboue the Horizon six degrees and 1 â— part his declination being 12. degrees and 55. minutes from whence substracting the aforesaid height there resteth sixteenth degrees and 35. minutes which being substracted from 90. degrees there resteth 73. degrees and 25. minutes Then they woond East-ward and sayled fiue miles East and by South and East South-east and past by a long point of Land that lay out into the Sea which they named Langenes and hard by that point East-ward there was a great Bay where they went a Land with their Boat but found no people From Langenes to Cape Bapo East North-east it is foure miles From Cape Bapo to the West point of Lombsbay North-east and by North are fiue miles and betweene them both there are two Creeks Lombsbay is a great wide Bay on the West-side thereof hauing a faire Hauen six seuen or eight fathome deepe blacke sand there they went on shoare with their Boat and vpon the shoare placed a Beacon made of an old Mast which they found there calling the Bay Lombsbay because of a certayne kind of Beares so called which they found there in great abundance The East point of Lombsbay is a long narrow point and by it there lyeth an Iland and from that long point to Sea-ward in there is a great Creeke This Lombsbay lyeth vnder 74. degrees and 1 â— part From Lombsbay to the point of the Admirals Iland they sayled six or seuen miles North-east and by North. The Admirals Iland is not very faire on the East-side but a farre off very flat so that you must shunne it long before you come at it it is also very vneuen for at one casting of the Lead they had ten fathome deepe
hearts for it was much likelier that they should rather haue beene carried away with the Ice but God by the nimblenesse of their hands deliuered them out of that danger which was a pitifull thing to behold although it fell out for the best for if they had not beene nimble they had surely dyed for it The same day in the euening wee got to the West-side of the Ice Hauen where wee were forced in great cold pouertie miserie and griefe to stay all that Winter the winde then beeing East North-east The seuen and twentieth the Ice draue round about the ship and yet it was good weather at which time we went on Land and being there it began to blow South-east with a reasonable gale and then the Ice came with great force before the bough and draue the ship vp foure foot high before and behind it seemed as if the keele lay on the ground so that it seemed that the ship would be ouerthrowne in the place whereupon they that were in the ship put out the Boat therewith to saue their liues and withall put out a flagge to make a signe to vs to come aboard which we perceiuing and beholding the ship to be lifted vp in that sort made all the haste we could to get aboord thinking that the ship was burst in pieces but comming vnto it we found it to be in better case then we thought it had beene The eight and twentieth we got some of the Ice from it and the ship beganne to sit vpright againe but before it was fully vpright as William Barents and the other Pilot went forward to the bough to see how the ship lay and how much it was risen and while they were busie vpon their knees and elbowes to measure how much it was the ship burst out of the Ice with such a noise and so great a cracke that they thought verily that they were all cast away knowing not how to saue themselues The nine and twentieth the ship lying vpright againe wee vsed all the meanes wee could with Iron hookes and other instruments to breake the flakes of Ice that lay one heaped vpon the other but all in vaine so that we determined to commit our selues to the mercy of God and to attend aide from him for that the Ice draue not away in any such sort that it could helpe vs. The thirtieth the Ice began to driue together one vpon the other with greater force then before and bare against the ship with a boystrous South-west winde and a great snow so that all the whole ship was borne vp and enclosed whereby all that was both about it and in it began to cracke so that it seemed to burst in an hundred pieces which was most fearefull both to see and heare and made all the haire of our heads to rise vpright with feare and after that the ship by the Ice on both sides that ioyned and got vnder the same was driuen so vpright in such sort as if it had beene lifted vp with a Wrench or Vice The one and thirtieth of August by force of the Ice the ship was driuen vp foure or fiue foot high at the beake head and the hinder part thereof lay in a clift of Ice whereby wee thought that the Rother would bee freed from the force of the flakes of Ice but notwithstanding it brake in pieces staffe and all and if that the hinder part of the ship had beene in the Ice that draue as well as the fore part was then all the ship would haue beene driuen wholly vpon the Ice or possibly haue runne on ground and for that cause wee were in great feare and set our Scutes and our Boat out vpon the Ice if need were to saue our selues but within foure houres after the Ice draue away of it selfe wherewith wee were exceeding glad as if wee had saued our liues for that the ship was then on flote againe and vpon that we made a new Rother and a Staffe and hung the Rother out vpon the hookes that if we chanced to bee borne vpon the Ice againe as we had beene it might so be freed from it The first of September being Sunday while we were at prayer the Ice began to gather together againe so that the ship was lifted vp two foot at the least but the Ice brake not The same euening the Ice continued in that sort still driuing and gathering together so that we made preparation to draw our Scute and the Boat ouer the Ice vpon the Land the wind then blowing South-east The second it snowed hard with a North-east wind and the ship began to rise vp higher vpon the Ice at which time the Ice burst and crackt with great force so that wee were of opinion to carrie our Scute on Land in that foule weather with thirteene barrels of Bread and two hogsheads of Wine to sustaine our selues if need were The third it blew hard but snowed not so much the wind being North North-east at which time we began to be loose from the Ice whereunto wee lay fast so that the Scheck broke from the Steuen but the plankes wherewith the ship was lined held the Scheck fast and made it hang on but the Boutloofe and a new Cable if we had falled vpon the Ice brake by forcible pressing of the Ice but held fast againe in the Ice and yet the ship was staunch which was wonder in regard that the Ice draue so hard and in great heapes as big as the Salt-hils that are in Spaine and within a Harquebusse shot of the ship betweene the which wee lay in great feare and anguish The fourth the weather began to cleare vp and we saw the Sunne but it was very cold the wind being North-east we being forced to lie still The fift it was faire Sun-shine weather and very calme and at euening when we had supped the Ice compassed about vs againe and wee were hard enclosed therewith the ship beginning to lie vpon the one side and leaked sore but by Gods grace it became staunch againe wherewith we were wholly in feare to lose the ship it was in so great danger at which time wee tooke counsell together and carried our old socke Sayle with Powder Lead Peeces Muskets and other furniture on Land to make a Tent about our Scute that we had drawne vpon the Land and at that time we carried some Bread and Wine on Land also with some Timber therewith to mend our Boat that it might serue vs in time of need The sixt it was indifferent faire Sea-weather and Sun-shine the wind being West whereby we were somewhat comforted hoping that the Ice would driue away and that wee might get from thence againe The seuenth it was indifferent weather againe but we perceiued no opening of the water but to the contrary it lay hard enclosed with Ice and no water at all about the ship no not so much as a bucket full The same day fiue of our men
Cities but liued together in Companies and peaceably and gouerned by some of the ancientest among them that they were lothsome in their feeding and liued on the flesh of such beasts as they tooke that they had no knowledge of Corne or Bread were cunning and skilfull Archers making their Bowes of a gentle and flexible kind of Wood and that their Arrowes were headed with sharpened stones or fish bones with those they killed wilde beasts which are exceeding plentifull in those places that they sowed also with bones of fishes seruing them for Needles their thred being made of the sinewes of certaine small beasts and so they sew together the Furres wherewith they cloath themselues the Furrie side in Summer turned outward and in Winter inward That they couered their Houses with the Skins of Elkes and such like beasts little esteemed among them Finally these Messengers of Oneeko searched curiously into euery matter and returned home stored with costly Furres Now when as Oneeko vnderstood by their report that which he so much longed to know he together with certayne others of his Friends continued his Trafficke into those Countreyes for diuers yeeres together by meanes whereof the Oneekos grew very mightie and bought great Possessions in all parts Those that dwelled neere vnto them beeing ignorant from whence all this wealth arose greatly wondred at it For the Oneekos builded Churches in some of their Villages Yea afterward they erected in the Towne of Osoil vpon the Wichida where at that time they dwelt an exceeding faire Church which was raysed from the very foundations of hewen stone Finally they knew no end of their goods Now among the Russes it goeth for a common Prouerbe that Hee which hath no friends in Court is scarce to be accounted in the number of the liuing For most commonly it happeneth that they that excell others in any thing are presently enuyed and falsly accused in the Princes Court where if they haue not a friend to succour them they are forth-with without hearing the cause oppressed yea and vtterly ruined For which cause the Oneekos beeing growne to much wealth as is said got into the fauour of one of the greatest in the Court which was Borisodanoua Brother to the Wife of the Emperour Pheodor Euanowich then reigning to whom also he succeeded in the Empire Vnto this Boris the Oneekos determined to reueale the whole matter who first presenting him with gifts after the custome of the Countrey prayed him to grant them hearing in a matter which they had to deliuer for the benefit of the whole Empire Boris presently liftning to this Petition receiued them with extraordinary kindnesse and after they had declared vnto him the situation of the Countreyes of Samoiedia and Siberia then what they had seene and obserued therein and how great Riches might thence arise vnto the Empire of Moscouia Boris presently grew into an ardent desire to set forward this businesse entertayning them as his Children and gracing them to the vttermost of his power procuring them from the Emperour a most ample Priuiledge by which it was ordayned That they should for euer enjoy the Lands which they possessed and might dispose of them vnto their Heires at their pleasure And farther if it happened they were abiding in the Citie of Moscua he tooke them into his owne Sled which among the Moscouites is the greatest kind of honour especially being offered by principall Noblemen such as then was Boris a man of the greatest power and in whom the chiefe authoritie of the Empire rested Boris pondering these things attentiuely signified the whole matter to the Emperour to whom it was very pleasing And not sleeping about the matter employed therein certayne Captaynes and Gentlemen of small abilitie of his owne followers commanding them to prepare themselues to goe to that Iourney in company of such as the Oneekos should appoint vnto them and that they should apparell themselues gallantly and like vnto Ambassadors adding further certayne Souldiers and Presents of small value to be distributed among the people to which they should come enioyning them further to note diligently all Passages Riuers High-wayes Woods and what else they should meete with in their trauell as also to commit to memorie the names of them that at their returne they might make a faithfull and true report thereof adding further that they should intreat the people with all courtesie and that they should seeke out some conuenient place for building of Castles and Fortresses and that in any case if it were possible they should bring backe with them into Moscouia some of the Inhabitants of those Countryes These Messengers being sufficiently furnished with all things necessary for the Iourney namely Apparell Weapons Money and Presents departing from the Moscua not long after came to the Riuer Wichida and to the Oneekos who also sent some of their owne people with them Assoone as they were arriued into those parts they began to performe what was giuen them in charge shewing freely all tokens of courtesie vnto the barbarous people and carefully obseruing who were of greatest authoritie among them to whom they vsed reuerence and gaue gifts such as were of small and almost no value to themselues but which seemed so precious vnto the other that when the Moscouites were comming a farre off towards them they would stay for them with great dancings and clapping of their hands and cast themselues downe at the feet of the Giuers being so gallantly attyred accounting them altogether as Gods The Moscouites vsing the Samoieds for their Interpretors which had continued certayne yeeres in the Villages of Moscouia to learne their Language began to discourse with the Barbarians concerning their Emperour of Moscouie whom they wonderfully extolled and made him little lesse then an Earthly God enterlacing other things with all whereby those people were stirred vp to wish that they might behold these things with their eyes These their desires were pleasing to the Moscouites who signified that they were likewise well contented therewithall Adding that they would leaue certayne pledges among them which during the Samoieds abode in Moscouia might learne their Language And by this meanes they drew vnto their purpose the good will of many of the people on the West-side of Obi who of their owne accord subjected themselues to the authoritie of the Moscouites and suffered them to lay a Taxation vpon them promising yeerely of euery head not excepting the Boyes that were but yet learning to handle the Bow two skinnes of Sables which to themselues were of no value but esteemed of the Moscouites as precious as Iewels These they promised to deliuer to such a Treasurer as the Emperoâ—r should ordayne Neither did they faile to performe the same After this the Messengers passed ouer the Riuer Obi and trauelled beyond it almost two hundred leagues toward the East and North-east hauing seene by the way many wild beasts of strong shapes most cleere Fountaynes
Somoieds without delay submitted themselues to the same Gouernours which they obeyed whom they reuerenced as a kind of Gods But what God they worship or with what rites it is vncertaine neither as yet can bee knowne the Moscouites being negligent searchers into such things Neither hereafter will I maruell though the Streight of Waygats bee stopped vp to the North-east with such huge Mountaines of Ice since the Riuers Obi and Ieniscè and very many more whose names are not yet knowne powre out so huge a quantitie thereof that in a manner it is incredible For it commeth to passe in the beginning of the spring that in places neere vnto the Sea the Ice through the excessiue thicknesse and multitude thereof doth carrie downe whole woods before it And without doubt this is the cause that about the shoares of the Streight of Waygats so great abundance of floting wood is euery where seene And whereas in that Streight neere vnto Noua Zembla it is extreame cold it is no maruell if an regard of the narrownesse of the Streight so huge heapes of Ice are gathered and frozen together that in the end they grow to sixtie or at least to fiftie fathoms thicknesse as this present yeere 1612 they measured the same which at the cost of Isaac Lamer went thither in a small Barke in whose companie the said Isaac Lamer would haue sent mee but I would not For I am readie to proue that this is no passible way and that they will still lose their labour whosoeuer shall attempt the same vnlesse they take another course in the businesse But let vs returne to our purpose Furthermore those whom I mentioned before vndertooke a long Iourney beyond the Riuer Ienisce Eastward and were somewhat afraid to turne to the South taking with them certaine Tingoesies by whom they were informed that many Nations dwelt toward the South which differed much from them whose Kings were most commonly in warre one with another But hauing trauelled certaine dayes to no great purpose at length they returned home Yet before their returne they gaue order to the Tingoesies to search those Countreys more thorowly who promise that they would doe so And they renewed the league which formerly they had made with the Moscouites The Moscouites at their departure left diuers of their people in those parts and also certaine Samoieds and Tartars their confederates after they had bestowed some small gifts among the Tingoesies The yeere following the Tingoesies sent diuers of their owne people Eastward who trauelling somewhat farther then they had done before at length found another mightie Riuer somewhat lesser then Ienisce but as swift as it And following the course thereof some few dayes they lighted vpon certaine people whom they tooke being swifter a foot then they But they could not vnderstand their language sauing that by certaine signes and words of the Saluages which often repeated om â—m they coniectured that on the other side of the Riuer they heard it often thunder They added also that they had often heard the noyse of men in those parts And pointing to the Riuer with their fingers they often repeated the word Pisida whereby the Tingoesies gathered that that should bee the name of the Riuer but by the voyces om â—m the Moscouites did afterward gather that they were knollings of Bells The Tingoesies at their returne from thence carried with them diuers of the people of that Countrey which died all by the way either for feare or through change of ayre The Tingoesies were verie sorrie for their deaths For at their returne they affirmed that they were men of good vnderstanding well set with small eyes flat faced browne colour and enclining to tawnie When the Moscouites vnderstood these things by the Samoieds which returned into Siberia out of the Countrey of the Tingoesies eftsoones they were stirred vp with a great desire to search out the farther parts of that Countrey wherefore they became sutors to the Gouernour that they might bee sent thither with some others ioyned with them Hee presently yeelded to their request granting vnto them a certaine companie of Souldiers and enioyned them curiously to search out all things and to take with them Tingoesies Samoieds and Tartars So beeing about seuen hundred men they passed the Riuer Obi and came to the Riuer Ienisce through the countreys of the Samoieds and Tingoesies And passing the Riuer they marched forth Eastward hauing the Tingoesies for their guides which did not onely serue them as guides but also plentifully prouided all the company with victuals taking with wonderfull dexteritie Fowles Goats Reyne Deere and such like wilde beasts as also no small quantitie of fish out of the Riuers which they met in the way Hauing trauailed as farre as the Riuer Pisida they pitched their Tents on the banks thereof with purpose to stay there till it were passable the Ice being shortly to breake vp because the spring was at hand at which time they came thither yet they durst not passe ouer the Riuer Pisida hauing now plainly heard the sound whereof they were aduertised before which they certainly iudged to bee nothing else but the towling of Brazen Bells and when the wind blew from the farther side of Pisida they sometimes heard the noyse of men and horses Moreouer they saw certayne sayles though but a few whereby they coniectured that they were vessels which sayled downe the streame They sayd further that the sayles were square like the Indian sayles as wee suppose But seeing no people at all on that side of the Riuer where they remained after they had staied there a certaine space and had perceiued that in the spring time the Riuer did greatly swell which neuerthelesse they can hardly affirme for a certaintie since the shoare is high on both sides At length by very great iourneys and yet not before Autumne they returned home to Siberia reporting and that vpon their oathes That in the moneths of Aprill and May they were very much delighted with the exceeding faire shew of that Countrey And that they had seene therein many rare Plants Flowers Fruits Trees Fowles and wild Beasts But the Moscouites are nothing curious in such things as men that seeke after nothing but gaine in all things else very negligent and rude These newes being brought to the Court of Moscouia the Emperour Boris and the Noblemen that were with him much wondering thereat and inflamed with a great desire to search out exactly all particulars resolued the yeere next ensuing to send Ambassadours thither which should carrie presents with them and should take Tartars Samoieds and Tingoesies in their companie And they were enioyned to search out the further side of the Riuer Pisida and to make a league of friendship with the Kings if they found any and set downe in writing all things that they could obserue by the way and should make report of them most exactly But these things did not take effect because of
carrie your selfe in the businesse for which you were so entertayned as God may be glorified our Countrey benefited your selfe credited and we in our desires satisfied And for your better instruction to proceed in this your Voyage we haue thought good to set downe our opinions what course wee thinke fit to be obserued in the same which is That forasmuch as by your owne report of the great store of Whales in those Seas wee are at an extraordinary charge this yeare of setting out a ship and men for that purpose which ship is called the Marie Margaret of London in burthen one hundred and fiftie tunnes or thereabout Our meaning is that you doe keepe company with the said ship and not to leaue her till God send you to the places where she may make her Voyage which by your report should be at a â—lace named by you the last yeare 1610. Whale Bay And God sending you to the said place we would haue you to stay there the killing of a Whale or two or three for your better experience hereafter to expedite that businesse if through extremitie of the Ice you should be put from your Discoueries And in the meane time while you are staying about killing of the Whale you may cause some of your people to bee searching the Coast with their Shallops for Whale finnes Morses teeth Ambergreese or any other commodities that may be found vpon that Coast. And hauing thus stayed a conuenient time with the said great ship for the purpose aboue specified wee would haue you then to proceed on your Discouerie for the satisfying of our expectations formerly mentioned which is to discouer further to the North Pole as farre as possibly you can and how the Land alreadie discouered doth trend and whether there be any inhabitants in the said Land and whether there be an open Sea to the Northward beyond the said land And in this your coasting the land we doubt not but you will endeauor with your Shallops to gather vp all the Whale finnes you can finde and to kill the Morses which you can come by on land and to reserue the teeth and blubber to the most aduantage that may bee the better to beare out the great charge which you know we are at in these Discoueries And to that end we haue laden in you eleuen Tunnes of emptie caske And hauing spent so much time in this your Discouerie and in gathering vp of such commodities as that Coast will affoord and as the season of the yeere will permit you then we would haue you returne for England and in your way homeward to touch at the place where you left the Mary Margaret to see if shee be not gone and finding her there and that the time of the yeere will permit wee would haue you melt your Blubber into Oile before your comming from thence to auoid the great trouble and inconuenience you know we fell into the last yeere 1610. by bringing the same hither in Blubber But if the said ship should chance to be full fished and so to be gone before your comming thither yet we would haue you stay there or at Cherie Iland some small time to melt your Blubber to which end we haue appointed Thomas Edge our seruant in that ship to leaue a Copper and such necessaries as shall serue your turne for the performing of that businesse behinde him and haue deliuered him likewise aduertisements at that place of their proceedings in the voyage and of their intent what course they purpose to take together with their opinions what course they would haue you take In these matters of Discoueries and vncertaine Voyages the varietie of occurrences and Sea dangers is such as we cannot directly prescribe a course certaine to be held yet we hold it fitting to set downe Our opinions of the needfull which are that at your first departure out of England you keepe counsell together and agree vpon your places of meetings if by tempast of weather you chance to bee separated still shaping your course directly for Chery Iland where we would haue you stay And if at your comming thither you finde the same cleere of Ice and that there be Morses on shoare then wee would haue you to worke vpon them as time and opportunitie will permit alway hauing respect to your intended voyage And hauing dispatched your businesse in that place wee would haue you depart in company together for The Whale Bay as aforesaid and to follow our instructions formerly set downe to be done in that place And hauing performed what may be done in the parts beyond Cherie Island and so returning backe againe for England we hold it fit you make your Rendezvous againe at the said Cherie Iland and there to stay the one for the other and to be killing of the Beasts there till the last of August if neede bee And if it happen that one ship doe arriue there before the other and no Morses come on shoare then wee would haue them spend the time in searching for the Lead Orâ— or any other Minerall matter that may be like to be of worth vpon the said Land And thus hauing stayed at Cherie Iland till the last of August the one for the other and not meeting together the ship so staying hauing made her Voyage wee would haue her to returne directly for England and to leaue a Note in writing of the day of her departure This is our opinion Notwithstanding if vpon better grounds you shall among your selues finde a conuenienter course to be held for the good of the Voyage and the benefit of vs the Aduenturers wee leaue it to your selues to agree vpon as time and opportunitie shall serue And for the auoyding of an Obiection heretofore vsed That the want of sufficient victuals hath beene the cause of the ouerthrow of the Voyages by speedier returne home then otherwise they would wee haue thought fit to set downe the quantitie of victuals deliuered aboord your ship in this our Commission to the intent to cleere our selues and our Agent of that imputation and to lay the blame on your selues if by default the same be euill husbanded The particulars are these Beefe 22. c 3. quarters 18li. Bisquit 30. c Beere 14. Tunnes Fish 200. of Haberdin and halfe an hundred Lings Cheese 300. c weight Butter three Firkins Oyle three Gallons Pease ten Bushels Oate-meale fiue Bushels Candels sixe dosen Aquavitae thirtie Gallons Vinegar one rundlet of twentie Gallons This proportion of victuals will last you seuen or eight moneths with good husbandry together with the hâ—lpes of Fish Fowle and Beasts that are to be had in abundance vpon those Coasts So that we hope you shall haue no cause to the contrary but cheerfully to goe forward in your businesse whereby not onely the small Barke you goe in but the great Ship may come home fully laden with one commoditie or other which we doubt not but by your diligence and good
wherein I vnderstand of the backwardnesse of your Voyage the which I am hartily sorrie for but you must be content seeing it is the will of God it shall be so and that other harbours take neighbours fare with you our best hopes of our Voyage was vpon you for of our selues we doe little in regard we are much troubled with Ice and haue bin so this ten dayes which hath made vs hale ashoare sixe or seauen times for it we haue had the windes at North-east and East North-east and at North-west which now keepes in the Ice we haue killed ten Whales whereof eight are made into Oyle which hath made one hundred and eleauen Tuns a halfe the other two were killed the fourth of this present being very large fish not doubting but they will make sixe and thirtie or fortie tunnes we haue the hundred tunnes aboord the rest Master Barker taketh in in regard Master Bushes shippe is not fitted up we shall make her fore-Mast to serue againe and all things else for this Voyage The fourth of this present George Wiuelden came from Horne-sound where they haue killed foure Whales they haue bin much troubled with windes Easterly also much Ice there is so much Ice off of Point Looke out that George could not get about This Ice hath put in young Duke of Hull into Horne-sound his ship being much torne with the Ice his Merchant is now aboord of vs his name is Medcafe whom the Captaine doth detaine his Voyage is vtterly ouerthrowne for he hath lost one shallop with sixe men and another shallop broken with the Ice his Ruther Irons being all broken his Steeme broke a way close to the Woodings also George did meete with a Fleming of Flushing burthen two hundred tuns the which he thinkes is cast away with Ice for the Ice did beate her very sore I vnderstand by M. Catchers Letter that there is eleauen saile of Flemmings and Danes about them I doubt not but we shall call them to account of how many tunnes of Oyle they haue made as they did call vs the last Voyage to account my loue is such vnto them that I protest I could wish with all my heart that we might goe and see them and to spend my best bloud in the righting of our former wrongs Also I vnderstood by Robert Foxe that Aâ—rian of Flushing is one of them I should be very glad to see him that I might balance the account with him The Captaine willed mee to write vnto you concerning the Russe house that if you cannot set it vp that then you should make an English house of it and to place the post of a Deales length and to be three Deales in length and so much in breadth and so to couer it with Deales the next yeare and so he thinketh that it will make two frames also hee could wish that you would remoue the Coppers more vp into the Bay I pray you commend me to my louing friend Master Sherwine Master Wilkinson Master Henderson and Michael Greene also my loue remembred vnto your selfe I take my leaue hoping we shall see you at the Fore-land ere it be long till when I pray God to blesse you and prosper you in all your proceedings Resting still Bell-sound the fifth of Iuly 1619. Your assured friend to command ROBERT SALMON Iunior A Letter of I. CATCHER to Master HELEY from Faire-hauen Laus Deo this seuenteenth of Iune 1620. LOuing Brother with my best loue I salute you wishing you better then we at this time to haue good store of Whales to make for you and vs a Voyage for we haue seene small store of Whales but haue killed none as yet In the Flemish harbour there is three Flemings great shippes whereof is one Statesman of Warre who haue set to Sea eighteene shallops with three Biscaners in euerie shallop and in our harbour two of the Kings of Denmarkes ships who haue set to Sea seauen shallops with three Biscainers in euerie shallop the Hollanders haue killed one Whale and found one Whale of the last yeares killing I thought good to send to you the sooner because we hope you haue good store of Whales that you may send for vs to you which I pray God you may for we are in great doubt but our hope is if that you are not yet prouided to send for vs we haue a great time to stay in this Countrie in which time it may so please God that we may here make a Voyage For our selues one of our men is dead and one other sicke so that wee haue but one and fiftie men which is too little as you know therefore if you can spare vs three men they will stand vs in good stead if our Voyage commeth in there is to the Northward good store of Ice which putteth vs in good comfort that we shall haue Whales the Danes doe report that there is two shippes to come from Denmarke to our harbour but as yet are not come I pray you commend vs to Master Wilkinson Master Greene Master Hedlam Master Cleyborne Master Alpho and all the rest of our good friends Humfrey Moore is very sicke so that we shall want a Harponiere I know not what to write more to you for with griefe I write this Thus kindely taking my leaue beseeching God to blesse vs and send vs a good Voyage with a merry meeting I rest Your louing brother to vse IOHN CATCHER A Letter of ROBERT SALMON from Sir THOMAS SMITHS Bay Iuly 6. 1621. LOuing friend Master Heley with-my loue I salute you c. These are to certifie you that vpon the fifteenth of the last we arriued at Sir Thomas Smiths vnfortunate Bay since which time we haue killed sixe Whales which are almost reduced into Oyle being some seuentie tunnes or somewhat more so within a day or two we may goe sleepe for I feare we haue our portion of Whales in this place wee haue not seene a Whale this fourteene dayes and faire weather is as scarce as the Whales for ten daies together nothing but blow sometime Southerly and sometime Northerly I doe verily perswade my selfe that God is much displeased for the blood which was lost in this place and I feare a perpetuall curse still to remaine yet God I know is all sufficient and may if it please him send a Voyage in this place Newes from Faire-hauen I can write you none for as yet we haue not heard from him the reason thereof I cannot conceiue I feare his Shallop is miscarried for certainely else we should haue heard from him ere this or some other cause there is I pray God it be not so I pray commend me to Master Iohn Hedlam and tell him that the Master and Pilot doe set both their horse together being very great friends also I pray commend me to my Coseu William Driuer and Master Wilkinson wishing them all happinesse I am in good hope that you haue done some good vpon the Whale not doubting but
Gouernours those things being in action till May. Then came newes that the Crim Tartars had entred the borders thinking to find all things troubled with an interregne whereupon he assembled an Armie of three hundred thousand and went in person against them But the Tartars hearing how things went returned home and sent Embassadors to the Emperours Tents Hee returned with them to Mosco where the next September which is the beginning of the Russian New yeere which enters in other places with Ianuary following hee was publikely blessed by the Patriarke carrying a golden Crosse in his hand and on the fourteenth of September before the Knazeys Boiarens Bishops and other Orders had the Crowne set on his head by the Patriarke and the Scepter put in his hand with the Solemnitie in such cases accustomed Twelue dayes together all Orders were feasted in the Castle and the Magistrates and Officers had a yeeres pay giuen them Merchants also of other Countries had Immunities and Priuiledges granted The Rustickes had their payments to their Boiarens reasonably rated and their persons made more free Germane Merchants had moneyes lent them to repay seuen yeeres after without Vsurie Widdowes and Orphans and poorer persons receiued much Almes Pheodores Obsequies were solemnely performed and the Priests richly rewarded and that Empire which seemed dead with the death of the house of Beala now was as it were reuiued and receiued a glorious Resurrection Thus haue we deliuered you Thuanas his report touching Boris manner of acquiring the Empire without publike enuie and cunning wiping off the aspersions of Pheodore and Demetrius their deaths And as euery bodie is nourished by Aliments correspondent to the Principles of the Generation so did hee seeke by politike wisdome to establish that which by wise Policies he had gotten Wherein his care was not little to multiply Treasure and as at first hee had seemed popularly prodigall so after a small time of his Reigne hee became prouidently penurious the wonted allowances of the Court being much shortened from that which had beene in former times as I haue receiued from eye-witnesses Likewise he was carefull to hold good tearmes with his Neighbouring Princes and aswell by plots at home as by forreigne Aliance indeuoured to settle on his Race this new gotten Empire He is said for this end to haue sought a Wife for his sonne out of England and a Husband for his Daughter out of Denmarke His Wife was a woman of haughtie spirit who thought her too good for any Hollop so they call a slaue and such she esteemed all the subjects and on such tearmes she is said to haue beene denied to a great man his best Souldier and Commander of his Armie But while his Sunne shined now in the height of his course and with brightest and warmest beames of prosperitie there arose grosse vapours out of Demetrius his graue which grew quickly into a blacke darke cloud and not only eclipsed that Imperiall glorie but soone engendred a blondie storme which with a floud swept away that whole Family and ouer-whelmed also the whole Empire Contraries set together cause the greater lustre for which cause I will bring on the stage a Gentleman which attended Sir Thomas Smith employed in Honourable Embassage from his Maiestie of Great Brittaine to the then flourishing Emperor Boris and out of his large Relations deliuer you this which followeth in his owne words omitting the most part to our purpose not so pertinent in the Booke printed Anno 1605. §. II. Occurrents of principall Note which happened in Russia in the time while the Honourable Sir THOMAS SMITH remayned there Embassador from his Maiestie SIr Thomas Smith Knight accompanied with Sir T. Challenor and Sir W. Wray Knights diuers Gentlemen and his owne Attendants repayred to the Court on the tenth of Iune 1604. then lying at Greenwich where by the Right Honourable the Earle of Salisburie he was brought to His Majestis presence kissed his Hand c. The next day he tooke leaue of the Prince and on the twelfth being furnished with his Commission he came to Grauesend and next morning went aboord the Iohn and Francis Admirall and the two and twentieth of Iuly anchored within a mile of the Archangell The sixteenth of September hee came to Vologda the fiue and twentieth to Perislawe and there staid three dayes and then departed to Troites that faire and rich Monasterie so to Brattesheen and Rostouekin fiue versts from the great Citie of Musco The fourth of October the Prestaue came and declared the Emperours pleasure that hee should come into the Mosco that forenoone presently after came Master I. Mericke Agent with some twentie Horses to attend his Lordship which forth-with was performed Then we did ride til we came within a little mile of the many thousands of Noblemen and Gentlemen on both sides the way attended on horsebacke to receiue his Lordship Where the Embassadour alighted from his Coach and mounted on his foot-cloth Horse and so rode on with his Trumpets sounding A quarter of a mile farther met him a proper and gallant Gentleman a-foot of the Emperours stable who with Cap in hand declared to the Embassadour that the Emperour the young Prince and the Master of the Horse had so farre fauoured him as to send him a Iennet very gorgeously trapped with Gold Pearle and Precious Stone and particularly a great Chaine of plated Gold about his necke to ride vpon Whereupon the Embassador alighted imbraced the Gentleman returned humble thankes to them all and presently mounted Then he declared that they likewise had sent horses for the Kings Gentlemen which likewise were very richly adorned then for all his followers which Ceremonie or State performed and all being horsed he departed we riding orderly forward till wee were met by three great Noblemen seuered from the rest of the multitude and the Emperours Tolmache or Interpreter with them They being within speech thus began that Oration they could neuer well conclude Which was That from their Lord and Master the mightie Emperour of Russia c. they had a message to deliuer his Lordship The Embassadour then thinking they would be tedious and troublesome with their vsuall Ceremonies preuented their farther speech with this to them a Spell That it was vnfitting for Subiects to hold discourse in that kind of complement of two such mightie and renowmed Potentates on horsebacke They hereby not only put by their Ceremonious Saddle-sitting but out of their Paper instructions allighted suddenly as men fearing they were halfe vnhorsed and the Embassadour presently after them comming very courteously all three saluting the Embassadour and the Kings Gentlemen taking them by the hands Thus like a Scholer too old to learne by rote the Duke named King Volladamur Euanywich Mawsolskoy with his Lesson before him declared his message which was that he with the other two Noblemen were sent from the Great Lord Emperour and great Duke Boris Phedorowich selfe-vpholder great Lord
kinde and honourable Prestaue the Duke Vollagdemor with almost weeping on his part the Ambassador went from the Emperors sled to his coach set vpon a sled and wee â—lighted from the Emperors horses and betooke our selues to our easie and pleasant passage in 〈◊〉 such a passage as this part of the World would wonder at in which a man though hee goe a â—â—â—ckney pace may as easily reade as sleepe Thus accompanyed with Master Ioâ—â— Moricke Master William Russel sometimes Agent for the Dutch and many other Merchants we easily rode that night to Braâ—teshiâ— thirtie miles from the Mosco The next morrow taking leaue of them all we continued our iourney fiftie and sixtie versts a day easily Within few dayes after wee heard newes certainly of the Emperors sudden and vntimely death which considering neither the Prestaâ—e the Gouernour or Bishop had not or would not of ten dayes after take knowledge of we might in the meane time haue doubted of but that his Lordship had it from Master Iohn Mericke by Letter particularly His death was very sudden and as it was in it selfe very strange for within some two houres after dinner hauing as hee vsually had his Doctors with him who left him in their iudgements in health as the good meale he made could witnesse for hee dined well and fed plentifully though presently after as may be thought feeding ouer-much hee felt himselfe not onely heauie but also payned in his stomacke presently went into his chamber laid himselfe vpon his bed sent for his Doctors which alwayes speeded yet before they came hee was past being speechlesse and soone after dying Before his death as speedie as it was hee would bee shorne and new christned what the cause was otherwise then the griefe inward sorrow with diuers distractions about the warres and their bad successe fearing the worst on his part onely God knowes yet who so remembers Gods iudgements or Princes policies for Kingdomes with mans sinfulnesse and considereth the one with the other may bee satisfied if not contented For the Emperours person he was tall and well bodied teaching out of his authoritie obedience of an excellent presence black and thin haâ—red well faced round and close shaued strong limmed A Prince framed betweene Thought and Resolution as being euer in labour but neuer till death deliuered neuer acting though euer plotting but in his Closet or Councel Chamber One rather obeyed then loued being feared where hee was not serued doubtlesse vpholding a true Maiestie and gouernment in euery part but in his owne minde that it is a question whether he were more kinde to Strangers or seuere and iust to his Subiects or hatefull and terrible to his Enemies A father and a Prince whose wordes counsels obseruations policies resolutions and experiments were but the life of his deare Sonne neuer aduising entertayning no not praying without him In all Ambassies and Negotiations remembring his sonnes name with his owne louing him being louely for that himselfe would bee loued vnwilling to spare his presence desirous to haue him at all occasions before his eyes I shall not doe amisse to giue a taste of the fruit sprung from so stately a Tree Being by a learned and well trauailed Gentleman diuers times particularly aduised to let the Prince take some more then no recreation by which meanes he might aswell prolong his life as instruct his iudgement and delight his minde Oh would the Emperour answere one sonne is no sonne nay I am perswaded three sonnes to me is but halfe a sonne But had I sixe sonnes then I might safely say I had one how then should I part with that at any time I know not to bee mine for any time This may giue satisfaction to any vnderstanding both of his feares and ielousies his great loue and much care It was an vsuall speech with the Emperour vpon good reason to say hee was the Lord and father of his sonne yet withall That he was not onely his seruant but his very slaue Two policies of the said Emperour I shall willingly acquaint you with for diuers reasons One was when hee caused fire to bee kindled in foure parts of Moscoâ— whereat himselfe was noted to be very diligent with all his Nobles and Courtiers and after it was quenched he sent his bountie to them all that builded anew their houses and repaid all their losses And this was but to stop the rumour then so common of his strange gayning the Empire by which stratagem of his when his people were readie to mutinie they were created anew good Subiects yet did admire his not onely care but goodnesse towards them all A second was at that time the Land was visited with a mightie famine and as great a plague some foure yeeres since whereof a third of the whole Nation is rated to haue died and the murmuring multitude said the cause was their electing of a murderer to the Empire wherefore God did thus visit them Whereupon hee caused Galleries to bee builded round about the vtmost wall of the great Citie of Mosco and there appointed daily to bee giuen to the poore twentie thousand pounds sterling which was accordingly performed for one moneth whereupon the common peoples mouthes and bellies were well stopped Here wee lodged till the sixt of May being wearied with the inconstancie and ill-come newes of flying reports whereupon the time of the yeere requiring the Ambassador resolued to passe downe the Riuer to Colmogro as well that hee might the sooner haue newes from England as happily to bee out of feare of any disaster the rumours being innumerable and vncertaine After the suspicious death of the old Emperour Boris Pheodorowich c. by the appointment of the Prince then their expected Emperour and the Counsell Peter Basman that noble Sparke was speedily dispatched and sent as Generall vnto their ill succeeding warres as their last hope indeed hee prooued so in a contrarie sense and the onely refuge to the Commons whiâ—her being come hee with himselfe presented most of his command as many as freely would offer themselues Vnder which were all the English Scots French Dutch and Flemmings whatsoeuer and with him or rather before him as least suspected Ries Vasili Euanch Goleeche the other Generall a man of great birth and in the prioritie of place to bee receiued before Peter Basman All which the now well knowne newly opinionated Emperour very graciously receiued happily not without some ielousie of many particulars Demetrius now sent Messengers with Letters which entred the Suburbs where the Commons in infinite numbers brought them safe 〈◊〉 the spacious Plaine before the Castle gate within which as daily they did vse so now were all the Counsellors in consultation but happily not in a secret Counsaile also wherein was the Emperiall Court There these Boyerens made demand for many of the Counsellors especially for the Godonoues to come to heare their right King Dâ—metrius Euanowich speaking vnto them
couenants and agreements the Generall Sandamersko himselfe hath confessed to our Maiestie and Nobles that the foresaid agreements and couenants betwixt him and the foresaid Gryshca were true and how that they trusted one to another moreouer the Palatine did certifie vnto our Nobles how Gryshca sent him a Letter vnder his owne hand and Seale in which he promised to giue him Smolensko with all the Prouinces belonging thereto and another place called Seeuerow as also gaue him liberty to set vp Monasteries and the Religion of the Church of Rome Further there was found by him Letters which were sent to him from the Pope of Rome and the Cardinals and Priests to that effect that he should remember and withall be mindefull to take in hand speedily those matters and businesse vpon which he had giuen to Sigismund and the Cardinals his troth and vow the which was as beforesaid to be himselfe of the Romish Religion as also to bring all the people of the Kingdome of Russia into the same Romish Religion not onely them that of themselues were willing thereto but also others by compulsion and to put them to death that fought to contrary the same And not onely them of the Kingdome of Russia but likewise other godly people of seuerall Religion and that doe serue in the Kingdome of Mosco as the Catholicks and the Caluinists them likewise he should seeke to bring into the Romish Religion with all perswasions Moreouer Gryshca himselfe before vs and our Nobles and Courtiers and before our Commons did acknowledge as much and thereupon yeelded himselfe to be in fault as also that he did all with helpe of the Diuell hauing forsaken God For which these his vile actions this Gryshca according to the true iustice receiued an end to his life and was by abundance of people slain in the Mosco where he lay three dayes in the midst of the Citie to the view of all such like vsurpers and disturbers And because his body was loathsome vnto vs we caused it to be carried out of the Citie and there to be burnt This Enemie thus hauing ended his life then the Kings sonnes of diuers Countries now dwelling within our Kingdome with the Patriarke Metropolitanes Archbishops and Bishops with the Nobles Courtiers and the Commons made entreaty vnto vs Vasili Euanowich to raigne and gouerne ouer them and ouer all the Kingdome of Mosco as their Lord Emperour and great Duke of all Russia According to which entreatie made vnto vs by the said Kings sons of diuers Countries as likewise by our Nobles Courtiers Merchants and all the rest of the Commons of all the Kingdome of Mosco Wee are come to the great Kingdomes of Volodemar Mosco Nouogrod and as also of the Kingdomes of Cazan Astracan and Siberia and ouer all the Prouinces of the Empire of Mosco as also wee the great Lord Emperour and great Duke of all Russia are crowned with our Imperiall Crown and for the said Kings sonnes of diuers Religions and our Nobles Courtiers and Souldiers and all manner of People doe serue our Imperiall Maiesty with desire and good liking voluntarily and not by delusions and coniurations as the Poles and Lettoes were bewitched by Grishca But we the great Lord Emperour and great Duke Vasili Euanowich with great care stayed and restrayned our People from the spoyle of the Poles and the Lettoes defending them from death and withall haue commanded to let goe many of them into Poland and Letto but the chiefest of them that were of the Councell and that practised to bring trouble and dissention in the Kingdome of Mosco are now taken And we to doe an honour vnto the dead body of the true Demetrie haue vpon conference with our Metropolitanes Archbishops and Bishops and all the holy Assembly our Nobles and Courtiers and all the Kingdome of Mosco sent to the Citie of Owglets a Metropolitan named Filareta of Rostoue and Yeraslaue who was called before he was made Metropolitan Theodor Neekete which being one of the Nobles in times past and with him the Archbishops of Astracan called Feodosia and our Nobles the Duke Euan Michalowich Vorotinskoy with the rest of his fellowes commanding them to bring vp with them the body of the Prince Demetrie Euanowich who was murthered by the appointment of Boris Godonoue and to bring it vp to our Citie of Mosco with great honour which body shall be buried in the principall Church of Mosco called Michael the Archangel neare to his father the great Lord Emperour and great Duke Euan Vasilowich of famous memorie and by Gods power his body shall not be touched or abused any manner of way Likewise will we by the fauour of God honour the Funerall of Demetrie Euanowich with speciall solemnitie which body performeth many cures and worketh miraculously vnto them that come to him with Faith to be cured of their diseases And now most louing and deare brother wee calling well to minde the great amitie and friendship that was betwixt the great Lord Emperour and great Duke Euan Vasilywich and his Sonne Theodor Euanowich the Emperour Boris and the great Lady Queene Elizabeth the like brotherly loue doe we desire to haue with you most louing and deare brother to be established and continued betwixt vs as it was with them during our liues Therefore may it please you our louing brother Iames King of England after the hearing of these great and strange dangers past to reioyce with vs that he hath deliuered from such a vile enemy and that he our mercifull God hath diuided and scattered that wicked counsell and that he hath turned their cruelty vpon their owne head to their shame and confusion And concerning your Merchants that were in our Kingdome Iohn Merricke with his fellowes we haue graced them with our Emperiall presence as also haue giuen vnto the said Iohn Merricke and his fellowes a new priuiledge and Letters of fauour by which they shall come into our Kingdome and to traficke with all manner of goods freely without paying any Custome whatsoeuer and as to them was granted in former time and this fauour we haue giuen them to manifest vnto you our louing Brother our Brotherly loue And the reason that we haue not sent to you louing brother our Embassadour is because we had not time in regard of many our Emperiall affaires but hereafter doe purpose to send to visite you in your Kingdome Written at our Emperiall palace and Citie of Mosco from the beginning of the World Anno 7114. the fourth day of Iune Thus is Demetrius painted out by his Enemies which perhaps were not altogether led with simplicitie of truth but in many things made him worse that they might make their owne cause bad enough to appeare better They tell also of great outrages committed by the Poles like those sometimes here in England by the Danes their proud insulting ouer the men rauishments of women fetching them out of their houses and
number of three hundred men of which I the Relator of this was one were put into one ship belonging to Sweden and came from thence for vs. We were assaulted with a great tempest and were tossed so long that all our victuals were almost spent the miserie of which threw vs into more desperate feares now were wee assaulted by double deaths Famine and Shipwrack what course to take for our reliefe no man presently knew Continue without foode it was impossible and as impossible was iâ— for vs to recouer the Land in any short time without the assured destruction of vs all At this season our Commanders were these Lieutenant Benson Lieutenant Walton who was Prouost Martiall of the field and an Ancient of the Colonels companie The common Souldiers vowed and resolued to compell the Mariners seeing the present miseries and no hopes promising better to set vs all on shoare vpon the first Land that could be discouered Our Commanders did what they could by disâ—wasion to alter this generall resolution because they feared it would bee the losse of the greatest part of our Companies if they came once to bee scattered and besides they knew that it would redound to their dishonour and shame if they should not discharge the trust imposed vpon them by our Captaines which trust was to conduct vs and land vs before whilest our Chieftaines remayned a while behinde in England to take vp the rest of our Companies Yet all this notwithstanding Land being discouered there was no eloquence in the world able to keep vs aboord our ship but euery man swore if the Master of the ship would not set vs on the shoare the sailes should be taken into our owne hands and what was resolued vpon touching present landing should in despite of danger be effected Vpon this the Master of the ship and the Mariners told vs that if we put to land in that place we should all either perish for want of victuals which were not to bee had in that Countrie or else should haue our throats cut by the people Wee resolued rather to trie our bad fortunes on the land and to famish there if that kind of death must needes attend vpon vs then to perish on the Seas which we knew could affoord vs no such mercy and on shoare wee went as fast as possibly we could When our Officers saw that there was no remedie nor force to detayne vs aboord they then disheartned vs no longer but to our great comforts told it that the Master of the ship which thing hee himselfe likewise openly confessed knew both the Land and Gouernour thereof as indeed we proued afterwards he did and therefore desired they all our companies not to misse-behaue themselues toward the people for that it was an Iland called Iuthland vnder the Dominion of the King of Denmarke but subiect to the command of a Lord who vnder the King as his Substitute was the Gouernour And that we might be the better drawne to a ciuill behauiour towards the Inhabitants our Officers further told vs that they would repaire to the Lord Gouernour of the Countrie and acquaint him with the cause of our vnexpected landing there vpon which we all promised to offer no violence to the people neither was that promise violated because we found the Inhabitants tractable and as quiet towards vs as we to them yet the greater numbers of them ran away with feare at the first sight of vs because as afterward they reported it could not bee remembred by any of them that they euer either beheld themselues or euer heard any of their ancestors report that any strange people had landed in those places and parts of the Iland for they thought it impossible as they told vs that any ship should ride so neâ—ee the shoare as ours did by reason of the dangerous Sands Our Officers so soone as they were at land went to the Gouernour of the Iland whilest the Souldiers who stayed behind them ran to the houses of the Ilanders of purpose to talke with the people and at their hands to buy victuals for a present reliefe but when wee came among them they could neither vnderstand vs nor we them so that the Market was spoiled and wee could get nothing for our money yet by such signes as wee could make they vnderstood our wants pitied them and bestowed vpon vs freely a little of such things as they had In the end a happy meanes of our reliefe was found out by a Souldier amongst vs who was a Dane by birth but his education hauiâ—g beene in England no man knew him to be other then an English man This Dane made vse of 〈◊〉 owne natiue language to the good both of himselfe and vs certifying the people who the rather beleeued him because he spake in their knowne tongue of the cause that compelled vs to land vpon their Coast and that we intended no mischiefe violence or money to which report of his they giuing credit stood in lesse feare of vs then before and thereupon furnished vs with all such necessaries as the Countrie affoorded to sustaine our wants The foode which wee bought of them was onely fish and a kinde of course bread exceeding cheape Of which foode there was such plentie that for the value of three pence wee had as much fish as twentie men could eate at a meale and yet none of the worst sorts of fish but euen of the very best and daintiest as Mackrels and Lobsters and such like In which our trading with the poore simple people we found them so ignorant that many yea most of them regarded not whether you gaue them a Counter or a Shilling for the bigger the piece was the more fish they would giue for it but besides fish wee could get no other sustenance from them or at least could not vnderstand that they had any other But obserue what happened in the meane time that we were thus in traffique with the Ilanders for victuals our Officers as before is said being gone to the Lord Gouernour who lay about twelue English miles from the Sea side the Master of our ship on a sudden hoysed vp sailes and away he went leauing one of his owne men at shoare who accompanied our Officers as their guide through the Iland The cause of the ships departure did so much the more amaze vs by reason it was so vnexpected and the reason thereof vnknowne to vs But wee imagined the Master of the ship and Mariners feaâ—ed to receiue vs into the Vessell againe because some of our men at their being at Sea threatned the Saylers and offered them abuses before they could be brought to set vs on land On the next day following the Lord Gouernour of the Iland came to vs bringing our Officers along with him yet not being so confident of vs but that for auoyding of any dangers that might happen he came strongly guarded with a troupe of Horse-men well armed And vpon his
first approcâ— demanding where our ship was it was told him in what strange manner it stole away and forsooke vs he then asked what we intended to doe to which we all answered that we would be ruled by our Officers hereupon hee inquired of them what they would haue him to doe in their behalfes they requested nothing else at his hands but onely his fauourable Passe through the Countrie and a ship to carry vs forward into Sweden to which request hee made answere that he could grant no such licence vntill he had made the King of Denmarke acquainted with our being there for the Iland belonged to the King he said and he was no more but an Officer or Substitute vnder him Yet in consideration that our ship had so left vs in a strange Land he promised to doe all that lay in his power to effect our good but withall told vs that the people had inward feares and were possest with suspitions that our intents of landing vpon such a Coast were not as we our selues affirmed only to get foode but rather to make spoile of the poore Inhabitants And therefore to remooue all such feares and iealousies out of the peoples hearts he held it most conuenient for the generall safeties of both parties to separate our numbers and to spreade vs abroad in the Countrie one and one in a house where it was agreed that we should receiue both a lodging and meate and drinke vntill hee had sent to the King of Denmarke some of his owne men with our Officers to vnderstand his Maiesties pleasure and what should become of vs. To this we all agreed and accordingly for that purpose were by the Lord Gouernour safely by these armed horse-men which were his guard conducted to his owne house To that place were al the people of the Iland summoned together they came at the appointed day to the number of fiue or six hundred circling vs round with Bils Holbards two-hand Swords and diuers other weapons And at the first sight of vs grew into such rage that presently they would haue cut all our throats and hewed vs to pieces but that the authoritie of the Gouernor kept them from offering violence yet was hee faine to vse the fairest meanes of perswasion to allay their furie For they would not beleeue but that our arriuall there was to destroy them Yet the Gouernour shewed vnto them all our number which was but three hundred men and those all vnweaponed and so consequently neither likely nor able to vndertake any mischiefe against them Charging the vnruly multitude vpon paine of death not to touch the least finger of vs but to diuide vs equally into seuerall Villages as it should seeme best vnto them and so bestow kinde and louing entertainment vpon vs till they heard further from him which command of his they accordingly performed Immediately vpon this setling of them and vs in quietnesse one of our Officers with two of the Gouernours men were sent away to the King of Denmarke to vnderstand his Highnesse pleasure which Messengers were no sooner dispatched about the businesse but the Ilanders growing more and more suspitious came againe to the Gouernour and neuer would cease or giue ouer troubling him vntill they had gotten him to make Proclamation in hearing of vs all That if any of vs would freely discouer the true cause of our landing vpon that Coast and reueale the plots of any dangerous enterprise intended against them he should not onely be rewarded with great store of money and haue new apparell to his backe but also should without tortures imprisonment or death be set free and sent backe againe into his owne Countrie This Proclamation strucke vs all with feare and astonishment because albeit we to our selues were not guiltie of any plot or villany intended to the place or people yet wee knew this might be a meanes to endanger all our liues how innocent soeuer Our suspition of danger fell out according to our feares for one Thomas Griffyn a Welch man one of our owne company went and kneeled before the Gouernour and with a face counterfeiting a guiltinesse and fearefull destruction told him that we came thither onely and for no other purpose then to surprise the Iland kill the Inhabitants make spoile of their wiues and goods and hauing set fire of their Townes and Villages to flye to Sea againe Yet for all this would not the Gouernour beleeue him telling him it was a matter very vnlikely that so small a number so distressed for want of foode so weather-beaten and so disarmed should venture vpon an enterprise so full of dangerous euents but the villaine replyed that all those complaints of want were but songs to beguile the people for that vpon the least Allarum giuen other ships that lay houering at Sea and furnished both with men and armour would on the sudaine and that very shortly land for the same desire of spoyle as these their fellowes had done and therefore counselled the Gouernour to preuent such imminent mischiefes betimes The Gouernour being thus farre vrged presently called before him Lieutenant Walton whose lodging was appointed in his house and hauing related to him all that Griffin had discouered and withall demanding of Lieutenant Walton what he could say to this matter of treason and conspiracie the Lieutenant at the first stood amazed and vtterly denied any such intended villany protesting by the faith of a Souldiour that this report of the Welch-man proceeded from the rancour of a vile traitors heart and therefore on his knees intreated the Gouernour not to giue credit to so base a villaine who for the greedinesse of a little money went about to sell all their liues and to make all the inhabitants of the Iland become murderers The rest lay scattered about and knew nothing of the matter Now soone after iust as the traitor had told the Gouernour that more ships were not farre off but were ready to second vs vpon our arriuall it chanced that in the very heat of this businesse and their feares of danger where none was two other shippes full of armed Souldiers came to the same place of the Iland where our shippe put in These two ships had brought Souldiours out of the low Countries a cessation of warres being there and were going into Swethland as we were but by crosse windes and fowle weather lay so long at Sea that wanting victuals they were driuen in hither for succour Whose sudaine approach and ariuall being signified to the Lord Gouernor the Welch-mans words were then thought true all the Iland was presently vp in Armes to resist the strength and furie of a most dangerous supposed enemy and so secretly did the Inhabitants put on Armes that we who were kept like prisoners amongst them knew not of these vproares But night approaching the Generall gaue speciall charge that secret watch should be set and kept ouer euery Souldior that lodged in any mans house which
fidelitie and for keeping their oath alreadie giuen Therefore after many circumstances they inferred that they would presently send their Messengers to the generall Parliament but mooued with the perswasion of the honorable Lord Generall to wit that his Maiestie would bee contented with their fidelitie once made and performed vnder oath and with their griefe for the same cause and will cheerefully forgiue them and doth not refuse to giue his Sonne to raigne ouer them Adding withall that many Kingdomes to wit the Kingdome of Hungarie the Kingdome of Bohemia and a great part of Russia doe earnestly request that he would receiue them vnder the happy gouernment of his Maiestie that they might enioy the priuiledges of Poland and Litow to which none in the whole world can be compared But because his Excellent Maiestie as a Christian Lord reiecting all other Kingdomes and Dominions will graciously receiue vnder his Rule and gouernment the said Dominions and that he is sorry for their destruction he therefore now admonisheth them if they will bee vnder his prosperous Rule and enter into an vnion together with the Kingdome of Poland and the great Duchy of Litow and liue friendly with them if they will performe and consent therevnto His Excellent Maiestie promiseth to remit their offence and to receiue them vnder his happy gouernment and authoritie and refuseth and by no meanes will alter or change their faith and conscience or places dedicated vnto God or builded for deuotion neither will impose on them any other Religion or alter their ancient Manners or Customes but will bestow on them priuiledges and offices and that the Rights and Priuiledges which the Poles with the great Duchy of Litow doe enioy shall be conferred on them and that they shall be equalled with the Kingdome and great Duchy of Litow c. which iurisdictions and priuiledges in former times their Predecessors wanted For this perswasion therefore of the honourable Lord Generall which he had in charge from his Maiestie to make they yeeld all thankes but notwithstanding they propound and plainly adde that their oath shall be so that his Maiesties sonne shall succeed in their gouernment with certaine additions to wit that they will haue none other ouer them but onely his Maiesties sonne and that the whole Land doth make it knowne and propound their iudgement and sentence by way of denunciation that by no meanes but by offering his Maiesties sonne these troubles of Moscouia can be extinguished Adding withall that at that time in the first troubles when the honourable Lord Generall came into the Country of Moscouia and required the oath for the Kings Maiesties sonne if his Maiestie had made any mention thereof it is certaine that the Commons and all the Nobilitie would not haue consented thereunto by any meanes and that greater effusion of bloud had risen thereupon And that they had taken for their Prince Klutzinsky called the Wor to whom all were not assembled who also at that time had a great power of men as well of Poles as Russes and Litowes They therefore seeing the great discord amongst the people taking counsell did freely choose for their Lord and Emperour his Excellent Maiesties sonne vnto whom they had a great affection and who had a long time before layen in their hearts assuring themselues also that by this election of his Maiesties sonne many troubles and dissentions would be pacified and so reiected the aforesaid Wor Klutzinsky As also they receiued into their chiefe Citie the chiefe Generall But when it was heard that his Excellent Maiestie would by no meanes giue vnto them his sonne for their Lord and to rule ouer them they fell into such effusion of bloud and insurrections As also the same time the whole Country of Moscouia looked and expected nothing else then his Maiesties sonne Calling to memorie for their better aduice that it was to be feared least whilest his Maiestie came too late with his sonne diuers parts of the Land should choose vnto themselues seuerall Lords As to the Southward the Castles Strachen and others to the King of Persia part of Pomerland and Siberia to the Kings of Denmarke and England Nouogrod Plesco Iuanogrod and others to the King of Sweden and that the other Cities would choose to themselues other Lords separate from the rest In the meane season they desire his Excellent Maiestie to make a speedy end of these warres according to his Obligation and promise ratified by the oath of the honorable Lord Generall and the whole Armie and that his Maiestie himselfe with his sonne would come into Moscouia They request also that his Excellent Maiestie would retayne with himselfe and his Sonne Counsellors and Messengers of their Commonwealth for the ordayning and concluding of perpetuall Conditions They request also that his Maiestie in the name of his Sonne would send vnto all the Inhabitants of the Townes and write vnto the seuerall Cities signifying his comming into their Dominions and willing that out of the seuerall Prouinces all sorts of men send their Messengers to treate and conclude of the affaires of all sorts of People and of peâ—petuall tranquillitie Promising after the said Charge and Letters to all people in generall and notifying from their said Lord that by Gods grace there may bee throughout the whole Land of Moscouia tranquillitie peace and securitie To conclude they pray heartily vnto the Lord God to grant vnto his Maiestie in this businesse begun a prosperous and speedy end Thus haue wee seene dissolute resolutions or resolute dissolutenesse men onely constant in inconstancy resolued vpon irresolution As we often see sicke persons turning euery way and no way eased in the night time longing for day and in the day for night such was now the Russian sicknesse they would and they would not and yet would againe and againe would not they scarsly knew what or why fluctuating in an inward storme of diuersifyed hopes feares desires distracted affections no lesse then in that outward broile of State For it was not long that they looked toward Poland whether for breach of conditions of that part or out of inueterate hate to the Pole or their Nationall iealousie and distrust of Strangers or a naturall inconstancy they fell off from that Prince and their Chancellor Father to the now raigning Emperour employed there with others in Embassage were detayned thereupon prisoners It is also reported that they made secret ouertures to His Maiestie of Great Britaine and that Sir Iohn Merick and Sir Willam Russel were therein employed but the strong conuulsions and sharpe agues and agonies of that State could not or would not endure the lingring of such remote pâ—isicke the wheele of Things being whirled about before such a Treatie might admit a passage of Messengers to and fro Once that Russian Head grew so heady and giddy that at last it bred innumerable Heads yea the whole Body became Heads in the worst of tyrannies a popular
September the wind still continued at South-west blowing a very stiffe gale we steered away East and by South making an East way about fiftie leagues This day at noone we were in the latitude of 60. degrees 45. minutes Wednesday the second faire weather with the wind at South-west wee made an East and by South way halfe a point Southerly about fortie two leagues being at noone in the latitude of 60. degrees 10. minutes This day I obserued and found the Compasse to be varied three degrees to the Westward Thursday the third day faire weather the wind at South-west wee made an East by North way at noone about twentie leagues This day in the after-noone the winde being at North North-west it blew a very stiffe gale for two Watches and toward seuen or eight of the clocke the storme so increased that our shippe was not able to beare any saile And all that night wee lay at hull Friday the fourth the storme still continued and we could beare no saile all that day till about foure of the clocke in the afternoone at which time we set our fore course and our maine course The night before in the storme we lost The Harts-ease This day wee made some twelue leagues East and by North. And we fell to lee-ward lying at hull some fiue leagues South by West Saturday the fift calme weather but very thicke and close all the forenoone the wind continued still at North North-west we making from the time wee set our courses the day before about twentie leagues East halfe Southerly beeing at noone in the latitude of 59. degrees 53. minutes Sunday the sixt faire weather the wind at North North-west we steering away East North-east and East and by North made an East by North way halfe Northerly some 29. leagues being at noone in 60. degrees 10. minutes This day the Compasse was varied to the East sixe degrees This afternoone it was almost calme and wee sounded and found ground at sixtie eight fathomes This Euening about ten of the clocke the wind came to the South-east Munday the seuenth very faire weather the wind South-east and South-east by East wee tacked in the morning to the North-ward and ranne East North-east and East by North vntill seuen or eight in the afternoone at which time we tacked vp to the Southward and went away South-west till toward twelue a clocke that night twentiâ— leagues Tuesday the eight in our morning Watch I found our selues to be in 59. degrees 20. minutes And about fiue of the clocke I espied Land which we supposed to bee the Iles of Orkney as afterward we found them to be the same And toward three of the clocke we came to an Anchor in a Channell running betweene the Ilands where the people came to vs and brought vs Hennes Geese and Sheepe and sold them to vs for old clothes and shooes desiring rather them then money There are about eighteene of these Ilands which are called by the name of the Orkeneis Wednesday the ninth it was thicke weather and the winde so Easterly that wee could not weigh Anchor Thursday the tenth faire weather and the wind came to the North-west and about noone we weighed Anchor and toward fiue of the clocke we were cleere off the Iles. The Channell for the most part lyeth North-west and South-east All that night we stood away South-east Friday the eleuenth faire weather with the wind at North North-west And about nine of the clocke in the morning we steered away South South-east At which time wee had sight of Buquham-nesse And about two of the clocke we were thwart of it The seuenteenth we came to an Anchor in Hull Road for which the Lord bee praysed Here I thinke it not amisse briefly to relate the state and manners of the people of Groenland forasmuch as I could learne As also what likelihood there is of a passe into the Sea which lyeth vpon Tartarie and China The North-west part of Gronland is an exceeding high Land to the Sea-ward and almost nothing but Mountaynes which are wonderfull high all within the Land as farre as wee could perceiue and they are all of stone some of one colour and some of another and all glistering as though they were of rich value but indeed they are not worth any thing For our Gold-smith Iames Carlile tryed very much of the Vre and found it to bee nothing worth If there bee any Mettall it lyeth so low in the Mountaynes that it cannot bee well come by There are some Rocks in these Mountaynes which are exceeding pure Stone finer and whiter then Alabaster The sides of these Mountaynes continually are couered with Snow for the most part and especially the North sides and the Noth sides of the Valleyes hauing a kind of Mosse and in some places Grasse with a little branch running all along the ground bearing a little blacke Berrie it runneth along the ground like Three-leafed Grasse heere in England There are few or no Trees growing as farre as wee could perceiue but in one place some fortie miles within the Land in a Riuer which wee called Balls Riuer There I saw on the South-side of an high Mountayne which we went vp and found as it were a yong Groue of small Wood some of it sixe or seuen foot high like a Coppice in England that had beene some two or three yeeres cut And this was the most Wood that wee saw growing in this Countrey being some of it a kind of Willow Iuniper and such like We found in many places much Angelica We suppose the people eate the Roots thereof for some causes For we haue seene them haue many of them in their Boats There are great store of Foxes in the Ilands and in the Mayne of sundry colours And there are a kind of Hares as white as Snow with their furre or haire very long Also there be Deere but they are most commonly vp within the Mayne very farre because the people doe so much hunt them that come neere the Sea I saw at one time seuen of them together which were all that wee did see in the Countrey But our men haue bought diuers Coates of the people made of Deeres skinnes and haue bought of their Hornes also Besides we haue diuers times seene the footsteps of some beast whose foote was bigger then the foot of a great Oxe Furthermore the Inhabitants haue a kinde of Dogges which they keepe at their Houses and Tents which Dogges are almost like vnto Wolues liuing by fish as the Foxes doe But one thing is very strange as I thought for the Pizzels of both Dogges and Foxes are bone The people all the Summer time vse nothing but fishing drying their fish and Seales flesh vpon the Rockes for their Winter Prouision Euery one both man and woman haue each of them a Boate made with long small pieces of Firre-wood couered with Seales skinnes very well drest and sewed so
any refined phrases and eloquent speeches Therefore briefly and as it were in the forefront I intend to shew you the whole proceeding of the voyage in a word as namely there is no passage nor hope of passage in the North of Dauis Streights wee hauing coasted all or neere all the Circumference thereof and finde it to be no other then a great Bay as the Map here placed doth truly shew wherefore I cannot but much admire the worke of the Almightie when I consider how vaine the best and chiefest hopes of man are in things vncertaine And to speake of no other matter then of the hopefull passage to the North-west How many of the best sort of men haue set their whole indeuours to proue a passage that wayes and not onely in Conference but also in Writing and publishing to the World yea what great summes of money hath beene spent about that action as your Worship hath costly experience off Neither would the vaine-glorious Spaniard haue scattered abroad so many false Maps and Iournals if they had not beene confident of a passage this way that if it had pleased God a passage had beene found they might haue eclipsed the worthy praise of the Aduenturers and true Discouerers and for my owne part I would hardly haue beleeued the contrarie vntill mine eyes became witnesse of that I desired not to haue found still taking occasion of hope on euery little likelihood till such time as we had almost coasted the Circumference of this great Bay Neither was Master Dauis to be blamed in his report and great hopes if he had anchored about Hope Sanderson to haue taken notice of the Tydes for to that place which is in 72. degrees 12. minutes the Sea is open of an vnsearchable depth and of a good colour onely the Tydes keepe no certaine course nor rise but a small height as eight or nine foote and the flood commeth from the Southward and in all the Bay beyond that place the Tyde is so small and not much to be regarded yet by reason of snow melting on the Land the Ebbe is stronger then the Flood by meanes whereof and the windes holding Northerly the fore-part of the yeere the great Iles of Ice are set to the Southward some into Fretum Hudson and others towards New found Land for in all the Channell where the Sea is open are great quantities of them driuing vp and downe and till this yeere not well knowne where they were bred Now that the worst is knowne concerning the passage it is necessarie and requisite your Worship should vnderstand what probabilitie or hope of profit might here be made hereafter if the voyage bee attempted by fitting men And first for the killing of Whales certaine it is that in this Bay are great numbers of them which the Biscainers call the Grand Baye Whales of the same kinde which are killed at Greenland and as it seemeth to me easie to be strooke because they are not vsed to bee chased or beaten for we being but one day in Whale Sound so called for the number of Whales that wee saw there sleeping and lying aloft on the water not fearing our ship or ought else that if wee had beene fitted with men and things necessarie it had beene no hard matter to haue strooke more then would haue made three ships a sauing voyage and that it is of that sort of Whale there is no feare I being twise at Greenland tooke sufficient notice to know them againe beside a dead Whale wee found at Sea hauing all her finnes or rather all the rough of her mouth of which with much labour we got one hundred and sixtie the same euening we found her and if that foule weather and a storme the next day had not followed wee had no doubt but to haue had all or the most part of them but the winde and Sea arising shee broke from vs and we were forced to leaue her Neither are they onely to be looked for in Whale Sound but also in Sir Tho. Smiths Sound Wostenholme Sound and diuers other places For the killing of Sea Morse I can giue no certaintie but onely this that our Boat being but once ashoare in all the North part of this Bay which was in the entrance of Alderman Iones Sound at the returne our men told vs they saw many Morses along by the shoare on the Ice but our ship being vnder saile and the winde comming faire they presently came aboord without further search besides the people inhabiting about 74. degrees told vs by diuers signes that toward the North were many of those beasts hauing two long teeth and shewed vs diuers pieces of the same As for the Sea Vnicorne it being a great fish hauing a long horne or bone growing forth of his forehead or nostrill such as Sir Martin Frobisher in his second voyage found one in diuers places we saw of them which if the horne be of any good value no doubt but many of them may be killed And concerning what the Shoare will yeeld as Beach finnes Morse teeth and such like I can little say because we came not on shoare in any of the places where hope was of finding them But here some may obiect and aske why we sought that Coast no better to this I answere that while we were thereabout the weather was so exceeding foule wee could not for first wee anchored in Wostenholme Sound where presently our ship droue with two anchors a head then were we forced to stand forth with a low saile The next day in Whale Sound we lost an Anchor and Cable and could fetch the place no more then we came to anchor neere a small Iland lying between Sir Tho. Smiths Sound and Whale Sound but the winde came more outward that we were forced to weigh againe neuerthelesse if wee had beene in a good harbour hauing but our Ships Boat we durst not send her farre from the ship hauing so few men as seuenteene in all and some of them very weake but the chiefe cause wee spent so little time to seeke a Harbour was our great desire to performe the Discouerie hauing the Sea open in all that part and still likelihood of a passage but when we had coasted the Land so farre to the Southward that hope of passage was none then the yeere was too farre spent and many of our men very weake and withall we hauing some beliefe that ships the next yeere would be sent for the killing of Whales which might better doe it then wee And seeing I haue briefly set downe what hope there is of making a profitable voyage it is not vnfit your Worship should know what let or hinderance might be to the same The chiefest and greatest cause is that some yeere it may happen by reason of the Ice lying betweene 72. degrees and a halfe and 76. degrees no minutes that the ships cannot come into those places till toward the middest of Iuly so that
her selfe among the Rocks till the other had told her how well wee had vsed them in giuing them pieces of Iron and such like which they highly esteeme in change thereof they giue vs Seales skinnes other riches they had none saue dead Seales and fat of Seales some of which fat or blubber afterward we carried aboord the poore women were very diligent to carry it to the water side to put into our caske making shew that the men were ouer at the Mayne and at an other small Iland something more Eastward Then making signes to them that wee would shew them our ship and set them where the men were the foure youngest came into our Boate when they were aboord they much wondred to see our ship and furniture we gaue them of our meat which they tasting would not eate Then two of them wee set on the Iland where they supposed the men to be the other two were carried to their Tents againe Those that went to seeke the men could not finde them but came as neere the ship as they could and at euening wee set them ouer to the other This place wee called Womens Ilands it lyeth in the latitude of 72. degrees 45. minutes here the Flood commeth from the Southward at nep Tydes the water ariseth but sixe or seuen foote and a South South-east Moone maketh a full Sea The Inhabitants very poore liuing chiefly on the flesh of Seales dryed which they eate raw with the skinnes they cloathe themselues and also make couerings for their Tents and Boats which they dresse very well The Women in their apparell are different from the men and are marked in the face with diuers blacke strokes or lines the skin being rased with some sharpe instrument when they are young and blacke colour put therein that by no meanes it will be gotten forth Concerning their Religion I can little say onely they haue a kinde of worship or adoration to the Sunne which continually they will point vnto and strike their hand on their breast crying Ilyâ—nt their dead they burie on the side of the Hils where they liue which is commonly on small Ilands making a pile of stones ouer them yet not so close but that wee might see the dead body the aire being so piersing that it keepeth them from much stinking sauour So likewise I haue seene their Dogs buried in the same manner Vpon the fourth day we set sayle from thence hauing very faire weather although the winde were contrary and plyed to and fro betweene the Ice and the Land being as it were a channell of seuen or eight leagues broad then on the ninth day being in the latitude of 74. degree 4. minutes and much pestered with Ice neere vnto three small Ilands lying eight miles fromth shore we came to anchor neere one of them These Ilands are vsed to be frequented with people in the latter part of the yeare as it seemed by the houses and places where the tents had stood but this yeare as yet they were not come here the tides are very small especially the floud which ariseth not aboue fiue or six foot yet the ebbe runneth with an indifferent streame the cause thereof in mine opinion is the great abundance of Snow melting on the Land all this part of the yeare The tenth day wee set sayle from thence and stood through much Ice to the Westward to try if that further from the shoare wee might proceede but this attempt was soone quailed for the more Ice we went through the thicker it was till wee could see no place to put in the Ships head Seeing that as yet we could not proceede we determined to stand in for the shoare there to abide some few dayes till such time as the Ice were more wasted and gone for we plainely saw that it consumed very fast with this resolution we stood in and came to anchor among many Ilands in the latitude of 73. degrees 45. minutes On the twelfth day at night here wee continued two dayes without shew or signe of any people till on the fifteenth day in the morning about one a clocke then came two and fortie of the Inhabitants in their Boates or Canoas and gaue vs Seale skinnes and many peeces of the bone or horne of the Sea Vnicorne and shewed vs diuers peeces of Sea Mors teeth making signes that to the Northward were many of them in exchange thereof we gaue them small peeces of Iron Glasse Beads and such like at foure seuerall times the people came to vs and at each time brought vs of the aforesaid commodities by reason thereof we called this place Horne Sound Here we stayed six dayes and on the eighteenth day at night we set sayle hauing very little winde and being at Sea made the best way we could to the Northward although the winde had beene contrary for the most part this moneth but it was strange to see the Ice so much consumed in so little space for now we might come to the three Ilands before named and stand off to the Westward almost twenty leagues without let of Ice vntill we were more North as to 74. degrees 30. minutes then we put among much scattered Ice and plyed to and fro all this month still in the sight of shoare and many times fast in the Ice yet euery day we got something on our way nothing worthy of note happening but that at diuers times we saw of the fishes with long hornes many and often which we call the Sea Vnicorne and here to write particularly of the weather it would be superfluous or needelesse because it was so variable few dayes without Snow and often freezing in so much that on Midsummer day our shrowds roapes and sailes were so frozen that we could scarse handle them yet the cold is not so extreame but it may well be endured The first of Iuly we were come into an open Sea in the latitude of 75. degrees 40. minutes which a new reuiued our hope of a passage and because the winde was contrary wee stood off twenty leagues from the shoare before we met the Ice then standing in againe when we were neere the Land we let fall an anchor to see what tyde went but in that we found small comfort Shortly after the winde came to the South-east and blew very hard with foule weather thicke and foggie then we set sayle and ran along by the Land this was on the second day at night The next morning we past by a faire Cape or head land which wee called Sir Dudley Digges Cape it is in the latitude of 76. degrees 35. minutes and hath a small Iland close adioyning to it the winde still increasing we past by a faire Sound twelue leagues distant from the former Cape hauing an Iland in the midst which maketh two entrances Vnder this Iland we came to anchor and had not rid past two houres but our Ship droue although we had two
Kingdome by the marsh of this Citie which is eight leagues from it by the Sea and afterward twelue vnto the Barranca of Malambo in the great Riuer Ocanna is also in this Gouernment which the Captaine Franciscus Hernandez inhabited 1572. and was first called Sancte Anne There is in the Coast of this Gouernment the Riuer of Buhia neere Ramada and the Riuer of Piras and that of Palomino where a Captaine of this name was drowned and the Riuer of Don Iames the Ancones of Buritaca and the Cape of Aguia neere Sancta Martha right against the hill of Bonda and the Riuer of Gayra to the West The Prouince and Gouernment of Cartagena in the Coast of Terra firme and the North Sea hath in length East and West from the Riuer of the Magdalene vnto the Riuer of Darien eightie leagues North and South and as many vnto the confines of the New Kingdome though men say it is more in Voyage The Countrie is Mountainous of Hils and Valleys of high Trees rainie and moist the seedes of Castile beare no seede there is no Wheate nor Gould but in some places There is much rozen made in some Mountaines of this Gouernment and Gums arromaticke and other liquors which they get out of the Trees and great quantitie of Sanguis Draconis and a very fragrant balme of great vertues The Citie of Carthagena Iâ—ands neare the Sea two leagues from the Point of Canoa to the West in tenne degrees of latitude and seuentie six of longitude one thousand foure hundred and sixtie leagues from Toledo of more then fiue hundred housholds among them aboue two thousand women In it is resident the Gouernour the Kings Officers treasurie Royall and the Cathedrall suffragan to the New Realme with Monasteries of Dominick and Franciscan Friers The scituation is plain and almost like an Iland the Sea compasseth it on the North side it is a rough coast and very shallow and on the land side it hath an arme of the Sea which reacheth to a Marish which is the Lake of Canapote which ebbeth floweth after the order of the Sea at the same houre and they passe from the Citie to Terra firme by a Bridge and a manner of a Causie which hath about two hundred and fiftie paces The Citie is built on Sand within two fathoms they finde fresh water though sometimes it is vnwholesome not so much as the coast of Nombre de Dios for the ayres in respect of the Marish are wont to cause diseases but for the most part it is wholsome The Hauen is one of the least of the Indies though the great Ships doe ride farre from the Citie It hath at the entrie an Iland like that of Escombrera in Cartagena of Castile whereby they called it Cartagena and the Iland was called Codego now they call it Caxes it hath two leagues in length little more then halfe a league in bredth it was wont to be inhabited with Indian Fishers it hath no water The first that saw Carthagena in the year 1502. was Roderick Bastidas the year 1504. Iuan de la Cosa or Iohn of the Thing went a shore and found Lewes Guerra and they were the first that began the warre with the Indians which were proud and bould and both men and women fought with venomed arrows Afterward returned Alonso of Oieda with Iohn of the Thing for Pilot Maior Americo Vespucio for Mariner some years after Gregorie of Obiedo took vpon him to inhabit Cartagena performed it not The year 1532. went Don Pedro of Eredia born in Madrid and inhabited it and pacified a great part of the Countrie though with labour and cunning because the people were very warlike and there was a woman that before they could take her being about eighteene yeeres old slew with her Bow eight Spaniards The Village of Saint Iames of Tolu is six leagues from the Sea to the South-west of Cartagena two leagues from it part by Sea for by Land it cannot be gone and part by the Marishes and Mountaines It is a sound Countrie of great breedings and tillage and fruits of Castile the President Don Peter of Heredia peopled it The Village of Marie thirtie two leagues from Cartagena to the South is also the inhabiting of Don Peter of Heredia in the yeare 1534. The Village of Sancta Cruz of Mopox is seuentie leagues from Cartagena by the Sea and Riuer of Magdalene neere whose border it stands whereby they goe about more then halfe the way it is not sound being among Quagmires A Captaine of Don Peter of Heredia peopled it 1535. The yeare of 1509. the Bachiller Eusico as hath been said inhabited Sancta Marie the auncient of the Darien which is in this Gouernment forsaking the Village of Saint Sebastian of Bona vista which the same Captaine Alonso de Oieda had inhabited in the furthest place of Vraba afterward the Captain Alonso of Heredia inhabited Saint Sebastian againe for the President his Brother in certaine little hils almost halfe a league from the Sea And in the yeare 1537. the Bachiller Iohn of Vadillo went out of Saint Sebastian with a good number of Souldiours and passing many troubles most rough Mountains thick woods came to the Citie of Antioquia of the gouernment of Popayan there was a Souldior that from theÌ„ce came to the Citie of the Plate in the Charcas which is 1200. leag The Barranca of Malambo which is a Custome house of the iurisdiction of Cartagena thirtie leagues from it on the border of the great Riuer and twenty from Sancta Martha six from the Sea where the Merchandize that are carried by Land to the New Realme are vnloaden from the Barranca are carried vp by the Riuer in Canooes Lower then Nopox entreth the Riuer of Cauca into the Riuer of Magdalene which also springeth about Popayan more toward Cartagena and to the West standeth the Knobbe and the point of Zamba and Butrio del gato or Arbolera and the seuen Cottages and the point of the Canowe two leagues from Cartagena and the point of Ycacos at the entrie of the port right against the Iland of Carex and the point of the Ship in Terra firme at the other lesser entrie of the port and almost to the North is a little Iland which is called Sardina and in the coast of Tolu the Ilands of Baru which are six and at the entrie of the Gulfe of Vraba the six which are called of Saint Bernard right against the Riuer Zenu and more within the Gulfe the strong Iland and the Tortoyse The port of Zenu stands fiue and twenty leagues from Cartagena it is a great Bay that hath his entrance by the East it is secure here they make store of Salt and it tooke the name of the Towne Zenu which standeth on the Riuer In the
the Port of Cauyete and the Iland of Mocha more to the South and the Port of Cauten which is that of the Imperiall and to the South the landing place and the Riuer of Tolten before the Port of Valdinia and past this the Point of the Galley and more to the South the great Bay or Port of Osorno in the Riuer de las Canoas and to the South of it about thirtie leagues to the Lake de los Coronados the broadest Riuer of this Realme and at the end of this Realme the Lake of Aucud HONDIVS his Map of the MAGELLAN Streight FRETUM Magellani The Ports Capes and Points of the Coast of the one and the other Sea vnto the Streighr although they be many and some are not pointed in the Cardes of Nauigation it appeareth not wholly neither is there any certaine relation of all And the most knowne of the Coast from Chile vnto the Streight which runneth from Valdinia about an hundred leagues to the West South-west are the Cape of Saint Andrew in seuen and fortie degrees from whence the Coast turneth directly to the South vnto the Streight by the Cape of Saint Roman in eight and fortie degrees and neere vnto it the Iland of Saint Catalina neere to the great Bay which they call Hartichoked and within it the Bay of our Lady and the Iland of Santa Barbara and more forward the Ports of Hernan Gallego in eight and fortie degrees two third parts and the Bay of The Kings eighteene leagues from the Port of Hernan Gallego and the Bay of Saint Iohn in fiftie degrees one third part the Cape of Saint Francisco in one and fiftie whereby some Channels doe enter into the Land and the Iland de la Campana or of the Bell eleuen leagues from Saint Francis also with some Channels which haue not beene nauigated within the Land and the Bay of Saint Lazarus in two and fiftie degrees with Channels on the sides which enter very broad and long to the one and the other parts which haue not beene nauigated and a great Sea of Ilands which alwayes was said to bee at the South side neere to the mouth of the Streight the which Sir Richard Hawkins denyeth for hee saith That at this mouth of the Streight on the South side he found no more then foure small Ilands and one in the middest like a Sugar loofe and that at the least they are distant from the mouth of the Streight sixe leagues and the great Sea is on the one side and he holdeth for certaine it is that which they say is the firme Land of the South side of the Streight and that there is no firme land The Streight though they haue past it from the South to the North side by order of the Vice-roy Don Franciscus of Toledo Peter Sarmiento and Antonie Pablo Corso and it is knowne it stands from 52. to 53. degrees of altitude where it draweth most to the South and that in length it hath one hundred and ten â—eagues or one hundred and fifteene little more or lesse and in breadth from one to tenne it hath neuer beene nauigated to an end from the South Sea to the North Sea nor the Pyrats that haue past it from the North to the South are vnderstood to haue returned by it The aboue said Sir Richard Hawkins saith that he sailed many dayes by the Straight and affirmeth that all the Countrie on the South side is no firme Land but many Ilands which reach to 56. degrees the which he might know because he sayled to the same 56. degrees through the middest of those Ilands and seeing he found nothing but Sea hee followed his course againe through by the Straight and that this cannot be so farre the differences of Seas which the many entrings doe cause that are among those Ilands and that the habiting of them is of people on the North side which doe passe to those Ilands to sustaine themselues of fishings and in their seasons returne to their Countries and that he comprehended this of many things especially of not hauing seene any seated inhabitating but some Cabbins which the Indians doe make for a time The same said Sir Francis Drake that it hapned him when he passed the Straight the yeare 1579. who after his comming out into the South Sea he ran along with tempests compassing this Sea vnto the mouth of the North Sea and by the same way he had runne he made sure his nauigation to the South Sea The parts most famous of the Straight at the entring of the South are the Cape Desseado or Desired in 53. degrees and the Channell of all Saints two and twentie leagues from the mouth very broad and large and past it the port of the Treason and afterward another great large Channell which runneth to the North-west and Rowlands Bell a great Rocke in the middest at the beginning of a Channell They gaue it this name of one of Magellanes fellowes called Rowland who went to reacknowledge it which was a Gunner the point of possession which is foure leagues from the Cape of Virgenes at the entring of the North Sea in 52. degrees and a halfe of altitude when Peter Sarmiento and Antonie Pablo Corso by order which they had to reknowledge the Straight for it had beene commanded long before for to see if it were a more easie nauigation to the South Sea then that of Panama they viewed the two narrow places that at the entrie of the North and it seemed to Peter Sarmiento that the one was so narrow that with Artillerie it might be kept and so much he perswaded it that although the Duke of Alua affirmed it was impossible the Armie which Iames Flower carried vnfruitfully was sent about it and in the end was knowne that that nauigation is dangerous and the flowing of two Seas which come to meete in the middest of the Straight doe withdraw themselues with such furie ebbing in some places more then sixtie fathoms that when the Shippes did carry nothing but Cables to preserue themselues from loosing that which they had sayled they would goe full froaghted In foure hundred leagues there is of Coast from the mouth of the Straight vnto the Riuer of Plate which runneth altogether North-east and South-west there is the Riuer of Saint Ilefonsus twelue leagues from the Cape of the Virgenes the a Gallizian Riuor and the Bay of Saint Iames foureteene leagues from the Riuer of Sancta Cruz in 50. degrees and at the mouth an Iland called of the Lyons and the Port of Saint Iulian in 49. degrees and the Riuer of Iohn Serrana to the South of the Ilands of Duckes in 47 degrees the Riuer of Cananor in 45. degrees the Cape of Saint Dominicke before the Cape of three Points and the Land de los Humos or of the Smoakes in 38. degrees the Point of Sancta Hellene and of Saint Apollonia in 37. degrees before the White
Benefices of the Indians be Cures and not simples and that in the new discoueries and plantations that shall be made there be presently an Hospitall built for the poore and sicke persons of sicknesses that are not contagious which shall be placed neere the Temple and for a Cloyster of the same that for the sicke of contagious diseases the Hospitall shall be set that no hurtfull winde passing by it doe strike in the other inhabiting and if it be built on a high place it will be better And because the King being informed that goods of the deceassed in those parts do not come so wholly as they might nor so soone to the hands of the heyres by will of the said deceased for many causes whereby the heires receiued great damage and the testaments were not performed for a remedy it was prouided that whatsoeuer Spaniard shall come to any Village or Towne of those parts he shall present himselfe before the Clarke of the Counsell where he shall Register the name and surname of such a one with the place of his aboad or birth that his death happening it may be knowne where those that are to be his heires may be found That the ordinary Iustice with the most auncient Ruler and the Clark of the Counsell shall take charge of the goods of the persons that shall dye and shal set them in an Inuentorie before a Scriuener and Witnesses and the debts that he did owe and were owing him and that which is in Gold Siluer small Pearle and other things shall be sold and put in a Chest of three Locks whose Keyes the three persons abouesaid shall keepe That the goods be sold in a publike out-cry with the Testimony of a Scriuener that if neede be an Atturney shall be constituted That the said Iustices doe take occompt of all those that haue charge of dead mens goods and recouer all that they are behinde hand without any appeale and doe put it in the Chest of the three Keyes That hauing any Will of the deceased where he dyeth and the Heires or Executors the Iustice shall not meddle in any thing neither take the goods taking only notice who be the Heires of the said deceased That the said Iustices Rulers and Scriueners doe send also to the Contrataction-house of Seuill all that which they shall recouer of the goods of the deceased declaring the name surname and aboad of of euery one deceased with the Copy of the Inuentory of his goods that they may be giuen to his Heires by the order that touching the same is giuen That when they take accompt of those that haue had goods of men deceased it shall be sent to the supreme Counsell of the Indies with a very particular relation and reason of all That the Iustices doe with care enforme themselues carefully of those which haue in possession the goods of men deceased whether they haue done any fraude and preiudice to the goods they haue had in possession send to the Counsel notice thereof that they may giue accompt with paiment to the Iustices aboue said That accompt be giuen euery yeere and the memoriall of the dead that haue beene that yeere shall be shewed to the Gouernor of the Country of the goods they had that they may be sent to Seuill be giuen to his heires and the Testaments be fulfilled with good accompt and reason that is behoouefull For in euery Counsell one of the Iustices is Iudge of the goods of the deceased the one succeeding another from the yongest to the eldest by their turne which doth send his Commissaries through the bounds to take accompt of the houlders and there be any carelessenesse the Iustices are charged therewith in the visitations which are made of them and before when there are any Plaintifes Those Catholike Kings being informed that in the Indies were many married Spaniards which liued separated from their wiues of the which besides the offence that was done to our Lord God there followed a great inconuenience to the Plantation of those Countries for that such not liuing seated in them were not continued neither did they attend to build plant breed nor sowing nor doing other things which the good inhabiters are wont to doe whereby the Townes doe not increase as is behoofefull and as they would do if there came inhabitors with their wiues children as true Townsmen being willing to remedy the abouesaid commanded that all and euery person or persons that should be found to be married or betrothed in these Kingdomes should come vnto them for their wiues and not returne to the Indies without them or with sufficient proof that they are dead And the same order was giuen for all the Kingdomes of that new world and sundry times hath beene reiterated and commanded to be executed vpon grieuous penalties Proceeding from the yeare 1492. when the discouery of this Orbe was begun in directing and setling the spirituall gouernment as hath beene seene for greater perfection and enduring of it The Catholike King Don Phillip the second called the Prudent considering that among the great benefits that the Indians haue receiued their illumination to receiue the Euangelicall Doctrin was the greatest which hath exâ—ended itselfe and considering also the singular grace which God for his mercy hath vsed with them in giuing them knowledge of our holy Catholike Faith that it was necessary to haue a speciall vigilancy in the conseruing of the deuotion and reputation of the inhabitors and Castillane pacifiers which with so many labours procured the augmenting of the Religion and exalting of the Catholike Faith as in those parts like faithful Catholik Christians and good naturall and true Castillans they haue done seeing that those which are out of the holy Catholike Apostolike Roman Church obstinate and stubborne in their errors and heresies do alwayes procure to peruert the faithful Christians labouring to draw them to their false opinions scattering certain damned Books wherof hath followed great hurt to our sacred Religion and hauing so certain experience that the best meanes to preuent these euils consisteth in the separating the communication of heretical persons punishing their errors according to the disposition of the sacred Canons laws of these Kingdoms which by this holy means by the diuine clemency haue beene preserued from this wicked contagion and is hoped they will be preserued hereafter to the end that the Orbe doe not receiue so much hurt where the inhabiters of these Kingdomes haue giuen so good example of Christianity the Country-born haue not peruerted themselues with erronious doctrines of the hereticks It seemed good to his Maiestie with the aduice of the Cardinal D. Iames of Espinosa Bishop of Siguença Inquisitor generall in these Kingdoms a man of great prudence and of many rare parts and vertues for the which he made election of his person to help him to beare the burden of so many Kingdomes and Lordships and of the
from out of the Ocean which in those parts is very great and spacious and hauing drawne vnto it this great abundance of vapours doth suddenly dissolue them into raine and it is approued by many tried experiences that the raine and great stormes from Heauen proceed from the violent heate of the Sunne first as we haue said before it raines in those Countries when as the Sunne casts his beames directly vpon the earth at which time he hath most force but when the Sunne retires the heate is moderate and then there falls no raine whereby wee may conclude that the force and heate of the Sunne is the cause of raine in those Countries Moreouer we obserue both in Peru new Spaine and in all the burning Zone that the raine doth vsually fal in the afternoone when as the Sunne beames are in their greatest force being strange to see it raine in the morning And therefore Trauellers foreseeing it begin their iourneys early that they may end and rest before noone for they hold that commonly it raines after noone Such as haue frequented and trauelled those Countries can sufficiently speake thereof And there are that hauing made some abode there say that the greatest abundance of raine is when the Moone is at the full but to say the truth I could neuer make sufficient proofe thereof although I haue obserued it Moreouer the dayes the yeere and the moneths shew the truth hereof that the violent heaâ—e of the Sunne causeth the raine in the burning Zone experience teacheth vs the like in artificiall things as in a Limbecke wherein they draw waters from herbs and flowers for the vehemency of the fire forceth and driueth vp an abundance of vapours which being pressed and finding no issue are conuerted into liquor and water The like wee see in gold and siluer which we refine with quick-siluer the fire being small and slow we draw out almost nothing of the quick-siluer but if it be quick and violent it doth greatly euaporate the quick-siluer which encountring the head aboue doth presently turne into liquor and begins to drop downe Euen so the violent heate of the Sunne produceth these two effects when it findes matter disposed that is to draw vp the vapours on high and to dissolue them presently and turne them into raine when there is any obstacle to consume them And although these things seeme contrarie that one Sunne within the burning Zone being neere should cause raine and without the Zone afarre off should breed the like effect so it is that all well considered there is no contrarietie A thousand effects in naturall causes proceed of contrarie things by diuers meanes we drie linnen by the fire and in the aire and yet the one heats and the other cooles Pastures are dried and hardened by the Sunne and with the Frost moderate exercise prouokes sleepe being too violent it hindereth if you lay no wood on the fire it dyeth if you lay on too much it likewise quencheth for the onely proportion entertaines and makes it to continue To well discerne a thing it must not be too neere the eye nor too farre off but in a reasonable distance proportionable being too farre off from any thing we lose the sight and too neere likewise we cannot see it If the Sunne beams be weake they draw vp no fogge from the Riuers if they be violent hauing drawne vp the vapours they presently dissolue and consume them but if the heat be moderate it drawes vp and preserues it for this reason the vapours rise not commonly in the night nor at noone but in the morning when as the Sunne begins to enter into his force There are a thousand examples of naturall causes vpon this subiect which wee see doe often grow from contrarie things whereby we must not wonder if the Sunne being neere engenders raine and being farre off works the like effect but being of a moderate and proportionable distance causeth none at all Yet there remaines one doubt why the neernesse of the Sunne causeth the raine vnder the burning Zone and without when it is farthest off In my opinion the reason is that in Winter without the Tropicks the Sunne hath not force sâ—fficient to consume the vapours which rise from the Land and Sea for these vapours grow in great abundance in the cold Region of the aire where they are congealed and thickned by the extremitie of the cold and after being pressed they dissolue and turne into water Therefore in Winter when the Sunne is farthest off the dayes short and the nights long his heat hath small force but when the Sunne approcheth which is in the Summer time his force is such as it drawes vp the vapours and suddenly consumes and disperseth them for the heat and the length of the dayes grow through the neernesse of the Sunne But within the Tropicks vnder the burning Zone the farre distance of the Sunne workes the same effects that the neernesse doth without the Tropicks by reason whereof it raines no more vnder the burning Zone when the Sunne is farre off then without the Tropicks when it is neerest for that in this approching and retyring the Sunne remayns alwayes in one distance whence proceedes this effect of cleernesse But when the Sunne is in the period of his force in the burning Zone and that he cast his beames directly vpon the Inhabitants heads there is neither cleernesse nor drynesse as it seemes there should be but rather great and strange showers for that by this violent heat he drawes vp suddenly a great abundance of vapours from the Earth and Ocean which are so thicke as the winde not able easily to disperse them they melt into water which breedeth the cold raine in so great abundance for the excessiue heat may soone draw vp many vapours the which are not so soone dissolued and being gathered together through their great abundance they melt and dissolue into water The which wee may easily discerne by this familiar example roast a piece of Porke Mutton or Veale if the fire be violent and the meate neere wee see the fat melts suddenly and drops away the reason is that the violent heat drawes forth the humour and fat from the meat and being in great abundance cannot dissolue it and so it distils more away But when the fire is moderate and the meat in an equall distance wee see that it roasts handsomly and the fat drops not too suddenly for that the moderate heat drawes out the moistnesse which it consumes suddenly And therefore Cookes make a moderate fire and lay not their meate too neere nor too farre off lest it melt away The like may bee seene in anoother experience in candles of tallow or waxe if the wike bee great it melts the tallow or the waxe for that the heat cannot consume the moistnesse which riseth but if the flame bee proportionable the wax melts nor drops not for that the flame doth waste it by little and little as it riseth But this is
not to hinder the exceptions which Nature hath giuen to this Rule making some Regions of the burning Zone extremely drie The which is reported of Ethiopia and wee haue seene it in a great part of Peru where all that Land or Coast which they call Playnes wants raine yea land waters except some Vallies where Riuers fall from the Mountaines the rest is a sandie and barren soile where you shall hardly finde any Springs but some deepe Wells But with the helpe of God we will shew the reason why it rayneth not in these Playnes the which many demand for now I onely pretend to shew that there are many exceptions to naturall Rules whereby it may happen that in some part of the burning Zone it raines not when the Sunne is neerest but being farthest off although vnto this day I haue neither seene nor heard of it but if it be so we must attribute it to the particular qualitie of the Earth and also if sometimes the contrarie doth chance we must haue regard that in naturall things there happens many contrarieties and lets whereby they change and dissolue one another For example it may be the Sunne will cause raine and that the windes will hinder it or else cause more abundance then hath beene vsuall When I passed to the Indies I will tell what chanced vnto mee hauing read what Poets and Philosophers write of the burning Zone I perswaded my selfe that comming to the Equinoctiall I should not indure the violent heate but it fell out otherwise for when I passed which was when the Sunne was there for Zenith being entred into Aries in the moneth of March I felt so great cold as I was forced to goe into the Sunne to warme me what could I else doe then but laugh at Aristotles Meteors and his philosophie seeing that in that place and at that season when as all should be scortched with heat according to his rules I and all my companions were a cold In truth there is no Region in the world more pleasant and temperate then vnder the Equinoctiall although it be not in all parts of an equall temperature but haue great diuersities The burning Zone in some parts is very temperate as in Quitto and on the playnes of Peru in some parts very cold as at Potozi and in some very hot as in Ethiopia Bresil and the Molucques This diuersitie being knowne and certaine vnto vs wee must of force seeke out another cause of cold and heat then the Sunne beames seeing that in one season of the yeere and in places of one height and distance from the Pole and Equinoctiall we finde so great diuersitie that some are inuironed with heat some with cold and others tempered with a moderate heat Considering this matter generally I finde two generall causes which maketh this Region temperate the one is that before mentioned for that this Region is very moist and subiect to raine and there is no doubt but the raine doth refresh it for that the water is by nature cold and although by the force of the fire it be made hot yet doth it temper this heat proceeding onely from the Sunne beames The which wee see by experience in the inner Arabia the which is burnt with the Sunne hauing no showres to temper the violence thereof The cloudes and mists are the cause that the Sunne offends not so much and the showres that fall from them refresh both the Aire and the Earth and moisten likewise how hot soeuer it be They drinke raine water and it quencheth the thirst as our men haue well tried hauing no other to drinke So as reason and experience doth teach vs that raine of it selfe doth temper the heat and hauing by this meanes shewed that the burning Zone is much subiect vnto raine it appeares that there is matter in it to temper the violence of the heat To this I will adde an other reason which deserues to be knowne not onely for this matter but for many others for although the Sunne be very hot and burning vnder the Equinoctiall yet is it not long so as the heat of the day being there shorter and of lesse continuance it causeth not so violent a heate the which it behooues to specifie more particularly Such as are practised in the knowledge of the Spheare teach very well that the more the Zodiake is oblique and trauersing our Hemisphere the more vnequall are the dayes and nights and contrariwise where the Spheare is straight and the signes mount directly there the dayes and nights are equall And therefore in all that Region which is betweene the two Tropicks there is lesse inequalitie then without them and the more wee approch the Line the lesse inequalitie we finde the which wee haue tried in those parts Those of Quitto for that they are vnder the Line haue not throughout the whole yeere the dayes and nights more short at one season then at an other but are continually equall Those of Lima being distant almost twelue degrees finde some difference betwixt the dayes and the nights but very little for that in December and Ianuarie the dayes increase an houre or little lesse Those of Potozi finde much more difference both in Winter and in Summer being almost vnder the Tropicke But those that liue without the Tropicks finde the dayes in Winter shorter and in Summer longer the more remote they are from the Equinoctiall and come neere the Pole as wee see in Germanie and in England the dayes are longer in Summer then in Italie and in Spaine It is a thing which the Spheare doth teach and experience doth plainly shew vs. Wee must adde an other Proposition which is likewise true and very considerable for all the effects of Nature to vnderstand the perseuerance and continuation of the efficient cause to worke and mooue This presupposed if any one demand of me why vnder the Equinoctiall Line the heat is not so violent in Summer as in some other Regions as in Andelousia in the moneths of Iuly and August I will answere that in Andelousia the dayes are longer and the nights shorter and as the day being hot inflames and causeth heat so the nights being cold and moist giue a refreshing According to the which at Peru there is no such great heat for that the dayes in Summer are not long nor the nights short so as the heat of the day is much tempered by the freshnesse of the night Being a thing concluded that the two fore-named properties are common and vniuersall to all the Region of the burning Zone and yet in the same there are found some places very hot and other exceeding cold Also that the temperature is not there equall in all places but vnder one climate one part is hot another cold and the third temperate all at one season wee are forced to seeke out other reasons whence this great diuersitie should proceede in the burning Zone Discoursing therefore vpon this question I doe finde
three apparant and certaine causes and a fourth more obscure and darke The apparant and certaine causes bee The first is the Ocean the second the situation of the Land and the third the nature and propertie of many and sundrie windes Besides these three which I hold for manifest I beleeue there is a fourth hidden and lesse apparant which is the propertie of the same Land inhabited and the particular influence of the Heauens Among the speciall causes and reasons I haue first placed the Sea for without doubt the neernesse thereof doth helpe to temper and coole the heat for although the Water be salt yet is it alwayes water whose nature is cold But if wee shall yet search more particularly wee shall not finde in all this Land an equall temperature of heate although it bee in equall distance from the Sea and in the same degree seeing that in some partâ— there is great heate and in some very little Doubtlesse the cause thereof iâ— that the one is lower and the other higher which causeth that the one is hot and the other cold It is most certaine that the tops of the Mountaines are colder then in the bottome of the Vallies the which proceedes not onely for that the Sunne beames haue greater repercussions vpon lower places although it be a great reason yet there is another which is that the Region of the aiâ—e is colder when it is farthest from the ground The cause why the middle Region of the aire is more cold hath beene shewed before for that the Region of the aire next to the fierie exhalation the which according to Aristotle is vpon the Spheare of the aire repells and thrusts backe all the cold the which retires it selfe into the middle Region of the aire by Antiparistasis as the Philosophers speake Now if any one should question with me in this manner If it be so that the aire is hot and moist as Aristotle holds and as we commonly say whence then proceedes the cold which is congealed in the middle Region of the aire seeing it cannot come from the fierie Spheare For if it come from the Water or the Earth by this reason the lower Region of the aire should be colder then the middle To answere truly what I thinke I will confesse that this Argument and Obiection is so difficult as I am almost readie to follow the opinion of such as reproue the qualities agreements and disagreements which Arâ—stotle giues vnto the Elements â—aying they are but imaginations who for this occasion hold the aire to bee cold by nature And to this end they vse many arguments and reasons whereof we will propound one very familiar and well knowne leauing the rest apart In the Canicular dayes we are accustomed to beate the aire with a fan and wee finde that it doth refresh vs so as these Authors affirme that heate is no priuate propertie of any other Element but of fire onely which is dispersed and mingled with all things as the great Denis doth teach vs. But whether it be so or otherwise for I will not contradict Aristotle but in that which is most certaine in the end they agree all that the middle Region of the aire is colder then the lowest next to the Earth as experience doth shew vs seeing that in this middle Region are congealed Snow Haile Frosts and other signes of extreme cold The middle Region then which they call the burning Zone hauing on the one side the Sea and on the other the Mountaines we must hold them for sufficient causes to temper and coole the heate The temperature of this Region ought chiefly to be attributed to the propertie of the winde that blowes in that Country the which is pleasant and fresh The prouidence of the great God Creator of all things hath beene such as he hath ordayned fresh and coole windes in that Region where the Sunne makes his course which seemes should be burnt vp that by their coolenesse the excessiue heate of the Sunne might be qualified Wee see in one climate some Regions and Cities hotter then others onely for that they feele lesse winde to refresh them The like is in other Countries where no winde blowes the which are all on fire like vnto a furnace If we shall neerly looke into the consideration of the winde whereof we haue spoken we may resolue many doubts which some obiect and which seeme strange and wonderfull wherefore the Sunne casting his beames vpon the burning Zone and particularly at Peru and that more violently then in Spaine in the Canicular dayes yet they defend the heat with a light couering so as with a slender couering of mats or straw they are better preserued from the heate then in Spaine vnder a roote of wood or a vault of stone Moreouer why are not the nights in Summer at Peru as hot and troublesome as in Spaine Wherefore on the highest tops of Mountaines euen amongst the heapes of snowe you shall sometimes feele great and insupportable heat Wherefore in all the Prouince of Colao when yee come into the shade how little soeuer you feele cold But comming into the Sunne beames you presently finde the heate excessiue Euery morning the winde from the Sea doth cease and the Sunne begins to cast his beames and for this reason they feele the greatest heat in the morning vntill the returne of the same windes which otherwise they call the tyde or winde of the Sea which makes them first to feele cold Wee haue tried all this whilest wee were at the Ilands of Barlouante where in the mornings wee did sweat for heat and at noone we felt a fresh aire for that then a North Easterly winde which is fresh and coole doth commonly blow Considering with my selfe the pleasing temperature of many Countries at the Indies where they know not what Winter is which by his cold doth freeze them nor Summer which doth trouble them with heat but that with a Mat they preserue themselues from the iniuries of all weather and where they scarce haue any neede to change their garments throughout the yeere I say that often considering of this I find that if men at this day would vanquish their passions and free themselues from the snares of couetousnesse leauing many fruitlesse and pernicious designes without doubt they might liue at the Indies very pleasant and happily for that which other Poets sing of the Elisean fields of the famous Tâ—â—pâ— or that which Plato reports or feignes of his Atlantike Iland men should finde in these Lands if with a generous spirit they would choose rather to command their siluer and their desires then to remayne to it slaues as they are Hauing discoursed in the two former Bookes of that which concernes the Heauens and the habitation of the Indies in generall it behooues vs now to treat of the three elements Aire Water and Land and their compounds which be metals plants and beasts for as for the fire I
raynie there as the South winde is on this side but contrariwise it raines when as the South winde blowes there as wee see in all the Sierre or mountaine of Peru in Chile and in the Countrie of Congo which is on the other side of the Line and farre aduanced into the Sea And in Potozi likewise the winde which they call Tomahani which is our North if my memorie faile me not is extremely cold drie and vnpleasant as it is here with vs. Yet doth not the Northerne winde disperse the cloudes vsually there as it doth here but contrariwise if I be not deceiued it doth often cause raine There is no doubt but the windes doe borrow this great diuersitie of contrarie effects from the places by which they passe and the neere Regions where they are bred as wee see by daily experience in a thousand places But speaking in generall of the qualitie of the windes we must rather looke to the coasts or parts of the World from whence they proceede then to obserue whether they be on this side or beyond the Line as it seemes the Philosopher held opinion These capitall windes which be the East and West haue no such vniuersall qualities nor so common in this Continent nor in the other as the two former The Solanus or Easterne winde is commonly here troublesome and vnwholsome and the Westerne or Zephirus is more milde and healthfull At the Indies and in all the burning Zone the Easterne winde which they call Brise is contrariwise very healthfull and pleasant Of the West I cannot speake any thing certaine or generall for that it blowes not at all or very seldom in the burning Zone for in all the nauigation betwixt the two Tropicks the Easterne winde is ordinarie And for that it is one of the admirable workes of Nature it shall bee good to vnderstand the cause and the beginning thereof The wayes at Sea are not as at Land to returne the same way they passe It is all one way saith the Philosopher from Athens to Thebes and from Thebes to Athens but it is not so at Sea for wee goe one way and returne by another The first which discouered the East and West Indies laboured much with great difficultie to finde out their course vntill that Experience the Mistresse of these secrets had taught them that to saile through the Ocean is not like the passage in Italie through the Mediterranean Sea where in their returne they obserue the same Ports and Capes they had sight of in their passage attending still the benefit of the winde which changeth instantly and when that failes they haue recourse to their Oares and so the Gallies goe and come daily coasting along the shoare In some parts of the Ocean they may not looke for any other winde then that which blowes for that commonly it continues long To conclude that which is good to goe by is not fit to returne with for in the Sea beyond the Tropicke and within the burning Zone the Easterly windes raine continually not suffering their contraries In the which Region there are two strange things the one is that in that Zone being the greatest of the fiue into the which the World is diuided the Easterly windes which they call Brises doe reigne not suffering the Westerne or Southerne which they call lower winds to haue their course at any season of the yeere The other wonder is that these Easterly windes neuer cease to blow and most commonly in places neerest to the Line where it seemes that Calmes should be more frequent being a part of the World most subiect to the heat of the Sunne but it is contrarie for you shall hardly finde any Calmes there and the winde is cold and continues longer which hath beene found true in all the Nauigations of the Indies This is the reason why the voyage they make from Spaine to the West Indies is shorter more easie and more assured then the returne to Spaine The Fleetes parting from Siuil haue more difficultie to passe the Canaries for that the guife of Yegues or of Mares is variable being beaten with diuers windes but hauing passed the Canaries they saile with a Westerne winde vntill they come to the burning Zone where presently they finde an Easterly winde and so they saile on with full windes so as they haue scant any need to touch their sailes in the whole voyage for this reason they called this great gulfe the gulfe of Dames for the calmnesse and pleasantnesse thereof Then following their course they come to the Ilands of Guadelupe Dominique Desired Marigualante and the rest which in that place be as it were the Suburbs of the Indies There the Fleetes separate and diuide themselues whereof some which goe to new Spaine take to the right hand towards Hispaniola and hauing discouered Cape Saint Anthony they passe vnto Saint Iohn Delua alwayes vsing the same Easterly windes Those for the mayne Land take the left hand discouering the high mountaine of Tayrone then hauing touched at Carthagene they passe vnto Nombre de Dios from whence they goe by Land to Panama and from thence by the South Sea to Peru. But when the fleetes returne to Spaine they make their voyage in this sort The fleete of Peru discouers Cape Saint Anthony then they enter into the Hauana which is a goodly Port in the Iland of Cuba The fleet of new Spaine doth likewise touch at the Hauana being parted from Vera Cruz or from the Iland of Saint Iohn Delua the which is not without difficultie for that commonly Easterly windes blow there which is a contrarie winde to goe to the Hauana These fleetes being ioyned together for Spaine they seeke their height without the Tropicks where presently they finde Westerly windes which serue them vntill they come in view of the Acores or Terceres and from thence to Siuil So as their voyage in going is of a small height not aboue twentie degrees from the Line which is within the Tropicks But the returne is without the Tropicks in eight and twentie or thirtie degrees of height at the least for that within the Tropicks the Easterne windes continually blow the which are fittest to goe from Spaine to the West Indies for that their course is from East to West and without the Tropicks which is in three and twentie degrees of height they finde Westerly windes the which are the more certaine and ordinarie the farther you are from the Line and more fit to returne from the Indies for that they are windes blowing from the South and West which serue to runne into the East and North. The like discourse is of the Nauigation made into the South Sea going from new Spaine or Peru to the Philippines or China and returning from the Philippines or China to new Spaine the which is easie for that they saile alwayes from East to West neere the Line where they finde the Easterly windes to blow in their Poope In the yeere 1584.
Who so would neerely looke into what hath bin spoken may likewise vnderstand that going from the West to the East in altitude beyond the Tropikes we shall finde Westerne windes for that the motion of the Equinoctiall being so swift it is a cause that the ayre moueth vnder it according to this motion which is from the East to West drawing after it the vapours and exhalations that rise of either side the Equinoctiall or burning Zone in countring the course and motion of the Zone are forced by the repercussion to returne almost to the contrary whence grow the South-west windes so ordinary in those parts Euen as we see in the course of waters the which if they be incountred by others of more force returne in a manner backe So it seemes to be like in vapours and exhalations whereby it growes that the windes doe turne and separate themselues from one part to another These Westerly windes doe commonly raine in a meane altitude which is from twenty and seuen to thirty and seuen degrees though they be not so certaine nor so regular as the Brises that are in a lesse altitude The reason is for that the South-west winds are no causes of this proper and equall motion of the heauen as the Brises are being neere to the Line But as I haue said they are more ordinary and often more furious and tempestuous But passing into a greater altitude as of fortie degrees there is as small assurance of windes at Sea as at Land for sometimes the East or North winde blowes and sometimes the South or West whereby it happeneth their nauigations are more vncertaine and more dangerous That which we haue spoken of windes which blow ordinarily within and without the Zone must be vnderstood of the maine Sea and in the great gulphes for at land it is otherwise where we finde all sorts of windes by reason of the inequalitie which is betwixt the Mountaines and the vallies the great number of Riuers and Lakes and the diuers scituations of Countries whence the grosse and thick vapours arise which are moued from the one part or the other according to the diuersitie of their beginnings which cause these diuers windes the motion of the ayre caused by the heauen hauing not power enough to draw and moue them with it And this varietie of windes is not onely found at land but also vpon the Sea coast which is vnder the burning Zone for that there be forraine or land windes which come from the land and many which blow from the Sea the which windes from the Sea are commonly more wholesome and more pleasant then those of the land which are contrariwise troublesome and vnwholesome although it be the difference of the coast that causeth this diuersitie commonly the land windes blow from mid-night to the Sunne rising and the Sea windes vntill Sunne setting The reason perhaps may be that the earth as a grosse substance fumes more when as the Sunne shines not vpon it euen as greene wood or scarse dry smoakes most when the flame is quenched But the Sea which is compounded of more subtile parts engenders no fumes but when it is hot euen as straw or haâ—e being moist and in small quantitie breedes smoake when it is burnt and when the flame failes the fume suddenly ceaseth Whatsoeuer it be it is certaine that the Land winde blowes by night and that of the Sea by day So that euen as there are often contrary violent and tempestuous windes vpon the Sea coast so doe we see very great calmes Some men of great experience report that hauing sailed many great passages at Sea vnder the Line yet did they neuer see any calmes but that they alwayes make way little or much the ayre being moued by the celestiall motion which is sufficient to guide a Shippe blowing in poope as it doth I haue already said that a Shippe of Lima going to Manilla sailed two thousand seuen hundred leagues alwayes vnder the Line or not aboue twelue degrees from it and that in the moneths of February and March when as the Sunne is there for Zenith and in all this space they found no calmes but alwayes a fresh gale so as in two moneths they performed this great voyage But in the burning Zone and without it you shall vsually see great calmes vpon the coasts where the vapours come from the Ilands or maine land And therefore stormes and tempests and the sudden motions of the ayre are more certaine and ordinary vpon the coasts whereas the vapours come from the Land then in full Sea I meane vnder the burning Zone for without it and at Sea there are both calmes and whirlewindes Notwithstanding sometimes betwixt the two Tropickes yea vnder the Line you shall haue great raine and sudden showers yea farre into the Sea for the working whereof the vapours and exhalations of the Sea are sufficient which mouing sometimes hastily in the ayre cause thunder and whirlewindes but this is more ordinary neere to the Land and vpon the Land When I sailed from Peru to new Spaine I obserued that all the time we were vpon the coast of Peru our voyage was as it was ordinary very calme and easie by reason of the Southerne winde that blowes hauing alwayes a fore winde returning from Spaine and new Spaine As we passed the gulph lanching farther into the Sea almost vnder the Line wee found the season coole quiet and pleasant with a full winde but comming neere to Nicaragua and to all that coast wee had contrary windes with great store of raine and fogges All this Nauigation was vnder the burning Zone for from twelue degrees to the South which is Lima we sailed to the seuenteenth which is Gautâ—lco a port of new Spaine and I beleeue that such as haue obserued their nauigations made vnder the burning Zone shall finde what I haue said which may suffice for the windes which raigne at Sea vnder the burning Zone It were a very difficult matter to report particularly the admirable effects which some windes cause in diuers regions of the world and to giue a reason thereof There are windes which naturally trouble the water of the Sea and makes it greene and blacke others cleere as Christall some comfort and make glad others trouble and breede heauinesse Such as nourish Silke-wormes haue great care to shut their windowes when as the South-west windes doe blow and to open them to the contrary hauing found by certaine experience that their wormes diminish and dye with the one and fatten and become better with the other and who so will neerely obserue it shall finde in himselfe that the diuersities of windes cause notable impressions and changes in the body principally in sicke parts and ill disposed when they are most tender and weake The holy Scripture calleth one a burning winde another a winde full of dewe and sweetnesse And it is no wonder if we see such notable effects of the winde in Plants
and hands Finally their operation is outward But that of the Indies whereof I speake without molesting of foote or hand or any outward part troubles all the entrailes within and that which is more admirable when the Sunne is hot which maketh me imagine that the griefe wee feele comes from the qualitie of the ayre which wee breathe Therefore that is most subtile and delicate whose cold is not so sensible as piercing All this ridge of mountaines is for the most part desart without any Villages or habitations for men so as you shall scarce finde any small Cottages to lodge such as doe passe by night there are no Beasts good or bad but some Vicunos which are their Countrie Muttons and haue a strange and wonderfull property as I shall shew in his place The Grasse is often burnt and all blacke with the ayre and this Desart runs fiue and twenty or thirty leagues ouerthwart and in length aboue fiue hundred leagues There are other Desarts or places inhabited which at Peru they call Punas speaking of the second point we promised where the qualitie of the ayre cutteth off mans life without feeling In former time the Spaniards went from Peru to the Realme of Chille by this Mountaine but at this day they doe passe commonly by Sea and sometimes alongst the side of it And though that way be laborious and troublesome yet is there not so great danger as by the Mountaine where there are Plaines on the which many men haue perished and dyed and sometimes haue scaped by great hap whereof some haue remained lame There runs a small breath which is not very strong nor violent but proceeds in such sort that men fall downe dead in a manner without feeling or at the least they loose their feete and hands the which may seeme fabulous yet is it most true I haue knowne and frequented long the Generall Ierome Costilla the auncient peopler of Cusco who had lost three or foure toes which fell off in passing the Desart of Chille being perished with this ayre and when he came to looke on them they were dead and fell off without any paine euen as a rotten Apple falleth from the tree This Captaine reported that of a good armie which he had conducted by that place in the former yeares since the discouery of this Kingdome by Almagro a great part of the men remained dead there whose bodies he found lying in the Desart without any stinke or corruption adding thereunto one thing very strange that they found a yong Boye aliue and being examined how hee had liued in that place hee said that he lay hidden in a little Caue whence hee came to cut the flesh of a dead Horse with a little Knife and thus had he nourished himselfe a long time with I know not how many companions that liued in that sort but now they were all dead one dying this day another to morrow saying that he desired nothing more then to dye there with the rest seeing that hee found not in himselfe any disposition to goe to any other place nor to take any taste in any thing I haue vnderstood the like of others and particularly of one that was of our company who being then a secular man had passed by these Desarts and it is a strange thing the quality of this cold ayre which kils and also preserues the dead bodies without corruption I haue also vnderstood it of a reuerend religious man of the Order of Saint Dominicke and Prelate thereof who had seene it passing by the Desarts and which is strange â—e reported that trauelling that way by night was forced to defend himselfe against that deadly winde which blowes there hauing no other meanes but to gather together a great number of those dead bodies that lay there and made thereof as it were a rampire and a bolster for his head in this manner did hee sleepe the dead bodies giuing him life Without doubt this is a kinde of colde so piercing that it quencheth the vitall heate cutting off his influence and being so exceeding colâ—e yet doth not corrupt nor giue any putrifaction to the dead bodies for that putrifaction groweth from heate and moistnesse As for the other kinde of ayre which thunders vnder the earth and causeth earthquakes more at the Indies then in any other Regions I will speake thereof in treating the qualities of the Land at the Indies We will content our selues now with what we haue spoken of the winde and ayre and passe to that which is to be spoken of the water §. II. Of the Ocean that inuirons the Indies and of the North and South Seas their ebbing flowing Fishes fishing Lakes Riuers and Springs AMong all waters the Ocean is the principall by which the Indies haue beene discouered and are inuironed therewith for either they be Ilands of the Ocean Sea or maine Land the which wheresoeuer it ends is bounded with this Ocean To this day they haue not discouered at the Indies any Mediterranean Sea as in Europe Asia and Affrica into the which there enters some arme of this great Sea and makes distinct Seas taking their names from the Prouinces they wash and almost all the Mediterranean Seas continue and ioyne together and with the Ocean it selfe by the straight of Gibraltar which the Ancients called the Pillers of Hercules although the Red Sea being separated from the Mediterranean Seas enters alone into the Indian Ocean and the Caspian Sea ioynes not with any other so that at the Indies we finde not any other Sea then this Ocean which they diuide into two the one they call the North Sea and the other the South for that the Indies which were first discouered by the Ocean and reacheth vnto Spaine lies all to the North and by that Land thereafter discouered a Sea on the other side the which they called the South Sea for that they decline vntill they haue passed the Line and hauing lost the North or Pole-articke they called it South For this cause they haue called all that Ocean the South Sea which lyeth on the other side of the East Indies although a great part of it be â—eated to the North as all the coast of new Spaine Nuaragna Guatimala and Panama They say that he that first discouered this Sea was called Blascowunes of Bilbo the which he did by that part which we now call Maine Land where it growes narrow and the two Seas approach so neere the one to the other that there is but seuen leagues of distance for although they make the way eighteene from Nombre de Dios to Panama yet is it with turning to seeke the commoditie of the way but drawing a direct line the one Sea shall not be found more distant from the other Some haue discoursed and propounded to cut through this passage of seuen leagues and to ioyne one Sea to the other to make the passage from Peru more commodious
and easie for that these eighteene leagues of Land betwixt Nombre de Dios and Panama is more painefull and chargeable then 2300. by Sea whereupon some would say it were a meanes to drowne the Land one Sea being lower then another As in times past we finde it written that for the same consideration they gaue ouer the enterprize to winne the red Sea into Nile in the time of King Sesostris and since in the Empire of the Othomans But for my part I hold such discourses and propositions for vaine although this inconuenience should not happen the which I will not hold for assured I beleeue there is no humaine powerable to beate and breake downe those strong and impenetrable Mountaines which God hath placed betwixt the two Seas and hath made them most hard Rockes to withstand the furie of two Seas And although it were possible to men yet in my opinion they should feare punishment from heauen in seeking to correct the workes which the Creator by his great prouidence hath ordained and disposed in the framing of this vniuersall world Leauing this discourse of opening the Land and ioyning both Seas together there is yet another lesse rash but very difficult and dangerous to search out Whether these two great gulfes doe ioyne in any other part of the world which was the enterprize of Fernando Magellan a Portugall Gentleman whose great courage and constancie in the research of this subiect and happy successe in the finding thereof gaue the name of eternall memory to this straight which iustly they call by the name of the discouerer Magellan of which straight we will intreate a little as of one of the greatest wonders of the world Some haue beleeued that this Straight which Magellan had discouered in the South Sea was none or that it was straightned as Don Alonso d'Arsile writes in his Auracane and at this day there are some that say there is no such Straight but that they are Ilands betwixt the Sea and Land for that the maine Land ends there at the end whereof are all Ilands beyond the which the one Sea ioynes fully with the other or to speake better it is all one Sea But in truth it is most certaine there is a straight and a long and stretched out Land on either side although it hath not yet beene knowne how farre it stretcheth of the one side of the straight towards the South After Magellan a Shippe of the Bishop of Plaisance passed the straight Don Guitieres Caruaial whose Maste they say is yet at Lima at the entrie of the Pallace they went afterwards coasting along the South to discouer the Straight by the commandement of Don Garcia of Mendoca then Gouernor of Chille according to that which Captaine Ladrillero found it and passed it I haue read the discourse and report he made where he saieth that he did not hazard himselfe to land in the Straight but hauing discouered the North Sea he returned backe for the roughnesse of the time winter being now come which caused the waues comming from the North to grow great and swelling and the Sea continually foming with rage In our time Francis Drake and Englishman passed this Straight After him Captaine Sarmiento passed it on the South side And lastly in the yeere 1587. other Englishmen passed it by the instruction of Drake which at this time run along all the coast of Peru. Euen as Magellan found out this Straight vpon the South so some haue pretended to discouer another Straight which they say is in the North and suppose it to be in Florida whose coast runnes in such sort as they know no end thereof Peter Melendez the Adelantade a man very expert at Sea affirmeth for certaine that there is a Straight and that the King had commanded him to discouer it where in he shewed a great desire he propounded his reasons to proue his opinion saying that they haue seene some remainders of Ships in the North Sea like vnto those the which the Chinois vse which had beene impossible if there were no passage from one Sea vnto another Moreouer hee reported that in a certaine great Bay in Florida the which runs 300. leagues within the Land they see Whales in some season of the yeare which come from the other Sea One of the most admirable secrets of Nature is the ebbing and flowing of the Sea not onely for this strange property of rising and falling but much more for the difference there is thereof in diuers Seas yea in diuers coasts of one and the same Sea There are some Seas that haue no daily flowing nor ebbing as we see in the inner Mediterranean which is the Thyrene Sea and yet it flowes and ebbes euery day in the vpper Mediterranean Sea which is that of Venice and iustly giueth cause of admiration that these two Seas being Mediterranean and that of Venice being no greater then the other yet hath it his ebbing and flowing as the Ocean and that other Sea of Italie none at all There are some Mediterranean Seas that apparantly rise and fall euery moneth and others that neither rise in the day nor in the moneth There are other Seas as the Spanish Ocean that haue their flux and reflux euery day and besides that they haue it monethly which commeth twice that is to say at the change and at the full of euery Moone which they call Spring-tides To say that any Sea hath this daily ebbing and flowing and not monethly I know not any It is strange the difference we finde of this subiect at the Indies for there are some places whereas the Sea doth daily rise and fall two leagues as at Panama and at a high water it riseth much more There are other places where it doth rise and fall so little that hardly can you finde the difference It is ordinary in the Ocean Sea to haue a daily flowing and ebbing and that was twice in a naturall day and euer it fals three quarters of an houre sooner one day then another according to the course of the Moone so as the tide fals not alwaies in one houre of the day Some would say that this flux and reflux proceeded from the locall motion of the water of the Sea so as the water that riseth on the one side fals on the other that is opposite vnto it so that it is full Sea on the one side when it is a low water on the opposite as we see in a Kettle full of water when we mooue it when it leanes to the one side the water increaseth and on the other it diminisheth Others affirme that the Sea riseth in all parts at one time and decreaseth at one instant as the boyling of a Pot comming out of the centre it extendeth it selfe on all parts and when it ceaseth it fals likewise on all parts This second opinion is true and in my iudgement certaine and tried not so much for the reasons which the Philosophers giue
springs a Fountaine of Salt which as it runnes turnes into Salt very white and exceeding good the which if it were in another Countrie were no small riches yet they make very small account thereof for the store they haue there The waters which runne in Guayaquel which is in Peru almost vnder the Equinoctiall Line are held to be healthfull for the French disease and other such like so as they come from many places farre off to be cured And they say the cause thereof is for that in that Countrie there is great aboundance of rootes which they call Salepareille the vertue and operation whereof is so knowne that it communicates her propertie to the waters wherein it is put to cure this disease Bilcanota is a Mountaine the which according to common opinion is in the highest part of Peru the top whereof is all couered with Snow and in some places is blacke like coale There issueth forth of it two Springs in contrary places which presently grow to be very great brooks and so by little and little become great flouds the one goes to Calloa into the great Lake Tâ—â—caca the other goes to the Lands and is that which they call Yucay which ioyning with another runnes into the North Sea with a violent and furious course This Spring when it comes out of the rocke Bilcanota as I haue said is of the colour of lie hauing an ashie colour and casts a fâ—me as a thing burnt the which runs far in this sort vntil the multitude of waters that run into it quench this smoak and fire which it drawes from the Spring In new Spain I haue seene a Spring as it were Ink somewhat blew in Peru another of color red like blood where vpon they cal it the red Riuer Amongst all Riuers not onely at the Indies but generally through the world the Riuer Maragnon or of Amazons is the chiefe whereof we haue spoken in the former Booke The Spaniards haue often sailed it pretending to discouer the Lands which by report are very rich especially those they call Dorado and Paytiti Iean de Salnies the Adelantade made a memorable entrie though of small effect There is a passage which they call Pongo one of the most dangerous in all the world for the Riuer being there straightned and forced betwixt two high steepe Rocks the water fals directly downe with so great a violence that comming steepe downe it causeth such a boyling as it seemeth impossible to passe it without drowning yet the courage of men durst attempt to passe it for the desire of this renowmed Dorado they slipt downe from the top to the bottome thrust on with the violence and currant of the floud holding themselues fast in their Canoes or barkes and although in falling they were turned topsie turuie and both they and their Canoes plunged into the deepe yet by their care and industrie they recouered themselues againe and in this sort the whole armie escaped except some few that were drowned And that which is more admirable they carried themselues so cunningly that they neither lost their Powder nor Munition In their returne hauing suffered many troubles and dangers they were forced in the end to passe backe that same way mounting by one of those high Rocks sticking their Ponyards in the Rocke Captaine Peter d'Orsua made another entrie by the same Riuer who being dead in the same Voyage and the Souldiers mutinied other Captaines followed the enterprise by an arme that comes into the North Sea A religious man of our company told vs that being then a secular man he was present in a manner at all that enterprise and that the tides did flow almost a hundred leagues vp the Riuer and whereas it enters into the Sea the which is vnder the Line or very neere it hath seuenty leagues breadth at the mouth of it a matter incredible and which exceeds the breadth of the Mediterranean Sea though there be some others who in their descriptions giue it but twenty fiue or thirty leagues breadth at the mouth Next to this Riuer that of Plata or of Siluer holds the second place which is otherwise called Paraguay which runs from the Mountains of Peru into the Sea in thirty fiue degrees of altitude to the South it riseth as they say like to the Riuer of Nile but much more without comparison and makes the fields it ouerflowes like vnto a Sea for the space of three moneths and after returneth againe to his course in the which Shippes doe saile many leagues against the streame There are many other Riuers that are not of that greatnesse and yet are equall yea they surpasse the greatest of Europe as that of Magdalaine neere to Saint Marthe called the great Riuer and that of Aluarado in new Spaine and an infinite number of others Of the South side on the Mountaines of Peru the Riuers are not vsually so great for that their current is not long and that many waters cannot ioyne together but they are very swift descending from the Mountaines and haue sodaine fals by reason whereof they are very dangerous and many men haue perished there They increase and ouerflow most in the time of heate I haue gone ouer twenty and seuen Riuers vpon that coast yet did I neuer passe any one by a foord The Indians vse a thousand deuises to passe their Riuers In some places they haue a long cord that runnes from one side to th' other and thereon hangs a basket into the which he puts himselfe that meanes to passe and then they draw it from the banke with another cord so as he passeth in this basket In other places the Indian passeth as it were on Horse-backe vpon a bottle of straw and behinde him he that desires to passe and so rowing with a peece of a boord carries him ouer In other places they make a floate of gourds or pompions vpon which they set men with their stuffe to carry ouer and the Indians hauing cords fastned to them goe swimming before and draw this floate of pompions after them as Horses doe a Coach others goe behinde thrusting it forward Hauing passed they take their barke of pompions vpon their backe and returne swimming this they doe in the Riuer of Saint at Peru. We passed that of Aluarado in new Spain vpon a table which the Indians carried vpon their shoulders and when they lost their footing they swamme These deuises with a thousand other wherewith they vse to passe their Riuers breede a terrour in the beholders helping themselues with such weake and vnsure meanes and yet they are very confident They doe vse no other bridges but of haire or of straw There are now vpon some Riuers bridges of Stone built by the diligence of some Gouernours but many fewer then were needefull in such a Countrie where so many men are drowned by default thereof and the which yeeldes so much Siluer as not onely Spaine but
also other strange Countries make sumptuous buildings therewith The Indians doe draw from these flouds that runne from the Mountaines to the Vallies and Plaines many and great Brookes to water their Land which they vsually doe with such industrie as there are no better in Murcia nor at Millan it selfe the which is also the greatest and onely wealth of the Plaines of Peru and of many other parts of the Indies §. III. Of the qualitie of the Land at the Indies in generall Properties of Peru and of new Spaine and other parts Of Vulcanes and Earthquakes WE may know the qualitie of the Land at the Indies for the greatest part seeing it is the last of the three Elements whereof we haue propounded to treate in this Booke by the discourse we haue made in the former Booke of the burning Zone seeing that the greatest part of the Indies doth lye vnder it But to make it knowne the more particularly I haue obserued three kindes of Lands as I haue passed through those Regions whereof there is one very low another very high and the third which holds the middle of these two extreames The lower is that which lyeth by the Sea coasts whereof there is in all parts of the Indies and it is commonly very hot and moist so as it is not so healthfull and at this day we see it lesse peopled although in former times it hath beene greatly inhabited with Indians as it appeareth by the histories of new Spaine and Peru and where they kept and liued for that the soile was naturall vnto them being bred there They liued of fishing at Sea and of seeds drawing brooks from the Riuers which they vsed for want of raine for that it raines little there and in some places not at all This low Countrie hath many places vnhabitable as well by reason of the Sands which are dangerous for there are whole Mountaines of these Sands as also for the Marishes which grow by reason of the waters that fall from the Mountaines which finding no issue in these flat and low Lands drowne them and make them vnprofitable And in truth the greatest part of all the Indian Sea coast is of this sort chiefly vpon the South Sea the habitation of which coasts is at this present so wasted and contemned that of thirty parts of the people that inhabited it there wants twenty nine and it is likely the rest of the Indians will in short time decay Many according to the varietie of their opinions attribute this to diuers causes some to the great labour which hath beene imposed vpon these Indians others vnto the change and varietie of meates and drinkes they vse since their commerce with the Spaniards others to their great excesse and drinking and to other vices they haue for my part I hold this disorder to be the greatest cause of their decay whereof it is not now time to discourse any more In this low Countrie which I say generally is vnhealthfull ond vnfit for mans habitation there is exception in some places which are temperate and fertile as the greatest part of the Plaines of Peru where there are coole vallies and very fertile The greatest part of the habitation of the coast entertains all the traffike of Spain by Sea whereon all the estate of the Indies dependeth Vpon this coast there are some Towns well peopled as Lima and Truxillo in Peru Panama and Carthagena vpon the maine Land and in the Ilands Saint Dominique Port Ricco and Hauana with many other Towns which are lesse then these as the True Crosse in new Spain Yâ—a Arigua and others in Peru the Ports are commonly inhabited although but slenderly The second sort of Land is contrary very high and by consequent cold and dry as all the Mountaines are commonly This Land is neither fertile nor pleasant but very healthfull which makes it to be peopled and inhabited There are Pastures and great store of Cattle the which for the most part entertaines life and by their Cattell they supply the want they haue of Corne and Graine by trucking and exchange But that which makes these Lands more inhabited and peopled is the riches of the Mines that are found there for that all obeys to Gold and Siluer By reason of the Mines there are some dwellings of Spaniards and Indians which are increased and multiplied as Potozi and Gancanelicqua in Peru and Cacatecas in new Spaine There are also through all these Mountaines great dwellings of the Indians which to this day are maintained yea some will say they increase but that the labour of the Mines doth consume many and some generall diseases haue destroyed a great part as the Cocoliste in new Spaine yet they finde no great diminution In this extremitie of high ground they finde two commodities as I haue said of Pastures and Mines which doe well counteruaile the two other that are in the lower grounds alongst the Sea coast that is the commerce of the Sea and the abundance of Wine which groweth not but in the hot Lands Betwixt these two extreames there is ground of a meane height the which although it be in some parts higher or lower one then other yet doth it not approach neither to the heate of the Sea coast nor the intemperature of the Mountaines In this sort of soyle there groweth many kindes of Graine as Wheate Barley and Mays which growes not at all in the high Countries but well in the lower there is likewise store of Pasture Cattell Fruits and greene Forrests This part is the best habitation of the three for health and recreation and therefore it is best peopled of any part of the Indies the which I haue curiously obserued in many Voyages that I haue vndertaken and haue alwayes found it true that the Prouince best peopled at the Indies be in this scituation Let vs looke neerely into new Spaine the which without doubt is the best Prouince the Sunne doth circle by what part soeuer you doe enter you mount vp and when you haue mounted a good height you begin to descend yet very little and that Land is alwayes much higher then that along the Sea coast All the Land about Mexico is of this nature and scituation and that which is about the Vulcan which is the best soile of the Indies as also in Peru Arequipa Guamangua and Cusco although more in one then in the other But in the end all is high ground although they descend into deepe Vallies and clime vp to high Mountaines the like is spoken of Quitto Saint Foy and of the best of the New Kingdome To conclude I doe beleeue that the wisedome and prouidence of the Creator would haue it so that the greatest part of this Countrie of the Indies should be hillie that it might be of a better temperature for being low it had beene very hot vnder the burning Zone especially being farre from the Sea Also all the Land I haue seene at the Indies is neere
better nor fairer For that it is rare and extraordinarie to see a Country where it neuer raines nor thunders men desire naturally to know the cause of this strangenesse The reason which some giue that haue neerly looked into it is that vpon that Coast there rise no vapours sufficient to engender raine for want of matter but onely that there bee small and light vapours which cannot breede any other then mists and deawes as wee see in Europe oftentimes vapours doe rise in the morning which are not turned into raine but into mists onely the which growes from the substance which is not grosse and sufficient enough to turne to raine They say the reason why that which happens but some times in Europe falls out continually vpon the Coast of Peru is for that this Region is very drie and yeelds no grosse vapours The drinesse is knowne by the great abundance of Sands hauing neither Wells nor Fountaines but of fifteene Sâ—ades deepe which is the height of a man or more and that is neere vnto Riuers the water whereof piercing into the Land giues them meanes to make Wells So as it hath beene found by experience that the course of Riuers being turned the Wells haue beene dried vp vntill they returned to their ordinarie course and they giue this reason for a materiall cause of this effect but they haue another efficient which is no lesse considerable and that is the great height of the Sierre which comming along the Coast shadowes the Lanos so as it suffers no winde to blow from the Land but aboue the tops of these Mountaines By meanes whereof there reignes no winde but that from the Sea which finding no opposite doth not presse nor straine forth the vapours which rise to engender raine so as the shadow of the Mountaines keepes the vapours from thickning and conuerts them all into mists There are some experiences agree with this discourse for that it raines vpon some small Hills along the Coast which are least shadowed as the Rocks of Atico and Arequipa It hath rained in some yeeres when as the Northerne or Easterly windes haue blowne yea all the time they haue continued as it happened in seuentie eight vpon the Lanos of Trugillo where it rained abundantly the which they had not seene in many ages before Moreouer it raines vpon the same Coast in places where as the Easterly or Northerne windes be ordinarie as in Guayaquil and in places where as the Land riseth much and turnes from the shadow of the Mountaines as in those that are beyond Ariqua Some discourse in this manner but let euery one thinke as he please It is most certaine that comming from the Mountaines to the Vallies they doe vsually see as it were two Heauens one cleere and bright aboue and the other obscure and as it were a gray vaile spread vnderneath which couers all the Coast and although it raine not yet this mist is wonderfull profitable to bring forth grasse and to raise vp and nourish the seed for although they haue plentie of water which they draw from the Pooles and Lakes yet this moisture from Heauen hath such a vertue that ceasing to fall vpon the Earth it breedes a great discommoditie and defect of graine and seedes And that which is more worthy of admiration the drie and barren Sands are by this deaw so beautified with grasse and flowers as it is a pleasing and agreeable sight and very profitable for the feeding of Cattell as we see in the Mountaine called Sandie neere to the Citie of Kings New Spaine passeth all other Prouinces in pasturâ—s which breedes infinite troopes of Horse Kine Sheepe and other Cattell It abounds in fruit and all kinde of graine To conclude it is a Country the best furnished and most accomplished at the Indies Yet Peru doth surpasse it in one thing which is Wine for that there growes store and good and they daily multiply and increase the which doth grow in very hot Vallies where there are waterings And although there be Vines in new Spaine yet the grape comes not to his maturitie fit to make Wine The reason is for that it raines there in Iuly and August when as the grape ripens and therefore it comes not to his perfection And if any one through curiositie would take the paines to make wine it should be like to that of Genua and Lombardie which is very small and sharpe hauing a taste like vnto Verjuyce The Ilands which they call Barlouente which bee Hispaniola Cuba Port Ricco and others thereabouts are beautified with many greene pastures and abound in Cattell as Neat and Swine which are become wilde The wealth of these Ilands bee their Sugar-workes and Hides There is much Cassia fistula and Ginger It is a thing incredible to see the multitude of these merchandizes brought in one fleete being in a manner impossible that all Europe should waste so much They likewise bring wood of an excellent qualitie and colour as Ebone and others which serue for buildings and Ioyners There is much of that wood which they call Lignum sanctum or Guage fit to cure the pox All these Ilands and others thereabouts which are many haue a goodly and pleasant aspect for that throughout the yeere they are beautified with grasse and greene trees so as they cannot discerne when it is Autumne or Summer by reason of continuall moisture ioyned to the heat of the burning Zone And although this Land bee of a great circuit yet are there few dwellings for that of it selfe it engenders great Arcabutos as they call them which be Groues or very thicke Coppises and on the Playnes there are many marishes and bogs They giue yet another notable reason why they are so smally peopled for that there haue remayned few naturall Indians through the inconsideratnesse and disorder of the first Conquerors that peopled it and therefore for the most part they vse Negros but they cost deare being very fit to till the Land There growes neither bread nor wine in these Ilands for that the too great fertilitie and the vice of the soile suffers them not to seede but casts all forth in grasse very vnequally There are no Oliue trees at the least they beare no Oliues but many greene leaues pleasant to the view which beare no fruit The bread they vse is of Caçaue whereof we shall hereafter speake There is gold in the Riuers of these Ilands which some draw forth but in small quantitie I was little lesse then a yeere in these Ilands and as it hath beene told me of the mayne Land of the Indies where I haue not beene as in Florida Nicaragua Guatimala and others it is in a manner of this temper as I haue described yet haue I not set downe euery particular of Nature in these Prouinces of the firme Land hauing no perfect knowledge thereof The Country which doth most resemble Spaine and the Regions of Europe in all the West Indies
simpathy one with another for that the hot exhalations which engender in the inner concauities of the Earth seeme to be the materiall substance of fire in the Volcans whereby there kindleth another more grosse matter and makes these shewes of flame and smoake that come forth And these exhalations finding no easie issue in the Earth moue it to issue forth with great violence whereby wee heare that horrible noise vnder the Earth and likewise the shaking of the Earth being stirred with this burning exhalation Euen as Gun-powlder in mynes hauing fire put to it breaks Rocks and Walls and as the Chesnut laid into the fire leapes and breakes with a noise when as it casts forth the aire which is contayned within the huske by the force of the fire Euen so these Earthquakes doe most commonly happen in places neere the water or Sea As wee see in Europe and at the Indies that Townes and Cities farthest from the Sea and waters are least afflicted therewith and contrariwise those that are seated vpon Ports of the Sea vpon Riuers the Sea coast and places neere vnto them feele most this calamitie There hath happened in Peru the which is wonderfull and worthy to be noted Earthquakes which haue runne from Chille vnto Quitto and that is aboue a hundred leagues I say the greatest that euer I heard speake of for lesser be more common there Vpon the coast of Chille I remember not well in what yeere there was so terrible an Earthquake as it ouer-turned whole Mountaines and thereby stopped the course of Riuers which it conuerted into Lakes it beat downe Townes and slue a great number of people causing the Sea to leaue her place some leagues so as the ships remayned on drie ground farre from the ordinarie Roade with many other heauie and horrible things And as I well remember they say this trouble and motion caused by the Earthquake ranne three hundred leagues alongst the Coast. Soone after which was in the yeere eightie two happened that earthquake of Arequipa which in a manner ouer-threw the whole Citie Since in the yeere eightie sixe the ninth of Iuly fell another earthquake in the Citie of Kings the which as the Vice-roy did write had runne one hundred threescore and ten leagues alongst the Coast and ouerthwart in the Sierre fiftie leagues The mercy of the Lord was great in this Earthquake to forewarne the people by a great noise which they heard a little before the Earthquake who taught by former experiences presently put themselues in safetie leauing their Houses Streets and Gardens to goe into the fields so as although it ruined a great part of the Citie and of the chiefest buildings yet there died not aboue fifteene or twentie persons of all the Inhabitants It caused the like trouble and motion at Sea as it had done at Chille which happened presently after the Earthquake so as they might see the Sea furiously to flie out of her bounds and to runne neere two leagues into the Land rising aboue fourteene fathom it couered all that Playne so as the Ditches and pieces of wood that were there swam in the water There was yet another earthquake in the Realme and Citie of Quitto and it seemes all these notable Earthquakes vpon that Coast haue succeeded one another by order as in truth it is subiect to these inconueniences And therefore although vpon the coast of Peru there be no torments from Heauen as thunder and lightning yet are they not without feare vpon the Land and so euery one hath before his eyes the Heralds of diuine Iustice to mooue him to feare God For as the Scripture saith Fâ—cit haec vt timeatur Returning then to our purpose I say the Sea coast is most subiect to these earthquakes the reason is in my iudgement for that the water doth stop the conduits and passages of the earth by which the hot exhalations should passe which are engendered there And also the humiditie thickning the superficies of the earth doth cause the fumes and hot exhalations to goe close together and encounter violently in the bowels of the earth which doe afterwards breake foorth Some haue obserued that such Earthquakes haue vsually hapned when as a raynie season falls after some drie yeeres Whereupon they say that the Earthquakes are most rare where are most Wells the which is approued by experience Those of the Citie of Mexico hold opinion that the Lake whereon it is seated is the cause of the Earthquakes that happen there although they be not very violent and it is most certaine that the Townes and Prouinces farre within the Land and farthest from the Sea receiue sometimes great losses by these Earthquakes as the Citie of Chachapoyas at the Indies and in Italie that of Ferrara although vpon this subiect It seemes this latter being neere to a Riuer and not farre from the Adriaticke Sea should rather be numbred among the Sea-townes In the yeere of our Lord 1581. in Cugianâ— a Citie of Peru otherwise called The Peace there happened a strange accident touching this subiect A Village called Angoango where many Indians dwelt that were Sorcerers and Idolaters fell suddenly to ruine so as a great part thereof was raysed vp and carried away and many of the Indians smothered and that which seemes incredible yet testified by men of credit the earth that was ruined and so beaten downe did runne and slide vpon the Land for the space of a league and a halfe as it had beene water or waxe molten so as it stopt and filled vp a Lake and remayned so spread ouer the whole Countrie §. IIII. Of Metals in the Indies and especially of the Gold and Siluer and Quick-siluer MEtals are as Plants hidden and buried in the bowels of the Earth which haue some conformitie in themselues in the forme and manner of their production for that we see and discouer euen in them branches and as it were a bodie from whence they grow and proceede which are the greater veines and the lesse so as they haue a knitting in themselues and it seemes properly that these Minerals grow like vnto Plants not that they haue any inward vegetatiue life being onely proper to Plants but they are engendered in the bowels of the earth by the vertue and force of the Sunne and other Planets and in long continuance of time they increase and multiply after the manner of Plants And euen as metals bee plants hidden in the earth so wee may say that plants bee liuing Creatures fixed in one place whose life is maintayned by the nourishment which Nature furnisheth from their first beginning But liuing Creatures surpasse Plants in that they haue a more perfect being and therefore haue neede of a more perfect foode and nourishment for the search whereof Nature hath giuen them a moouing and feeling to discouer and discerne it So as the rough and barren earth is as a substance and nutriment for metals and
which the Christians call Picuti because they haue very great beakes in respect of the littlenesse of their bodies for their beakes are very heauie and weigh more then their whole bodies beside these Birds are no bigger then Quailes but haue a much greater bushment of feathers insomuch that their feathers are more then their bodies their feathers are very faire and of many variable colours their beakes are a quarter of a yard in length or more and bending downe toward the Earth and three fingers broad neere vnto the head their tongues are very quils wherewith they make a great hissing they make holes in Trees with their beakes in the which they make their Nests And surely these Birds are maruellous to behold for the great difference which they haue from all other Birds that I haue seene aswell for their tongues which are quils as I haue said as also for the strangenesse of their sight and disproportion of their great beakes in respect of the rest of their bodies There are no Birds found that prouide better for the safegard of their young in the time of their breeding to be without danger of wilde Cats that they enter not into their Nests to destroy their Egges or young and this aswell by the strange manner of building their Nests as also by their owne defence and therefore when they perceiue that the Cats approach toward them they enter into their Nests and holding their beakes toward the entrance of the same stand at their defence and so vexe the Cats that they cause them to leaue their enterprize There are also other Birds or Sparrowes which the Christians by contrary effect call Matti that is Fooles Whereas neuerthelesse there is no Bird that sheweth more wit and craft in defending her young from perill These Birds are little and in manner blacke and somewhat bigger then our Thrushes they haue certaine white feathers in their neckes and the like sagacitie or sharpnesse of sense as haue the Birds or Pyes called Gazzuole they seldome times light vpon the earth they make their Nests in Trees separated from other because the Monkeyes are accustomed to leape from Tree to Tree not descending to the ground for feare of other beasts except when they are enforced by thirst to come downe to drinke at such times as they are sure not to be molested and for this cause doe not these Birds make their Nests but in Trees farre diuided from other they make them of a Cubit in length or more after the manner of bagges or little sackes large at the bottome and growing narrower and narrower toward the mouth whereby they are fastened hauing the hole whereat they enter into the sacke of such bignesse as may onely suffice to receiue them And to the end that the Monkeyes may not deuoure their young if they chance to mount vpon the Trees where they haue their Nests they vse another craft which is to make their Nests in thicke branches of Trees and to defend the same with sharpe and strong thornes implicate and set in such order that no man is able to make the like so that the Monkeyes can by no meanes put their legges into the hole of the Nest to take out the young Birds aswell for the sharpnesse of the thornes as also for the depth of the Nests in the bottome whereof the young Birds rest without danger of their enemie for some of their Nests being three or foure spans in length the leg of the Monkey cannot reach to the bottome thereof They vse also another policie which is to make many of their Nests in one Tree the which they doe for one of these two causes that is that either of their owne naturall disposition they are accustomed to goe in great multitudes and reioyce in the company of their owne generation as doe the Birds which we call Stares or else to the intent that if it should so chance that the Monkeyes should climbe the Trees where they make their Nests they might bee a greater company to resist and molest the Monkeyes at whose approach they make a fearefull and terrible cry whereby the Monkeyes are put to flight Furthermore in the firme Land and in the Ilands there are certaine Birds called Piche or Gazzuole somewhat like vnto those which we call Wood-wals or Wood-peckes being lesse then ours of Spaine these are altogether blacke and goe hopping and leaping their beakes are also blacke and of the same fashion as are the Popingiayes beakes they haue long tayles and are somewhat bigger then Stares There are other Birds called Pintadelli which are like vnto certaine greene Birds which the Itrlians call Fringuelli and are of seuen colours these Birds for feare of the Monkeyes are euer wont to make their Nests ouer the bankes of Riuers or the Sea where the branches of Trees so reach ouer the water that with a little weight they may bow downe to the water their Nests are made so neere the tops of the branches that when the Monkeyes come thereon the branches bend toward the water and the Monkeyes turne backe againe for feare of falling For although no beast in the World be more malicious then this yet whereas the most part of beasts are naturally inclined to swimme this Monkey hath no manner of aptnesse thereunto and is therefore soone drowned or strangled in the water and by a priuie sense of Nature feareth the danger which he cannot escape These Birds make their Nests in such sort that although they bee wet and filled with water yet doe they so suddenly rise vp againe that the young Birds are not thereby hurt or drowned There are also many Nightingales and other Birds which sing maruellously with great melodie and difference in singing these Birds are of maruellous diuers colours the one from the other some are altogether yellow and some other of so excellent delectable and high a colour as it were a Rubie other are also of diuers and variable colours some of few colours and other some all of one colour being all so faire and beautifull that in brightnesse and shining they excell all that are in Spaine or Italie or other Prouinces of Europe Many of these are taken with Nets lime-twigs and Springes of diuers sorts Diuers other sorts of great fowles like vnto Eagles and such other as liue of prey are found in the firme Land of such diuersitie that it is in manner impossible to describe them all particularly and forasmuch as I haue more largely intreated hereof in my generall Historie of the Indies I thinke it not requisite heere to make any further mention of the same Of Trees Fruits and Plants THere is both in the firme Land and the Ilands a certaine Tree called Coco being a kind of Date Trees and hauing their leaues of the selfesame greatnesse as haue the Date Trees which beare Dates but differ much in their growing for the leaues of this Coco grow out of the trunkes of
that this fish is one of the best in the world to the taste and the likest vnto flesh especially so like vnto beefe that who so hath not seene it whole can iudge it to be none other when hee seeth it in pieces then very Beefe or Veale and is certainly so like vnto flesh that all the men in the world may herein be deceiued the taste likewise is like vnto the taste of very good Veale and lasteth long if it be powdred so that in fine the Beefe of these parts is by no meanes like vnto this This Manate hath a certaine stone or rather bone in his head within the braine which is of qualitie greatly appropriate against the disease of the stone if it be burnt and ground into small powder and taken fasting in the morning when the paine is felt in such quantitie as may lye vpon a peny with a draught of good whiâ—e wine For being thus taken three or foure mornings it acquieteth the griefe as diuers haue told me which haue proued it true and I my selfe by testimonie of sight doe witnesse that I haue seen this stone sought of diuers for this effect There are also diuers other fishes as bigge as this Manate among the which there is one called Vihnella This fish beareth in the top of his head a sword being on euery side full of many sharp teeth this sword is naturally very hard and strong of foure or fiue spans in length and of proportion according to the same bignesse and for this cause is this fish called Spada that is the Sword fish Of this kinde some are found as little as Sardines and other so great that two yokes of Oxen are scarsly able to draw them on a Cart. But whereas before I haue promised to speake of other fishes which are taken in these Seas while the ships are vnder saile I will not forget to speake of the Tunny which is a great and good fish and is oftentimes taken and kild with Trout speares and hookes cast in the water when they play and swim about the ships In like manner also are taken many Turbuts which are very good fishes as are lightly in all the Sea And here is to be noted that in the great Ocean Sea there is a strange thing to be considered which all that haue beene in the Indies affirme to bee true And this is that like as on the Land there are some Prouinces fertile and fruitfull and some barren euen so doth the like chance in the Sea So that at some windes the ships saile fiftie or a hundred or two hundred leagues and more without taking or seeing of one fish and againe in the selfe same Ocean in some places all the water is seen tremble by the moouing of the fishes where they are taken abundantly It commeth further to my remembrance to speake somewhat of the flying of fishes which is doubtlesse a strange thing to behold and is after this manner When the ships saile by the great Ocean following their viage there riseth sometimes on the one side or on the other many companies of certaine little fishes of the which the biggest is no greater then a Sardine and so diminish lesse and lesse from that quantitie that some of them are very little these are called Volatori that is flying fishes they rise by great companies and flocks in such multitudes that it is an astonishment to behold them Sometimes they rise but little from the water and as it chanceth continue one flight for the space of an hundred paces and sometimes more or lesse before they fall againe into the Sea sometimes also they fall into the ships And I remember that on an euening when all the companie in the ship were on their knees singing Salue Regina in the highest part of the Castle of the poope and sailed with a full winde there passed by vs a flocke of these flying fishes and came so neere vs that many of them fell into the ship among the which two or three fell hard by mee which I tooke aliue in my hand so that I might well perceiueâ— that they were as bigge as Sardines and of the same quantitie hauing two wings or quils growing out of their sinnes like vnto those wherewith all fishes swim in Riuers these wings are as long as the fishes themselues As long as their wings are moist they beare them vp in the aire but assoone as they are drie they can continue their flight no further then as I haue said before but fall immediatly into the Sea and so rise againe and flie as before from place to place In the yeere 1515. when I came first to enforme your Maiestie of the state of the things in India and was the yeere following in Flanders in the time of your most fortunate successe in these your Kingdomes of Arragon and Castile whereas at that voyage I sayled aboue the Iland Bermuda otherwise called Garza being the furthest of all the Ilands that are found at this day in the world and arriuing there at the depth of eight yards of water and distant from the Land as farre as the shot of a piece of Ordinance I determined to send some of the ship to Land aswell to make search of such things as were there as also to leaue in the Iland certaine Hogs for increase But the time not seruing my purpose by reason of contrarie winde I could bring my ship no neerer the Iland being twelue leagues in length and sixe in breadth and about thirtie in circuit lying in the three and thirtieth degree of the North side While I remayned here I saw a strife and combat betweene these flying fishes and the fishes named Gilt heads and the fowles called Sea-mewes and Cormorants which surely seemed vnto me a thing of as great pleasure and solace as could be deuised while the Gilt heads swam on the brim of the water and sometimes lifted their shoulders aboue the same to raise the flying fishes out of the water to driue them to flight and follow them swimming to the place where they fall to take and eate them suddenly Againe on the other side the Sea-mewes and Cormorants take many of these flying fishes so that by this meanes they are neither safe in the Aire nor in the Water In the selfe same perill and danger doe men liue in this mortall life wherein is no certaine securitie neither in high estate nor in lowe Which thing surely ought to put vs in remembrance of that blessed and safe resting place which God hath prepared for such as loue him who shall acquiet and finish the trauailes of this troublesome world wherein are so many dangers and bring them to that eternall life where they shall finde eternall securitie and rest Of the increase and decrease that is rising and falling of our Ocean Sea and South Sea called the Sea of Sur. I Will now speake of certaine things which are seene in the
into New Spaine and with the second Armie of Grigialua and with the third of Cortese and with the fourth of Pamphilo di Narbaez all by order of Lieutenant Velasco whereby Cuba was in manner dispeopled and by the former causes mentioned of Hispaniola and by the contagion of the small Pockes which was vniuersall in all these Ilands So that the Great God hath in manner wholly extinguished them for their not without others sinnes They haue much Gold and Brasse vse to fish much with the Rouerso before mentioned as also that Wild-goose chase There are innumerable Cranes such as are in Spaine the Boyes take infinite Egges and young ones There are Turtles greater then in Spaine Euery yeare there passe from the end of Cuba infinite numbers of diuers sorts of Birds which come from the North of the firme Land and crosse ouer the Alacrain Ilands and Cuba and flye ouer the Gulfe Southwards I haue seene them passe ouer Darien and Nombre de dios and Panama in diuers yeeres in the Firme Land so many that they couer the Skie and this passage or march continueth a moneth or more about the moneth of March I thinke they flie round about the World for they neuer are seene to returne toward the West or North and we see them not euery yeere one after another from morning to night the aire is couered and some flie so high that they cannot bee seene others lower yet higher then the Mountaines tops They come from the North-west and North to the Southwards and then turne South-west occupying in length more then the eye can discerne and a great space in breadth The lowest are Eaglets and Eagles and all seeme Birds of prey of many kinds and plumes The higher cannot bee discerned in their plumes but in manner of flying and qâ—antâ—tie appeare of diuers sorts There haue beene Serpents killed in Cuba as bigge as a mans thigh and fiue and twentie or thirtie foot long and more They are tame and the Indians eate them and find sometimes in their bellies sixe or seuen creatures bigger then Conies which they swallow whole I am loth to lead you with this Author along with Grigialua in his long Expedition from hence to Iucatan and other parts Neere to Porto de termini he found two Trees seeming set by hand standing alone and fifteene paces off diuers Idols of Chalke They saw two Images made of the wood Copei in manner of Sodomiticall villenie ioyned together and another of Chalke with his circumcised member betwixt his hands Iamaica was in people vices creatures and other things like the former they were the Inuentors of the reuerso-fishing and Goose-catching with Gourds or Pompions aforesaid which sometimes they practised also with leaues and greene boughes on their heads and vsed that Garland as is before said of the Pompions Of Cubagua the Pearle Iland and of the Pearle-fishing is spoken before In Cubagua is a bituminous Fountayne hauing otherwise no water to drinke nor Hearbes nor Trees but a few of Guaiacan nor any liuing creatures though at first comming of the Christians there were a few Conies At the East point is the Fountayne running into the Sea with an Oily substance floating on it profitable for Medicine there called Deuils Dung They that liue there fetch their water seuen leagues off from Cumana on the firme Land and wood from Margarita The Kings fifth of the Pearle-fishing hath yeelded 15000. Duckets yeerly a thing not knowne that so many Pearles haue beene taken from so small a space the Iland of Cubagua not compassing aboue three leagues In the Gulfe of Orâ—tigâ—a and the Ilands therein in the Prouince of Nicaragua on the South Sea are many shel-fishes of a long forme some a Cubit long some lesse creased growing broader and broader to the end when they are opened they haue a fishie substance within them and shine within as the Pearle-oysters doe halfe their length thence by degrees loosing that shining toward the broader end The Pearles within them are not so fine as the other The Indians vse the shels to digge their loose ground fastning the shell to a handle of wood binding it fast and making a kind of Spade thereof In the yeare 1517. An Englishman vnder colour of Discouery came with a great ship towards Brasill on the Firme Land and thence trauersed to Hispaniola and came neere the Hauen of Saint Domingo and sent his Boat full of people on shoare and desired Trade But the Captaine of the Fort shot from the Castle at the Boate because shee came directly to the Port and thereupon they returned to their ship The English seeing this entertainment tooke their course towards the Iland of Saint Iohn and entred the Port of Saint German and there demanded victuals and prouisions for their ship complaining of the wrong done them at Saint Domingo comming thither for Trade to buy with their Mony and to barter Commodities There they got some victuals for which they paid in wrought pieces of Pewter and other things and so returned towards Europe where it is likely they came not for there was neuer any more heard of them The next yeare a French Pirat guided by a Spanish Pilot came to trade in the Iland of Pearles and a Portugall Carauell which he had taken on the Coast of Brasill and would haue landed his Boats full of men but was resisted and a Battel betwixt both parts followed in which thirteene Frenchmen were slaine and two of ours Three or foure Nauarrois and Biskainers fled from them and said the French were Theeues and came to take the Iland whereupon they went with all their strength and tooke her Boat and the ship fled out of sight c. Ouiedos twentieth Booke is of shipwrackes and disaduentures which haue happened to the Spaniards in those parts One which happened 1514. is admirable the ship sinking and fiue and twentie persons escaping in the Boat hast forbidding prouision of Card Compasse or victuall to saue their liues Thus liued they twelue dayes at Sea neither had they any thing to eate or drinke only a young man had saued two pounds of Bisket which beeing diuided amongst them he which had most had not aboue an ounce and halfe Vrine or the Sea was their drinke In this case they made Vowes to our Lâ—die of Antica in Siuill and on the twelfth day hauing made a Saile of their shirts they came to Siluer-port in Hispaniola Their Pilot Aâ—to Caluo told me the Storie The same yeare in the Pleet of Pedrarias de Auilla a Portugal youth being scoffed at and flouted by the Spaniards leaped into the Sea in a fresh gale and not without the wonder of all men was taken vp by another ship aliue whom after I saw vaunting of this folly and saying that no Castilian durst haue done it which I easily beleeue as hauing more wit then this Foole. Yet will I imitate a little this foolish
guide their Boates or Canoes teaching them certaine pollicies The order they held in this warre was that he went to Cuitlauaca with his children where by his pollicie he pressed the enemy in such sort that he made them to flye and as he followed them the Lord of Cuitlauaca met him and yeelded vnto him himselfe his Citie and his people and by this meanes he stayed the pursuite The children returned with much spoyle and many Captiues for their Sacrifices being solemnely receiued with a great Procession Musicke and Perfumes and they went to worship their gods in taking of the earth which they did eate and drawing bloud from the forepart of their legs with the Priests Lancets with other superstitions which they were accustomed to vse in the like solemnities The children were much honored and encouraged and the King imbraced and kissed them and his kinsmen and allies accompanied them The bruite of this victory ranne throughout all the Countrie how that Tlacaellec had subdued the Citie of Cuitlauaca with children the news and consideration whereof opened the eyes of those of Tescuco a chiefe and very cunning Nation for their manner of life So as the King of Tescuco was first of opinion that they should subiect themselues to the King of Mexico and inuite him thereunto with his Citie Therefore by the aduise of this Counsell they sent Ambassadours good Orators with honorable presents to offer themselues vnto the Mexicans as their Subiects desiring peace and amity which was graciously accepted but by the aduise of Tlacaellec he vsed a Ceremony for the effecting thereof which was that those of Tescuco should come forth armed against the Mexicans where they should fight and presently yeelde which was an act and ceremony of warre without any effusion of bloud on either side Thus the King of Mexico became soueraigne Lord of Tescuco but he tooke not their King from them but made him of his Priuie Counsell so as they haue alwaies maintained themselues in this manner vntill the time of Moteçuma the second during whose raigne the Spaniards entred Hauing subdued the Land and Citie of Tescuco Mexico remained Lady and Mistris of all the Lands and Cities about the Lake where it is built Izcoalt hauing enioyed this prosperitie and raigned twelue yeares dyed leauing the Realme which had beene giuen him much augmented by the valour and counsell of his Nephew Tlacaellec Forasmuch as the election of the new King belonged to foure chiefe Electors and to the King of Tescuco and the King of Tacubu by especiall priuiledge Tlacaellec assembled these six personages as he that had the soueraigne authority and hauing propounded the matter vnto them they made choise of Moteçuma the first of that name Nephew to the same Tlacaellec His election was very pleasing vnto them all by reason whereof they made most solemne feasts and more stately then the former Presently after his election they conducted him to the Temple with a great traine where before the diuine harth as they call it where there is continuall fiâ—e they set him in his royall throane putting vpon him his royall ornaments Being there the King drew bloud from his eares and legs with a Griffons talons which was the Sacrifice wherein the diuell delâ—ghted to be honoured The Priests Ancients and Captaines made their Orations all congratuling his election They were accustomed in their elections to make great Feasts and Dances where they wasted many lights In this Kings time the custome was brought in that the King should goe in person to make warre in some Prouince and bring Captiues to solemnize the feast of his Coronation and for the solemne Sacrifices of that day For this cause King Moteçuma went into the Prouince of Chalco who had declared themselues his enemies from whence hauing fought valiantly he brought a great number of Captiues whereof he did make a notable Sacrifice the day of his Coronation although at that time he did not subdue all the Prouince of Chalco being a verie warlike Nation Manie came to this Coronation from diuers Prouinces as wâ—â—l neere as farre off to see the feast at the which all commers were verie bountifully enâ—ertained and clad especially the poore to whom they gaue new garments For this cause they â—rougâ—t that day into the Citie the Kings tributes with a goodly order which consâ—sted in Sâ—uffes to make Garments of all sorts in Cacao Gold Siluer rich Feathers great burthens of Cotton Cucumbers sundrie sorts of Pâ—â—sâ—s many kindes of Sea fish and of the fresh water great store of Fruits and Venison without number not reckoning an infinite number of Presents which other Kings and Lords sent to the new King All this Tribute marched in order according to the Prouinces and before them the Stewards and receiuers with diuers markes and Ensignes in very goodly order so as it was one of the goodliest things of the feast to see the entrie of the Tribute The King being crowned he imploied himselfe in the conquest of many Prouinces and for that he was both valiant and vertuous he still increased more and more vsing in all his affaires the counsell and industrie of his Generall Tlacaellec whom he did alwaies loue and esteeme very much as he had good reason The warre wherein he was most troubled and of greatest difficultie was that of the Prouince of Chalco wherein there happened great matters whereof one was very remarkeable which was that they of Chalcas had taken a brother of Moteçumaes in the warres whom they resolued to choose for their King asking him verie curteously if he would accept of this charge He answered after much importunitie still persisting therein that if they ment plainely to choose him for their King they should plant in the Market-place a Tree or very high stake on the top whereof they should make a little scaffold and meanes to mount vnto it The Chalcas supposing it had beene some ceremonie to make himselfe more apparant presently effected it then assembling all his Mexicans about the stake he went to the top with a garland of flowers in his hand speaking to his men in this manner O valiant Mexicans these men will choose me for their King but the gods will not permit that to be a King I should commit any treason against my Countrie but contrariwise I will that you learne by me that it behooueth vs rather to indure death then to aide our enemies Saying these words he cast himselfe downe and was broken in a thousand peeces at which spectacle the Chalcas had so great horror and despite that presently they fell vpon the Mexicans and slew them all with their Lances as men whom they held too proud and inexorable saying they had diuellish hearts It chanced the night following they heard two Owles making a mournfull cry which they did interpret as an vnfortunate signe and a presage of their neere destruction as it succeeded for King Moteçuma went against them in person
with all his power where he vanquished them and ruined all their kingdome and passing beyond the Mountaine Menade he conquered still euen vnto the North Sea Then returning towards the South Sea he subdued many Prouinces so as he became a mighty King all by the helpe and counsell of Tlacaellec who in a manner conquered all the Mexican Nation Yet he held an opinion the which was confirmed that it was not behoouefull to conquer the Prouince of Tlascalla that the Mexicans might haue a frontier enemy to keepe the youth of Mexico in exercise and allarme and that they might haue numbers of Captiues to Sacrifice to their Idols wherein they did waste as hath beene said infinite numbers of men which should be taken by force in the wars The honor must be giuen to Moteçuma or to speak truly to Tlacaellec his Generall for the good order and pollicy setled in the Realme of Mexico as also for the Counsels and goodly enterprises which they did execute and likewise for the number of Iudges and Magistrates being as well ordered there as in any Common-weale yea were it in the most flourishing of Europe This King did also greatly increase the Kings house giuing it great authoritie and appointing many and sundry Officers which serued him with great pompe and ceremony He was no lesse remarkable touching the deuotion and seruice of his Idols increasing the number of his Ministers and instituting new ceremonies whereunto he carried a great respect He built that great Temple dedicated to their god Vitziliputzli whereof is spoken in the other Booke He did Sacrifice at the dedication of this Temple a great number of men taken in sundry victories finally inioying his Empire in great prosperitie he fell sicke and died hauing raigned twentie eight yeares vnlike to his successor Ticocic who did not resemble him neither in valour nor in good fortune The foure Deputies assembled in counsell with the Lords of Tescuco and Tacuba where Tlacaellec was President in the election where by all their voices Tlacaellec was chosen as deseruing this charge better then any other Yet he refused it perswading them by pertinent reasons that they should choose another saying that it was better and more expedient to haue another King and he to be his instrument and assistant as he had beene till then and not to lay the whole burthen vpon him for that he held himselfe no lesse bound for the Common-weale then if he were King seeming to him though he were not King yet in a manner that he commanded Kings suffering him to carry certaine markes as a Tiara or ornament for the head which belonged onely to themselues as in a Comedie he deserues most commendation that represents the personage that imports most In recompence of his modesty and for the respect which the Mexican Electors bare him they demanded of Tlacaellec that seeing he would not raigne whom hee thought most fit Whereupon he gaue his voyce to a Sonne of the deceased King who was then very young called Ticocic but they replied that his shoulders were very weake to beare so heauie a burthen Tlacaellec answered that his was there to helpe him to beare the burthen as he had done to the deceased by meanes whereof they tooke their resolution and Ticocic was chosen to whom were done all the accustomed ceremonies They pierced his nosthrils and for an ornament put an Emerald therein and for this reason in the Mexican Bookes this King is noted by his nosthrils pierced Hee differed much from his Father and Predecessor being noted for a coward and not valiant He went to make warre for his Coronation in a Prouince that had rebelled where hee lost more of his owne men then hee tooke captiues yet he returned saying that he brought the number of captiues required for the Sacrifice of his Coronation and so hee was crowned with great solemnitie But the Mexicans discontented to haue a King so little disposed to warre practised to hasten his death by poison For this cause he continued not aboue foure yeeres in the Kingdome But this losse was well repaired by a Brother of the deceased who was also sonne to great Moteçuma called Axayaca who was likewise chosen by the aduice of Tlacaellec wherein hee happened better then before Now was Tlacaellec very old who by reason of his age was carried in a chaire vpon mens shoulders to assist in counsell when businesse required In the end he fell sicke when as the King who was not yet crowned did visit him often shedding many teares seeming to loose in him his Father and the Father of his Countrey Tlacaellec did most affectionately recommend his children vnto him especially the eldest who had shewed himselfe valiant in the former warres The King promised to haue regard vnto him and the more to comfort the old man in his presence hee gaue him the charge and ensignes of Captaine Generall with all the preheminences of his Father wherewith the old man remained so well satisfied as with this content he ended his dayes The Mexicans made his Funerall as the Founder of that Empire more sumptuous and stately then they had done to any of their former Kings And presently after Axayaca to appease the sorrow which all the people of Mexico shewed for the death of their Captaine resolued to make the voyage necessary for his Coronation He therefore led his Armie with great expedition into the Prouince of Tequantepec two hundred leagues from Mexico where he gaue battell to a mighty Army and an infinite number of men assembled together as well out of that Prouince as from their Neighbours to oppose themselues against the Mexicans The first of his Campe that aduanced himselfe to the combate was the King himselfe defying his enemies from whom he made shew to flye when they charged him vntill hee had drawne them into an Ambuscadoe where many Souldiers lay hidden vnder straw who suddenly issued forth and they which fled turned head so as they of Tiquantepec remayned in the midst of them whom they charged furiously making a great slaughter of them and following their victorie they razed their Citie and Temple punishing all their Neighbours rigorously Then went they on farther and without any stay conquered to Guatulco the which is a Port at this day well knowne in the South Sea Axayaca returned to Mezico with great and rich spoiles where he was honourably crowned with sumptuous and stately preparation of Sacrifices Tributes and other things whither many came to see his Coronation The Kings of Mexico receiued the Crowne from the hands of the King of Tescuco who had the preheminence Hee made many other Enterprises where he obtained great victories being alwayes the first to leade the Armie and to charge the enemie by the which he purchased the name of a most valiant Captaine and not content to subdue strangers he also suppressed his Subjects which had rebelled which neuer any of his Predecessors
euer could doe or durst attempt Wee haue alreadie shewed how some seditions of Mexico had diuided themselues from that Common-weale and built a Citie neere vnto them which they called Tlatelulco whereas now Saint Iaques is These being reuolted held a faction apart and encreased and multiplyed much refusing to acknowledge the Kings of Mexico nor to yeeld them obedience The King Axayaca sent to aduise them not to liue diuided but being of one bloud and one people to joyne together and acknowledge the King of Mexico wherupon the Lord of Tlatelulco made an answer ful of pride and disdaine defying the King of Mexico to single combate with himselfe and presently mustred his men commanding some of them to hide themselues in the weeds of the Lake and the better to deceiue the Mexicans he commanded them to take the shapes of Rauens Geese and other Beasts as Frogges and such like supposing by this meanes to surprize the Mexicans as they should passe by the wayes and cawsies of the Lake Hauing knowledge of this defie and of his Aduersaries policie he diuided his Armie giuing a part to his Generall the sonnne of Tlacaellec commanding him to charge this Ambuscadoe in the Lake and hee with the rest of his people by an vnfrequented way went and incamped before Tlatelulco Presently he called him who had defied him to performe his promise and as the two Lords of Mexico and Tlatelulco aduanced they commanded their Subjects not to mooue vntill they had seene who should bee Conquerour which was done and presently the two Lords encountred valiantly where hauing fought long in the end the Lord of Tlatelulco was forced to turne his backe being vnable to indure the furious charge of the King of Mexico Those of Tlatelulco seeing their Captaine flye fainted and fled likewise but the Mexicans following them at the heeles charged them furiously yet the Lord of Tlatelulco escaped not the hands of Axayaca for thinking to saue himselfe hee fled to the top of the Temple but Axayaca followed him so neere as hee seized on him with great force and threw him from the top to the bottome and after set fire on the Temple and the Citie Whilest this passed at Tlatelulco the Mexican Generall was very hote in the reuenge of those that pretended to defeat him by policie and after hee had forced them to yeeld and to cry for mercy the Generall said he would not pardon them vntill they had first performed the Offices of those figures they represented and therefore hee would haue them cry like Frogges and Rauens euery one according to the figure which he had vndertaken else they had no composition which thing he did to mocke them with their owne policie Feare and Necessitie bee perfect Teachers so as they did sing and cry with all the differences of voices that were commanded them to saue their liues although they were much grieued at the sport their enemies made at them They say that vnto this day the Mexicans vse to jeast at the Tlatelulcans which they beare impatiently when they put them in minde of this singing and crying of beasts King Azayaca tooke pleasure at this scorne and disgrace and presently after they returned to Mexico with great joy This King was esteemed for one of the best that had commanded in Mexico Hee reigned eleuen yeeres Among the foure Electors that had power to choose whom they pleased to be King there was one endued with many perfections named Autzol This man was chosen by the rest and this election was very pleasing to all the people for besides that he was valiant all held him courteous and affable to euery man which is one of the chiefe qualities required in them that command to purchase loue and respect To celebrate the Feast of his Coronation hee resolued to make a Voyage and to punish the pride of those of Quaxulatlan a very rich and plentifull Prouince and at this day the chiefe of New Spaine They had robbed his Officers and Stewards that carried the Tribute to Mexico and therewithall were rebelled There was great difficultie to reduce this Nation to obedience lying in such sort as an arme of the Sea stopt the Mexicans passage to passe the which Autzol with a strange deuice and industry caused an Iland to be made in the water of faggots earth and other matter by meanes whereof both hee and his men might passe to the enemie where giuing them battell he conquered them and punished them at his pleasure Then returned he vnto Mexico in triumph and with great riches to bee crowned King according to their custome Autzol extended the limits of his Kingdome farre by many Conquests euen vnto Guatimalâ—a which is three hundred leagues from Mexico Hee was no lesse liberall then valiant for when as the Tributes arriued which as I haue said came in great abundance hee went forth of his Palace gathering together all the people into one place then commanded he to bring all the Tributes which he diuided to those that had need To the poore he gaue Stuffes to make them apparell and meate and whatsoeuer they had need of in great abundance and things of value as Gold Siluer Iewels and Feathers were diuided amongst the the Captaines Souldiers and Seruants of his House according to euery mans merit This Autzol was likewise a great Politician hee pulled downe the houses ill built and built others very sumptuous It seemed vnto him that the Citie of Mexico had too little water and that the Lake was very muddie and therefore hee resolued to let in a great course of water which they of Cuyoacan vsed For this cause hee called the chiefe man of the Citie vnto him beeing a famous Sorcerer hauing propounded his meaning vnto him the Sorcerer wished him to bee well aduised what he did being a matter of great difficultie and that he vnderstood if hee drew the Riuer out of her ordinary course making it passe to Mexico hee would drowne the Citie The King supposed these excuses were but to frustrate the effect of his Designe being therefore in choler he dismissed him home and a few dayes after he sent a Prouost to Cuyoacon to take this Sorcerer who hauing vnderstanding for what intent the Kings Officers came he caused them to enter his house and then he presented himselfe vnto them in the forme of a terrible Eagle wherewith the Prouost and his companions being terrified they returned without taking him Autzol incensed herewith sent others to whom he presented himselfe in forme of a furious Tigre so as they durst not touch him The third came and they found him in the forme of a horrible Serpent whereat they were much afraid The King mooued the more with these doings sent to tell them of Cuyoacan that if they brought not the Sorcerer bound vnto him hee would raze their Citie For feare whereof or whether it were of his owne free will or being forced by the people he suffered himselfe to be
led to the King who presently caused him to bee strangled and then then did he put his resolution in practice forcing a channell whereby the water might passe to Mexico whereby he brought a great current of water into the Lake which they brought with great Ceremonies and Superstitions hauing Priests casting Incense along the bankes others sacrificed Qâ—ailes and with the bloud of them sprinkled the channell bankes others sounding of Cornets accompanied the water with their Musicke One of the chiefe went attired in a habit like to their Goddesse of the water and all saluted her saying that she was welcome All which things are painted in the Annalls of Mexico which Booke is now at Rome in the holy Library or Vatican where a Father of our Company that was come from Mexico did see it and other Histories the which he did expound to the Keeper of his Holinesse Library taking great delight to vnderstand this Booke which before hee could neuer comprehend Finally the water was brought to Mexico but it came in such abundance that it had wel-neere drowned the Citie as was foretold and in effect it did ruine a great part thereof but it was presently preuented by the industry of Autzol who caused an issue to bee made to draw forth the water by meanes whereof hee repayned the buildings that were fallen with an exquisite worke being before but poore Cottages Thus he left the Citie inuironed with water like another Venice and very well built he reigned eleuen yeeres and ended with the last and greatest Successor of all the Mexicans §. III. Of the Election of great MOTEZVMA the last King of Mexico his pompe and manner of gouernment prodigious fore-warnings of his ruine and the Spanish Conquest WHen the Spaniards entred New Spaine being in the yeere of our Lord 151â— Moteçuma second of that name was the last King of the Mexicans I say the last although they of Mexico after his death chose another King yea in the life of the same Moteçuma whom they declared an enemy to his Countrey as wee shall see hereafter But he that succeeded him and he that fell into the hands of the Marquesse de Valle had but the names and titles of Kings for that the Kingdome was in a manner all yeelded to the Spaniards so as with reason we account Moteçuma for the last King and so hee came to the period of the Mexicans power and greatnesse which is admirable beeing happened among Barbarians For this cause and for that this was the season that God had chosen to reueale vnto them the knowledge of his Gospell and the Kingdome of Iesus Christ I will relate more as large the Acts of Moteçuma then of the rest Before he came to be King hee was by disposition very graue and stayed and spake little so as when he gaue his opinion in the priuy Counsell whereas he assisted his speeches and discourses made euery one to admire him so as euen then he was feared and respected He retyred himselfe vsually into a Chappell appointed for him in the Temple of Vitzliputzli where they said their Idoll spake vnto him and for this cause hee was held very religious and deuout For these perfections then being most noble and of great courage his elâ—ction was short and easie as a man vpon whom all mens eyes were fixed as worthy of such a charge Hauing intelligence of this election he hid himselfe in this Chappell of the Temple whether it were by judgement apprehending so heauy and hard a burthen as to gouerne such a people or rather as I beleeue through hypocrisie to shew that hee desired not Empery In the end they found him leading him to the place of Councell whither they accompanied him with all possible joy he marched with such a grauity as they all said the name of Moteçuma agreed very well with his nature which is as much to say as an angry Lord. The Electors did him great reuerence giuing him notice that hee was chosen King from thence hee was led before the hearth of their Gods to giue Incense where he offered Sacrifices in drawing bloud from his eares and the calues of his legs according to their custome They attyred him with the Royall ornaments and pierced the gristle of his nosthrils hanging thereat a rich Emerald a barbarous and troublous custome but the desire of rule made all paine light and easie Being seated in his Throne hee gaue audience to the Orations and Speeches that were made vnto him which according vnto their custome were eloquent and artificiall The first was pronounced by the King of Tescuco which being preserued for that it was lately deliuered and very worthy to bee heard I will set it downe word by word and thus hee said The concordance and vnitie of voyces vpon thy election is a sufficient testimonie most noble young man of the happinesse the Realme shall receiue as well deseruing to be commanded by thee as also for the generall applause which all doe shew by meanes thereof Wherein they haue great reason for the Empire of Mexico doth alreadie so farre extend it selfe that to gouerne a World as it is and to beare so heauie a burthen it requires no lesse dexteritie and courage then that which is resident in thy firme and valiant heart nor of lesse wisdome and iudgement then thine I see and know plainly that the mightie God loueth this Citie seeing hee hath giuen vnderstanding to choose what was fit For who will not beleeue that a Prince who before his Reigne had pierced the â—ine Vaults of Heauen should not likewise now obtaine those things that are earthly to relieue his people aiding himselfe with his best iudgement being thereunto bound by the dutie and charge of a King Who will likewise beleeue that the great courage which thou hast alwayes valiantly shewed in matters of importance should now faile thee in matters of greatest need Who will not perswade himselfe but the Mexican Empire is come to the height of their Souereigntie seeing the Lord of things created hath imparted so great graces vnto thee that with thy looke onely thou breedest admiration in them that behold thee Reioyce then O happie Land to whom the Creator hath giuen a Prince as a firme Pillar to support thee which shall bee thy Father and thy defence by whom thou shalt be succoured at need who will bee more thâ—n a brother to his subiects for his pietie and clemenciâ— Thou hast a King who in regard of his estate is not inclined to delights or will lye stretched out vpon his bed occupied in pleasures and vices but contrariwise in the middest of his sweet and pleasant sleep he will suddenly wake for the câ—re he must haue ouer thee and will not feele the taste of the most sauourie 〈◊〉 hauing his spirits transported with the imagination of thy good Tell me then O happie Realme if I haue not reason to say that thou oughtest reioyce
be knowne as we shall see hereafter It chanced thâ—t Motâ—çuma hauing reigned many yeeres in great prosperitie and so puft vp in his conceit as he caused himselfe to be serued and feared yea to be worshipped as a God that the Almighty Lord began to chastice him and also to admonish him suffering euen the very Deuils whom he worshipped to tell him these heauy tydings of the ruine of his Kingdome and to torment him by Visions which had neuer beene seene wherewith hee remayned so melancholy and troubled as he was void of judgement The Idoll of those of Châ—lolâ— which they called Quetzacoalt declared that a strange people came to possesse his Kingdomes The King of Tescuco who was a great Magitian and had conference with the Deuill came one day at an extraordinary houre to visit Moteçuma assuring him that his Gods had told him that there were great losses preparing for him and for his whole Realme many Witches and Sorcerers went and declared as much amongst which there was one did very particulary foretell him what should happen and as hee was with him hee told him that the pulses of his feete and hands failed him Moteçuma troubled with these newes commanded all those Sorcerers to be apprehended but they vanished presently in the Prison wherewith he grew into such a rage that he might not kill them as hee put their wiues and children to death destroying their Houses and Families Seeing himselfe importuned and troubled with these aduertisements hee sought to appease the anger of his Gods and for that cause hee laboured to bring a huge stone thereon to make great Sacrifices For the effecting whereof hee sent a great number of people with Engins and Instruments to bring it which they could by no meanes mooue although being obstinate they had broken many Instruments But as they stroue still to raise it they heard a voyce joyning to the stone which said they laboured in vaine and that they should not raise it for that the Lord of things created would no more suffer those things to be done there Moteçuma vnderstanding this commanded the Sacrifice to be performed in that place and they say the voyce spake againe Haue I not told you that it is not the pleasure of the Lord of things created that it should bee done and that you may well know that it is so I will suffer my selfe to bee transported a little then after you shall not mooue mee Which happened so indeed for presently they carried it a small distance with great facilitie then afterwards they could not mooue it till that after many Prayers it suffered it selfe to bee transported to the entry of the Citie of Mexico where suddenly it fell into the Lake where seeking for it they could not find it but it was afterwards found in the same place from whence they had remooued it wherewith they remayned amazed and confounded At the same time there appeared in the Element a great flame of fire very bright in the forme of a Pyramide which beganne to appeare at midnight and went still mounting vntill the Sunne rising in the morning where it stayed at the South and then vanished away It shewed it selfe in this sort the space of a whole yeere and euer as it appeared the people cast forth great cryes as they were accustomed beleeuing it was a presage of great misfortune It happened also that fire tooke the Temple when as no body was within it nor neere vnto it neyther did there fall any lightning or thunder whereupon the Guards crying out a number of people ranne with water but nothing could helpe so as it was all consumed and they say the fire seemed to come forth of pieces of timber which kindled more by the water that was cast vpon it There was a Comet seene in the day time running from the West to the East casting an infinite number of sparkles and they say the forme was like to a long tayle hauing three heads The great Lake betwixt Mexico and Tescuco without any winde earthquake or any other apparant signe began sudainly to swell and the waues grew in such sort as all the buildings neere vnto it fell downe to the ground They say at that time they heard many voices as of a woman in paine which said sometimes O my children the time of your destruction is come and otherwhiles it said O my children whither shall I carry you that you perish not vtterly There appeared likewise many Monsters with two heads which being carried before the King sudainly vanished There were two that exceeded all other Monsters being very strange the one was the Fishers of the Lake tooke a Bird as bigge as a Crane and of the same colour but of a strange and vnseene forme They carried it to Moteçuma who at that time was in the pallace of teares and mourning which was all hanged with blacke for as he had many Pallaces for his recreation so had he also others for times of affliction wherewith he was then heauily charged and tormented by reason of the threatnings his gods had giuen him by these sorrowfull aduertisements The Fishers came about noone setting this Bird before him which had on the top of his head a thing bright and transparent in forme of a Looking-glasse wherein he did behold a warlike Nation comming from the East armed fighting and killing He called his Diuines and Astronomers whereof there was a great number who hauing seene these things and not able to yeelde any reason of what was demanded of them the Bird vanished away so as it was neuer more seene whereupon Moteçuma remained very heauy and sorrowfull The other which happened was a Laborer who had the report of a very honest man he came vnto him telling him that being the day before at his worke a great Eagle flew towards him and tooke him vp in his talents without hurting him carrying him into a certaine Caue where it left him The Eagle pronouncing these words Most mighty Lord I haue brought him whom thou hast commanded me This Indian Laborer looked aboue on euery side to whom he spake but he saw no man Then he heard a voyce which said vnto him Doost thou not know this man whom thou seest lying vpon the ground and looking thereon he perceiued a man to lye very heauy asleepe with royall ensignes flowers in his hand and a staffe of perfumes burning as they are accustomed to vse in that Country whom the Labourer beholding knew it was the great King Moteçuma and answered presently Great Lord this resembles our King Motezuma The voice said againe Thou sayest true behold what he is and how hee lies asleepe carelesse of the great miseries and afflictions prepared for him It is now time that he pay the great number of offences he hath done to God and that he receiue the punishment of his tyrannies and great pride and yet thou seest how carelesse he lyes blinde in his owne miseries and without any
did see in some battailes the Image of our Lady from whom the Christians haue receiued in those parts incomparable fauours and benefits c. And therefore we ought not to condemne all these things of the first Conquerors of the Indies as some religious and learned men haue done doubtlesse with a good zeale but too much affected For although for the most part they were couetous men cruell and very ignorant in the course that was to be obserued with the Infidels who had neuer offended the Christians yet can we not denie but on their part there was much malice against God and our Men which forced them to vse rigour and chastisement Euery one may vnderstand by the Relation and Discourse I haue written in these Bookes as well at Peru as in New Spaine when as the Christians first set footing that these Kingdomes and Monarchies were come to the height and period of their power The Inguas of Peru possessing from the Realme of Chille beyond Quitto which are a thousand leagues being most abundant in gold siluer sumptuous seruices and other things as also in Mexico Moteçuma commanded from the North Ocean Sea vnto the South being feared and worshipped not as a man but rather as a god Then was it that the most high Lord had determined that that stone of Daniel which dissolued the Realmes and Kingdomes of the World should also dissolue those of this new World And as the Law of Christ came when as the Roman Monarchie was at her greatnesse so did it happen at the West Indies wherein wee see the iust prouidence of our Lord For being then in the World I meane in Europe but one head and temporall Lord as the holy Doctors doe note whereby the Gospell might more easily bee imparted to so many People and Nations Euen so hath it happened at the Indies where hauing giuen the knowledge of Christ to the Monarchs of so many Kingdomes it was a meanes that afterwards the knowledge of the Gospell was imparted to all the people yea there is herein a speciall thing to be obserued that as the Lords of Cusco and Mexico conquered new Lands so they brought in their owne language for although there were as at this day great diuersitie of tongues yet the Courtly speech of Cusco did and doth at this day runne aboue a thousand leagues and that of Mexico did not extend farre lesse which hath not beene of small importance but hath much profited in making the preaching easie at such a time when as the Preachers had not the gift of many tongues as in old times He that would know what a helpe it hath beene for the conuersion of this people in these two great Empires and the great difficultie they haue found to reduce those Indians to Chrisâ— which acknowledge no Soueraigne Lord let him goe to Florida Bresil the Andes and many other places where they haue not preuayled so much by their preaching in fiftie yeeres as they haue done in Peru and new Spaine in lesse then fiue If they will impute the cause to the riches of the Country I will not altogether denie it Yet were it impossible to haue so great wealth and to be able to preserue it if there had not beene a Monarchie This is also a worke of God in this age when as the Preachers of the Gospell are so cold and without zeale and Merchants with the heat of couetousnesse and desire of command search and discouer new people whither we passe with our commodities for as Saint Augusâ—â—ne saith the prophesie of Esay is fulfilled in that the Church of Christ is extended not onely to the right hand but also to the left which is as hee declareth by humane and earthly meanes which they seeke more commonly then Iesus Christ. It was also a great prouidence of our Lord that when as the first Spaniards arriued there they found aide from the Indians themselues by reason of their partialities and great diuisions This is well knowne in Peru that the diuision betwixt the two brothers Atahualpa and Guasca the great King Guanacapa their father being newly dead gaue entrie to the Marquesse Don Francis Pizarre and to the Spaniards for that either of them desired his alliance being busied in warre one against the other The like experience hath beene in new Spaine that the aide of those of the Prouince of Tlascalla by reason of their continuall hatred against the Mexicans gaue the victorie and siegniorie of Mexico to the Mâ—rquesse Fernando Cortes and his men and without them it had beene impossible to haue wonne it yea to haue maintayned themselues within the Country They are much deceiued that so little esteeme the Indians and iudge that by the aduantage the Spaniards haue ouer them in their Persons Horses and Armes both offensiue and defensiue they might easily conquer any Land or Nation of the Indies Chille stands yet or to say better Arauco and Tuecapel which are two Cities where our Spaniards could not yet win one foot of ground although they haue made warre there aboue fiue and twentie yeeres without sparing of any cost For this barbarous Nation hauing once lost the apprehension of horse and shot and knowing that the Spaniards fall as well as other men with the blow of a stone or of a dart they hazard themselues desperately entring the Pikes vpon any enterprise How many yeeres haue they leuied men in new Spaine to send against the Chychymequos which are a small number of naked Indians armed only with bowes and arrowes yet to this day they could not be vâ—â—quished but contrariwise from day to day they grow more desperate and resolute But what shall we say of the Chucos of the Chiraguanas of the Piscocones and all the other people of the Andes Hath not all the flower of Peru beene there bringing with them so great prouision of Armes and Men as we haue seene What did they With what victories returned they Surely they returned very happy in sauing of their liues hauing lost their baggage and almost all their horses Let no man thinke speaking of the Indians that they are men of nothing but if they thinke so let them goe and make triall Wee must then attribute the glorie to whom it appertaynes that is principally to God and to his admirable disposition for if Moteçuma in Mexico and the Ingua in Peru had beene resolute to resist the Spaniards and to stop their entrie Cortes and Pizarre had preuayled little in their landing although they were excellent Captaines It hath also beene a great helpe to induce the Indians to receiue the Law of Christ the subiection they were in to their Kings and Lords and also the seruitude and slauerie they were held in by the Deuils tyrannies and insupportable yoke This was an excellent disposition of the diuine Wisedome the which drawes profit from ill to a good end and receiues his good from an others ill which it hath not sowen It is most certaine
as to the 〈◊〉 They did worship these three Viracocha the Sunne and Thunder after another manner then all the rest as Pâ—llo writes who had made triall thereof they did put as it were a Gantlet or Gloue vpon their hands when they did lift them vp to worship them They did worship the Earth which they called Pachaâ—aâ—a as the Ancients did the goddesse Tellus and the Sea likewise which they call Mamacocha as the Ancients worshipped Thetis or Neptune Moreouer they did worship the 〈…〉 which were the Armes and Blazons of the Ingua with two Snakes stretched out on either side Amongst the Starres they all did commonly worship that which they called Colâ—a and wee here Cabrille They did attribute diuers offices to diuers Starres and those which had neede of their fauour did worship them as the Shepherd did sacrifice to a Starre which they called Vrcuhillay which they hold to be a Sheepe of diuers colours hauing the care to preserue their Cattell and they imagine it is that which the Astronomers call Lyra. These Shepherds worship two other Starres which walke neere vnto them they call them Catuchillay and Vrcuchillay and they fayne them to be an Ewe and a Lambe Others worshipped a Starre which they called Machacuay to which they attribute the charge and power ouer Serpents and Snakes to keepe them from hurting of them They ascribe power to another Starre which they called Châ—gâ—iâ—chinchay which is as much as Tigre ouer Tigres Beares and Lions and they haue generally beleeued that of all the beasts of the earth there is one alone in heauen like vnto them the which hath care of their procreation and increase And so they did obserue and worship diuers Starres as those which they called Chacana Topatarca Mamâ—â—an Mirco Miquiquicay and many other So as it seemed they approched somwhat neere the propositions of Platoes Idees The Mexicans almost in the same manner after the supreme God worshipped the Sâ—nne And therefore they called Hâ—rnando Cortez as he hath written in a Letter sent vnto the Emperor Charles the fifth Sâ—nne of the Sunne for his care and courage to compasse the Earth But they made their greatest adoration to an Idoll called Vitzliputzli the which in all this Region they called the most puiffant and Lord of all things for this cause the Mexicans built him a Temple the greatest the fairest the highest and the most sumptuous of all other The situation and beautie thereof may well be conjectured by the ruines which yet remaine in the midst of the Citie of Mexico But here the Mexicans Idolatrie hath beene more pernicious and hurtfull then that of the Iâ—guas as wee shall see playner hereafter for that the greatest part of their adoration and Idolatrie was imployed to Idols and not to naturall things although they did attribute naturall effects to these Idols as Raine multiplication of Cattell Warre and Generation euen as the Greekes and Latines haue forged Idols of Phoebus Mercurie Iupiter Minerua and of Mars To conclude who so shall neerly looke into it shall finde this manner which the Deuill hath vsed to deceiue the Indians to be the same wherewith he hath deceiued the Greekes and Romans and other ancient Gentiles giuing them to vnderstand that these notable creatures the Sunne Moone Starres and Elements had power and authority to doe good or harme to men Their manner to pray to Viracocha to the Sunne the Starres and the rest of their Idols was to open their hands and to make a certaine sound with their mouthes like people that kissed and to aske that which euery one desired in offering his Sacrifices yet was there great difference betwixt the words they vsed in speaking to the great Ticiâ—iracocha to whom they did attribute the chiefe power and commandement ouer all things and those they vsed to others the which euery one did worshippe priuately in his house as Gods or particular Lords saying that they were their Intercessors to this great Ticciuiracocha This manner oof worship opening the hands and as it were kissing hath something like to that which Iob had in horrour as fit for Idolaters saying If I haue kissed my hands with my mouth beholding the Sunne when it shines or the Moone when it is light the which is a great iniquitie and to deny the most great God THe Deuill hath not beene contented to make these blinde Indians to worshippe the Sunne Moone Starres Earth and Sea and many other generall things in nature but he hash passed on further giuing them for God and making them subiect to base and abiect things and for the most part filthy and infamous for they worshipped Riuers Fountaines the mouthes of Riuers entries of Mountaines Rockes or great Stones Hils and the tops of Mountaines which they call Apachitas and they hold them for matters of great deuotion To conclude they did worship all things in nature which seemed to them remarkable and different from the rest as acknowledging some particular deitie These shewed me in Caxamalca of Nasca a little hill or great mount of Sand which was the chiefe Idoll or Guaca of the Ancients I demaunded of them what diuinity they found in it They answered that they did worship it for the wonder being a very high mount of Sand in the midst of very thicke Mountaines of Stone We had neede in the Citie of Kings of great store of great wood for the melting of a Bell and therefore they cut downe a great deformed Tree which for the greatnesse and antiquity thereof had beene a long time the Oratorie and Guaca of the Indians And they beleeued there was a certaine Diuinity in any thing that was extraordinary and strange in his kinde attributing the like vnto small Stones and Mettals yea vnto rootes and fruites of the earth as the rootes they call Papas There is a strange kinde which they call Lallahuas which they kissed and worshipped They did likewise worship Beares Lyons Tygres and Snakes to th end they should not hurt them and such as their gods be such are the things they offer vnto them in their worship They haue vsed as they goe by the way to caft in the crosse wayes on the hils and toppes of Mountaines which they call Apachittaâ— olde shooes Feathers and Coca chewed being an hearbe they vse much And when they haue nothing left they cast a Stone as an offring that they might passe freely and haue greater force the which they say increaseth by this meanes as it is reported in a prouinciall Counsell of Peru And therefore they finde in the hie-waies great heapes of Stones offred and such other things They vsed another offring no lesse pleasant and ridiculous pulling the haire from the eyebrowes to offer it to the Sunne Hils Apachittas to the Windes or to any other thing they feare Such is the miseries that many Indians haue liued in and doe to this day whom the Deuill doth abuse like very Babes with any foolish
which God by his wisedome hath decreed for his honour and seruice and for the good and health of man the Deuill striues to imitate and to peruert to be honored and to cause man to be damned for as we see the great God hath Sacrifices Priests Sacraments Religious Prophets and Ministers dedicated to his diuine Seruice and holy ceremonies so the Deuill hath his Sacrifices Priests his kindes of Sacraments his Ministers appointed his secluded and fained holinesse with a thousand sorts of false Prophets BEginning then with their Temples euen as the great God would haue a house dedicated where his holy name might be honoured and that it should be particularly vowed to his seruice euen so the Deuill by his wicked practises perswaded Infidels to build him proud Temples and particular Oratories and Sanctuaries In euery Prouince of Peru there was one principall Guaca or house of adoration and besides it there was one Generall throughout all the Kingdome of the Inguas among the which there hath beene two famous and notable the one which they called Pachamana is foure leagues from Lima where at this day they see the ruines of a most auncient and great building out of the which Francis Pizarre and his people drew infinite treasure of vessels and pots of Gold and Siluer which they brought when they tooke the Ingua Altagualpa There are certaine memories and discourses which say that in this Temple the Deuill did speake visibly and gaue answers by his Oracle and that sometimes they did see a spotted Snake and it was a thing very common and approued at the Indies that the Deuill spake and answered in these false Sanctuaries deceiuing this miserable people But where the Gospell is entred and the Crosse of Christ planted the father of lyes becomes mute as Plutarch writes of his time Cur cessauerit Pithias fundere oracula and Iustine Martyr treates amply of the silence which Christ imposed to Deuils which spake by Idols as it had beene before much prophesied of in the holy Scripture The manner which the Infidell Ministers and Inchanters had to consult with their gods was as the Deuill had taught them It was commonly in the night they entred backward to their Idoll and so went bending their bodies and head after an vgly manner and so they consulted with him The answere he made was commonly like vnto a fearefull hissing or to a gnashing which did terrifie them and all that he did aduertise or command them was but the way to their perdition and ruine There are few of these Oracles found now through the mercy of God and great power of Iesus Christ. There hath beene in Peru another Temple and Oratory most esteemed which was in the Citie of Cusco where at this day is the Monastery of Saint Dominicke We may see it hath beene a goodly and a stately worke by the pauement and stones of the building which remaine to this day This Temple was like to the Pantheon of the Romans for that it was the house and dwelling of all the gods for the Kings Inguas did there behold the gods of all the Nations and Prouinces they had conquered euery Idoll hauing his priuate place whither they of that Prouince came to worâ—hip it with an excessiue charge of things which they brought for his seruice And thereby they supposed to keepe safely in obedience those Prouinces which they had conquered holding their gods as it were in hostage In this same house was the Pinchao which was an Idoll of the Sunne of most fine Gold wrought with great riches of Stones the which was placed to the East with so great Art as the Sunne at his rising did cast his beames thereon and as it was of most fine mettall his beames did reflect with such a brightnesse that it seemed another Sunne The Inguas did worship this for their god and the Pachayacha which signifies the Creator of Heauen They say that at the spoile of this so rich a Temple a Souldier had for his part this goodly plate of gold of the Sunne And as play was then in request he lost it all in one night at play whence came the prouerbe they haue in Peru for great gamesters saying that they play the Sunne before it riseth THe Superstitions of the Mexicans haue without comparison beene greater then the rest as well in their ceremonies as in the greatnesse of their Temples the which in old time the Spaniards called by this word Cu which word might by taken from the Ilanders of Saint Dominique or of Cuba as many other words that are in vse the which are neither from Spaine nor from any other language now vsuall among the Indians as is Mays Chico Vaqâ—ianâ— Chapetâ—n and other like There was in Mexico this Cu the famous Temple of Vitzliputzli it had a very great circuit and within a faire Court It was built of great stones in fashion of Snakes tyed one to another and the circuit was called Coatepantli which is a circuit of Snakes vpon the top of euery Chamber and Oratorie where the Idols were was a fine Pillar wrought with small stones blacke as jeat set in goodly order the ground raysed vp with white and red which below gaue a great light Vpon the top of the Pillar were battlements very artificially made wrought like Snailes supported by two Indians of stone sitting holding Candle-sticks in their hands the which were like Croisants garnished and enriched at the ends with yellow and greene feathers and long fringes of the same Within the circuit of this Court there were many Chambers of religious men and others that were appointed for the seruice of the Priests and Popes for so they call the soueraigne Priests which serue the Idoll This Court is so great and spacious as eight or ten thousand persons did dance easily in round holding hands the which was an vsuall custome in that Realme although it seeme to many incredible There were foure Gates or Entries at the East West North and South at euery one of these Gates began a faire Cawsey of two or three leagues long There was in the midst of the Lake where the Citie of Mexico is built foure large Cawseys in crosse which did much beautifie it vpon euery Portall or Entrie was a God or Idoll hauing the visage turned to the Cawsey right against the Temple gate of Vitzliputzli There were thirtie steps of thirtie fathome long and they diuided from the circuit of the Court by a street that went betwixt them vpon the top of these steps there was a walke of thirtie foot broad all playstered with chalke in the midst of which walke was a Pallisado artificially made of very high Trees planted in order a fathome one from another These Trees were very bigge and all pierced with small holes from the foote to the top and there were rods did run from one Tree to another to the which were chayned or tyed many dead mens heads Vpon euery rod
fiue or ten dayes together before any of their great Feasts and they were vnto them as our foure Ember weekes they were so strict in continence that some of them not to fall into any sensualitie slit their members in the midst and did a thousand things to make themselues vnable lest they should offend their gods They drunke no Wine and slept little for that the greatest part of their exercises were by night committing great cruelties and martyring themselues for the Deuill and all to bee reputed great fasters and penitents They did vse to discipline themselues with cords full of knots and not they onely but the people also vsed this punishment and whipping in the procession and feast they made to the Idoll Tezcalipuca the which as I haue said before is the god of penance for then they all carried in their hands new cordes of the threed of Manguey a fadome long with a knot at the end and wherewish they whipped themselues giuing great lashes ouer their shoulders The Priests did fast fiue dayes before this Feast eating but once a day and they liued apart from their wiues not going out of the Temple during those fiue dayes they did whip themselues rigorously in the manner aforesaid In Peru to solemnize the feast of the Yta which was great all the people fasted two dayes during the which they did not accompanie with their Wiues neither did they eate any meate with Salt or Garleeke nor drinke Chica They did much vse this kinde of fasting for some sins and did penance whipping themselues with sharpe stinging Netâ—les and often they strooke themselues ouer the shoulders with certayne stones This blind Nation by the perswasion of the Deuill did transport themselues into craggie Mountaynes where sometimes they sacrificed themselues casting themselues downe from some high Rocke Wee may draw all the Sacrifices the Infidels vse into three kindes one of insensible things another of beasts and the third of men They did vse in Peru to sacrifice Coca which is an hearbe they esteeme much of Mays which is their Wheate of coloured feathers and of Chaquira which otherwise they call Mollo of shels or Oysters and sometime Gold and Siluer being in figures of little beasts Also of the fine stuffe of Cumbi of carued and sweet wood and most commonly Tallow burnt They made these Offerings or Sacrifices for a prosperous winde and faire weather or for their health and to be deliuered from some dangers and mishaps Of the second kind their ordinary Sacrifice was of Cuyes which are small beasts like Rabbets the which the Indians eate commonly And in matters of importance or when they were rich men they did offer Pacos or Indian sheepe bare or with Wooll obseruing curiously the numbers colours and times The manner of killing their Sacrifices great or small which the Indians did vse according to their ancient Ceremonies is the same the Moores vse at this day the which they call Alqulble hanging the beast by the right fore-legge turning his eyes towards the Sunne speaking certayne words according to the qualitie of the Sacrifice they slue for if it were of colour their words were directed to Chuquilla and to the Thunder that they might want no water if it were white and smoothe they did offer it to the Sunne with certaine words if it had a fleece they did likewise offer it him with some others that he might shine vpon them and fauour their generation If it were a Guanaco which is gray they directed their sacrifice to Viracocha In Cusco they did euery yeere kill and sacrifice with this Ceremony a shorne sheepe to the Sunne and did burne it clad in a red Waste-coate and when they did burne it they cast certayne small baskets of Coca into the fire which they call Vilcaronca for which Sacrifice they haue both men and beasts appointed which serue to no other vse They did likewise sacrifice small Birds although it were not so vsuall in Peru as in Mexico where the sacrificing of Quailes was very ordinary Those of Peru did sacrifice the Birds of Puna for so they call the Desart when they should goe to the Warres for to weaken the forces of their aduersaries Guacas They called these Sacrifices Cuzcouicca or Conteuicca or Huallauicca or Sophauicca and they did it in this manner they tooke many kinds of small Birds of the Desart and gathered a great deale of a thorny wood which they call Yanlli the which beeing kindled they gathered together these small Birds This assembly they called Quico then did they cast them into the fire about the which the Officers of the Sacrifice went with certayne round stones carued whereon were painted many Snakes Lions Toades and Tygres vttering this word Vsachum which signifies Let the victorie be giuen vnto vs with other words whereby they sayd the forces of their enemies Guacas were confounded And they drew forth certayne blacke sheepe which had beene kept close some dayes without meate the which they called Vrca and in killing them they spake these words As the hearts of these beasts bee weakened so let our enemies be weakned And if they found in these sheepe that a certayne piece of flesh behind the hear were not consumed by fasting and close keeping they then held it for an ill Augure They brought certayne blacke Dogges which they call Appuros and slue them casting them into a Playne with certayne Ceremonies causing some kinde of men to eate this flesh the which Sacrifices they did lest the Ingua should bee hurt by poyson and for this cause they fasted from morning vntill the starres were vp and then they did glut and defile themselues like to the Moores This Sacrifice was most fit for them to withstand their enemies Gods and although at this day a great part of these customes haue ceased the warres being ended yet remaynes there some Relikes by reason of the priuate or generall quarrels of the Indians or the Caciques or in their Cities They did likewise offer and sacrifice shels of the Sea which they call Mollo and they offered them to the Fountaynes and Springs saying that these shels were daughters of the Sea the mother of all waters They gaue vnto these shels sundry names according to the colour and also they vse them to diuers ends They vsed them in a manner in all kinde of Sacrifices and yet to this day they put beaten shels in their Chica for a superstition Finally they thought it conuenient to offer Sacrifices of euery thing they did sow or raise vp There were Indians appointed to doe these Sacrifices to the Fountayne Springs and Riuers which passed through the Townes or by the their Charcas which are their Farmes which they did after Seed time that they might not cease running but alwayes water their grounds The Sorcerers did conjure to know what time the Sacrifices should be made which beeing ended they did gather of the contribution of the people what should
other things which they reuerence much They serue as Conjurers to tell what hath passed in the farthest parts before any newes can come As it hath chanced since the Spaniards arriued there that in the distance of two or three hundred leagues they haue knowne the Mutinies Battailes Rebellions and Deaths both of Tyrants and of those of the Kings partie and of priuate men the which haue beene knowne the same day they chanced or the day after a thing impossible by the course of nature To worke this diuination they shut themselues into a house and became drunke vntill they lost their senses a day after they answered to that which was demanded Some affirme they vse certaine Vnctions The Indians say that the old women doe commonly vse this office of witchcraft and specially those of one Prouince which they call Coaillo and of another Towne called Manchey and of the Prouince of Guarochiri They likewise shew what is become of things stollen and lost There are of these kindes of Sorcerers in all parts to whom commonly doe come the Anaconas and Cyua which serue the Spaniards and when they haue lost any thing of their Masters or when they desire to know the successe of things past or to come as when they goe to the Spaniards Cities for their priuate affaires or for the publike they demand if their voyage shall bee prosperous if they shall be sick if they shall die or returne sate if they shall obtaine that which they pretend and the Witches or Conjurers answer Yea or No hauing first spoken with the Deuill in an obscure place so as these Anaconas do well heare the sound of the voyce but they see not to whom these Conjurers speake neither doe they vnderstand what they say They make a thousand ceremonies and sacrifices to this effect with the which they mocke the Deuill and grow exceeding drunke for the doing whereof they particularly vse an herb called Villea the jâ—yce whereof they mingle with their Chica or take it in some other sort THe Indians had an infinite number of other ceremonies and customes which resembled to the ancient Law of Moses and some to those which the Moores vse and some approched neere to the Law of the Gospell as their Bathes or Opacuna as they call them they did wash themselues in water to clense them from their sinnes The Mexicans had also amongst them a kinde of Baptisme the which they did with ceremonie cutting the eares and members of young children new borne counterfaiting in some sort the Circumcision of the Iewes This ceremonie was done principally to the sonnes of Kings and Noblemen presently vpon their birth the Priests did wash them and did put a little Sword in the right hand and in the left a Target And to the Children of the vulgar sort they put the markes of their offices and to their Daughters instruments to spin knit and labour This ceremonie continued foure dayes being made before some Idoll They contracted marriage after their manner whereof the Licenciate Pollo hath written a whole Treatise and I will speake somewhat thereon hereafter In other things their customes and ceremonies haue some shew of reason The Mexicans were married by the hands of their Priests in this sort The Bridegroome and the Bride stood together before the Priest who tooke them by the hands asking them if they would marry then hauing vnderstood their wills he tooke a corner of the vaile wherewith the woman had her head couered and a corner of the mans gowne the which he tyed together on a knot and so led them thus tyed to the Bridegroomes house where there was a harth kindled and then he caused the wife to goe seuen times about the harth and so the married couple sate downe together and thus was the marriage contracted The Mexicans were very jealous of the integritie of their wiues so as if they found they were not as they ought to bee the which they knew either by signes or dishonest wordes they presently gaue notice thereof to their fathers and kinsfolks of their wiues to their great shame and dishonor for that they had not kept good guard ouer them When they went to the house they made an Inuentorie of all the man and wife brought together of prouisions for the house of land of jewels and ornaments which Inuentories euery father kept for if it chanced they made any diuorce as it was common amongst them when they agree not they diuided their goods according to the portion that euery one brought euery one hauing libertie in such a case to marry whom they pleased and they gaue the Daughters to the Wife and the Sonnes to the Husband It was defended vpon paine of death not to marry againe together the which they obserued very strictly And although it seeme that many of their ceremonies agree with ours yet differ they much for the great abomination they mingle therewithall It is common and generall to haue vsually one of these three things either Crueltie Filthinesse or Slouth for all their ceremonies were cruell and hurtfull as to kill men and to spill bloud or filthy and beastly as to eate and drinke to the name of their Idols and also to pisse in the honour of them carrying them vpon their shoulders to anoint and besmeare themselues filthily and to doe a thousand sorts of villanies which were at the least vaine ridiculous and idle and more like the actions of children then of men Whereas the temporall power was greatest there superstition hath most increased as we see in the Realmes of Mexico and Cusco where it is incredible to see the number of Idols they had for within the Citie of Mexico there were aboue three hundred Mango Ingua Yupangui amongst the Kings of Cusco was he that most augmented the seruice of their Idols inuenting a thousand kindes of sacrifices feasts and ceremonies The like did King Iscoalt in Mexico who was the fourth King There was also a great number of superstitions and sacrifices in other Nations of the Indians as in the Prouince of Guatimala at the Ilands in the new Kingdome in the Prouince of Chille and others that were like Commonwealths and Comminalties But it was nothing in respect of Mexico and Cusco where Satan was as in Rome or in his Ierusalem The Inguas Lords of Peru had two kindes of Feasts Some were ordinarie which fell out in certayne moneths of the yeere and others extraordinarie which were for certayne causes of importance as when they did crowne a new King when they beganne some warre of importance when they had any great need of water or drought or other like things For the ordinary Feasts wee must vnderstand that euery moneth of the yeere they made Feasts and diuers Sacrifices and although all of them had this alike that they offered a hundred sheepe yet in colour and in forme they are very diuers In the first moneth which they call Rayme which is the moneth
of December they made their first Feast which was the principall of all others and for that cause they called it Capacrayme which is to say A rich and principall Feast In this Feast they offered a great number of sheepe and Lambes in Sacrifice and they burnt them with sweet wood then they caused Gold and Siluer to bee brought vpon certayne sheepe setting vpon them three Images of the Sunne and three of the Thunder the Father the Sonne and the Brother In these Feasts they dedicated the Inguas children putting Guaras or Ensignes vpon them and they pierced their eares then some old man did whip them with slings and annoynted their faces with bloud all in signe that they should be true Knights to the Ingua No stranger might remayne in Cusco during this moneth and this Feast but at the end thereof they entred and they gaue vnto them pieces of the paste of Mays with the bloud of the Sacrifice which they did eate in signe of confederation with the Ingua as hath beene said before It is strange that the Deuill after his manner hath brought a Trinitie into Idolatry for the three Images of the Sunne called Apomti Churunti and Intiquaoqui which signifieth Father and Lord Sunne the Sonne Sunne and the Brother Sunne In the like manner they named the three Images of Chuquilla which is the God that rules in the Region of the Ayre where it Thunders Raines and Snowes I remember that beeing in Cuquisaca an honourable Priest shewed me an information which I had long in my hands where it was prooued that there was a certayne Guaca or Oratory whereas the Indians did worship an Idoll called Tangatanga which they said was one in three and three in one Comming then to the Feast of the second moneth which they called Camey besides the Sacrifices which they made they did cast the ashes into the Riuer following fiue or sixe leagues after praying it to carry them into the Sea for that the Virochoca should there receiue this present In the third fourth and fift moneth they offered a hundred blacke sheepe speckled and grey with many other things which I omit for being too tedious The sixt moneth is called Hatuncuzqui Aymorey which answereth to May in the which they sacrificed a hundred sheepe more of all colours in this Moone and moneth which is when they bring May from the fields into the house they made a Feast which is yet very vsuall among the Indians and they doe call it Aymorey This Feast is made comming from the Chacra or Farme vnto the house saying certayne Songs and praying that the Mays may long continue the which they call Mamacora They take a certayne portion of the most fruitfull of the Mays that growes in their Farmes the which they put in a certayne Granier which they doe call Pirua with certayne Ceremonies watching three nights they put this Mays in the richest garments they haue and being thus wrapped and dressed they worship this Pirua and hold it in great veneration saying it is the Mother of the Mays of their Inheritances and that by this meanes the Mays augments and is preserued In this moneth they make a particular Sacrifice and the Witches demand of this Pirua if it hath strength sufficient to continue vntill the next yeere and if it answeres No then they carry this Mays to the Farme to burne whence they brought it according to euery mans power then make they another Pirua with the same Ceremonies saying that they renew it to the end the Seed of Mays may not perish and if it answers that it hath force sufficient to last longer they leaue it vntill the next yeere This foolish vanitie continueth to this day and it is very common amongst the Indians to haue these Piruas and to make the Feast of Aymorey The seuenth moneth answereth to Iune and is called Aucaycuzqui Intiraymi in it they made the Feast that is called Intiraymi in the which they sacrificed a hundred sheepe called Guanacos and said it was the Feast of the Sunne In this moneth they made many Images of Quinua wood carued all attired with rich garments and they made their dancings which they doe call Cayo At this Feast they cast flowers in the high wayes and thither the Indians came painted and their Noblemen had small plates of Gold vpon their beards and all did sing we must vnderstand that this Feast falleth almost at the same time when as the Christians obserue the Solemnitie of the holy Sacrament which doth resemble it in some sort as in dancing singing and representations And for this cause there hath beene and is yet among the Indians which celebrated a Feast somewhat like to ours of the holy Sacrament many Superstitions in celebrating this ancient Feast of Intiraymi The eight moneth is called Chahua Huarqui in the which they did burne a hundred sheep more all grey of the colour of Viscacha according to the former order which moneth doth answere to our Iuly The ninth moneth was called Yapaguis in which they burnt an hundred sheepe more of a Chesnut colour and they doe likewise kill and burne a thousand Cuyes to the end that neither the Frost the Ayre the water nor the Sunne should hurt their Farmes and this moneth doth answere vnto August The tenth moneth was called Coyarami in the which they burnt a hundred white sheepe that had fleeces In this moneth which answereth to September they made the Feast called Situa in this manner They assembled together the first day of the Moone before the rising thereof and in seeing it they cryed aloude carrying Torches in their hands and saying Let all harme goe away striking one another with their Torches They that did this were called Panconcos which being done they went to the common Bath to the Riuers and Fountaines and euery one to his owne Bath setting themselues to drinke foure dayes together In this moneth the Mamacomas of the Sunne made a great number of small Loaues with the bloud of the Sacrifices and gaue a piece to euery stranger yea they sent to euery Guaca throughout the Realme and to many Curacas in signe of confederation and loyaltie to the Sun and the Ingua as hath beene said The Bathes drunkennesse and some Relickes of this Feast Situa remayne euen vnto this day in some places with the Ceremonies a little different but yet very secretly for that these chife and principall Feasts haue ceased The eleuenth moneth Homaraymi Punchaiquis wherein they sacrficed a hundred sheepe more And if they wanted water to procure raine they set a blacke sheepe tyed in the middest of a Plaine powring much Chica about it and giuing it nothing to eate vntill it rayned which is practised at this day in many places in the time of our October The twelfth and last moneth was called Aymara wherein they did likewise sacrifice a hundred sheepe and made the Feast called Raymicantara Raquis In this moneth which
rest This collation was likewise all carried away by the yong men as great Relicks This done the foure that arriued first were placed in the midst of the Ancients of the Temple bringing them to their chambers with much honour praising them and giuing them ornaments and from thence forth they were respected and reuerenced as men of marke The taking of this collation being ended and the feast celebrated with much ioy and noise they dismissed all the yong men and maides which had serued the Idoll by meanes whereof they went one after another as they came forth All the small children of the Colledges and Schooles were at the gate of the court with bottomes of rushes and hearbs in their hands which they cast at them mocking and laughing as of them that came from the seruice of the Idoll they had liberty then to dispose of themselues at their pleasure and thus the Feast ended ALthough I haue spoken sufficiently of the seruice the Mexicans did vnto their gods yet will I speake something of the feast they called Quetzacoalt which was the god of riches the which was solemnised in this manner Fortie dayes before the Marchants bought a slaue well proportioned without any fault or blemish either of sicknesse or of hurt which they did attire with the ornaments of the Idoll that he might represent it forty dayes Before his cloathing they did clense him washing him twice in a lake which they called the lake of the gods and being purified they attired him like the Idoll During these forty dayes he was much respected for his sake whom he represented By night they did imprison him as hath beene said lest he should flye and in the morning they tooke him out of prison setting him vpon an eminent place where they serued him giuing him exquisite meates to eate After he had eaten they put a chaine of flowers about his necke and many nosegaies in his hand He had a well appointed guard with much people to accompany him When he went through the Citie he went dancing and singing through all the streetes that he might be knowne for the resemblance of their god and when he beganne to sing the women and little children came forth of their houses to salute him and to offer vnto him as to their god Two old men of the Ancients of the Temple came vnto him nine dayes before the feast and humbling themselues before him they said with a low and submisse voyce Sir you must vnderstand that nine dayes hence the exercise of dancing and singing doth end and thou must then dye and then he must answer â—n a good houre They call this ceremony Neyola Maxiltleztli which is to say the aduertisement and when they did thus aduertise him they tooke very carefull heede whither he were said or if he danced as ioyfully as he was accustomed the which if he did not as cheerefully as they desired they made a foolish superstition in this manner They presently tooke the sacrificing rasors the which they washed and clensed from the bloud of men which remained of the former sacrifices Of this washing they made a drinke mingled with another liquor made of Cacao giuing it him to drinke they said that this would make him forget what had beene said vnto him and would make him in a manner insensible returning to his former dancing and mirth They said moreouer that he would offer himselfe cheerefully to death being inchanted with this drinke The cause why they sought to take from him this heauinesse was for that they held it for an ill augure and a fore-telling of some great harme The day of the Feast being come after they had done him much honour sung and giuen him incense the sacrificers tooke him about midnight and did sacrifice him as hath beene said offering his heart vnto the Moone the which they did afterwards cast against the Idoll letting the body fall to the bottome of the staires of the Temple where such as had offered him tooke him vp which were the Marchants whose feast it was Then hauing carried him into the chiefest mans house amongst them the body was drest with diuers sawces to celebrate at the breake of day the banquet and dinner of the feast hauing first bid the Idoll good morrow with a small dance which they made whilst the day did breake and that they prepared the sacrifice Then did all the Marchants assemble at this banket especially those which made it a trafficke to buy and sell slaues who were bound euery yeere to offer one for the resemblance of their god This Idoll was one of the most honored in all the Land and therefore the Temple where he was was of a great authoritie There were threescore staires to ascend vp vnto it and on the top was a Court of an indifferent largenesse very finely drest and plastered in the midst whereof was a great round thing like â—nto an Ouen hauing the entrie low and narrow so as they must stoope very low that 〈◊〉 enter unto it This Temple had Chambers and Chappels as the rest where there were conuents of Priests yong Men Maides and Children as hath beene said and there was one Priest alone resident continually the which they changed weekely For although there were in euery one of these Temples three or foure Curates or Ancients yet did euery one serue his weeke without parting His charge that weeke after he had instructed the children was to strike vp a Drum euery day at the Sunne-setting to the same end that we are accustomed to ring to Euensong This Drum was such as they might heare the house sound thereof throughout all the parts of the Citie then euery man shut vp his merchandise and retired vnto his house and there was so great a silence as there seemed to be no liuing creature in the Towne In the morning when as the day began to breake they began to sound the Drum which was a signe of the day beginning so as trauellers and strangers attended this signall to begin their iournies for till that time it was not lawfull to goe out of the Citie There was in this Temple a Court of reasonable greatnesse in the which they made great dances and pastimes with games or comedies the day of the Idols feast for which purpose there was in the middest of this court a Theatre of thirty foote square very finely decked and trimmed the which they decked with flowers that day with all the art and inuention that might be being inuironed round with Arches of diues flowers and feathers and in some places there were tied many small Birds Conies and other tame beasts After dinner all the people assembled in this place and the Players presented themselues and plaied Comedies some counterfeit the deafe and the rheumatike others the lame some the blinde and without hands which came to seeke for cure of the Idoll the deafe answered confusedly the rheumaticke did cough the lame halted telling their miseries
being presently made with these numbers of knots and handfuls of coards it remaynes for a certaine testimonie and register I did see a handfull of these strings wherein an Indian woman carried written a generall confession of all her life and thereby confessed her selfe as well 〈◊〉 I could haue done it in written Paper I asked her what those strings meant that differed from the rest she answered me they were certaine circumstances which the sinne required to be fully confessed Beside these Quippos of threed they haue another as it were a kind of writing with small stones by meanes whereof they learne punctually the words they desire to know by heart It is a pleasant thing to see the old and the impotent with a Wheele made of small stones learne the Paâ—er noster with another the Aue Maria with another the Creed and to remember what stone signifies Which was conceiued by the Holy Ghost and which Suffered vnder Pontius Pilate It is a pleasant thing to see them correct themselues when they doe erre for all their correction consisteth onely in beholding of their small stones One of these Wheeles were sufficient to make me forget all that I doe know by heart There are a great number of these Wheeles in the Church-yards for this purpose But it seemes a kind of Witch-craft to see another kinde of Quippos which they make of graines of Mays for to cast vp a hard account wherein a good Arithmetician would bee troubled with his Penne to make a diuision to see how much euery one must contribute they doe draw so many graines from one side and adde so many to another with a thousand other inuentions These Indians will take their graines and place fiue of one side three of another and eight of another and will change one graine of one side and three of another So as they finish a certaine account without erring in any point and they sooner submit themselues to reason by these Quippos what euery one ought to pay then wee can doe with the Penne. Heereby wee may judge if they haue any vnderstanding or bee brutish for my part I thinke they passe vs in those things whereunto they doe apply themselues IT shall be good to adde hereunto what we haue obserued touching the Indians Writings for their manner was not to write with a continued line but from the top to the bottome or in circle-wise The Latines and Greekes doe write from the left hand vnto the right which is the vulgar and common manner wee doe vse The Hebrewes contrariwise beganne at the right to the left and therefore their Bookes began where ours did end The Chinois write neither like the Greekes nor like the Hebrewes but from the top to the bottome for as they bee no Letters but whole words and that euery figure and Character signifieth a thing they haue no neede to assemble the parts one with another and therefore they may well write from the toppe to the bottome Those of Mexico for the same cause did not write in line from one side to another but contrary to the Chinois beginning below they mounted vpward They vsed this manner of writing in the account of their dayes and other things which they obserued Yet when they did write in their Wheeles or Signes they began from the middest where the Sunne was figured and so mounted by their yeeres vnto the round and circumference of the Wheele By words Pictures and these Memorialls the Kings were often aduertised of that which passed For this cause there were men of great agilitie which serued as Curriers to goe and come whom they did nourish in this exercise of Running from their youth labouring to haue them well breathed that they might runne to the top of a high Hill without wearinesse And therefore in Mexico they gaue the Prize to three or foure that first mounted vp the stayres of the Temple as hath beene said in the former Booke And in Cusco when they made their Solemne Feast of Capacrayme the Nouices did runne who could fastest vp the Rocke of Ynacauri And the exercise of running is generall much vsed among the Indians When as there chanced any matter of importance they sent vnto the Lords of Mexico the thing painted whereof they would aduertise them as they did when the first Spanish ships appeared to their sight and when they tooke Topanchan In Peru they were very curious of Footmen and the Ingua had them in all parts of the Realme as ordinary Posts called Chasquis whereof shall bee spoken in his place Many Nations of the Indies haue not indured any Kings or absolute and souereigne Lords but liue in Comminalties creating and appointing Captaynes and Princes for certayne occasions onely to whom they obey during the time of their charge then after they returne to their former estates The greatest part of this New World where there are no setled Kingdomes nor established Common-weales neither Princes nor succeeding Kings they gouerne themselues in this manner although there bee some Lords and principall men raised aboue the common sort In this sort the whole Countrey of Chille is gouerned where the Aâ—racanes those of Teucapell and others haue so many yeeres resisted the Spaniards And in like sort all the new Kingdome of Granado that of Guatimalla the Ilands all Florida Bresill Luson and other Countreyes of great circuit but that in some places they are yet more barbarous scarcely acknowledging any head but all command and gouerne in common hauing no other thing but will violence industry and disorder so as hee that most may most commands They haue onely found two Kingdomes or setled Empires that of the Mexicans in New Spaine and of the Inguas in Peru. It is not easie to be said which of the two was the mightiest Kingdome for that Moteçuma exceeded them of Peru in Buildings and in the greatnesse of his Court but the Inguas did likewise exceed the Mexicans in treasure riches and greatnesse of Prouinces In regard of Antiquitie the Monarchie of the Inguas hath the aduantage although it be not much and in my opinion they haue beene equall in feats of Armes and Victories It is most certaine that these two Kingdomes haue much exceeded all the Indian Prouinces discouered in this New World as well in good order and gouernment as in power and wealth and much more in Superstition and Seruice of their Idols hauing many things like one to another But in one thing they differed much for among the Mexicans the succession of the Kingdome was by election as the Empire of the Romanes and that of Peru was hereditary and they succeeded in bloud as the Kingdomes of France and Spaine THe Ingua which ruled in Peru being dead his lawfull Sonne succeeded him and so they held him that was borne of his chiefe Wife whom they called Coya The which they haue alwayes obserued since the time of an Ingua called Yupangui who married his
yeares vntill a time of necessitie The Indians tilled and put to profit the Inguas Lands next to those of the Guacas during which time they liued and were nourished at the charges of the Ingua of the Sunne or of the Guacas according to the Land they laboured But the old men women and sicke folkes were reserued and exempt from this Tribute and although whatsoeuer they gathered vpon those Lands were for the Ingua the Sunne or the Guacas yet the propertie appertained vnto the Indians and their successours The third part of these Lands were giuen by the Ingua for the Comminaltie and they haue not yet discouered whither this portion were greater or lesse then that of the Ingua or Guacas It is most certaine they had a care and regard it might be sufficient for the nourishment of the people No particular man possessed any thing proper to himselfe of this third portion neither did the Indians euer possesse any if it were not by speciall grace from the Ingua and yet might it not be engaged nor diuided amongst his heires They euerie yeare diuided these Lands of the comminaltie in giuing to euery one that which was needefull for the nourishment of their persons and families And as the familie increased or diminished so did they encrease or decrease his portion for there were measures appointed for euerie person The Indians paied no tribute of that which was apportioned vnto them For all their tribute was to till and keepe in good order the Lands of the Ingua and the Guacas and to lay the fruits thereof in their store-houses When the yeare was barren they gaue of these fruits thus reserued to the needie for that there is alwaies superabundance The Ingua did likewise make destribution of the cattell as of the Lands which was to number and diuide them then to appoint the pastures and limits for the cattell belonging to the Guacas and to the Ingua and to euerie Town and therefore one portion of their reuenues was for religion another for the Ingua and the third for the Indians themselues The like order was obserued among the hunters being forbidden to take or kill any females The troupes of the Inguas and Guacas were in great numbers and verie fruitfull for this cause they called them Kapaëllama but those of the common and publike were few in number and of small value and therefore they called them Bacchallama The Ingua tooke great care for the preseruation of Cattell for that it hath beene and is yet all the wealth of the Countrie and as it is said they did neither sacrifice any females nor kill them neither did they take them when they hunted If the mangie or the scuruie which they call Carache take anie beast they were presently commanded to burie it quicke lest it should infect others They did sheare their cattell in their season and distributed to euerie one to spinne and weaue Stuffes for the seruice of his Family They had searchers to examine if they did employ themselues in these workes and to punish the negligent They made Stuffes of the wooll of the Inguas cattell for him and for his family one sort very fine which they called Cumbi and another grosser which they likewise called Abasca There was no certaine number of these Stuffes and garment appointed but what was deliuered to euery one The wooll that remained was put into the storehouses whereof the Spaniards found them full and with all other things necessary for the life of man There are few men of iudgement but doe admire at so excellent well setled a gouernment seeing the Indians being neither religious nor Christians maintained after their manner this perfection nor to hold any thing proper and to prouide for all their necessities entertaining with such abuÌ„dance matters of Religion that which concerned their King Lord. THe Indians of Peru had one perfection which was to teach their children all arts and occupations necessary for the life of man for that there were no particular Tâ—ades-men as amongst vs Taylers Shoomakers Weauers and the rest but euery one learned what was needefull for their persons and houses and prouided for themselues All could weaue and make their garments and therefore the Ingua furnishing them with wooll gaue them cloathes Euery man could till the ground and put it to profit without hyring of any labourers All built their own houses and the women which vnderstood most were not brought vp in delights but serued their Husbands carefully Other Arts and Trades which were not ordinary and common for the life of man had their proper Companies and workemen as Goldsmiths Painters Potters Watermen and players of Instruments There were also Weauers and workemen for exqâ—isite workes which the Noblemen vsed but the common people as hath beene said had in their houses all things necessary hauing no neede to buy This continues to this day so as they haue no neede one of another for things necessary touching his person and family as shooes and garments and for their house to sowe and reape and to make Iron workes and necessarie instruments It is worthy obseruation although the Indians be simple in their manner and habits yet doe we see great diuersitie amongst the Prouinces especially in the attire of their head for in some places they carried a long peece of cloath which went often about in some places a large peece of cloath which went but once about in some parts as it were little morters or hats in some others as it were high and round Bonets and some like the bottome of sacks with a thousand other differences They had a straight and inuiolable law that no man might change the fashion of the garments of his Prouince although he went to liue in another This the Ingua held to be of great importance for the order and good gouernment of his Realme and they doe obserue it to this day though not with so great a care as they were accustomed THere were many Posts and couriers which the Ingua maintained throughout his Realme whom they called Chasquis and they carried commandements to the Gouernours and returned their aduises and aduertisements to the Court These Chasquis were placed at euery course which was a league and a halfe one from another in two small houses where were foure Indians of euery Country and they were changed monthly Hauing receiued the packet or message they ranne with all their force vntill they had deliuered it to the other Chasquis such as were ao runne being ready and watchfull They ran fiftie leagues in a day and night although the greatest part of that Countrie be very rough They serued also to carry such things as the Ingua desired to haue with speede Therefore they had alwaies Sea-fish in Cusco of two daies old or little more although it were aboue a hundred leagues off Since the Spaniards entred they haue vsed of these Chasquis in
Bamba where he kept himselfe in the Mountaines by reason of the rough and difficult accesse and there the Successors Inguas remayned vntill Amaro who was taken and executed in the market place of Cusco to the Indians incredible griefe and sorrow seeing iustice done vpon him publiquely whom they held for their Lord. After which time they imprisoned others of the Linage of these Inguas I haue knowne Don Charles grand-child to Guaynacapa and sonne to Polo who was baptized and alwayes fauoured the Spaniards against Mangocapa his brother when the Marquesse of Canette gouerned in this Country Sarritopaingua went from Vilcabamba and came vpon assurance to the Citie of Kings where there was giuen to him the Valley of Yucay and other things to whom succeeded a daughter of his Behold the succession which is knowne at this day of that great and rich Familie of the Inguas whose raigne continued aboue three hundred yeeres wherein they reckon eleuen Successors vntill it was wholly extinguished In the other Linage of Vrincusco which as we haue said before had his beginning likewise from the first Mangocapa they reckon eight Successors in this sort To Mangocapa succeeded Cinchoraca to him Capac Yupangui to him Lluqui Yupangui to him Mayraca paest Tarcogumam vnto whom succeeded his sonne whom they name not to this sonne succeeded Don Iean Tambo Maytapanaça This sufficeth for the originall and succession of the Inguas that gouerned the Land of Peru with that that I haue spoken of their Lawes Gouernment and manner of Life ALthough you may see by the Historie written of the Kingdome succession and beginning of the Mexicans their manner of Commonweale and Gouernment yet will I speake briefly what I shall thinke fit in generall to bee most obserued whereof I wâ—ll discourse more amply in the Historie The first point whereby wee may iudge the Mexican gouernment to bee very politike is the order they had and kept inuiolable in the election of their King for since their first called Acamapach vnto their last which was Moteçuma the second of that name there came none to the Crowne by right of succession but by a lawfull Nomination and Election This election in the beginning was by the voice of the Commons although the chiefe men managed it Since in the time of Iscoalt the fourth King by the aduise and order of a wise and valiant man called Tlacael there were foure certaine Electors appointed which with two Lords or Kings subiect to the Mexican the one of Tescuco and the other of Tucuba had power to make this election They did commonly choose young men for their Kings because they went alwayes to the warres and this was in a manner the chiefe cause why they desired them so They had a speciall regard that they should bee fit for the warres and take delight and glorie therein After the election they made two kindes of feasts the one in taking possession of the Royall Estate for the which they went to the Temple making great ceremonies and sacrifices vpon the Harth called Diuine where there was a continuall fire before the Altar of the Idoll and after some Rhetoricians practised therein made many Orations and Speeches The other feast and the most solemne was at his Coronation for the which hee must first ouercome in battell and bring a certaine number of Captiues which they must sacrifice to their gods hee entred in triumph with great pompe making him a solemne reception aswell they of the Temple who went all in procession sounding on sundrie sorts of instruments giuing Incense and singing like secular men as also the Courtiers who came forth with their deuises to receiue the vâ—ctorious King The Crowne or royall Ensigne was before like a Myter and behinde it was cut so as it was not round for the forepart was higher and did rise like a point The King of Tescuco had the priuilege to crown the King of Mexico In the beginning when the Mexicans were but poore and weake the Kings were very moderate in their expenses and in their Court but as they increased in power they increased likewise in pompe and state vntill they came to the greatnesse of Moteçuma who if he had had no other thing but his house of Beasts and Birds it had beene a proud thing the like whereof hath not beene seene for there was in this house all sorts of fish birds of Xacamamas and beasts as in an other Noahs Arke for Sea fish there were Pooles of salt-water and for Riuer fish Lakes of fresh-water birds that doe prey were fed and likewise wilde beasts in great abundance there were very many Indians imployed for the keeping of these beasts and when he found an impossibilitie to nourish any sort of fish fowle or wilde beast he caused the Image or likenesse to be made richly cut in precious stones siluer or gold in marble or in stone and for all sorts of entertainments he had his seuerall Houses and Palaces some of pleasure others of sorrow and mourning and others to treat of the affaires of the Realme There was in this Palace many Chambers according to the qualitie of the Noble men that serued him with a strange order and distinction THe Mexicans haue beene very curious to diuide the degrees and dignities amongst the noble men and Lords that they might distinguish them to whom they were to giue the greatest honor The dignitie of these foure Electors was the greatest and most honorable next to the King and they were chosen presently after the Kings election They were commonly brothers or very neere Kinsmen to the King and were called Tlacohecalcalt which signifies Prince of darts the which they cast being a kinde of armes they vse much The next dignitie to this were those they doe call Tlacatecati which is to say Circumcisers or Cutters of men The third dignitie were of those which they called Ezuahuacalt which signifies A shedder of bloud All the which Titles and Dignities were exercised by men of warre There was another a fourth intituled Tlilancalqui which is as much to say as Lord of the blacke house or of darknesse by reason of certaine Inke wherewith the Priests anointed themselues and did serue in their Idolatries All these foure Dignities were of the great Counsell without whose aduise the King might not doe any thing of importance and the King being dead they were to choose another in his place out of one of those foure Dignities Besides these there were other Counsels and Audiences and some say there were as many as in Spaine and that there were diuers Seates and Iurisdictions with their Counsellors and Iudges of the Court and others that were vnder them as Corrigidors chiefe Iudges Captaines of Iustice Lieutenants and others which were yet inferior to these with a very goodly order All which depended on the foure first Princes that assisted the King These foure onely had authoritie and power to condemne
to death and the rest sent them instructions of the Sentences they had giuen By meanes whereof they gaue the King to vnderstand what had passed in his Realme There was a good order and settled policie for the Reuenues of the Crowne for there were Officers diuided throughout all the Prouinces as Receiuers and Treasurers which receiued the Tributes and Royall Reuenues And they carried the Tribute to the Court at the least euery moneth which Tribute was of all things that doe grow or ingender on the Land or in the water aswell of Iewels and Apparell as of Meat They were very carefull for the well ordering of that which concerned their Religion Superstition and Idolatries and for this occasion there were a great number of Ministers to whom charge was giuen to teach the people the custome and ceremonies of their Law Hereupon one day a christian Priest made his complaint that the Indians were no good Christians and did not profit in the Law of God an old Indian answered him very well to the purpose in these termes Let the Priest said he imploy as much care and diligence to make the Indians Christians as the Ministers of Idols did to teach them their ceremonies for with halfe that care they will make vs the best Christians in the world for that the Law of Iesus Christ is much better but the Indians learne it not for want of men to instruct them Wherein he spake the very truth to our great shame and confusion THe Mexicans gaue the first place of honour to the profession of Armes and therefore the Noble-men are their chiefe Souldiers and others that were not noble by their valour and reputation gotten in warres came to Dignities and Honors so as they were held for Noble-men They gaue goodly recompences to such as had done valiantly who inioyed priuiledges that none else might haue the which did much incourage them Their Armes were of Rasors of sharpe cutting flints which they set on either side of a staffe which was so furious a weapon as they affirmed that with one blow they would cut off the necke of a Horse They had strange and heauy Clubs Lances fashioned like Pikes and other manner of Darts to cast wherein they were very expert but the greatest part of their combate was performed with stones For defensiue armes they had little Rondaches or Targats and some kinde of Morions or Head-pieces inuironed with feathers They were clad in the skinnes of Tigres Lions and other sauage beasts They came presently to hands with the Enemie and were greatly practised to runne and wrestle for thir chiefe manner of combate was not so much to kill as to take Captiues the which they vsed in their sacrifices as hath beene said Moteçuma set Knight-hood in his highest splendor ordayning certaine militarie orders as Commanders with certaine markes and ensignes The most honorable amongst the Knights were those that carried the crowne of their haire tied with a little red Ribband hauing a rich plume of feathers from the which did hang branches of feathers vpon their shoulders and rolls of the same They carried so many of these rolls as they had done worthy deeds in warre The King himselfe was of this order as may be seene in Chapultepec where Moteçuma and his sonnes were attyred with those kindes of feathers cut in the Rocke the which is worthy the sight There was another order of Knight-hood which they called the Lions and the Tigres the which were commonly the most valiant and most noted in warre they went alwayes with their Markes and Armories There were other Knights as the Grey Knights the which were not so much respected as the rest they had their haire cut round about the eare They went to the warre with markes like to the other Knights yet they were not armed but to the girdle and the most honorable were armed all ouer All Knights might carry gold and siluer and weare rich Cotton vse painted and gilt vessell and carry shooes after their manner but the common people might vse none but earthen vessell neither might they carry shooes nor attire themselues but in Nequen the which is a grosse stuffe Euery order of these Knights had his lodging in the Pallace noted with their markes the first was called the Princes lodging the second of Eagles the third of Lyons and Tigers and the fourth of the grey Knights The other common officers were lodged vnderneath in meaner lodging◠if any one lodged out of his place he suffred death THere is nothing that giues me more cause to admire nor that I finde more worthy of commendations and memory then the order and care the Mexicans had to nourish their youth for they knew well that all the good hope of a Common-weale consisted in the nurture and institution of youth whereof Plato treates amply in his bookes De Legibus and for this reason they laboured and tooke paines to sequester their children from delights and liberties which are the two plagues of this age imploying them in honest and profitable exercises For this cause there was in their Temples a priuate house for children as Schooles or Colledges which was seperate from that of the yong men and maides of the Temple whereof we haue discoursed as large There were in these Schooles a great number of children whom their fathers did willingly bring thither and which had teachers and masters to instruct them in all commendable exercises to be of good behauiour to respect their superiours to serue and obey them giuing them to this end certaine precepts and instructions And to the end they might be pleasing to Noblemen they taught them to sing and dance and did practise them in the exercise of warre some to shoote an Arrow to cast a dart or a staffe burnr at the end and to handle well a Target and a Sword They suffered them not to sleepe much to the end they might accustome themselues to labour in their youth and not be men giuen to delights Besides the ordinary number of these children there were in the same Colledges other children of Lords and Noblemen the which were instructed more priuately They brought them their meate and ordinary from their houses and were recommended to ancients and old men to haue care ouer them who continually did aduise them to be vertuous and to liue chastely to be sober in their diet to fast and to march grauely and with measure They were accustomed to exercise them to trauell and in laborious exercises and when they see them instructed in all these things they did carefully looke into their inclination if they found any one addicted vnto warre being of sufficient yeares they sought all occasions to make triall of them sending them to the warre vnder colour to carrie victuals and munition to the Souldiers to the end they might there see what passed and the labour they suffered And that they might abandon all feare they were laden
with heauie burthens that shewing their courage therein they might more easily be admitted into the company of Souldiers By this meanes it happened that many went laden to the Armie and returned Captaines with markes of honour Some of them were so desirous to be noted as they were either taken or slaine and they held it lesse honourable to remaine a prisoner And therefore they sought rather to be cut in peeces then to fall captiues into their enemies hands See how Noblemens children that were inclined to the warres were imployed The others that had their inclination to matters of the Temple and to speake after our manner to be Ecclesiasticall men hauing attained to sufficient yeares they were drawne out of the colledge and placed in the Temple in the lodging appointed for religious men and then they gaue them the order of Ecclesiasticall men There had they Prelates and Masters to teach them that which concerned their profession where they should remaine being destined thereunto These Mexicans tooke great care to bring vp their children if at this day they would follow this order in building of houses colledges for the instruction of youth without doubt Christianitie should flourish much amongst the Indians Some godly persons haue begunne and the King with his Counsell haue fauoured it but for that it is a matter of no profit they aduance little and proceede coldly We haue not discouered any Nation at the Indians that liue in comminalties which haue not their recreations in plaies dances and exercises of pleasure At Peru I haue seene plaies in manner of combats where the men of both sides were sometimes so chafed that often their Paella which was the name of this exercise fell out dangerous I haue also seene diuers sorts of dances wherein they did counterfait and represent certaine trades and offices as shepheards labourers fishers and hunters and commonly they made all those dances with a very graue sound and pale there were other dances and maskes which they called Guacones whose actions were pure representations of the deuill There were also men that dance on the shoulders one of another as they doe in Portugall the which they call Paellas The greatest pars of these dances were superstitions and kindes of Idolatries for that they honoured their Idols and Guacas in that manner For this reason the Prelates haue laboured to take from them these dances all they could but yet they suffer them for that part of them are but sports of recreation for alwayes they dance after their manner In these dances they vse sundry sorts of instruments whereof some are like Flutes or little Canons others like Drums and others like Cornets but commonly they sing all with the voyce and first one or two sing the song then all the rest answer them Some of these songs were very wittily composed containing Histories and others were full of superstitions and some were meere follies Our men that haue conuersed among them haue laboured to reduce matters of our holy faith to their tunes the which hath profited well for that they employ whole dayes to rehearse and sing them for the great pleasure and content they take in their tunes They haue likewise put our compositions of Musicke into their Language as Octaues Songs and Rondels the which they haue very aptly turned and in truth it is a goodly and very necessary meanes to instruct the people In Peru they commonly call Dances Tagui in other Prouinces Areittos and in Mexico Mittottes There hath not beene in any other place any such curiositie of Playes and Dances as in New Spaine where at this day we see Indians so excellent Dancers as it is admirable Some dance vpon a Cord some vpon a long and streight stake in a thousand sundry sorts others with the soles of their feet and their hammes do handle cast vp and receiue againe a very heauy blocke which seemes incredible but in seeing it They doe make many other shewes of their great agilitie in leaping vaulting and tumbling sometimes bearing a great and heauy burthen sometimes enduring blowes able to breake a barre of Iron But the most vsuall exercise of recreation among the Mexicans is the solemne Mittotte and that is a kind of dance they held so braue and so honourable that the King himselfe danced but not ordinarily as the King Don Pedro of Arragon with the Barber of Valencia This Dance or Mittotte was commonly made in the Courts of the Temple and in those of the Kings houses which were more spacious They did place in the midst of the Court two Instruments one like to a Drumme and the other like a Barrell made of one piece and hollow within which they set vpon the forme of a man a beast or vpon a Pillar These two Instruments were so well accorded together that they made a good harmony and with these Instruments they made many kinds of Ayres and Songs They did all sing and dance to the sound and measure of these Instruments with so goodly an order and accord both of their feet and voyces as it was a pleasant thing to behold In these Dances they made two Circles or Wheeles the one was in the middest neere to the Instruments wherein the Ancients and Noblemen did sing and dance with a soft and slow motion and the other was of the rest of the people round about them but a good distance from the first wherein they danced two and two more lightly making diuers kinds of paces with certayne leaps to the measure All which together made a very great Circle They attyred themselues for these Dances with their most precious apparell and Iewels euery one according to his abilitie holding it for a very honourable thing for this cause they learned these Dances from their infancie And although the greatest part of them were done in honour of their Idols yet was it not so instituted as hath beene said hut only as a recreation and pastime for the people Therefore it is not conuenient to take them quite from the Indians but they must take good heed they mingle not their superstitions amongst them I haue seene this Mittotte in the Court of the Church of Topetzotlan a Village seuen leagues from Mexico and in my opinion it was a good thing to busie the Indians vpon Festiuall dayes seeing they haue need of some recreation and because it is publike and without the preiudice of any other there is lesse inconuenience then in others which may be done priuately by themselues if they tooke away these To the Reader REader I here present vnto thee the choisest of my Iewels My trauelling fancis hath inuited many Readers to many my labours in strange births already Qâ—ae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris Iaponian and China rarities so remote from our world are neere to our worke and their characters communicated here to the Reader not their arts alone Thou hast here also Indostan Arabike Persian
which they had taken captiues opening their brests and plucking out their hearts sprinkling their bloud in the Ayre their fellowes looking on and not able to reuenge it They slew likewise many Indians foure Spaniards of Aluarado's company whom they ate in the open sight of the Army The Mexicans danced drank themselues drunke made bonefires strucke vp their Drums and made all solemne expressings of ioy Dread Disdaine and all the Furies that Passion or Compassion could coniure vp had now filled the Spaniards hearts and their Indian partakers and Cortes that hitherto had hoped to reserue some part of the Citie now did the vtmost that Rage aed Reuenge could effect helped no lesse within with Famine and Pestilence then with Sword and Fire without At last Mexico is razed the Earth and Water sharing betwixt them what the Fire had left and all which had sometime challenged a lofty inheritance in the Ayre Their King also was taken all that mightie State subuerted And as the Mexicans before had prophesied That the Tlaxantleca's should againe build the Citie if conquered for them if conquerors for the Spaniards It was re-builded with a hundred thousand houses fairer and stronger then before The Siege lasted three Moneths and had therein two hundred thousand Indians nine hundred Spaniards fourescore Horses seuenteene Peeces of Ordinance thirteene Galliots and sixe thousand Canoas Fiftie Spaniards were slaine and sixe Horses of the Mexicans a hundred thousand besides those which died of Hunger and Pestilence This was effected Anno 1521. on the thirteenth day of August which for that cause is kept festiuall euery yeare For the Description of the Country wherein Mexico is situate Cortes in his second Narration to the Emperour saith it is enuironed with hils He telleth of some hils also in his iourney wherein diuers of his people died with cold in the middest is a plaine of 70. leagues compasse and therein two Lakes which extend the circuit of 50. leagues the one salt which ebbeth and floweth an argument for Patritius his opinion that saltnesse is a chiefe cause of that vicissitude of ebbing and flowing in the Ocean the other fresh When the water of the Salt Lake increaseth it runneth lâ—ke a violent streame into the fresh Lake which when it decreaseth is repaired againe by the like issue of this into the former Nunno di Gusmau hath written his expedition into Mâ—choacan and other Countries of New-Spaine 1530. subduing and taking possession for the Emperour He found some of them Sodomites others Sacrificers of mens flesh and some closly practising this butchery after they had professed themselues Christians none of them which durst looke a Horse in the face but were afraid that that Beast would eate them The seuerall peoples by him reckoned would here be tedious to name which we may say of the like made by Godoy and Aluarado Of the Customes of the Auntient Mexicans one of Cortes his Gentlemen hath written a Treatise extant in Ramusius wherein are described their Citie Temples Rites of Sacrifice and the like as after followeth out of him and others CHAP. IX Larger Relations of things most remarkeable obserued by the Spaniards at their first comming Cholollas holies Popocatepecs ashes Mutezumas multiforme magnificence and maiestie Mexican Citie and Temple with other antiquities gathered out of the Third part of the Historie of Francis Lopez de Gomara CHololla is a Citie as Tlaxcallan and hath but one person who is Gouernour and generall Captaine chosen by the consent of all the Citizens It is a Citie of twenty thousand housholds within the wals and in the suburbs as much more It sheweth outwards very beautifull and full of Towers for there are as many Temples as dayes in the yeare and euery Temple hath his Tower Our men counted foure hundred Towers The men and women are of good disposition well fauoured and very wittie The women are Goldsmiths and also Caruers the men are warriers and light fellowes and good Maisters for any purpose they goe better apparelled then any other Indians yet seene They weare for their vpper garment cloakes like vnto Moriscos but after another sort All the Countrey round about them is fruitfull and errable ground well watered and so full of people that there is no waste ground in respect whereof there are some poore which begge from doore to doore The Spaniards had not seene any beggers in that Countrey before they came thither Chololla is a Citie of most deuotion and religion in all India it is called the Sanctuary or holy place among the Indians and thither they trauelled from many places farre distant in Pilgrimage and for this cause there were so many Temples Their Cathedrall Temple was the best and highest of all the New Spaine with a hundred and twenty steps vp vnto it The greatest Idoll of all their gods was called Quezalcouately God of the Aire who was say they the founder of their Citie being a Virgin of holy life and great penance He instituted fasting and drawing of bloud out of their eares and tongues and left a precept that they should sacrifice but onely Quailes Doues and other foule He neuer ware but one garment of Cotten which was white narrow and long and vpon that a mantle beset with certaine red crosses They haue certaine greene Stones which were his and those they keepe for relickes One of them is like an Apes head Here they abode twenty dayes and in this meane while there came so many to buy and sell that it was a wonder to see And one of the things that was to be seene in those faires was the earthen vessell which was exceeding curious and fine The hill called Popocatepec THere is a hill eight leagues from Chololla called Popocatepec which is to say a hill of smoake for many times it casteth out smoake and fire Cortes sent thither ten Spaniards with many Indians to carry their victuall and to guide them in the way The ascending vp was very troublesome and full of craggie rocks They approached so nigh the top that they heard such a terrible noise which proceeded from thence that they durst not goe vnto it for the ground did tremble and shake and great quantity of ashes which disturbed the way but yet two of them who seemed to be most hardie and desirous to see strange things went vp to the top because they would not returne with a sleeuelesse answer and that they might not be accounted cowards leauing their fellowes behinde them proceeding forwards The Indians said what meane these men for as yet neuer mortall man tooke such a iourney in hand These two valiant fellowes passed through the Desart of Ashes and at length came vnder a great smoake very thicke and standing there a while the darkenesse vanished partly away and then appeared the vulcan and concauity which was about halfe a league in compasse out of the which the ayre came abounding with a great noise very shrill and whistling in
Margarites Diamonds and other stones all of glasse Mutezuma receiued it thankfully and went before with one of the Princes his Nephewes and commanded the other to leade Cortes by the hand next after him in the midst of the street and proceeding forward in this order then came the Gentlemen in the richest Liuery to welcome him one by one touching the ground with their hands and after returned to their standing And if the Citizens had come as they requested all that day would not haue serued for salutations The coller of glasse pleased well Mutezuma and because hee would not take without giuing a better thing as a great Prince hee commanded to be brought two collers of red Prawnes which are there much esteemed and at euery one of them hanged eight Shrimps of gold of excellent workmanship and of a finger length euery one he put these collers with his owne hands about Cortes his necke the which was esteemed a most great fauour yea and the Indians maruelled at it At this time they were come to the street end which was almost a mile long broad streight and very faire and full of houses on each side in whose doores windowes and tops was such a multitude of Indians to behold the strangers that I know not who wondred most our men to see such a number of them or else they to see our men their Ordnance and Horses a thing so strange vnto them They were brought vnto a great Court or house of Idols which was the Lodging Axaiaca at the doore whereof Mutezuma tooke Cortes by the hand and brought him into a faire hall and placed him vpon a rich Carpet saying vnto him Sir now are you in your owne house eate and take your rest and pleasure for I will shortly come and visit you againe Such as you heare was the receiuing of Hernando Cortes by Mutezuma a most mightie King into his great and famous Citie of Mexico the eight day of Nouember 1519. The house where the Spaniards were lodged was great and large with many faire chambers sufficient for them all it was neate cleane matted and hanged with Cloth of Cotton and Feathers of many colours pleasant to behold When Mutezuma was departed from Cortes hee beganne to set his house in order and placed the Ordnance at his doore and hauing all his things in good sort he went to a sumptuous Dinner that was prepared for him Assoone as Mutezuma had made an end of his Dinner hearing that the Strangers were risen from the Table and reposed a while then came hee to Cortes saluting him and sate downe by him He gaue vnto him diuers Iewels of Gold Plate Feathers and many Garments of Cotton both rich well wouen and wrought of strange colours a thing comely that did manifest his greatnesse and also confirme their imagination This gift was deliuered honourably and then beganne his talke as followeth Lords and Gentlemen I doe much reioyce to haue in my house such valiant men as yee are for to vse you with courtesie and intreate you with honour according to your desert and my estate And where heretofore I desired that you should not come hither the onely cause was my people had a great feare to see you for your gesture and grimme beards did terrifie them yea they reported that yee had such beasts as swallowed men and that your comming was from Heauen bringing with you Lightning Thunder and Thunder-bolts wherewith you made the Earth to tremble and to shake and that yee slue therewith whom yee pleased But now I doe see and know that you are mortall men and that yee are quiet and hurt no man also I haue seene your Horses which are but your Seruants and your Gunnes like vnto shooting Trunkes I doe now hold all for Fables and Lyes which haue beene reported of you and I doe also accept you for my meere Kinsman My Father told mee that hee had heard his forefathers say of whom I doe discend that they held opinion how they were not Naturals of this Land but come hither by chance in companie of a mightie Lord who after a while that hee had abode here they returned to their naturall soyle After many yeeres expired they camâ— againe for those whom they had left heere behind them but they would not goe with them because they had here inhabited and had Wiues and Children and great gouernment in the Land Now these mightie Lords seeing that they were so stubborne and would not returne with them departed from them sore displeased saying that hee would send his Children that should both rule and gouerne them in Iustice Peace and ancient Religion And for this consideration wee haue alwayes suspected and beleeued that such a people should come to rule and gouerne vs and considering from whence you come I doe thinke that you are they whom wee looked for and the notice which the great Emperour Charles had for vs who hath now sent you hither Therefore Lord and Captaine bee well assured that wee will obey you if there bee no feyned or deceitfull matter in your dealings and will also diuide with you and yours all that we haue And although this which I haue said were not onely for your vertue fame and deeds of valiant Gentlemen I would yet doe it for your worthinesse in the battailes of Tauasco Teocazinco and Chollolla being so few to ouercome so many Now againe if yee imagine that I am a God and the walls and rooffes of my houses and all my vessell of seruice to be of pure Gold as the men of Zempoallan Tlaxcallan and Huexozinco haue informed you it is not so and I iudge you to bee so wise that you giue no credit to such Fables You shall also note that through your comming hither many of my subiects haue rebelled and are become my mortall enemies but yet I purpose to breake their wings Come feele you my bodie I am of flesh and bone a mortall man as other are and no God although as a King I doe esteeme my selfe of greater dignitie and preheminence then others My houses you doe also see which are of timber and earth and the principallest of Masons worke therefore now you doe both know and see what odious lyers those Tale-bearers were But troth it is that Gold Plate Feathers Armour Iewels and other Riches I haue in the Treasury of my Forefathers a long time preserued as the vse of Kings is all the which you and yours shall enioy at all times And now it may please you to take your rest for I know that you are weary of your iourney Cortes with ioyfull countenance humbled himselfe seeing some teares fall from Mutezuma his eyes saying vnto him vpon the trust I haue had in your clemencie I insisted to come both to see and talke with your Highnesse and now I know that all are lyes which hath beene told mee The like your Highnesse hath heard reported of vs assure your selfe that the Emperour King of
with wildernesse for euerie sort To these places the Lords of Mexico vsed to goe and sport themselues such and so many were the houses of Mutezuma wherein few Kings were equall with him He had daily attending vpon him in his priuate Guard sixe hundred Noblemen and Gentlemen and each of them three or foure seruants and some had twentie seruants or moe according to his estate and in this manner he had three thousand men attendant in his Court and some affirme more all the which were fed in his house of the meate that came from his table The seruing men alwaies abode below in the Court all the day and went not from thence till after Supper It is to be thought that his Guard was the greater because the strangers were there although in effect of truth it is most certaine that all the Lords that are vnder the Mexicall Empire as they say are thirtie persons of high estate who are able to make each of them a hundred thousand men There are three thousand Lords of Townes who haue many vassals These Noblemen did abide in Mexico certaine times of the yeare in the Court of Mutezuma and could not depart from thence without especiall licence of the Emperour leauing each of them a sonne or brother behinde them for securitie of rebellion and for this cause they had generally houses in the Citie such and so great was the Court of Mutezuma There is not in all the Dominions of Mutezuma any subiect that paieth not tribute vnto him The Noblemen pay their tribute in personall seruice The Husbandmen called Maceualtin with body and goods In this sort they are either Tenants or else heires to their possessions Those which are heires doe pay one third part of all their fruite and commoditie that they doe reape or bring vp as Dogges Hennes Foule Conies Gold Siluer Stones Salt Waxe Honie Mantels Feathers Cotten and a certaine fruite called Cacao that serueth for money and also to eate Also all kinde of Graine and Garden Hearbes and Fruites whereof they doe maintaine themselues The Tenants doe pay monethly or yearely as they can agree and because their tribute is great they are called slaues for when they may haue licence to eate Egges they thinke it a great fauour It was reported that they were taxed what they should eate and all the residue was taken from them They went verie poorely cloathed yea and the most of their treasure was an earthen Pot wherein they boiled their Hearbes a couple of Milstones to grinde their Corne and a Mat to lye vpon They did not onely paie this Rent and Tribute but also serued with their bodies at all times when the great King should command They were in such great subiection to their Prince that they durst not speake one word although their daughters should be taken from them to be vsed at pleasure All the aforesaid rents they brought to Mexico vpon their backes and in Boates I meane so much as was necessarie for the prouision of the House and Court of Mutezuma all the rest was spent among Souldiers and bartred for Gold Plate Precious stones and other rich Iewels esteemed of Princes all the which was brought to the Treasurie In Mexico was large and great Barnes and Houses to receiue and keepe the Corne for prouision of the Citie with Officers and vnderofficers who did receiue the same and kept account thereof in Bookes of painted figures And in euery Towne was a Receiuer who bare in his hand a rod or a bush of Feathers and those gaue vp their accounts in Mexico If any such had beene taken with deceit and falshood death was his reward yea and his kinred punished with penalties as of a linage of a traitour to his Prince The Husbandmen if they paid not well their Tribute were apprehended for the same and if they were found to be poore through sicknesse and infirmitie then they were borne withall but if they were found to be lazie and sloathfull they should be vsed accordingly but in conclusion if they paied it not at a day appointed then they should be sold for slaues to pay their debt or else be sacrificed There were many other Prouinces which paid a certaine portion and reknowledged seruice but this Tribute was more of honour then profit In this sort Mutezuma had more then suffitient to prouide his house and wars and to heape vp great store in his Treasury Moreouer he spent nothing in the building of his houses for of long time he had certaine Townes that paid no other Tribute but onely to worke and repaire continually his Houses at their owne proper cost and paid all kinde of workemen carrying vpon their backes or drawing in sleds Stone Lime Timber Water and all other necessaries for the worke Likewise they were bound to prouide all the firewood that should be spent in the Court which was a great thing and did amount to two hundred and thirty weight a day which was fiue hundred mens burdens and some dayes in the winter much more And for the Kings Chimneys they brought the barke of Oake trees which wes best esteemed for the light thereof for they were great Sorcerers Mutezuma had one hundred Cities with their Prouinces of whom he receiued Rents Tributes and Vâ—ssalage where he maintained Garrison of Souldiers and had Treasurers in each of them His dominion did extend from the North sea to the South sea and six hundred miles in longitude within the maine Land although in very deede there were some Townes as Tlaxcallon Mechuacan Panuco and Teocantepec which were his enemies and paid him neither Tribute nor Seruice but yet the Ransome was much when any of them was taken Also there were oâ—her Kings and Noblemen as of Texcuto and Tlacopan which were not in subiection vnto him but onely in homage and obedience for they were of his owne linage vnto whom Mutezuma married his Daughters Description of Mexico as it flourished in those times MExico at the time when Cortes entred was a Citie of sixtie thousand houses The Kings house and oâ—her Noblemens houses were great large and beautifull the other were small and meane without either doores or windowes and although they were small yet there dwelleth in some of them two three yea and ten persons by reason whereof the Citie was wonderfully replenished with people This Citie is built vpon the water euen in the same order as Venice is All the body of the Citie standeth in a great large Lake of water There are three sorts of streetes very broad and faire the one sort are onely water with many Bridges another sort of onely earth and the third of earth and water that is to say the one halfe earth to walke vpon and the other halfe for Boates to bring prouision of all sorts These streetes are kept alwayes cleane and the most part of the houses haue two doores the one towards the Cawsey and the other
towards the water at the which they take Boate to goe where they list And although this Citie is founded vpon water yet the same water is not good to drinke whereof there is brought by conduit water from a place called Capultepec three miles distant from the Citie which springeth out of a little hill at the foote whereof standeth two Statues or couered Images wrought in stone with their Targets and Lances the one is of Mutezuma and the other of Axaiaca his Father The water is brought from thence in two Pipes or Canals in great quantity and when the one is foule then all the water is conueied into the other till the first be made cleane From this Fountaine all the whole Citie is prouided so that they goe selling the same water from streete to streete in little Boates and doe pay a certaine tribute for the same This Citie is diuided into two streetes the one was called Tlatelulco that is to say a little Iland and the other Mexico where Mutezuma his dwelling and Court was and is to be interpreted a Spring This streete is the fairest and most principall and because of the Kings Pallace there the Citie was named Mexico although the old and first name of the Citie was Tenuchtitlan which doth signifie Fruite out of stone for the name is compounded of Tetl which is Stone and Nuchtlâ— which is a Fruite in Cuba and Hispaniola called Tunas the Tree or to speake properly the Thistle that beareth this fruite is named Nopal and is nothing almost but leaues of a footebroad and round and three inches thicke some more and some lesse according to the growth full of thornes which are venemous the leafe is greene and the thorne or pricke russet After that is planted it encreaseth growing leafe vnto leafe and the foote thereof commeth to be as the body of a tree and one leafe doth onely produce another at the point but at the sides of the same leaues proceede other leaues In some Prouinces where water is scant they vse to drinke the iuice of these leaues The fruite thereof called Nuchtli is like vnto Figges and euen so hath his little kernels or graines within but they are somewhat larger and crowned like vnto a Medler There are of them of sundry colours some are greene without and Carnationlike within which haue a good taste Others are yellow and others white and some speckled the best sort are the white it is a fruite that will last long Some of them haue the taste of Peares and othersome of Grapes it is a cold and a fresh fruite and best esteemed in the heate of Summer The Spaniards doe more esteeme them then the Indians The more the ground is laboured where they grow the fruite is so much the better There is yet another kinde of this fruite red and that is nothing esteemed although his taste is not euill but because it doth colour and dye the eaters mouth lippes and apparell yea and maketh his vrine looke like pure bloud Many Spaniards at their first comming into India and eating this Fruite were in a maze and at their wits end thinking that all the blood in their bodies came out in vrine yea and many Phisitions at their first comming were of the same beliefe for it hath happened when they haue bin sent for vnto such as haue eaten this fruite they not knowing the cause and beholding the vrine by and by they ministred medicine to stanch the bloud a thing ridiculous to see the Phisitians so deceiued Of this fruite Nuchtli and Tetl which is a Stone is compounded Tenuchtlitan When this City was begun to be founded it was placed neere vnto a great Stone that stood in the middest of the Lake at the foote whereof grew one of these Nopal trees and therefore Mexico giueth for armes and deuise the foot of a Nopal tree springing from a stone according to the Cities name Mexico is as much to say as a Spring or Fountaine according to the property of the vowell and speech Others doe affirme that Mexico hath his name of a more ancient time whose first Founders were called Mexiti for vnto this day the Indian dwellers in one streete of this City are called of Mexico The Mexiti tooke name of thir principallest Idoll called Mexitli who was in as great veneration as Vitzilopuchtli god of the warre Mexico is enuironed with sweet water and hath three wayes to come vnto it by cawsie the one is from the West and that cawsie is a mile and a halfe long Another from the North and containeth three miles in length Eastward the Citie hath no entrie But Southward the Cawsey is sixe miles long which was the way that Cortez entred into the Citie The Lake that Mexico is planted in although it seemteh one yet it is two for the one is of water saltish bitter and pestiferous and no kinde of fish liueth in it And the other water is wholesome good and sweet and bringeth forth small fish The salt water ebbeth and floweth according to the winde that bloweth The sweet water standeth higher so that the good water falleth into the euill and reuerteth not backward as some hold opinion The salt Lake contayneth fifteene miles in breadth and fifteene in length and more then fiue and fortie in circuit and the Lake of sweet water contayneth euen as much in such sort that the whole Lake contayneth more then thirtie leagues and hath about fiftie townes situated round about it many of which townes doe contayne fiue thousand housholds and some ten thousand yea and one towne called Tezcuco is as bigge as Mexico All this Lake of water springeth out of a Mountaine that standeth within sight of Mexico The cause that the one part of the Lake is brackish or saltish is that the bottome or ground is all salt and of that water great quantitie of salt is daily made In this great Lake are aboue two hundred thousand little boates which the Indians call Acalles and the Spaniards call them Canoas according to the speech of Cuba and Santo Domingo wrought like a kneading trough some are bigger then other some according to the greatnesse of the body of the tree whereof they are made And where I number two hundred thousand of these boats I speake of the least for Mexico alone hath aboue fiftie thousand ordinarily to carry and bring vnto the Citie victuall prouision and passengers so that on the market day all the streets of water are full of them The Market is called in the Indian tongue Tlanquiztli euery Parish hath his Market place to buy and sell in but Mexico and Tlatelulco onely which are the chiefest Cities haue great Faires and places fit for the same and especially Mexico hath one place where most dayes in the yeere is buying and selling but euery fourth day is the great Market ordinarily and the like custome is vsed throughout the Dominions of Mutezuma This place is wide and
large compassed round about with doores and is so great that a hundred thousand persons come thither to chop and change as a Citie most principall in all that Region Wherefore the resort is from farre parts vnto that place Euery occupation and kinde of merchandise hath his proper place appointed which no other may by any meanes occupie or disturbe Likewise pesterous wares haue their place accordingly that is to say stone timber lime bricke and all kinde of stuffe vnwrought being necessarie to build withall Also Mats both fine and course of sundrie workmanship also Coales Wood and all sorts of earthen vessell glased and painted very curiously Deere skinnes both raw and tanned in haire and without haire of many colours for Shoomakers Bucklers Targets Ierkins and lining of woodden Corselets also skinnes of other beasts and fowle in feathers readie dressed of all sorts the colours and strangenesse thereof was a thing to behold The richest merchandise was Salt and Mantels of cotton wooll of diuers colours both great and smal some for beds others for garments and clothing other for tapissarie to hang houses other cotten cloth for lining breeches shirts table clothes towels napkins and such like things There were also Mantels made of the leaues of the tree called Metl and of Palme tree and Cony haire which are well esteemed being very warme but the Couerlets made of feathers are the best they sell threed made of Cony haire pieces of linnen cloth made of cotton wooll also skaines of threed of all colours also it is strange to see the great store of fowle some wilde some tame some water fowle and other some of rapine All the brauerie of the Market is the place where gold and feathers ioyntly wrought is sold for any thing that is in request is there liuely wrought in gold and feathers and gallant colours The Indians are so expert and perfect in this science that they will worke or make a Butter-flie any wild Beast Trees Roses Flowers Herbs Rootes or any other thing so liuely that it is a thing maruellous to behold It hapneth many times that one of these workmen in a whole day will eate nothing onely to place one feather in his due perfection turning and tossing the feather to the light of the Sunne into the shade or darke place to see where is his most naturall perfection and till his worke be finished he will neither eate nor drinke There are few Nations of so much patience The Art or Science of Gold-smiths among them is the most curious and very good workmanship engrauen with tooles made of flint or in mold They will cast a platter in mold with eight corners and euery corner of seuerall metall that is to say the one of gold and the other of siluer without any kind of solder they will also found or cast a little caldron with loose handles hanging thereat as wee vse to cast a bell they will also cast in mold a fish of metall with one scale of siluer on his backe and another of gold they will make a Parret or Popinjay of metall that his tongue shall shake and his head mooue and his wings flutter they will cast an Ape in mold that both hands and feet shall stirre and hold a spindle in his hand seeming to spin yea and an Apple in his hand as though he would eate it Our Spaniards were not a little amazed at the sight of these things For our Gold-smiths are not to be compared vnto them They haue skill also of Amell worke and to set any precious stone But now as touching the Market there is to sell Gold Siluer Copper Leade Latton and Tin although there is but little of the three last metals mentioned There are pearles precious stones diuers and sundrie sorts of shells and bones spunges and other Pedlers ware which certainly are many and strange sorts yea and a thing to laugh at their Haberdash toyes and triffles There are also many kinde of Hearbs Roots and Seedes as well to bee eaten as for medicine for both men women and children haue great knowledge in hearbs for through pouertie and necessitie they seeke them for their sustenance and helpe of their infirmities and diseases They spend little among Physicians although there are some of that Art and many Apothecaries who doe bring into the market Ointments Sirrops Waters and other drugs fit for sicke persons they cure all diseases almost with hearbs yea as much as for to kill Lice they haue a proper hearbe for the purpose The seuerall kindes of meates to bee sold are without number as Snakes without head and taile little Dogs gelt Moll 's Rats long Wormes Lice yea and a kinde of earth for at one season in the yeere they haue Nets of maile with the which they rake vp a certaine dust that is bred vpon the water of the Lake of Mexico and that is kneaded together like vnto Oas of the Sea they gather much of this victuall and keepe it in heapes and make thereof Cakes like vnto brick-bats they sell not onely this ware in the Market but also send it abroad to other Faires and Markets afarre off they eate this meate with as good stomacks as wee eate cheese yea and they hold opinion that this skum or fatnesse of the water is the cause that such great number of fowle commeth to the Lake which in the winter season is infinite All the Sellers pay a certaine summe for their shops or standings to the King as a custome and they to bee preserued and defended from theeues and for that cause there goe certaine Sergeants or Officers vp and downe the Market to espie out malefactors In the middest of the Market standeth a house which may bee seene throughout the Faire and there sitteth twelue ancient men for Iudges to dispatch Law matters their buying and selling is to change one ware for another as thus one giueth a Hen for a bundell of Maiz other giue Mantels for Salt or money which is Cacao and this is their order to chop and change they haue measure and strike for all kinde of Corne and other earthen measures for Hony and Wine and if any Measure bee falsified they punish the offenders and breake their measures The Temple is called Teucalli that is to say Gods House Teutl signifieth God and Calli is a House a name very fit if that house had beene of the true God The Spaniards that vnderstand not the language doe pronounce and call those Temples Cues and the God Vitzilopuchtli Vchilobos There are in Mexico many Churches with Towres for their Parishes and Streets wherein are Chappels and Altars where the Images and Idols doe stand and those Chappels doe serue for buriall places of their Founders for others are buried in the ground about them or Church-yards All their Temples are of one fashion therefore it shall bee now sufficient to speake of the principall Church This Temple is square and doth
Paulus Venetus c. 68.40 Chiai Catai an Herbe excellent for the Goâ—t c 165.10 Chiamonay or Cunebetee a Lake 254.1 Chiapa Prouince in the West Indies the Scite Commodities Arts of the Inhabiting Indians latitude of the Citie 879.1 Chiautaiso baptised 406.30 Chica drinke good for the Stone 953.60 Chichimecas Sauages of the West Indies their Fashions 876.40 Chierman the Kinâ—dome where 71.1 The Commodities there ibid. Chile Kingdome in the West Indies the bounds more Southerly towards the Aequinoctiall then Peru the true Scitâ— Extent of the Gouernment how much inhabited temper warlikenesse of the people the seuerall Spanish Colonies in it their latitudes and distances from other places 898. Bishoprickes Monasteries other townes and their latitudes and first peopling the name taken from Castro which was called Chiluc the Lakes Ilands Mynes Ports c. and their latitudes 899. The distances of Nauigation betwixt it and Panama 860.1 Chile Kingdome neere the temperature of Spaine a rich soyle a poore people 938.30 Chille Kingdome see Chile Child of Cathaya who affirmed the transmigration of Soules 42.10 Children dedicated to Deuils on their birth-day 75.40 Children exposed how prouided for 276.1 Children sold cheape in China 367 Children sold or kild in China 396 Childrens disposition ghessed at 420.30 The three Children in the Ouen the memory celebrated in Russia and when 456.10 Children how baptised named dedicated to the Church or wars in Mexico 1103. How corrected instructed ibid. How exercised at seuerall Ages 1104. c. Chimia Limia and Simia three Sciences what and where professed 166.1 China is in Asia 856.20 China a perilous Coast 258.30 When safest sayling there ibid. China what part of it the Tartars held 140.10 The Chinois had recouered held it forty yeares 149.20 China admirable for all prouisions 257.20 China the way to it by land through Russia 546 China calls it selfe Tame or Tamiâ— and the people Tangis 152.60 Described ibid. China knowne by that name to their Neighbours 167.30 They call themselues Tangin and their Countrey Tâ—me ibid. China a part of Scythia 167.40 Their Dominion of olde ibid. They are no Trauellers 168. 190.20 Hath store of shipping 173.30 The Chinois Prouerbe of that ibid. The naturall riches 173.50 Their manner of Sea-fights 174.1 Their Oares or Lioslios 174.10 Bancones Lanteas or small ships and Gallies 174.10 They dwell in their ships ibid. Poore men liue well there ibid. Their ships of guard for Merchants 175.1 10 Chinois are delicate liuers and yet industrious people 175.10 They hate Idlenesse and their Priests for being so 175.30 The tribute they pay ibid. Their Countrey well husbanded ibid. Their most artificiall Ploughes and Pumps for their shippes 176 10. Their Puppet playes ibid. Their prouision for impotent persons ibid. Trades 176.50 c. Rich men carried in Chaires 177 10. Reuenues of the King 177 50. Measures ibid. c. They loue Porke exceedingly 178.30 They haue two or three Haruests of Rice in a yeare ibid. Their Victualling houses 178.50 179.1 China most excellently full of Riuers and waters 179.10 China subiect to yearely tempests of wind 197.50 Hath thirteene â—hires 199.1 The Kingdome is fiue monethes post ouer 199.10 Streets lurge and straite 200.1 The Gouerment by Officers 183 200. Opinions of the Soules departed and of Reward after death 201.50 Their Lawes 203.10 Execution of Iustice 203.30 Curious of Newes and Nouelties 204.40 China Infinitely peopled 266.60 267 10. Hath diuers Siluer Mynes how such a world of people is maintayned 270.10 Yeilds two or three Haruests in a yeare 270 40. 365. Reason of the great trading 271.20 The admirablest place in the World 271.40 The distance of the Townes 294.60 Wonderfully tilled ibid. The High-wayes broad there 295.20 Castles none in China 295.40 Their Houses but low and why ibid. Earthquakes frequent ibid. The cheapâ—sse in China 302.60 How far from the Philippinaes 308.40 It is Cathay 342.314 40. They differ onely in name 314 50.315.10 T is great Catay 404 He that stayes there nine yeares may not returne to his Countrey 315.10 The least mother Citie in China bigger then Lisbone 319 40. The Prouinces haue peculiar Languages 320.20 They mourne three yeares for their dead 327.40 Their high-wayes much trauelled 330 60. Their trauell by Litters on mens shoulders very cheape 330. And so for Boat hire 331.39 Commoditie of their Riuers 336.20 Heate and cold much there 341 30 Greatnes of one of the 15. Prouinces 342.30 Their North parts best 344 China foure square 360.50 The true situation and quantity ibid. The exact description of it ibid. 361 c. 380.50 The two errours of our Maps of China 361.50 All one of with Cataye 361.50 362.20 Why the Neighbour-Kings cannot inuade China 362 40. How diuided from Mogot 362.40 The diuision and Chorographicall Bookes ibid. The greatnesse of their Cities and Villages 362.363 The trauell there is most by water 363.50 The cause of the plenty 363.40 The cheapnesse of their commodities 365.10 20 China needs no forreigne traffique 365.1 Europaean Commodities deare there 367.1.374.30 The gouernment 372.1 10. Halfe the time thâ—re spent in complements 374.50 The ancient names of China 380.20 The King changeth it at pleasure ibid. The greatest Kingdome of the World 380.50 T is vnder the temperate Zâ—â—e ibid. 381.20 The number of Cities and people 281 1 10. Exceedingly fortified by nature ibid. The naturall commodities of it ibid. Their innumerable shipping ibid. Why the Countrey is so cold 382.1 Their Metals Glâ—sse Paper Spices c. 382. Their Artizans not comparable to ours ibid. 383.10 Their writing and Learning c. 384. The Language subiect to Aequinocations ibid. Most confused ibid. Seuerall Languages spoken in China 402.30 Extreame difficulty of their Language 403.50 Particular descriptions of places and things in China see page 402.40 c. The Authours suspition of a Kingdome to the North of China 404. Christians not suffered to lye in their Cities a nights 411.1 China King He writes vpon plates of Gold 326 60. Kings of China where buried 260.30 275.20 Hospitall for Pilgrims that come to visit their tombes 261.50 Wonderfull wall about their buriall place 262.1 360. Hermitages in it ibid. The habit of the Hermites there and his admirable answeres to Faria ibid. Altars there much reuerenced 263.1 Rifled by Faria the Portugall 262. 263. Faria drowned 263.50 His Palace described 342. His closenesse 357 King of Chinaes Armes 266.10 275.10 296.1 319.50 352.20 392.40 Beginning of the Kingdome of China 267.50 The King is sworne to reside at Pequin 275.1 His reuenues how bestowed 276.30 364.30 His house of entertainment in euery Citie 292.30 Hee holds himselfe Lord of the World 309.50 This pride retorted by the Spaniards 310.20 He cares not to enlarge his Dominion 390 20.315.1 His noblenesse 315 20. Hee is gulled by counterfeit Ambassages ibid. 362 China vnited into a Monarchie when 376.20 The reuenue and expenses of the
of Brabants Stile in the yeare 1241. Dukes in Russia of the fourth degree of Nobilitie their descent from younger Brothers 425.30 They haue no inheritance glad to bee Seruing-men ibid. Dâ—ng a good Commoditie in China 189 40 Dung Bread baked in it 34.20 Dung bought by sound of Taber 270.40 Dung of Birds a strange report of it 266 Dutch disturbe the English at Greenland 466. See Netherlanders And againe 467.1 ibid. 20. The English take some of their Fiâ—h from them ibid. At difference with the English there ibid. 60. They Fish perforce braues and threatens the English and is surprized 468.1.10 They returne to Greenland to driue away the English ibid. 40. They assault the English ibid. Beate and rifle them and ouerthrow their Voyage 569.1.10 So doe they the next two or three yeares after they spoyled the Greenland Discoueries 472.60 Some Discoueries of theirs towards Noua Zembla 473. c. Their hard Voyages thither ibid. 474. c. They are forced to Winter and build a House thereabouts 490. c. Their often and dangerous Fights with the Beares ibid. The Eleuation vnder which they Wintred 497.10 They liue vpon Foxes 495. c. They get to Sea againe 508.1 Their dangerous Voyage into Russia 509. Their admirable returne into Holland 518 Dutch men in Tartarie set to digge Gold and make Armour 20.30 Dutch Knights their Acts in Prussia 626.627 Dutch Fish at Greenland 716.30 Forbidden ibid. Withstand the English 719.1 Dutch men pull downe our Kings Armes in Greenland 727.1 Their intollerable insolencies 734.10 Dwellings all vnderground in Iseland 649 E EAgle found by the Mexicans by Oracle and worshipped the Storie of it 1004.40 Strange storie of another Eagle there 1021 Earthquakes in Island 649.1 Earth in China shining like Gold 265. Marg. Earth thought to be square 329.40 Earth why it moues not about with the Primum Mobile 924.50 Earthquake in China 269.60 Earthquakes a Philosophicall discourse of them 940. c. Affinitie betwixt burning Mountaines and them they happen nearest to the Sea and why some runne a hundred leagues ibid. Their effects noyse they make before when they mostly happen 941 Earthquakes in China 198.10.20 c. Earthquakes frequent in Peru whence they proceed 895.20 Earthquake a prodigious one in the West Indies 868. â—0 Earings generally worne by the Russe Women 460 East winde raignes within the burning Zone 923.50 Healthfull called the Brise ibid. Cause of the Brises 924 Easter the Russes haue a Festiuall greater then it 762.50 This is about the fourteenth or sixteenth of May. Conferre the places page 762. with page 764. Easter in Russia how kept 227.60 They salute and kisse one another 228.1 On the Eue they sleepe in the Church 227.50 Easterne people generally haue little Eyes 23.50 Eating neere a Tartarian Honour 378.30 Eating of Men sacrificed in Mexico 1032 Ebbe and flowe much or little what Seas doe and what do not 989.30 40 50 Ebbing and flowing of seueral Seas A great secret 929.930 Opinions of it Ebone wood whence brought 938 10 Eclipses the Chinois opinion of them 345.40.346.1 Eclipses the Chinois opinion of them 385.10 Bels beaten then ibid. Edges Hand discouered 732.10 Edenborow in Scotland more Northerly then Mosco and yet not so cold and why 472.40 Edeffa the Citie or Robais 110.50 Eddie winds 925.40 Egges at Easter giuen to the Priests 227.50 Died red or gilded and carried in the hand then ibid. Exchanging them with their friends 228.1 Egtegaia the Prouince 80.10 Elements worshipped by the Mexicans 1027 Elements fiue in China 345.50 Elephants carrying woodden Castles 93.20 Elkes or Loshes men ride vpon them 523.60 Elbing the English trade for Flaxe there 627 Elsenore in Denmarke how bigge 625 50 Emanuel Sina his mischance 318 18 Ember-weekes of the Heathen Mexicans 1035.40 Embassie of the Russian Lords to the King of Poland the points of it 788 Emeralds a Myne of them where 884.40 885.30 How they grow 889.20 Emeralds haue the third place amongst Precious Stones his value now A prettie story of them where in the Indies is the greatest store and how vsed by the Indians the Myâ—es and manner of growing greatnesse of some moderne and ancient â—52 Enchanted sleepe 45.10 Sleepe inchanted of three dayes long 45 10 Enchantments of the Islanders how they hinder ships from sayling 646.20 Engines of battery 97.1 Engines of wood to two ships 341.1 Englâ—sh aydes sent into Sweden 772.1 The conditions of their entertainment 771.1 10. In distresse at Sea and landed in Iuitland ibid. Relieued by a Dane the ship that brought them sayles away They are billetted in seuerall Houses in danger of the people 773. Falsly accused by Griffin a Welchman 774.1 Bound in their beds vnbound 774.40 c. Foure of them slaine all in danger againe relieued by the King of Denmarke enforced to pawne their Lieutenant arriue in Sweden 775. Fall foule with the Burgers of Stockholme for meate ibid. Relieued by the King shipt into Finland and distrest there at Sea dye of cold in Finland Their miserable march into Russia 776. They defeat sixe thousand Poles 777. They meete the Russian Army being engaged vpon an Enemy their owne Army and Generall forsakes them their valour their Horse defeated the foot receiue quarter 779 English right to the North-west passages 806.40 Their Discoueries that way 807 English conquests in Sweden 621 40. And Norway 623. Two other places 624.50 English finde America before Columbus his Voyage thither 808 20 English flagge aduanced in the Caspian Sea 241 English houses in Russia 755.10 English Merchants slaine in a tumult at Mosco 763.30 An Englishman his strange Aduentures amongst the Tartars 63 40. His relation of them ibid. Sent as the Tartars Messenger and Interpretâ—r to Hungarie 64 10. His trauels 64.10 20. c. English Voyages to the Riuer Obi 530.40 English Voyage to the West Indieâ— 999.40 English ships on the Coast of China 309.40 Suspected by the Chinois ibid. The Spaniards would punish them as Enemies 310.40 English suffer shipwracke in Media 246.40 Ensigne of the Tartars 643.1 Entertainments in China the fashion 373.20 A particular garment for it ibid. Entertainments in China 392.1 Epethites of the seueral Europaean Nations 63.1 Episcopia a Monastery in Cyprus 125.50 Era reckoned by in Iapon 323.40 Ergâ—â—ul the Kingdome in Tangut 79.50 Estotiland the Ile Latine spoken there 610. Their Language Mynes of Gold trade c. 611.1 Estridges in Peru terrifie the sheepe 964 Ethicks the Philosophy of China 359.2 Ethicks and Politicks are the learning of China 343 Ethicks the learning of China 384 50 Etilia or Volga diuides it selfe and where 48.10 Frozen ouer 48.10 Etilia or Edel is Volga 54 Etilia is the Riuer Volga 12.40 Euerlasting punishments not belieued by the Indians 1047.10 Eunuches in China and why 183 30 Eunuches great men in China 346 saepe Eunuches are bed-chamber men to the Tartarian Emperours 310 60 Eunuches serue the Kings of China how made c. Their numbers and choice ibid. Eunuches
curious obserâ—â—â—g of Fasting dayes 516 Rustene the Iland by Norway the Latitude 614.10 marg Described 616.30 The people are good Christians charitable simple not couetous and contented ibid 617. Their Money iâ— Stock-fish their Drinke Bread and Apparell 616. They know nâ—ither Robbery nor Fornication 617. Their Funerals and Bathes ibid. Snowes there from February to mid May 617.30 marg Their 〈…〉 trade for Stock-fish ibid. Their Houses described ibid. marg 〈…〉 54. â—â— Their Money 34.10 S SAboath in China euery fortâ—â—ght 345.1 Sabboaths of the Chinois 397.1 35 Sabboath of the Mexicans euery fourth day in the Warres 1024 10 Sables the best where 416.20 Sables the Furre of the beast Rondes 107.1 Sacanusco Prouince in the West Indies the extent of the Iurisdiction bounds and Riuers 878 60 Sacotora 252.60 Sacraments three in the Russian Church 453 Sacrament in Russia in both kinds 217. The Bread sopt and giuen with a Spoâ—â—e Sacrament of the Communion Deuillishly imitated by the Mexicans 1040.10 1041.40 in Peru 1046.1 Sacrament in both kinds 217.40 Sacramentall Bread how made by the Nestorians 37.10 They put Fat in it in stead of Leauen ibid. The bignesse of their Hoast ibid. Sacrifices of old Island 665.1 Of Men ibid. Sacrifices of the Mexicans 1031.30.50.1032.1 The manner 1033.30 The three kindes of things Sacrificed 1036. Manner of killing the Beast and Birds ibid. Worde and reasons of Sacrificingâ— their offering of Shels to the Riuers c. 10â—6 Humane Saâ—rifices and the manner 1037.1038 Fiue thousand men Sacrificed in one day 1099.10 Sacrifices of Peru 1045 Sacriledge ordinary of the Russian Emperours 430. 431.1 Sacriledge punisht by Death euen amongst Tartars 8.10 Sac'â— the people in Curland 628.10 Sachion the Citie where 75.40 Saddles of Wood Sinewes 226.1 Saggi a Tartaria piece of Gold 82.40 Salamandeâ— no where 76.40 Salamanders venemous 1043.10 Saying a Tirannicall one of a Russian Emperour 430.20 Sayles made of Mats of Palme-tree leaues 904.50 Saylers not admitted to be witnesses where 105.10 Saints in Russia for euery day in the weeke 457.1 Salceperilla where store and good is the Cures it does 959.50 Salmons pence a piece 537.1 A great trade for them ibid. Salmons store in Russia 213.50 Salmon and Salmon Peale in Groneland 847 Salemons Ilands in the West Indies discouered their Latitude distance from Peru many and great esteemed rich Colours of the people the chiefest of them named their greatnesse distances c. 907.20 Salomensky Town in Russia where 794.50 Salt naturally made by the Sea 417 30 Salt how made in Ciangalu 95.1 Salt made of water without boyling 933 Salt hanging vpon Horses that drinke of the Riuer of Salt 898.10 Salt-Lakes in Tauriâ—a 636.50 Salâ— seperates Mettall from Drosse 950.30 Vsed in Refinings ibid. Corrects Pepper 956.1 Saltnesse a cause of the â—bbing and â—lowing of the Sea 1122.40 Salâ— pits exceeding rich ones in Tartarie 3.30 Salt-mountaines 73.10 Salt the best in the world ibid. 20 Salutations the fashion in China 180.10 Samag or Samagi a great Citie where 49.10 Samara the Kingdome 103.50 Samar the Riuer 233.1 Samarchan the great Citie where 74.40 Samarcand in Parthia where Tamerlane was borne the situation 142.40 Samaron a Citie of Iewes where 49.1 Sâ—ndâ—â—â— where they grow 138.40 Sand rayned in Iapon 326.30 Sanguis Draâ—onis where gotten 886.1 Samâ—ieds their Apparell manners 〈…〉 Riches Wiues Marriages Religionâ— and Funerals 555. Their Iudgement 〈◊〉 Persons Diuination Priests and the hardinesse of their 〈◊〉 556 Samoieds the people 250.30 Samoids their trade into Russia with Fâ—rres their manner of life 522. 546.30 The Russe Emperour sends to discouer them 523. Some of them submit to him and pay a tribute of Sables ibid. 50. They admire the Russian fashions and submit themselues voluntarily 524.20.30 Their Country made the sinke of base people ibid. It is called Siberia ibid. The description of the wayes and Riuers out of Russia thither 525. Their Countrey vntilled ibid. 60. The Russes build Townes there ibid. 526. c. Pewter dishes deare sold to them 535.50.522 Their tents of Skinnes pitcht by their Women 548.20 They carry their Families with them ibid. Their Language and Religion different from the Russe 522. c. Their Apparell trauels and superstition c. 555.20.30 Samoieds their Habitation Language apparell personages King manners c. 480.30 Their Images and Sacrifices of Harts 481.10 Samoits the people subiect to the Russe 443. They eate raw Carriâ—n Ancient ibid. They worship not the Golden hagge but the Sunne c. Their Sorcâ—ries apparell and saâ—agenesse gouerned by their Priest ibid. Sapurgan a Citie in Persia 73.10 Pompions the best in the World 73.10 Saracens in the Holy-land ouerthrowne by the Tartars and pursued 122.10 Saracens at Equius in Catay speaking Persian 20.40 Sarai a new Towne vpon the Volga 47.40 Sarmatia the white and the blacke 413.40 Their old limits ibid. The name not deriued of Asarmathes ibid. Sartach the Tartars present to the French King 47.40 Sartach a Tartarian Prince his Court 12.60 Rubâ—uquâ—â— the Frier his â—â—bassage to him 13.1 His 〈◊〉 13.20 c. Saâ—erdayes the Russes eaâ—e flesh vpon 218.1 That before Easter They sleepe in the Church 227 50 Sauage Iles in Groneland 838.20 Their Latitude and Longitude from Longitude with the Variation of the Compasse and Tydes 838.50 Sâ—â—â—ge Ilands where men haue heads like Dogges 104.10 Sauran fields and Riuer 632.20 Scacati a Tartarian Lord 5.20 Scanza is Scandia 620.10 Scaâ—lets in request in China 333 40 Scassem the City in Persia 73.30 Schetlandia misnamed for Hieâ—landia 654.40 Schollers more martiall then Souldiers in China The King more aduises with them 390.20 They beate and correct the Captaines ibid. Schooles of China the manner 385.30 Schollers in China got whole books by heart 339.10 Schollers how encouraged or punished in China 184.50 185.1 The great Officers and Gouernours chosen out of them 184.60 At the Kings charge 200 Scianhai in Chiâ—a described 406 50. The tribute it payes the King ibid. Scin what in Iapon 324.60 Scinâ—aâ—â—man 327.10 Sâ—laui the people came out of Sarmatia 433. Why they called themselues so ibid. Sâ—lauos signifies Fame or Glory the signification inuerted by the Italians ibid. Sclauoâ—ia when first peopled 662 20 Sclauonianâ—â—ngue â—â—ngue of Russia different from that of Poland 761 30 Sclauonian tongue comes from the Russian 433.20 Scolds fined to maintainâ— the dumbe 276.10 Scotland Ptolomeys errour in the Longitude 643.50 Scots fish at Island 800. yeares since 657 Scriptures to bee interpreted by the Greeke Church solely the Russes Eâ—rour 452 Scuruey-grasse cures the scowring and the Suruey 514.10 Scurucy-grasse in Groneland the benefit of it at Sea 847.50 Scythian Chersonesus which 633 40 Scythia extends from Danubius euen to the East 58. â—0 It comprehends Tartary ibid. Sea Calfe a neat Swimmer his properties 879.30 Sea-coale in Cathay 88.10 in marg Sea-coale vapour stifles 496.40 Sea cooles hote waters 892.60 Sea-water sweetned by the frost 598 40 Sea frozen 47.60 Sea
diminished by the Spaniards 996.40 Troubled in their Religion ibid. Westmen who in the Norwegian spâ—ech 657.30 Weygates see Vaigats Whales store neere the North-west Passage 844.40 Difficulties of taking them ibid. 20 Whale monstrous one taken in the I le of Thanet described His Eye a Cart loade his Liuer two Cart loade c. 737. c. Whale endangers a Ship 571.20 Whale his bignesse thicknesse Finnes c. Discouered by his owne spowting of water the manner of Hunting and killing him How he reuenges himselfe He spoutes blood How they take his fat 470. The making of his Oyle 471.20 His Finnes how taken ibid. Eight seuerall sorts of Whales 471.40 What sorts yeeld Oyle Whale-bone Sperma Caeti and Amber-greece and what nothing ibid. And which is good meat 472.10 The manner of taking him described in a Mappe 472 Whales eight sorts of them 710.20 Their seuerall quantities of Oyle Whales not afraid of Ships 715.40 Whales huge 223.1 Cry in ingendring ibid. Whales giue suckâ— to their young 930.50 marg Whale built within Island 649.60 The dwellers in them dreame of Shipwracke 650 Whale-fishing begun in Greenland 465.10 Whale-fishing 〈◊〉 admirable maner in the Indies 931.30.40 Whale-fishing in Groneland 519.10 Whale killing taught vs by Biskayners 715.30 Whale Sound the Latitude 846.60 Whale Bay 464.40 Whay the Islanders drinke 663.60 Wheat cheape in Russia 416.1.10 Wheat where in the Indies it will not growe and why 954.20 See Baruolents Wheele of the Mexicans contayning fifty two yeeres the Art of it 1050.30 Whips and Whipping the manner in China 188.40 Worse then hanging ibid. 202.40 Whipping with Caues the manner 319.50 396.30 Whips of Sinewes or Whit-leather 434.40 Whirle-poole of Malestrand 222.60 Whirl-pooles hinder sayling where 520.40 Whistling Arrowes in Tartarie 29.30 Whistling Language men vnderstand one another in it in Mexico 1135.10 Whoores in China are all blinde 176.50 And all Slaues 182.40 An Officer set ouer them ibid. Whoredomes vnpunished in Russia 460.50 Whoredome for a morsell of Bread 646.40 Scarce punished in Iseland ibid. White the Tartars hold for a signe of good lucke 84.50 White the Festiuall Colour of the Muscouites 214. The mourning colour in China 368.1.165.50 White Creatures in cold Countries 649.50 White people vnder the Torâ—idâ— Zone 898.20 White men rarely borne in Mexico 1128.50 White Castle a Citie in Catay described 801.10 White Sea 515.40 The breadth it is vpon Lapland ibid. See 531.10 Wiccings are Piracies 620.1 Wichida in Russia made habitable 432.50 The proiectors of it ryfled ibid. Wichida the Riuer the Samoiâ—ds trade by it into Russia 522.20 The head 525.20 Widowes in Tartarie Marry not and why 7.40 Widowes continuing so rewarded in China 344.50 And honoured 393.1 William Baffin his Voyage to Greenland 716 William Helye his Actions in Greenland 468.469 c. William Barents his first Voyage 474.20 Returnes into Holland 478.10 Sets out againe ibid. Returnes 482.30 His third Voyage 483.1 Dyes by Noua Zembla 508 William Bouchier a French Goldsmith found in Tartary 28.40 His curious Workmanship 35.50 37.40 How hee came thither 39.20 Williams Iland the height of the Sunne there 474.60 Willoughbies Voyage to Denmark 780.10 Willoughbie Land 462.60 And 212.50 It is Greene-land 579 Windowes first made in the Roofes of houses 662 Winter nine Monethes long in Groneland 651.30 609 Winter not knowne in some places of the Indies 921.60 〈◊〉 Where little or none is 526.60 Winter short and milde in Taurica 637.1 Winter and Summer where contrary to curs in Europe 896.30 Wisera the Riuer his head course 525.30 Witch of Malinalco her Storie 1003 Witches of Peru their Arts 1043 1044 Witches Sound in Greenland the latitude 725 Wyle of a Portugall to saue his life 1029.30 Wild beasts of China 381.60 Wild beasts more acceptable in Sacrifice then tame 272.60 Winde in Winter none in Tartary and why 27.1 Winde extreme hote in Ormuz it stifled an Army 71.50 Winde preserue from corrupâ—â—â—n 647.40 Windes sold to Sea-faring men in Island 653. 646.20 Winde sold to Mariners by the Witches of Lapland a Fable 444.1 Windes temper the Torrid Zone 921.40 Their differences properties and Causes in generall 922 Windes which the Spaniards are to obserue in their Nauigations to the West Indies and how farre each carries them 924. so to and from the Philippinâ—s ibid. A Philosophicall Discourse of Winds from pag. 922. to pag. 928. Strange effects of Windes 926 Wine of Dates 〈◊〉 103 50â— Of Indian Nuts ibid. Wine of Rice 366.1 Drunke hot ibid. Wine of Peru the taste 938.1 Wine of Palme-tree 284.20 Wine made of the sap of a tree 957 20 Wine drinking held a sinne 109.10 Wine-drinkers not admitted to bee Witnesses 105.10 Wiues the Chinois keepe as many as they are able 359.60 They are bought and sold 367.50 Wiues sit at table and Concubines waite 394. They bring no portions 394.1 Wiues the father◠〈◊〉 for assurance of her Mayden-head 454 10. Vsed as seruants 456.1 Wiues and seruants slaine to waite on their Master in the next World 1029.20 Woden in our Saxon Stories is Odinus 664.50 Women the fairest in the World where 72.20 Women in China haue no names 394.50 They are seldome seene They doe all the worke within doores in China 189.10 Women Gold-smiths and Caruers in the West Indies 1123.10 Women Warriours in the Indies 886.20 992.40 Women brought to bed the Men lye in 92.30 Women sold in Sweden 631.10 Womens Ilands in Groneland the latitude 845 Wonders of Island 647.648 Wood held by the Chinois for an Element 345 Wood in Ormuâ— which will not endure nayling 71.50 Wood mighty store in the West Indies 960 Wood floating in the Sea 531. Whence it 〈◊〉 527.50 Wood shining in the night 983.20 Wooing-presents in Russia 454 10. Wooing with whips 229.50 Wooll in China and in cloth made of it 382.1 Wor see Vor. Workes of Piety in China 271.30 World the Mexicans beliefe of the end of it 1050.40 Wormes troublesome ones in the Indies 975 Worme breeding in mens legs 23â— Of an 〈…〉 how got out ibid. Writing with Pensils and in Characters 34.10 370.30 From the right hand to the left ibid. Vpward ibid. Downward ibid. Writing of China from the right hand to the left and the lines drawne downeward 384. Faire writing very â—â—are there 340 Writing by Pictures in Mexico 1052.60 And in Peru 1053.20 Writing and reading in Peru by knots vpon coards and by small stones vpon a Wâ—â—ele 10â—3 Writing the lines vp or downe 1054 X XAguâ— an Indian tree 〈…〉 and nature of the sap of it â—8â— â—0 Xalisco or New Gallicia in the West Indies the Councell and bounds of it 876.20 The Bishops Sea remoued thence to Guadalaiara when first discouered a sickly country the latitude 876 50 Xamabusis Pilgrimes of Iapon their Confessions a fearefull Story of that 1042.30 Xancheum in China described 334 40 Xandu the Citie 80.40 Xataâ— and Xambalu for Catay and Cambalu 310 Xauerius the Iesuite called the Indian Apostle
317.30 Canonized at Rome 316.60 Bâ—asts to haue conuerted 300000. soules 317.30 His trauels 318.1 Goes to Cangoxima in Iapon there publishes the Decalogue 318 40 Opposed by the Iaponian Priests ibid. Returnes to India to fetch an Ambassadour gets himselfe made the Popes Nuntio opposed by Aluarus who falls into a Leprosie 318.60 Xauiers zeale and behauiour towards him 319.1 Gets himselfe carried into China where he is forsaken and dies 319.10 Xauxan a flower that makes bread in the Indies 954.10 Xylobaâ—samum what properly 95â— 30 Xinaleygrau the Signiory 281.30 Y YAik a Riuer 241.50 Yamsu the Riuer the course of it 340.40 〈◊〉 by the two 〈◊〉 Cities in China ibid. Yara City in Catay 800.50 Described Yaskent a Citie 240.40 Yehuri the Mexican Priests that heard Confessions 1041.60 Yeare of the Tartars beginnes in February 84.30 This is 〈◊〉 solemnest day ibid. They fâ—â—st thâ—â— in white garments 84.50 Their New yeares gifts ibid. They reckon their yeares by Twelues and how 88.40 Yeare in Russia begins with September 447.20 And the September before ours 746.28 why 757.50 Yeare when it begins in China 392 40 〈…〉 how solemnized 394.1 Their Yeare 〈…〉 â—62 10 265 50. Gods of the Yeare ibid. It begins in March 196.50 Yeare begun in the middle of Ianuary in Norway of old 659.50 Yeare of the Samoieds is but halfe a Yeare 556 Yeares of the Mexicans 1135.30 1136.1 Their manner of reckoning them 1050. The beginning end and lâ—st dayes of it ibid. Yeare of the Peruians 1051.1 Yeare in Peru begins in December 1040.1 1045.1 Yedzo land the latitude 842.50 Yeilding the Ceremony of it in Mexco 1013.20 50 Yellow Mugals 799.20 Yellow Riuer in China the course 340. Sacrificed vnto ibid. 10000 ships in it Prouerbe of it ibid. Yellow the King of Chinois colour which none else may be of 392.50 Yellow hats a great honor 201.20 Yem the Riuer 235.20 Yemps a Towne 224.1 Yenisâ—e or Ienisse Riuer falleth into the Sea Naromzie 546.20 Not farre from China ibid. Yguanas a strange West Indian beast that both swimmes and climbes trees their shape 966.40 See Yuanas Yiu a Festiuall day in Peru the Ceremonies of it 1046.20 Yongs Cape 567.60 Yopes the Riuer in the West Indies 871.60 Youga Riuer in Catay falls into the Blacke Sea 800.40 Youth how educated in Mexico 1064 Yperpeâ—a â— Câ—iâ—e 10.20 Yea a great Feast in Peru the solemnitie 〈◊〉 1035. â—0 c. Yuanaâ— West Indian Serpent described delicate meate 976.50 〈◊〉 for the Frenchâ—oxe â—oxe 977.1 Yâ—câ— the chiefe food of Brasile 903 10. How they make bread of it the Iuice is poyson and the substance bread where this bread is most vsed 954.10 Yucatan Prouince in the West Indies vnder the Gouernment of Mexico its bounds c. 870.30 A Peninsula the extent temperature no Riuer in it nor metall long liued people Townes their latitudes c. 87.10.20 c. Yun-lo the China King 389.30 Yuo de Narbona his Letter and Discourse about the Tartars 63 40 Z ZAcatecas the Prouince in the West Indies rich in Siluer Mynes three Townes of Spaniards in it distance from Guadalaiara 876. And from Mexico Other Mynes there Villages c. 877.1.10 Zacatula the Prouince and Village in the West Indies the latitude distance from Mexico Zamachie in Media a Staple for Silke 442.50 The Russe trades thither gaue 〈◊〉 to the English the Commodities ibid. Zamatia an Iland of the Moluccas iâ— Taprobana 904.30 Zar or Czar one of the Russian Emperours Titles 793.30 Zauorat in Russia the latitude 545 30 Zeilan the best Iland of the World 104.20 T is Traprobana 110.10 Zenam Iland 223.1 Zenam on the Coast of Finmarke â—61 10 581.40 Zeni two Brethren their Fortunes 610. c. Zenoâ— Chersonesus where 633 30 Zenu the 〈…〉 in the West Indies the distance from Carâ—agena Salt made there 88â— 50 Zere the Iland 246.40 Zichmui Prince of Frisland his Story 610. c. Zielensa Ilands 543.30 In Russia Zikia the Citie 2.20 Zipangu the golden Iland 102.20 Taken by the Tartars ibid. The Ilanders call Mangi Chin or China 102.50 Zodiake as it is more streight or more oblique makes the daies or nights of diuers lengths 920.40 Zona Torrida why in some places vnder it the raine still falls in the afternoone 918.50 Why so much vnder it when the Sunne is hottest 919.20 30 40. Why in some places vnder it there falls no raine nor are any springs c. 919 60. Temperate in many places in others hote cold c. And the causes 920.10 20 30 c. Reasons of the diuersities of tempers 921. The heat though violent yet short the greatest heate in the morning and why 921.50 Westerne wind blowes seldome there 923.40 It is the greatest of the fiue Zoâ—â—â—s 923. Why men sayle vnder it from East to West and not backe againe 924.50 Seâ— Aequinoctiall The land-winds coole it by night and the Sea-winds by day 926.10 Calâ—ses often vnder it ibid. Many Lakes vnder some parts of it 933.10 Most of the West Indies lye vnder it 9â—5 10 The Countries vnder it are all hilly why 936.1 Torride Zoâ—â— most inhabited of all the West Indies and by white Men and they most warlike it is of the temperature of Spaine few waters raine seldome vnder it 898.10 20 30 Zorzania 〈◊〉 Georgia 69.50 Zubu the Iland 282.10 FOr the vse of this 〈◊〉 the Reader may see the aduice giuen him ouer the head of the Letter A In the beginning of tâ—is 〈◊〉 This is so printed 〈◊〉 the end of the Index that it may be the better seene FINIS LONDON Printed by William Stansby for Henry Fâ—therstone and are to be sold at his Shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Rose 1625. Gen. 28.12 Sencâ— Benef. l. 7. cap. 4.5 Gen. 28. 32.20 Aug. de C.D. li. 19. cap. 5. * Master Hak. had published part of this Author but the whole worke being found in Benet Colledge Library in Cambridg I thought fit to communicate it to the World it being neuer published as I thinke in any Language I begin with the Tartars as being â—â—owne to thesâ— parts before the Chinois yea China or Mangâ— became knowne by them Ecclus 39. v. 3. Cassaria or Gasaria Gasaria Soldaia The Citie of Matriga * Matriga Zikia Frier Bartholomew de Cremona The necke of Tanrica Chersonesâ—â— The Tartars Chap. 2. Of the Tartars and of their houses The benefit of a Painter in strange Countries Chap. 3. Of their Bedâ— Puppets Images and drinking Pots Idols Chap. 4. Of their drinkes and how they prouoke one another to drinking They vse the like custome in Florida Chap. 5. Of their â—ood and victuals Drying of flesh in the wind Chap. 6. How they make their drinke called Cosmos Caracosmos Duke Baatu Store of Mares and Mares milke Chap. 7. Of â—he beasts which they eat of their garmenâ—s and of their manner of hunting Our Falconers vse the left fist Another strange custome which
and husbandry Building of the Cities No Artillerie Large streets Archers Loutea Chian al. Chaen Ponchiassi Anchiassi al. Hexasi Tuzi Taissu Prisons and sentencing offenders Louteas Commencement or Act. Their Maiesty Manner of eating We that is the Italians and Spaniards Shooting Idolatry Deuill mosâ— respected So did the Roman Auguries Sodomie frequent New and full Moones Birth-dayes New yeares day Iustiâ—e The Italians call it the strapado Hard Prisons Beating with Canes Examinations Oathes Patient hearing Seuere Iustice Lawes A Pillorie board Execution Strength of the Prisons Store of Prisoners Course for Debters Fuquico Parai Another Venice Tower stâ—ndâ—ng on â—orâ—ie Pillâ—rs each of one stone Name of China Tamen the proper name of China Ta signifies Great Magines is neere Polos name of Mangi Great Mangines Tables reuerenced Their enemies Store of riuers Plentie of fish and their keeping of them He speaketh of Fuqien-shire Quianci where Porcelane is made Alijs Chenchi Great Riuer and store of Boates. Bridge â—f 112. Barges 3000. Barges Parai Barges with faire roomes Moores That is their Temples It seemeth they came vp the riuer from the Caspian sea Ali. Auoinâ— Tartars Monte Vsont Mogorâ—â— Bremes Southward from Chenchi to the Sea Anoins Chenchi No Lords but of the bloud royall Fishing with Cormorants they tye their gorges that they swallow not their prey One hath practised this in London Seb. Cabota See the particulars in Master Hackluyts printed Voyages Tom. 1. The first Voyage * This discourse was found written in the Speranza which wintered a Arzina where all the Companie were frozen to death Rost Ilands Stanfew harbour Lofoot August Seynam in 70. degrees The Edward lost or rather theâ—e two lost and the Edward found and entred the Bay of Saint Nicolas Wâ—lloughby his Land in 72. degrees September In this Hauen they died * Or Ellons Heere endeth Sir Hugh Willoughby his note which was written with his owne hand Duina Note Vologda Ieraslaue Mosco The Castle Hee commeth before the Duke Dineth with the Duke Golden Vessel Shiuer of Bread Crowne changed Dukes forces Armour and rich attyre Extreames Vndisciplined Souldiers Hardinesse Knights Fee Duke heire Generall No wages Centlemen Suits tryals No Lawyer Combat-triall Bondage Punishments for Crimes Beating Miserable poore Superstition Images and Pictures Mother tongue Seruice Prayers Creed Commandements Sacraments Candles Foure Lents Chiefe Saints Vices Abbies I haue this booke of Clement Adams in Latine written in a very elegant hand and eloquent stile to King Philip as I thinke the very originall They arriue in the Bay of Saint Nicholas The Discouerie of Russia Messenger sent to the Emperour The Emperorâ— courteous letters to Master Chancelor Riphean hils a tale of Antiquitie Rossomakka a strange beast The sharpnes of the winter in Moscouie * The rest of M Adams contayning a description of the Country c. is here omitted Iuan Vasiliuich that is to say Iohn the Sonne of Bosilius d That is come into our presence * Hee made three others after one as Embassadour from Queene Elizabeth to the Muscouite Iune Heilick Ilands in 66. degrees 40. minutes Rost Ilands Malestrand a strange whirle poole Zenam Iland Kettlewike Iland Inger sound The North Cape Ward-housâ— Cattell fed with fish The Monasterie of Pechinchow Arzina reca the Riuer where Sir Hugh Willoughby was frozen The Lappianâ— couered all sauing their eies The current at Cape Gâ—ace The entring of the Bay of Saint Nicolas iâ— seuen lâ—agues broad at the least August Pinego Riuer The Towne of Yemps Vstiug The description of their Nassades Good counsell for Trauellers December Emperour of Casan Multitude of Guests Rich seruice Twelf-tide Mosco Riuer hallowed Riuer of holy water for horse and man Citie of Mosco The Countrie The Metropolitan Meats and drinkes Drunkennesse Saddlers Russe apparell The hallowing of the Riuer of Mosco The Russes Lent Palme-sunday Procession The Emperor leadeâ—h the Metropolitans Horse in Procession Kissing vsed in the Greeke Church Monasteries and Monkes Images Miracles Drinkes and Vessels The Hospitalitie of their Monasteries Monke Merchants Dyet and Apparell Want of Preachers cause of great ignorance and Idolatrie Sinnes of Superstition Priests Sacraments All their seruice is in their Mother tongue Baptisme Of their Matrimonie The women of Russia paint their faces Of their Buriall Bread made of straw The vnmercifulnesse of the Russes toward the poore Stoues or Baths vsuall with the Moscouites Diuers sorts of Russian Drinkes reported by Thomas Bulley Mosco in 55. deâ—grees 10 minutes Occa. Rezâ—n Cassim Morom Nyse Nouogrod Honey and Waxe Vasiliagorod Swyasko Cazan stands in 55 degrees 33. minutes The Iland of Mâ—rchants The Riuer of Cama Vachen Mangat or Nagay Tartars Hords The Crimme Tartars The Riuer oâ— Samar Licoris in great plentie Perouolog Don or Tanais Astracan Store of Sturgeons flyesâ— Miserable Famine They enter into the Caspian Sea Volga The Blue Sea Baughleâ—ta being 74. â—eagues from Volga Iaic Riuer Serachickâ— The Countrey of Colmack The Port of Manguslaue They goe on land The Countrey or Manguslaue It stands in 45. Twentie dayes tâ—â—uell in the Wildernesse wiâ—h scarsitie of water Another Gulfe of the Caspian Sea Will. de Rubricis describeth this Riuer of Ardok cap. 4. Sellizure or Shayzure Letters of safe conduct Vrgence in 42. degr 18. min. The Countrey of Turkeman The Riuer of Ardock falleth into the Lake of Kitay The Castle of Kait Diuination by sorcerie Fight with theeues Hand-guns very profitable A holy man Bussarmans or Musâ—â—mans Caphaâ— Fidelitie of an Infidel The riuer of Oxus A wildernesse of land Boghar a Citie of Bactria in 39 degrees 10. minutes A strange Worme in mens legâ— These are of the Ieseâ—as Tartars The Coyne of Boghar A very Tartâ—r The Kings iustice Merchandise of India Merchandise of Persia. Merchandise of Russia Merchandise of Cathay Wares Taskent and Caskar Carauan destroyed He returneth the eight of March 1559. Samarcand Vrgence The King of Balke or Balgh The Caspian sea Woodden anchor Dangerous tempest and vse of the Compasse Yaik The English flag in the Caspian sea the Country 〈…〉 46 deg A notable description of the Caspian sea Astracan in 47. deg 9. minuts Cazan is in 55. deg 33. min. His arriuall at Mosco the second of September See more certaintie in Goes Memoriall of Sir H. Willoughbie * The other voyages are in Master Hakluyâ— this I haue for Tartaria and the Caspian sea brought hither Saint Nicholas Colmogâ—â— Vstyoâ—g Yeraslaue Niznouogrod Cazan Great store of Liquoris Sodom Strange iudgement Perauolok Tsaritsna Ice at Astracan for foure moneth An Eclipse The variation of the Compasse in Astracan was 13. degrees 40. min. Gilan Vchoog Shallow water Flats Chetera Bougori The Caspian Sea 45. deg 20. minutes The first obseruation in the Caspiâ—n Sea Brackish water farre within the Sea 43. degrees 15. minutes 41. degrees 32. minutes 40. degrees 54. minutes Bilbill Bachu Poâ—â— The receiuing of the English into Derbent The latitude of Bildih 40. deg 25. min.
of Pinega Sharkai Gooba which is the great Bay of Hayuburi They land the third time A great Riuer Flote-wood A sore tyde vpon the shoare Cape Swetinos William Gourdan goeth on shoare Two Russe Crosses A deepe Bay Westward of Cape Swetinos They goe on Land againe An house of Wood. They goe on Land the sixth time Aâ—undance of Muskitos Crosses found and cerâ—ayne Russes at the mouth of Pechora The depth of the Bâ—â—re of the Riuer of Pechora They passe ouer the Barre and ride in six fathoms wâ—ter They â—oe vp the Riuer of Pechora ouer The Dâ—y Sea Dâ—lgoi is seuen leagues vp from the Barre The Boluan or East head land of the Riuer Pechora The channell trendeth South-west An Iland neere the mouth of the Riuer They find one of the chiefest entrances of the Riuer They come to a Ferme house of a principall man of the Towne The Towne is called Pustozera Pechora runneth through Siberia and farther Two Coches or Lodias bound for Mougunzea He buyeth two Falcons The stocke of goods left in Pustozera 24. Lodias bound for Mugunzea which is to the Eastward of Ob. They safely passe the Barre of Pechora Colgoienâ— Iland 69. degrees 20. minutes Falcons 70 degrees 40. minutes 72. degrees 34 minutes 74. degrees 30. minutes 74. degrees 57. minutes They arriue at Cherie Iland 30. Lodias 50. Cayucks or fishing Boats haunâ—ing the Riuer Pechora They arriue in the Port of Pechoraâ—he â—he ninth of Iuly Two Crosses standing on the sand Pinega Ship endangered by Ice Our men arriue at Towne of Pechora People afraid of the English White Partridges and Foxes Commodities The Fleet of Mongosey of 26. Lodias Or Mongal From Pechora to Colmogro is a moneths trauel by Riuer Small Pewter Dishes a great commoditie August 1. Huge Ice Omeli Fishing They land on the I le of Colgoiene Geese Two Hawkes taken Cherie Iland Thomas Edge See sup c. 2. Morses fearefull August 26. Pechora Oustiug A Poud is 37. pound or the third part of a hundred weight An Alteen is fiue of their Pence a Groat of ours A great fishing of Salmons beginning the first of August Trauelling Deere Fish in stead of Bread Oust Zilma Perm Elephants teeth whence and which way Dolgoie Iland in the Soosoie Mora The Boluanou Matpheyoue Ostroue Youhorskoie Share The Meedanetskoie Zauorot where Hainburie is The two Ilands called Zelentsee or the Greene Ilands Dolgoie Ostroue or the Long Iland Karskoie Gooba Meastnoy Ostroue or Meastnoy Iland A Riuer Mootnoya Reca or the Thicke or troubled Riuer Two Lakes The Nâ—uoloke or Ouer-hall Zelenoy Osera or The Greene Lake Zelenoya Reca or The Greene Riuer falleth into Ob. The Riuer Ob. The Zauorot in the Riuer of Ob. Tawze Reca Taes Tawze Gorodoc or Castle Mongosey The Samoyede on the Mayne ouer against Vaygats trauell in the Winter to Mongosey We may learn of these Samoyeds the trade of Mongosey at Mezen more perfectly Mezen a Town of great traffick for Furres Mezen Peozareca Peaskanoy Nauoloc Oust-selma Pustozera The Boluanou Pechora The former part of the Voyage is omitted to auoide tedious repetition Toxar Pustozera Iuly Cola in Lappia Arkania Molgomsey Pole baptized Russe Frost in August Slobodca Mart. Iugoria Sunne returneth Generall Fast for three dayes very strict Russes fraud February Samoyeds quarrell Variation The report of a Russe a great Traueller of the way from Pechora to Ob. Medemskoy Zouorot Zyelensa two Ilands Breit-vinnose Socolia Lowdia A long Point From Medemskoy Zauorot to Ob is 16. dayes sayling An Iland Ob is full of Ilands broad and shoald The people of Pechora and the Russes are vnwilling that we should goe to Ob. The Riuer Yenisce Samoyeds Horses Ploughes The Riuer of the Tingusseys Tangut mentioned by Polo a large Kingdom Northward from Cathay or China The Riuer Pâ—sida Gunnes March Pâ—stozera in 68. degrees 30. or 35. minutes Aprill The report of a Permack Yenissey beyond it the land trendeth due East Pesida Riuer Catonga Riuer runneth out of Cathay Stones like Gold and Siluer in the mid-way betweene Pisida and Catonga May. The Riuer Ice breakes vp Foure dayes iourney betweene Pustozer and Oust-zilma Oust-zilma is in 66. degrees 30. minutes there grow faire Barley and Rie Iune 17. Soymas depart for Molgomsey Iuly Tom combustion Intelligence of the Countrey Course of Pechora Modeneskoy zauorot Meastnoy Ostroue Scola Lowdia Yowgarkoy shar Carskoy Gouba Mowtnoy a Riuer Sharrappa Shar Yowcozoua Naromzia Riuer Ob. Zylena Riuer Taz Zauorot Taz Riuer An Iland in the mouth of Taz The Towne Powre Riuer An Iland called Trowgan The Riuer Hâ—utike runneâ—h out of Cathay August They depart from Pustozera Gloubocke in 69 degrees 12. minutes Collocolcoua Mezyou Sharry Oliuer Brunell Indiga September Knocke Iohn Danieloue Stolbe Churua Nose Arkania Colmogro This piece of an Elephants Tooth was sent into England The Sea Naromzie In another Letter from Pechora August 16. Chrystall vpon the Vaygats Yowgorsky Shar Cara Reca Moetnaia Reca The Voloc or necke of Land Zelena Reca Obi Riuer Taes Riuer Yenissey Riuer Tinguissey a people A White Citie Great ringing of Bels. Horses People in Armour They are not farre from Cataia and China They were first receiued into a Permacks House August Nouember His Voyage ouer-land to Slobotca and Colmogro Mountaynes Cameni or Rockes He arriueth at Slobotca the 9. of December in 16. dayes Thomas Ligon He arriueth at Colmogro the 12. of Decemb. Snow bettereth their Trauell The fourth of Ianuarie Mosse food for the Deere The manner of trauelling with the Samoieds Their Tents Hard-soft lodging Poore Samoieds Dangerous Wolues Slobotca Trade with the Samoieds of Ougoria Eight or nine hundred Samoieds come to Pustozera The false suggestions of the Russes against vs. March Aprill 1612. May 20. the Ice brake vp Our men intreated to winter at Oust-zilma Oust-zilma Iune 3. Sixteene Soymas depart for Molgomsey Fishing for Bealugos vnder the Boluan Manner of killing them The Russes vpon the Ice vse to kill the Morse as they doe their Bealugo but their rope is longer and a barreâ—â— made fast at one end to buoy it Samoieds pouertie Bealugo made meate in Italie Iuly 13. A Boate sent by Riuer to Pustozera to fetch home Master Logan and his Company into Russia August The Gloubuc Promoi Coskoi September North-west windes cause high Tides on this Coast. Much Snow Candinos Danilo Stolb in Lapland Archangel Colmogro Medeniskoie Barre Vaygats Iland The Riuer Ob. The Riuer Tas Molgomsey a great Mart. Ougoria and Naromzai Store of Morsses They returne from Ougoria in Ianuarie Moetnaia Reca Zelenai Reca Ob Reca Tas Riuer An Iland in the mouth of Tas A Towne A necke of Land The Riuer Torowhan The Riuer Hawtick The Riuer of the Tingussies Two or three Riuers from Tingussie to the mouth of Yenisce The Riuer Pisida The Riuer Catowga Ships with two or three sailes Horses about the Riuer Catowga Bereseua Verchio-towria Tumen Tobolsca Surgout Tom. Many Nations come downe the
Patron or Owner They lost their Rudder on a Rocke not farre from Cales in Spaine and were faine to make thither to repaire it and other diastâ—rs followed They leaue the ship The Schiffe lost Hard dyet Great Frost aâ— Venice Extreame cold The death of sixe and twentie Great thirst Sight of Land Hot strong stomackes to cold small drinke They goe on Land Iland of Saints or Santi bearing off the coast of Norway See Ortelius his Map of Scandia hee placeth Santi and Rustene in 74. degrees but too Northerly then they are from the North Cape from which this Rocke saith Quirino bare Westward 70. miles other Rockes not farre distant some inhabited some not This is off Rustene three miles in compasse and called in their Language for the extreame remotenesse The arse of the World Foure dye and others after Great weakenesse Miserable cold Abundance of Lice They finde a Fish 1432. in Foraine account I le of Rustene A Germaine Priest Rustene described Stock-fish in stead of mony Their drinke and bread Halibuts very great Sinceritie Simplicitie Thus the Italians thought in regard of their differing iealousie which scarsly permits the growne Sonne or Brother to sleepe vnder the same roofe with the Mother or Sister m Quirino faith in the same Chamber their houses being built of timber in round forme with one light in the top which in winter by reason of the vnsupportable cold is couered wiâ—h skinnes of great fishes which cast a great lustre Their children after foure daies old are set vnder the same for the snow to fal on them that they may bee hardned for the cold From the fiâ—t of Febr. to the 14. of May it almost alway snowâ—d Their garments are of course cloâ—h of London c. more then of Lether Funerall Bathing Long nights Quirino saith that it is three moneths night with continual light of the Moone and three others day with continuall sight or light at least of the Sunne Birds Mâ—xi They returne Bâ—rga Tokens of the Skiffe drowned Trondon Saint Olaus Vastena Venetian Knight Lodese * Quirino saith when he set foot on England hee seemed to bee comne out of Hell and reuiued Hee came to Câ—mbridge an Vniuersitie where a Benedictinè gaue him sixteene Crownes thence to London where he stayed two moneths c. * * Octhers voyage see Hak. â—â—â—1 〈…〉 4000. Matthew Westminster hath 4800. viz 1200. for the South coast also * A. 1042. Hocktide I haue seene kept with publiâ—e feasting in the street the women also â—inding men or compelling them to some ransome the Tuesday forâ—night after Easter English Conquest in Sweden A. 1024. Saint Olaue Romish Pilgrimage a protection for tyrannous vsurpation of Norway England without restitution to the right Heires as if Peters preteÌ„ded key were a Pick-locke to open Heauen to whomsoeuer Historia Danica Second English Expedition into Norway m Trecentiâ— coggonibuâ— From 787. to 1065. vid. sup l. 8. c. 6. â— 1. Note Ma. Periâ— p. 981 The Pope and his Legates deere friends to all Kingdomes Saint Lewis his offers His Lettâ—r M. Par. his voyage to Norway Iohn Abbie Monkes ignorant of their owne order Popes long hands and Lime-fingered Appeales l Of these sâ—e Hak. tom 1. King Haralds children n See pag. seq Frier of Linne Hen. 4. T. of Woodstock Schâ—gen Elsenore Coppenhagen Dantzik Amber Sak A Frogge in a piece of Amber Strange report of Swallowes The Vistle High wall Idolatry Marriage Hospitalitie Houses Torne Norway Sweden * When he was there His other trauells Loretto Alpes The fields Sauramenses and Oczacouiensâ—s betwixt the Riuers Bogus and Nester Long miles in those parts and so vnderstand in the rest of this storie Sharpe winter Part of Moâ—dauia or the lower Valachia called sometimâ—s Bessarabia Lake Vidouo in Necster Bialogrod Beriboneum Adrigoli Dommina Berezania Carcinitus Leuca Oczacauia Boresthenes or Neper Bogus The Isthmus Their houses and pasture-progresse Tanais or Don. Perecopia Cosslow Ingermanum Chersâ—na Kiou Parthenium The Citie Balachei or Iamboli Marcopia or Mangat a City Cercessigermenum Admirable Vaults Baccasaray Salaticum Almassarai Perecopia Cremum Sorâ—â—ssus Cremum Crim Tartars why so called Sidagios or Sudacum Orium and Oxon. Theodosia now Capha Petigorenses or Colchis Idolaters Deepe Wells Salt Lake Cyngis Lochton Selim. Gerâ—y Chan. Sachmates The Galba or heyre apparant Election of the Chan. Sachibgiereius Attalici Hamiati Wiues and children Arabike letters Mahometan Religion Gouernment and Lawes The Cadi and Begs No Atturnies nor Lawyers they plead their owne cause Great peaceablenesse to the shame of alway lawing Gospellers No daily vse of weapons * Aquauitae Meat and drinke Slaues Merchants Tartar slaues Tribute Embassadors Alma Bacchasanium Audience Bassa of Capha Warres Money Prouision for warre Manner and Art of warre The Chans tenth Misery of Captiues Manner of redemption Ars deluditur arte Their Horses Their Armes Store of Horses Flight fayned Their Discipline His strength The principall Ensigne a Mares tayle m He published this Book Anno 1607. See of Island originall the next Chapter Antiquities are often mystical or mythical fabulous The Christian care of King Christian. Two Bishops in Iseland Tadde Bonde Waloe Three sorts of people Twelue Iustices each yeere Strength Hâ—bite Superstition and Witchcraft Night Rauens Sweet sacrifice for the Deuill letice sutable his lips Learning Fiwing fish Drinke An old man or a loud lie Bread Commodities Whoores Drinking and singing Louing wormes Lousie loue Lodging Long night Chesse Dryed Fish Hot Bathes Diue-doppers Stone-making water Note French disease Hecla a burning Hill Conceit of Purgatorie Collusions of men or Illusions of Deuils Aâ—ngim Ionas an Islander scoffes at 〈◊〉 as fabulous Strange Story Another wonder No fruits Bartar Brimstone Birch-tree Great winds Fat grasse Their kine horses and sheepe Dogs of more price then children Beares and Foxes White Crowes Riuers Whale-bone-bridge Trauell by compasse Whales Hugâ— Whalâ— Note Orca. A Sea-monster Hacfal another Monster Dog-fish Note Horne of a Sea-fish See Ionas Poole and Baffin l. 4. Islanders terme Manner of trials and suites Sentence and execution Their Pigmies are Beasts and Vnicornes Fishes Pigmies our men haue noâ— seene such Of this the English Discouâ—riâ—s in this and the next Booke wiâ—l giue bettâ—r light The Authors Voyage for Discouerie In Sir Thomas Smiths Hall in London is a kind of Boate somwhat like of Barke sowed Seales skins A Beare The Authors Iourney to Mount Hecla Hafnefordt His abiding there two winters His Nauigations on the Coast of Africa c. hee mentions in his Preface which I haue for breuitie omitted * This learned Islander published A. 1593. one Booke of Island which M. Hak. translated and set forth in the first Tome of his Voyages This worke is larger in three Books out of which I haue taken some things which I held conducent to our purpose In the former worke he confuteth the errours of diuers Authors which write fasly many things of his Countrey Hola in 65. degrees
Of the great ordâ—r and diligence the Mexicans vsed to instruct their youth Chap. 27. See the picture story Colledges Their employments and trials The baine of Plantations is expectation of present and externall gain Plaies and dances Military games Idoll gamâ—s Exo. 32. a thing vsuall to Heathens as their Comedies c. maniâ—est Musicke Curious Dancers Great agility Sir Hen. Spelman Tenuchtitian Mexican Lords Tenuch chosen chiefe Lord. Mexico Colhuacan and Tenayncan subdued See the storie before in Acosta Tlatilulco subdued bâ—fore as Acosta saith the Mexicans were subiect to them Ticocicatzi Title Tlacatecatl that is Great Captaine Motezuma His weale and greatnesse Maiestie Conquests Wisdome and learning Lawes Many women some wiues some Concubines See before in Acosta and after in Gomâ—ra morâ— large relaâ—ions of Mutezuma in a wilde kinde of state and maiestie equalling in many things in some exceeding most Princes of the elder world First notice of the Spaniards Mutezumas death Turkey stones Cold. Turkey stones Cochinilla Gold Target of gold Emerald stones Amber Cristall Amber Cotton wooll Cristall Amber A kinde of Baptisme with the naming of their children Presentation in the Temple a Gomara his third part of the Conquest of the West Indies translated into English by T. Nicolas b Of this voyage Reade P. Martyrs fourth Decade and Gomara part 1. of all which followes in this Chapter P. Maâ—t Dec. 5. Gom. vbi supra and Cortes his owne large narration to the Emperour ap Ramus Vol. 3. Indian simplicitie Potonchon called Victory Spanish incurable sicknesse Note for fashion-mongers Zempoallan Panuco Vera Crux Bloudy Sacrifices Tlaxcallan a great Citie Chololla Store of Temples and deuotions Popocatepec a burning Hill Mutezumas religion a The like speech he had made at first to Cortes who easily wrought on that aduantage applying this Tradition to the Spaniards Cortes Narrat Mutezumaâ— death b N. di Gus. ap Ram. vol. 3. c Lit. P. Aluarado Dieg. Godoy ap Ram. vol. 3. d Relat. del Temistitan ca. * This part of Lopez was long since translated and published by Tho. Nichols I haue here in diuers places ameÌ„ded it by the Italian translation of Agostino di Craualiz for the Spanish originall I haue not Purgatory The solemne pompe wherewith Cortes was receiued into Mexico Mutezumas state and Maiestie Spaniards giue gawdy glasâ—e for gold and glory The Oration of Mutezuma to the Spaniards A strange opinion A louing answerâ— Mutezuma described Cin. Title Cin. Change of Apparell His Wardrobe His dietâ—rites Magnificent attendance His wiues Bare-foot seruice Musicke Iesters Plate Mans flesh State ceremonies Iesters and Players Games The Tennis play in Mexico God of the Ball. His Palace Twentie doores Three Courts Hals chambers wals c. Multitude of women His Armes hee after saith a Conie was his armes but this Eagle was generall to all the Mexican Kings Gryffon-tale A house of fowle which were only preserued for their feathers A house of fowle for hawking and other strange things White men Wild beasts Snakes c. Foules of prey Deuils den Store-houses Officers The Armory of Mutezuma Wood for Armes Wodden Swords with stone edges The Gardens of Mutezuma Note of a magnificent minde Houses of pleasure The Court and Guard of Mutezuma Great Vassals State-caution Tributes and subiection of the Indians to their King Pouerty of the Tenants See our picture booke Receiuers Tribute of mens labours Three sorts of Streetes It groweth also in Bermuda The name of Mexico Two Lakes one sâ—lt the other fresh Eâ—bing and flowing by the winde Some as Pairitius hence moued deriue the cause of the Seas flowing from the saltnesse Cause of the saltnesse 200000. Canoas The Market place of Mexico Order of Sellers The diuers wares Indian workemanship Gold-smiths artifices Victuall of diuers sorts Bartering The great Temple of Mexico Chiefe Temple described Two Altars Fortie towres Seuerall Temples to seuerall gods A strange doore Temple-halls Idoll-holes Bloudie walls Deuillish Priests 5000. residents The Idols of Mexico 2000. gods A wicked attyre A mad offering The Charnell house or place of 〈◊〉 mens Sculls Terrible spectacle The accounting of yeares The Indians beleeued that fiue ages were past which they called Sunnes The Coronation of the Kings of Mexico The ointment The opinion of the Mexicans concerning the Soule Nine places for Soules The buriall of Kings in Mexico The order of buriall of the Kings of Michuacan Iudges Painters Sergeants Prisons Witnesses and oathes Bribery Murther Theft Disguise of seâ—e Duels capitall